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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This one seems to tentatively key to Holocentropus, although I can't make out the anal spines in Couplet 7 of the Key to Genera of Polycentropodidae Larvae nor the dark bands in Couplet 4 of the Key to Genera of Polycentropodidae Larvae, making me wonder if I went wrong somewhere in keying it out. I don't see where that could have happened, though. It might also be that it's a very immature larva and doesn't possess all the identifying characteristics in the key yet. If Holocentropus is correct, then Holocentropus flavus and Holocentropus interruptus are the two likely possibilities based on range, but I was not able to find a description of their larvae.
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Feathers5
Posts: 287
Posts: 287
Feathers5 on Mar 18, 2013March 18th, 2013, 5:13 am EDT
Color. Doesn't the underside of these nymphs appear brown/olive? I'm talking, Hendricksons, Sulfurs, Cahills, March Browns, etc. Am I correct? Please don't hesitate to set me straight.
Brruce
Brruce
Entoman on Mar 18, 2013March 18th, 2013, 8:31 am EDT
Bruce,
They run the gamut in the bottom huggers (crawlers & clingers). Imatures are often pale creams, tans, browns & grays underneath. As they "ripen", the undersides tend to take on the colors of the duns only usually exaggerated (more intense). The most common ones I run into turn yellow, orange, tan, and greenish olive.
They run the gamut in the bottom huggers (crawlers & clingers). Imatures are often pale creams, tans, browns & grays underneath. As they "ripen", the undersides tend to take on the colors of the duns only usually exaggerated (more intense). The most common ones I run into turn yellow, orange, tan, and greenish olive.
"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
Oldredbarn on Mar 21, 2013March 21st, 2013, 7:53 pm EDT
Eric...All I'll say is you started it...:)
Variation...I'm in a Vinny state of mind...
p 100, "There is a further limitation in the sobering and distasteful fact, easily observed, that there is no true uniformity of color in a given hatch of one species of mayfly. Let anyone try to establish for himself the correct color of the natural by examining and comparing not one, but many of the individuals of a single species during the hatch, and he will discover a variation so marked, in some cases, that he will forever despair of coming to a definite conclusion."
They were fairly bright way back in 1950...
Spence
Variation...I'm in a Vinny state of mind...
p 100, "There is a further limitation in the sobering and distasteful fact, easily observed, that there is no true uniformity of color in a given hatch of one species of mayfly. Let anyone try to establish for himself the correct color of the natural by examining and comparing not one, but many of the individuals of a single species during the hatch, and he will discover a variation so marked, in some cases, that he will forever despair of coming to a definite conclusion."
They were fairly bright way back in 1950...
Spence
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Jmd123 on Mar 21, 2013March 21st, 2013, 7:57 pm EDT
Oh no, you've just given Spence an excuse to tie three more boxes worth...you might want to send him some Vicodan for his back!
;oD
Jonathon
;oD
Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Oldredbarn on Mar 21, 2013March 21st, 2013, 8:20 pm EDT
Jonathon...
They are all tied up here over the last week or so, except for the spinners...:)
I have some old friends coming over tomorrow night so I had to try and make the basement presentable...What a job! It was a mess...I've been on a tying tear of late...
I'm taking a little break from cleaning before heading up to bed and just found a Starling feather stuck to my slipper...:)
Spence
They are all tied up here over the last week or so, except for the spinners...:)
I have some old friends coming over tomorrow night so I had to try and make the basement presentable...What a job! It was a mess...I've been on a tying tear of late...
I'm taking a little break from cleaning before heading up to bed and just found a Starling feather stuck to my slipper...:)
Spence
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Crepuscular on Mar 22, 2013March 22nd, 2013, 4:45 am EDT
I'm taking a little break from cleaning before heading up to bed and just found a Starling feather stuck to my slipper...:)
Spence
That's better than finding the whole bird
Jmd123 on Mar 22, 2013March 22nd, 2013, 9:16 am EDT
I actually haven't tied anything since probably September or so. Well, it's about time to start again, maybe some fresh steelhead flies like Egg-Sucking Leeches since I'm actually contemplating that again this year. Once I get a fly rod in my hands again the urge will be automatic.
Jonathon
Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
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