Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica
The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.
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As far as I can tell, this species has only previously been reported from one site in Oregon along the Columbia gorge. However, the key characteristics are fairly unmistakable in all except for one minor detail:
— 4 small yellow spots on frons visible in photos
— Narrow occipital spinule row curves forward (but doesn’t quite meet on stem of ecdysial suture, as it's supposed to in this species)
— Short spinules on anterior margin of front legs
— Short rposterior row of blunt spinules on abdominal tergae, rather than elongated spinules dorsally
I caught several of these mature nymphs in the fishless, tiny headwaters of a creek high in the Wenatchee Mountains.
— 4 small yellow spots on frons visible in photos
— Narrow occipital spinule row curves forward (but doesn’t quite meet on stem of ecdysial suture, as it's supposed to in this species)
— Short spinules on anterior margin of front legs
— Short rposterior row of blunt spinules on abdominal tergae, rather than elongated spinules dorsally
I caught several of these mature nymphs in the fishless, tiny headwaters of a creek high in the Wenatchee Mountains.
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GldstrmSam on Dec 28, 2011December 28th, 2011, 11:22 am EST
Really interesting.
I really like the hatch and the fly pattern charts at the bottom of the page.
I really like the hatch and the fly pattern charts at the bottom of the page.
There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm. ~Patrick F. McManus
Martinlf on Dec 28, 2011December 28th, 2011, 2:34 pm EST
Thanks, Matt. Hope all is well with you and that Santa treated you right.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"
--Fred Chappell
--Fred Chappell
Wbranch on Dec 28, 2011December 28th, 2011, 9:13 pm EST
Hi Louis, I'm well and hope you and your family is too. My wife outdid herself and got me a ton of the gadgets I wanted for fly fishing. I'm in the winter tying mode now and am working on Sulfurs. Finished a dozen each #16 & #18 Sulfur duns recently and am now working a dozen each the same fly and sizes but in the emerger.
I'm keeping my eyes on the Erie creeks and there has still been some good action. I'll probably go up if there is a period of 2 - 3 days of 40 degree weather.
The Big Horn used to be a phenomenal river, maybe it still is, I haven't fished there since 1993. It had just phenomenal nymph fishing. If you had reasonable nymph skills you could hammer fish all day long. The dry fly fishing was equally as good but the river got so much publicity that it became so crowded that it was difficult to go out and have a good experience. Many of the guides would camp out on a run or pool for hours and their buddies would be stacked up behind them to get in the pool. So as soon as one guide boat another would slip in behind him.
I used to stay at this campground and Googled the name of the place to see if it was still there and this page was one on the web site. BTW if anyone is thinking of going there it fishes best if you at least have a pontoon boat to get from one run to the next. It is way too deep to wade across and since it flows through the Crow reservation one can't go walking along the shore above the high water mark without running into issues.
I'm keeping my eyes on the Erie creeks and there has still been some good action. I'll probably go up if there is a period of 2 - 3 days of 40 degree weather.
The Big Horn used to be a phenomenal river, maybe it still is, I haven't fished there since 1993. It had just phenomenal nymph fishing. If you had reasonable nymph skills you could hammer fish all day long. The dry fly fishing was equally as good but the river got so much publicity that it became so crowded that it was difficult to go out and have a good experience. Many of the guides would camp out on a run or pool for hours and their buddies would be stacked up behind them to get in the pool. So as soon as one guide boat another would slip in behind him.
I used to stay at this campground and Googled the name of the place to see if it was still there and this page was one on the web site. BTW if anyone is thinking of going there it fishes best if you at least have a pontoon boat to get from one run to the next. It is way too deep to wade across and since it flows through the Crow reservation one can't go walking along the shore above the high water mark without running into issues.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Troutfly on Dec 30, 2011December 30th, 2011, 8:38 pm EST
Wow, very detailed and clean pictures. Thanks for sharing!
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