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3. Isonychia velma dun emerging

The season for Isonychia is pretty much past on the Russian River for the year but I found this straggler today. When I caught the nymph it was kind of sluggish and twitching. Thought it was injured during collection but then noticed it had an unusual, almost plastic look to it and about half an hour later the adult started emerging. Isonychia nymphs usually crawl out on a rock or piece of wood when they emerge but apparently they can do it in calm water as well. Doesn't take long for the whole process. From the exoskeleton splitting along the back to full emergence of the subimago took about 30 seconds.

Female. Length of larva and subimago 22 mm (excluding cerci).

Love these emergence photos! Thanks.

This is a great photo set , color of shuck and wing, I have been doing my own study of these as I love to fish them when I can. There seems to be an idea that they only emerge in slow water , or on the banks of the rive. I have seen this bug swim at super speeds and emerge mid river, with fish destroying them! I'm working on emerger patterns for them.

Nutman, I've watched them emerge midstream also. So neat! A klinkhamer style emerger works at times. I sometimes tie it with a twisted marabou abdomen, with some hanging off the end as tails/ shuck.

Yes, wonderful images.

I've seen mid-stream emergences too.

Loved those Iso's (bicolor), when I was back East. Haven't run into anything fishable here yet. I had a nymph tie I really liked, both dead-drifted and fished actively. One particularly satisfying memory was finding Iso activity on a small unsung NY stream on the day Charlie Meck arrived to fish it with me (he putting together a book on unsung streams). I took a deep-shouldered brown in the 16" range on a 6-1/2ft 3wt from that little creek that day, swinging my Iso tie.

I've never seen Isoynchia emerge midstream, but my references are western species. They seem to emerge on shore or near it, from rocks or wood where there is a dry area. I'll keep my eyes out for midstream emergence.

I. biocolor also emerges from shoreline substrate, like many stoneflies do. But they, like some stoneflies, can also emerge mid-stream. Isn't there anything rock solid in the living world?

"Isn't there anything rock solid in the living world?"

Not if Mother Nature has anything to do with it! Remember, insects don't read entomology text books...or any other books for that matter.

I can remember many times when I was delineating a wetland and certain plant species were growing in the "wrong" place. Well, plants don't read wetland manuals...

Jonathon