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Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
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.

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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CaseyP has attached these 4 pictures. The message is below.
River Wharf below Loup Scar, above Burnsall.  caught a couple of browns, one surely wild.  spent the day Czech Nymphing as the water was a good foot above normal, deep, fast, and peaty.  peaty means a wonderful reddish gold color that made every fish look like a salmon.
Fish of the Season, according to my guide.  his or mine?  forgot to ask.  British browns are a gorgeous golden brown, no two spot patterns anything alike.  for future recognition, no doubt.
Near Addingham next day;  looks do-able.
Fast, deep, and dark--and loaded with fish!
CaseyP
CaseyP's profile picture
Arlington, VA/ Mercersburg, PA

Posts: 653
CaseyP on Jul 17, 2007July 17th, 2007, 8:33 am EDT
had a fantastic day and hope to share it with you.
"You can observe a lot by watching." Yogi Berra
Shawnny3
Moderator
Pleasant Gap, PA

Posts: 1197
Shawnny3 on Jul 17, 2007July 17th, 2007, 11:03 am EDT
Amazing fish! Congratulations.

-Shawn
Jewelry-Quality Artistic Salmon Flies, by Shawn Davis
www.davisflydesigns.com
Softhackle
Softhackle's profile picture
Wellsville, NY

Posts: 540
Softhackle on Jul 17, 2007July 17th, 2007, 12:07 pm EDT
Yeh, Casey, What a wonderful fish. Hope you are having a great time. Keep us posted.

My best,
Mark
"I have the highest respect for the skilled wet-fly fisherman, as he has mastered an art of very great difficulty." Edward R. Hewitt

Flymphs, Soft-hackles and Spiders: http://www.troutnut.com/libstudio/FS&S/index.html
GONZO
Site Editor
"Bear Swamp," PA

Posts: 1681
GONZO on Jul 17, 2007July 17th, 2007, 12:20 pm EDT
Way cool, Casey, way cool! You didn't say what tempted that Brit beauty. (Now's no time to start keeping secrets!)
CaseyP
CaseyP's profile picture
Arlington, VA/ Mercersburg, PA

Posts: 653
CaseyP on Jul 17, 2007July 17th, 2007, 11:49 pm EDT
there were three heavy nymphs on the leader: one bright pink Czech, one copper, and one tungston hare's ear. all day long the fish alternated amongst the three, but the pink and the copper got the most. the other fish pictures are characterized chiefly by the escape of the subject as the shutter snapped, but all fish pictures look alike anyway!

weather's good today--looking forward to the afternoon!
"You can observe a lot by watching." Yogi Berra
Martinlf
Martinlf's profile picture
Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3047
Martinlf on Jul 18, 2007July 18th, 2007, 1:03 am EDT
Way cool, Casey. Glad you're having some luck with the fish!
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell
Troutnut
Troutnut's profile picture
Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758
Troutnut on Jul 18, 2007July 18th, 2007, 12:46 pm EDT
Thanks for posting that Casey! "Peaty" is such a neat, British-sounding term for those tannin-stained streams. I like it.

There must be some nice satisfaction in catching browns which are both wild and native. I felt a bit of that last week catching native rainbows in Alaska.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

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