Salmonflies
Pteronarcys californica
The giant Salmonflies of the Western mountains are legendary for their proclivity to elicit consistent dry-fly action and ferocious strikes.
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This is a striking caddis larva with an interesting color pattern on the head. Here are some characteristics I was able to see under the microscope, but could not easily expose for a picture:
- The prosternal horn is present.
- The mandible is clearly toothed, not formed into a uniform scraper blade.
- The seems to be only 2 major setae on the ventral edge of the hind femur.
- Chloride epithelia seem to be absent from the dorsal side of any abdominal segments.
Based on these characteristics and the ones more easily visible from the pictures, this seems to be Grammotaulius. The key's description of the case is spot-on: "Case cylindrical, made of longitudinally arranged sedge or similar leaves," as is the description of the markings on the head, "Dorsum of head light brownish yellow with numerous discrete, small, dark spots." The spot pattern on the head is a very good match to figure 19.312 of Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019). The species ID is based on Grammotaulius betteni being the only species of this genus known in Washington state.
- The prosternal horn is present.
- The mandible is clearly toothed, not formed into a uniform scraper blade.
- The seems to be only 2 major setae on the ventral edge of the hind femur.
- Chloride epithelia seem to be absent from the dorsal side of any abdominal segments.
Based on these characteristics and the ones more easily visible from the pictures, this seems to be Grammotaulius. The key's description of the case is spot-on: "Case cylindrical, made of longitudinally arranged sedge or similar leaves," as is the description of the markings on the head, "Dorsum of head light brownish yellow with numerous discrete, small, dark spots." The spot pattern on the head is a very good match to figure 19.312 of Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019). The species ID is based on Grammotaulius betteni being the only species of this genus known in Washington state.
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Jmd123 on Jul 23, 2018July 23rd, 2018, 3:54 pm EDT
Didn't see many fish feeding, or very many insects on the water - except of course for the deer flies buzzing around my head. I did manage to smack at least 5 of them tonight...and they left me alone once it got dark, and wonderfully so did the mosquitos! The water was nice and cold, not typical for late July, and there was mist on the water the whole evening. A scattering of small caddis and a very few mayflies were all that I saw, and mostly small fish feeding but there were a few that were bigger, like the one above. A bit unexpected were some nice wildflowers blooming on the banks! Overall, the night began a bit rough, with deerflies and the sun bouncing off the river right in my eyes, but the end of the evening was most pleasant and I did get one nice one, plus a couple of little guys.
My fishing activities are finally picking up!
Jonathon
My fishing activities are finally picking up!
Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Wbranch on Jul 23, 2018July 23rd, 2018, 4:38 pm EDT
Nice looking water. It sure looks like it could hold a good number of 16" - 18" browns.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Jmd123 on Jul 23, 2018July 23rd, 2018, 5:36 pm EDT
Matt, so far the Rifle has yielded me one 18-incher and two 16's, one of the latter from this water. the limit here is 15", and I have gotten many, many 14-15" fish from this water (and my other favorite spot upstream). It gets heavily canoed and fished, so I suspect the big guys only come out at night. The three big ones above all hit after dark or as it was just getting dark. And I only fish on the week nights, skip the weekends with all those obnoxious canoes and kayaks and etc. But yes, it's a nice looking reach, tonight I managed to capture it almost perfectly. Would have been a perfect night without the deer flies, but hey, nothing's perfect. I'm very happy the mosquitos were a no-show, after my last two trips where they swarmed me at dusk while fish were biting!
Jonathon
Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Martinlf on Jul 24, 2018July 24th, 2018, 5:38 am EDT
Beautiful photos. Thanks Jonathon.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"
--Fred Chappell
--Fred Chappell
Partsman on Jul 25, 2018July 25th, 2018, 12:34 am EDT
Jonathon, great pictures. We are lucky here in Michigan to have so many nice streams to fish. I went up to the Mason Tract yesterday, water is very low and clear. It was a good day to explore the river, there were some fish rising to bwo,s, I caught a few small brookies and saw one really nice brook trout. I think im going to spend some time looking around and trying to learn that system a little more.
Mike.
Mike.
Adirman on Jul 25, 2018July 25th, 2018, 3:34 am EDT
Good stuff Johnathon, thanks for sharing , wish I could be there !!
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