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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 Glossosoma (Glossosomatidae) (Little Brown Short-horned Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
I caught this tiny larva without a case, but it seems to key pretty clearly to to Glossosomatidae. From there, the lack of sclerites on the mesonotum points to either Glossosoma or Anagapetus. Although it's difficult to see in a 2D image from the microscope, it's pretty clear in the live 3D view that the pronotum is only excised about 1/3 of its length to accommodate the forecoxa, not 2/3, which points to Glossosoma at Couplet 5 of the Key to Genera of Glossosomatidae Larvae.
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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Flyfishingn
Posts: 4
Flyfishingn on Mar 6, 2018March 6th, 2018, 1:31 pm EST
Hello,

Trying to figure out what species of fish is in this really old photograph. Pretty sure it was taken in the Montana/Wyoming area.



Any ideas?

Thanks!
Iasgair
Iasgair's profile picture
Colorado

Posts: 148
Iasgair on Mar 7, 2018March 7th, 2018, 5:00 am EST
I want to say that it's cutthroat. They on occasion will school up like that. There is one fish in particular, the one closest to the camera, seems to have spots on the tail that look as though they move up the body towards the head and then fade off like they do.

I really don't believe they are landlocked salmon.
Flyfishingn
Posts: 4
Flyfishingn on Mar 7, 2018March 7th, 2018, 5:24 am EST
I want to say that it's cutthroat. They on occasion will school up like that. There is one fish in particular, the one closest to the camera, seems to have spots on the tail that look as though they move up the body towards the head and then fade off like they do.

I really don't believe they are landlocked salmon.


Thank ya sir. I had somebody on another forum guess cutthroat as well. We may have a winner!

Cheers
Flyfishingn
Posts: 4
Flyfishingn on Mar 7, 2018March 7th, 2018, 10:43 am EST
So far I've had two people guess Cutthroat and a third guess Sucker Fish. Anybody see a reason to favor one over the other?
Creno
Grants Pass, OR

Posts: 302
Creno on Mar 7, 2018March 7th, 2018, 1:11 pm EST
Do you have any idea on the context of the pic? Why are they stacked up like that- hatchery? Any idea on size - minnows at the bait shop? While it would not explain the aggregation, there appears to be a white base at many of the ventral fins and several with what looks like white ventral margin on the tail fin. That with what appears to be a pointed head and maybe large eyes says walleye.
Flyfishingn
Posts: 4
Flyfishingn on Mar 7, 2018March 7th, 2018, 2:30 pm EST
I wish I had more context, but I don't. And not being familiar with fly fishing or the habit of fish, I don't even have any assumptions to offer.

All I really know is that this is in a Stream somewhere in the south Montana/Northwest Wyoming area.

I had somebody on another forum point out that these fish seem to have adipose fins, which suckers don't have. So maybe they're Trout after all.
PaulRoberts
PaulRoberts's profile picture
Colorado

Posts: 1776
PaulRoberts on Mar 11, 2018March 11th, 2018, 11:30 am EDT
They are salmonids.

Guesses as to possibly identity(ies):

Tails not square enough for brookies, or possibly for adult-sized browns either.

Possibly Kokanee, not in spawning condition. Then I don't know why such a crowd, unless this is in a hatchery, or a massive lake draw-down.

Possibly Whitefish, but snouts too long and not subterminal enough.

If this is a cold spring during a hot summer drought, then it could be a mix of species.

I possibly see pale patches on the fin edges, tail and bodies, which might indicate fungal infections that are common post-spawn. Might be a post-spawn aggregation of trout trying to head back to a lake.

My best guess is Oncorhynchus, cutts or bows, at a spring during summer drought. Second guess, post-spawn aggregation, arrested in their attempts to get somewhere.
Wbranch
Wbranch's profile picture
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2635
Wbranch on Mar 19, 2018March 19th, 2018, 1:03 pm EDT
The 2nd fish in on the bottom left hand corner has a head very much like a Rocky Mountain Whitefish. I don't want to disagree with Paul because he is a lot more savvy than I am but it appears to have that under slung mouth that whitefish have and considering how prolific they are in many of the Montana rivers I fish that is my guess.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Troutnut
Troutnut's profile picture
Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758
Troutnut on Mar 19, 2018March 19th, 2018, 2:47 pm EDT
I'm guessing they're suckers (family Catastomidae) of some sort. In the bottom left part of the image, for several fish you can see pretty well the outline of the back where the adipose fin should be in a salmonid (including whitefish), and I can't see one. The body proportions just don't look right for any kind of trout, too, but it's harder to quantify that.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

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