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Artistic view of a Male Pteronarcys californica (Pteronarcyidae) (Giant Salmonfly) Stonefly Adult from the Gallatin River in Montana
Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica

The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.

Ventral view of a Hydropsyche (Hydropsychidae) (Spotted Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
With a bit of help from the microscope, this specimen keys clearly and unsurprisingly to Hydropsyche.
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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This topic is about the Caddisfly Genus Dicosmoecus

This is a superhatch in the West. Gary LaFontaine had a self-proclaimed obsession with Dicosmoecus, and he devotes several pages of Caddisflies to stressing the importance of its larvae, pupae, and adults. He wrote:

The question for fly fishermen seeking big trout is: "Which insects provide the best opportunity for catching such fish?" My list would be: Giant Orange Sedge (Dicosmoecus sp.), Salmon Fly (Pteronarcys californica, a stonefly), and the Michigan Mayfly (Hexagenia limbata). Dicosmoecus is the most important -- and the contest is not even close.

His reasons for this judgement are five traits of Dicosmoecus:

  • Very large size: Adults 30mm long, and thick.

  • Activity concentrated within 2-3 weeks.

  • Emerges in the low, clear water of fall.

  • Active during afternoon and evening.

  • Abundant in rivers with sea-run trout.


Personally I have only caught a good Dicosmoecus hatch one time, and on a secret desert spring creek. It reminded me of fishing Isonychia mayfly hatches back east, because there weren't enough bugs around to have trout rising consistently, but the presence of a particularly good food source in low numbers for a long time had them on the lookout for imitations. I had big trout cartwheeling out of the water to smash actively-fished imitations.

Example specimens

Amosg
Posts: 5
Amosg on Oct 6, 2011October 6th, 2011, 7:27 am EDT
In Alberta they exist in very small numbers but are not important to fishermen--Amos

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