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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.

Case view of a Pycnopsyche guttifera (Limnephilidae) (Great Autumn Brown Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
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.
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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Mcjames
Cortland Manor, NY

Posts: 139
Mcjames on Jul 3, 2007July 3rd, 2007, 5:11 am EDT
one of my fondest memories is of fishing a small, warm, silty little suburban stream in W Phila suburbs and in a single day catching brown trout, largemouth and smallmouth bass, yellow perch, creek chubs, roach, sunfish and even a juvenile tiger muskie that must have swum up from the resevoir below. We also saw some carp but couldnt entice them with our woolly buggers. Would love to hear of similar experiences.
I am haunted by waters
GONZO
Site Editor
"Bear Swamp," PA

Posts: 1681
GONZO on Jul 3, 2007July 3rd, 2007, 5:39 am EDT
James, I'm pretty sure I know the stream you mention. (The tiger muskie from the reservoir gave it away.) In my neighborhood, both the Yellow Breeches and the Conodoguinet provide similar variety. On the Breeches, in addition to stocked rainbows, brooks, and browns, there are wild trout around the spring creek feeders (as there are on the Connie) and smallmouth, largemouth, pickerel, bluegills, redbreasts, pumpkinseeds, sunfish hybrids, rock bass, fallfish, chubs, shiners, suckers, and carp. I don't pursue mixed bag fishing as much as I used to, but it can be fascinating and refreshing. As a kid on the Breeches, I used to delight in seeing how many different species I could catch in a day.
Mcjames
Cortland Manor, NY

Posts: 139
Mcjames on Jul 3, 2007July 3rd, 2007, 5:56 am EDT
Man I only fished Yellow Breeches once, when I was about 12... my friend's dad took us, and we spent all day on some little feeder stream right by the parking lot that was swarming with trout..we never even made it to Yellow Breeches proper... my friend's dad still teases us about fishing in "the aquarium" when there was a famous trout stream just a few yards away... I would love to go back for a mixed-bag outing.

The stream I was talking about is called Crum Creek, it forms the Springton Lake Reservoir in Delaware County. I am impressed you know about it-- have never seen another fisherman on it above the reservoir(which is not surprising I guess it isnt much of a stream). However I have caught occasional brownies there since I was a kid and I recently found a population study on the web that documented a (small) wild trout population.
I am haunted by waters
GONZO
Site Editor
"Bear Swamp," PA

Posts: 1681
GONZO on Jul 3, 2007July 3rd, 2007, 4:30 pm EDT
James,

That "little feeder stream" you mention sounds like it would have to be the Little Run here in Boiling Springs. It's the outlet of Boiling Springs Lake and it connects with the Breeches a bit below the parking lot. It's a part of the special regulation section of the Breeches and was probably designated "Fish-for-Fun" when you were there.

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