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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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Falsifly
Falsifly's profile picture
Hayward, WI.

Posts: 660
Falsifly on Jul 22, 2014July 22nd, 2014, 6:46 am EDT
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/?n=mayflygeneral#July202014
Click on July 20, 2014 and scroll down.
Falsifly
When asked what I just caught that monster on I showed him. He put on his magnifiers and said, "I can't believe they can see that."
Kschaefer3
Kschaefer3's profile picture
St. Paul, MN

Posts: 376
Kschaefer3 on Jul 22, 2014July 22nd, 2014, 7:51 am EDT
I saw that. AWESOME! I should have been fishing that evening.
Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Jul 22, 2014July 22nd, 2014, 8:32 pm EDT
When I was in the Tawas Bay area (Lake Huron) today I noticed a LOT of fresh Hex on the front of some buildings. They're still not done around here, no doubt due to the still cooler than average temperatures we're having. Hey, I'm not complaining, it saves me on electric bills for air conditioning and it will keep the trout streams going through the normal "dog days" of August and September - I never did very well at this time of year until last year, when cooler, moister conditions kept them going for me...

Jonathon

P.S. Light Cahills were thick on one of my favorite spots last night - and I have seen fish react to this hatch like it was the Hex, everybody is up on top feeding!
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
RMlytle
RMlytle's profile picture
Connecticut

Posts: 40
RMlytle on Jul 26, 2014July 26th, 2014, 10:44 am EDT
I'd imagine you could catch all sorts of interesting species on dries in an emergence like that.
Gus
Gus's profile picture
colorado

Posts: 59
Gus on Jul 28, 2014July 28th, 2014, 11:11 am EDT
most have been some happy fish around those parts!
"How do you help that son of a bitch?"

"By taking him fishing"

-A River Runs Through It

www.jsrods.com

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