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.

I caught several wild and colorful 8-9 inch brook trout in the clear little pool below this waterfall.

From Mystery Creek # 89 in New York

Stream photos

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Ephemerella mucronata Mayfly Nymph Ephemerella mucronata Mayfly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Ephemerella mucronata (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington

This is an interesting one. Following the keys in Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019) and Jacobus et al. (2014), it keys clearly to Ephemerella. Jacobus et al provide a key to species, but some of the characteristics are tricky to interpret without illustrations. If I didn't make any mistakes, this one keys to Ephemerella mucronata, which has not previously been reported any closer to here than Montana and Alberta. The main character seems to fit well: "Abdominal terga with prominent, paired, subparallel, spiculate ridges." Several illustrations or descriptions of this holarctic species from the US and Europe seem to match, including the body length, tarsal claws and denticles, labial palp, and gill shapes. These sources include including Richard Allen's original description of this species in North America under the now-defunct name E. moffatae in Allen RK (1977) and the figures in this description of the species in Italy.

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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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Friday on the South Fork of the Boise

Pteronarcys californica (Giant Salmonfly) Stonefly Nymph

2 Pictures

Pteronarcys californica (Pteronarcyidae) (Giant Salmonfly) Stonefly Nymph from the Touchet River in Washington

Here are two size classes of Pteronarcys nymphs. These probably represent two different generations. The largest will probably emerge next spring and the other in two years. There is probably another generation, smaller, I did not collect. In a Canadian study they discovered Pteronarcys eggs do not all hatch simultaneously but hatch for a period of nearly two years, making their egg/nymphal life 5 years. The other photo is of a curled nymph, a typical response to disturbance.

Collected August 9, 2011 from the Touchet River in Washington

Added by Bnewell on August 10, 2011

Collected August 9, 2011 from the Touchet River in Washington and added by Bnewell on August 10, 2011

Bjorntofish
Posts: 1

Bjorntofish on Jul 2, 2012July 2nd, 2012, 8:50 pm EDT

Friday, the PC stoneflies were hatching and flying midway up the river in the quality stretch of the South Fork of the Boise Rive (Idaho.) The fish seemed to be gorged with nymphs and only wanted the big nymphs fished in the current. We used large black Brooks flies with rubber hackle. They ignored most of the adult flies that fell to the surface. But the big bombers were lumbering over the water all day. Pretty exciting environment for fishing. At one point, I had two crawling on my neck while I was trying to work my drift into a large fish's feeding lane. Life is good.