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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.

Dorsal view of a Ephemerella mucronata (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington
This is an interesting one. Following the keys in Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019) and Jacobus et al. (2014), it keys clearly to Ephemerella. Jacobus et al provide a key to species, but some of the characteristics are tricky to interpret without illustrations. If I didn't make any mistakes, this one keys to Ephemerella mucronata, which has not previously been reported any closer to here than Montana and Alberta. The main character seems to fit well: "Abdominal terga with prominent, paired, subparallel, spiculate ridges." Several illustrations or descriptions of this holarctic species from the US and Europe seem to match, including the body length, tarsal claws and denticles, labial palp, and gill shapes. These sources include including Richard Allen's original description of this species in North America under the now-defunct name E. moffatae in Allen RK (1977) and the figures in this description of the species in Italy.
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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Mcflyangler
Mcflyangler's profile picture
New Mexico, United States

Posts: 35
Mcflyangler on May 20, 2017May 20th, 2017, 4:48 am EDT
Fishing is my passion, and when I catch a brown trout this big, its an amazing day! I pulled out 2 other large browns out of this pond in the same day. This guy fought for a while, and was an absolute blast to catch! Definitely my personal record trout.

Mc Fly Angler
http://www.mcflyangler.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/mcflylures
Iasgair
Iasgair's profile picture
Colorado

Posts: 148
Iasgair on May 20, 2017May 20th, 2017, 4:46 pm EDT
You should be very proud. And thank you for releasing it.
Wbranch
Wbranch's profile picture
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2635
Wbranch on May 20, 2017May 20th, 2017, 10:47 pm EDT
Nice fish but for it's size it surely didn't fight very well. Two minutes and it was in the net.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Mcflyangler
Mcflyangler's profile picture
New Mexico, United States

Posts: 35
Mcflyangler on May 21, 2017May 21st, 2017, 1:13 pm EDT
It was much longer than 2 minutes Branch... I did some editing to keep the video short...
Mc Fly Angler
http://www.mcflyangler.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/mcflylures
Mcflyangler
Mcflyangler's profile picture
New Mexico, United States

Posts: 35
Mcflyangler on May 21, 2017May 21st, 2017, 1:14 pm EDT
I release all my good fish and most fish in general. I think once or twice a year I will keep a trout, but its usually in a stocked pond that is stocked just for people to keep them. I wouldn't never dream of taking a fish that sized out of such a small fishery. LOL
Mc Fly Angler
http://www.mcflyangler.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/mcflylures

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