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.

I caught a nice brookie a few weeks earlier in this pool at the junction of a split channel in the stream. The huge fallen tree is great cover.

From the Mystery Creek # 23 in New York

Stream photos

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Skwala (Large Springfly) Stonefly Nymph Skwala (Large Springfly) Stonefly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Skwala (Perlodidae) (Large Springfly) Stonefly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington

This Skwala nymph still has a couple months left to go before hatching, but it's still a good representative of its species, which was extremely abundant in my sample for a stonefly of this size. It's obvious why the Yakima is known for its Skwala hatch.

6 Recently Added Photos

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.

Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or support the project for an enhanced experience here.

Biggest of the year, from the kayak on a KBF in November

Jmd123 has attached these 3 pictures. The message is below.

Big fat 16-incher, my biggest trout of the year (so far)

Jmd123

Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474

Jmd123 on Nov 2, 2015November 2nd, 2015, 3:40 pm EST

I have been fishing this lake for over 4 years and have never gotten any decent trout...until now! For the last month I have been taking the kayak out here with my 5-weight and some #6 KBFs and hauling in the perch like crazy, up to 12" long. A few trout too, bigger than any in previous years, used to get just scrawny little ones but in the past month some I got three between 10.5 and 11.5 inches, and lost one considerably bigger that whacked a KBF right next to the boat!

Well, today the big one didn't come loose, and I boated this beautiful 16-incher on a #6 KBF in standard grey and silver with some rainbow flash thrown in for good measure. No, I didn't release it, this is a stocker (planted at 6-7") in a lake with no inlet or outlet, and therefore no spawning habitat. The most amazing thing about this fish was what came out of it's stomach when I cleaned it: SNAILS! That's right, a while bunch of snails came out all over the deck like pebbles when I stuck the knife into him. Like 90% of his stomach contents were snails, mostly Planorbidae with their flattened spires but a few other species as well. The only insects I saw were a couple of backswimmers and one leaf-footed bug. Got three perch too, those also went into the freezer...

Biggest danged trout I've caught all year, nice to be out still catching fish in November!! We have a few more days of nice (low 60s F) weather ahead so I'll be back out there again on Wednesday (have to teach tomorrow). And ice fishing there this winter!!

Jonathon

No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...

Steps25

Connecticut

Posts: 31

Steps25 on Nov 2, 2015November 2nd, 2015, 3:53 pm EST

Beauty

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9EYyyN9n2CwQr-XZClT4bg/
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Partsman

bancroft michigan

Posts: 321

Partsman on Nov 2, 2015November 2nd, 2015, 4:54 pm EST

Nice job Jonathon, looks like rainbow on the Barbie!

Mike.

Creno
Grants Pass, OR

Posts: 302

Creno on Nov 2, 2015November 2nd, 2015, 5:42 pm EST

The perch are the dream for us folks who no longer live in that part of the world!

Jmd123

Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474

Jmd123 on Nov 2, 2015November 2nd, 2015, 5:52 pm EST

Thanks, guys. The perch are pretty tasty from this lake (and around here in general). The flesh on the rainbow is salmon-pink...still couldn't believe the number of snails inside of it, like it was full of gravel...fond remembrances of trout chow pellets from it's distant past in the hatchery??

Jonathon

No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...

Martinlf

Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3047

Martinlf on Nov 2, 2015November 2nd, 2015, 5:58 pm EST

Nice work, Jonathon!

"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell

TimCat

Alanson, MI

Posts: 121

TimCat on Nov 2, 2015November 2nd, 2015, 7:32 pm EST

Nice catch. Didn't think trout ate snails like that. I've heard the MDNR will sometimes introduce pumpkinseed panfish if there is a muscle or snail overpopulation in some places... maybe they should consider rainbows

BTW that KBF pattern looks nice, like a bugger meets a clouser minnow or something.

"If I'm not going to catch anything, then I 'd rather not catch anything on flies" - Bob Lawless

Feathers5
Posts: 287

Feathers5 on Nov 3, 2015November 3rd, 2015, 4:55 am EST

I have been fishing this lake for over 4 years and have never gotten any decent trout...until now! For the last month I have been taking the kayak out here with my 5-weight and some #6 KBFs and hauling in the perch like crazy, up to 12" long. A few trout too, bigger than any in previous years, used to get just scrawny little ones but in the past month some I got three between 10.5 and 11.5 inches, and lost one considerably bigger that whacked a KBF right next to the boat!

Well, today the big one didn't come loose, and I boated this beautiful 16-incher on a #6 KBF in standard grey and silver with some rainbow flash thrown in for good measure. No, I didn't release it, this is a stocker (planted at 6-7") in a lake with no inlet or outlet, and therefore no spawning habitat. The most amazing thing about this fish was what came out of it's stomach when I cleaned it: SNAILS! That's right, a while bunch of snails came out all over the deck like pebbles when I stuck the knife into him. Like 90% of his stomach contents were snails, mostly Planorbidae with their flattened spires but a few other species as well. The only insects I saw were a couple of backswimmers and one leaf-footed bug. Got three perch too, those also went into the freezer...

Biggest danged trout I've caught all year, nice to be out still catching fish in November!! We have a few more days of nice (low 60s F) weather ahead so I'll be back out there again on Wednesday (have to teach tomorrow). And ice fishing there this winter!!

Jonathon

Nice catch. For what does KBF stand?

Jmd123

Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474

Jmd123 on Nov 3, 2015November 3rd, 2015, 5:30 pm EST

Bruce and Tim, KBF stands for Killer Bass Fly, which got it's name after I landed a 20" 5-lb. largemouth on it in Texas. It has caught many more big bass for me since, not to mention plenty of perch and an increasing number of trout. Tim is sorta right that it is somewhat between a Woolly Bugger and a Clouser Minnow. My original inspiration was a steelhead fly called the Comet, which has the same basic construction but is tied in bright orange and yellow and with flat tinsel and bucktail. I use grizzly marabou topped with Krystal Flash for the tail, tinsel chenille for the body (if a fish hits it and lets go, tiny fragments of tinsel come off that look like scales), a webby grizzly hackle collar tied coned back, and bead-chain for lighter/smaller ones and dumbells for bigger/heavier ones.

Can't tell you how many danged fish I've caught on this fly over the last ten years, including several personal records (of which this trout was one)...

Jonathon

Illustrations follow:

http://www.troutnut.com/topic/8016/KBF-photos-for-Kyle-and-others

No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...

Oldredbarn

Novi, MI

Posts: 2600

Oldredbarn on Nov 3, 2015November 3rd, 2015, 7:27 pm EST

Nice job, Jonathon...Spending time on the water pays off.

Spence

"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively

"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood