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.
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This is a striking caddis larva with an interesting color pattern on the head. Here are some characteristics I was able to see under the microscope, but could not easily expose for a picture:
- The prosternal horn is present.
- The mandible is clearly toothed, not formed into a uniform scraper blade.
- The seems to be only 2 major setae on the ventral edge of the hind femur.
- Chloride epithelia seem to be absent from the dorsal side of any abdominal segments.
Based on these characteristics and the ones more easily visible from the pictures, this seems to be Grammotaulius. The key's description of the case is spot-on: "Case cylindrical, made of longitudinally arranged sedge or similar leaves," as is the description of the markings on the head, "Dorsum of head light brownish yellow with numerous discrete, small, dark spots." The spot pattern on the head is a very good match to figure 19.312 of Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019). The species ID is based on Grammotaulius betteni being the only species of this genus known in Washington state.
- The prosternal horn is present.
- The mandible is clearly toothed, not formed into a uniform scraper blade.
- The seems to be only 2 major setae on the ventral edge of the hind femur.
- Chloride epithelia seem to be absent from the dorsal side of any abdominal segments.
Based on these characteristics and the ones more easily visible from the pictures, this seems to be Grammotaulius. The key's description of the case is spot-on: "Case cylindrical, made of longitudinally arranged sedge or similar leaves," as is the description of the markings on the head, "Dorsum of head light brownish yellow with numerous discrete, small, dark spots." The spot pattern on the head is a very good match to figure 19.312 of Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019). The species ID is based on Grammotaulius betteni being the only species of this genus known in Washington state.
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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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