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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It's only barely visible in one of my pictures, but I confirmed under the microscope that this one has a prosternal horn and the antennae are mid-way between the eyes and front of the head capsule.
I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.
The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.
Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.
The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.
Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
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Jmd123 on Sep 20, 2013September 20th, 2013, 12:44 am EDT
The bigger fish are coming up for me lately, at a time of year one usually considers the "Dog Days" around here in Michigan. Waters are low and clear (but, they are cooling nicely)...hatches are thinning (Nectopsyche only seem to bring up silly little leaping rainbows - which miss my fly more often than not!)...days are shortening...and then out of a spot I didn't think was particularly "juicy" habitat comes this beautiful 16-incher, my second biggest of the year and my biggest ever from this stretch of the Rifle. I took three pictures of it to capture the colors, which as you can see are spectacular - check out the two magenta spots on the adipose fin! I tell you what, this river sure grows some pretty browns, see the 14-incher I posted a few weeks ago from this same reach. They are all so crisp and bright, with golden-yellow backgrounds and fabulous red spots with halos, almost brookie-like.
And what fly? This fish struck out of completely silent water on a good old #12 White Wulff, on 3x tippet on my 7 1/2-ft. 3wt as it was just getting good and dark. Yeah, it's been around a good long time, it's old school, and it still works well for me after 25 years, this time with PROOF. Danged if I couldn't have gotten a shot of that 18-incher...caught on the same fly pattern two weeks ago. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
;oD
Jonathon
And what fly? This fish struck out of completely silent water on a good old #12 White Wulff, on 3x tippet on my 7 1/2-ft. 3wt as it was just getting good and dark. Yeah, it's been around a good long time, it's old school, and it still works well for me after 25 years, this time with PROOF. Danged if I couldn't have gotten a shot of that 18-incher...caught on the same fly pattern two weeks ago. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
;oD
Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
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