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Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
Blue-winged Olives
Baetis

Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.

Case view of a Pycnopsyche guttifera (Limnephilidae) (Great Autumn Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
It's only barely visible in one of my pictures, but I confirmed under the microscope that this one has a prosternal horn and the antennae are mid-way between the eyes and front of the head capsule.

I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.

The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.

Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
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Jtberez
Indiana, PA

Posts: 13
Jtberez on Jun 22, 2011June 22nd, 2011, 1:50 am EDT
my girl and I were blessed with our daughter june 5th... it's been a hell of a year. her and mom are coming to watch me throw some flies today. A few pics from the hatches this year and some very healthy fingerlings



know you all are digging this:





hdr of next pic:









and lastly, yet another one of my close fly bums is now guiding in alaska... they love to rub it in sending me pics like this:



trico time or what?
PaulRoberts
PaulRoberts's profile picture
Colorado

Posts: 1776
PaulRoberts on Jun 22, 2011June 22nd, 2011, 7:37 am EDT
Congrats on the new addition to the family. That makes 3?

Hey that great head-on shot of the Macaffertia (sp?) would be great to compare the body form with the brown drake thread.

Jtberez
Indiana, PA

Posts: 13
Jtberez on Jun 22, 2011June 22nd, 2011, 12:04 pm EDT
no sir... first child and thank you

photo can be used anywhere by anyone!
PaulRoberts
PaulRoberts's profile picture
Colorado

Posts: 1776
PaulRoberts on Jun 22, 2011June 22nd, 2011, 1:48 pm EDT
I meant 3 in the family -not children. That's us too -the 3 of us. :)
Entoman
Entoman's profile picture
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Jun 23, 2011June 23rd, 2011, 9:21 am EDT
Congratulations!

they love to rub it in sending me pics like this:


You aught to rub 'em back. They went all the way to Alaska to take photos of fiberglass fish? :)
"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman
Jesse
Jesse's profile picture
Posts: 378
Jesse on Jun 23, 2011June 23rd, 2011, 7:56 pm EDT
Hahah all the way to Alaska for fiberglass fish ha, i love it! And the baby is beautiful along with the trout and flies. Great to hear and see the good news from all different aspects!
Most of us fish our whole lives..not knowing its not the fish that we are after.
http://www.filingoflyfishing.com
JOHNW
JOHNW's profile picture
Chambersburg, PA

Posts: 452
JOHNW on Jun 24, 2011June 24th, 2011, 1:11 pm EDT
Congrats on the little one! In no time at all she'll be whipping out wooly buggers for you.

I love the HDR. I think it really suits insects well as you don't get the surreal effect that sometimes crops up in landscape work.
JW
"old habits are hard to kill once you have gray in your beard" -Old Red Barn

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