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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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Report at a Glance

General RegionCentral PA
Specific LocationBruce's Swimming Hole
Dates Fished4-10
Time of Daynoon to dark
Fish CaughtBrowns
Conditions & Hatchesgrannoms and olives; chilly and cloudy.

Details and Discussion

Martinlf
Martinlf's profile picture
Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3047
Martinlf on Apr 10, 2016April 10th, 2016, 7:24 pm EDT
The fish are looking up. Not taking the olives, they liked the grannoms.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell
Feathers5
Posts: 287
Feathers5 on Apr 11, 2016April 11th, 2016, 6:10 am EDT
Stay out of my fishing hole! Thanks for the post.
Martinlf
Martinlf's profile picture
Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3047
Martinlf on Apr 11, 2016April 11th, 2016, 8:51 am EDT
Bruce this week should be hot. Go get em.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell
Cardealer12
Florida

Posts: 2
Cardealer12 on Apr 12, 2016April 12th, 2016, 10:58 am EDT
Good Luck!
Oldredbarn
Oldredbarn's profile picture
Novi, MI

Posts: 2600
Oldredbarn on Apr 12, 2016April 12th, 2016, 1:41 pm EDT
Louis...Don't go getting Bruce too revved up now! He might hurt himself. ;)

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
Gutcutter
Gutcutter's profile picture
Pennsylvania

Posts: 470
Gutcutter on Apr 15, 2016April 15th, 2016, 12:25 pm EDT
Grannoms not hatching at Little J. So stay away.
I repeat do not fish the Little J.
If you hear otherwise immediately punch the person in the throat, go home and sleep.
All men who fish may in turn be divided into two parts: those who fish for trout and those who don't. Trout fishermen are a race apart: they are a dedicated crew- indolent, improvident, and quietly mad.

-Robert Traver, Trout Madness

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