Header image
Enter a name
Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
Blue-winged Olives
Baetis

Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.

Lateral view of a Female Sweltsa borealis (Chloroperlidae) (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Harris Creek in Washington
I was not fishing, but happened to be at an unrelated social event on a hill above this tiny creek (which I never even saw) when this stonefly flew by me. I assume it came from there. Some key characteristics are tricky to follow, but process of elimination ultimately led me to Sweltsa borealis. It is reassuringly similar to this specimen posted by Bob Newell years ago. It is also so strikingly similar to this nymph from the same river system that I'm comfortable identifying that nymph from this adult. I was especially pleased with the closeup photo of four mites parasitizing this one.
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.

Jmd123 has attached these 20 pictures. The message is below.
Such a beautiful species of fish
Will I ever tire of catching these gorgeous creatures?
No, probably not, especially the way they bend my 3-weight over double!
Lepiota procera, the Parasol Mushroom - this one is edible
A pretty little Russula species on the way to the bass pond at Clark's Marsh
The bass pond got pretty grown over with weeds, hard to find any open water to drop flies into
Whorled loosestrife, Decodon verticellatus - learned this plant in the summer of '85 - related to the evil purple loosestrife but this one's native
Close-up of whorled loosestrife flowers
Indian-pipe, Monotropa uniflora - this is a non-photosynthetic plant that gets its nutrition from a fungus associated with it's roots
Blue bottle gentian, Gentiana andrewsii
...and its white variant, forma alba
Sphex pennsylvanicus, a katydid-hunting solitary wasp, one of my favorite insects
Goldenrods and aquatics along the banks of the Au Sable
Turtlehead, Chelone glabra
Great blue lobelia, Lobelia syphilitica (unfortunately name, once thought to cure syphilis, does not)
Gotta throw an orchid in there...ladies'-tresses, Spiranthes cernua
Sneezeweed, Helenium autumnale
Grass-of-parnassius, Parnassia glauca
White snakeroot, Eupatorium rugosum
Of course it just wouldn't be fall without asters!
Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Sep 21, 2018September 21st, 2018, 1:16 pm EDT
Well I haven't done enough fishing lately but the weather is partially responsible. Just got a bunch more rain and now the wind is howling at 25-40 mph...but one day last week, conditions were perfect so I launched the kayak at [REDACTED] Pond. Flat water, brookies rising, partly cloudy, almost no wind! I was going to throw KBFs and Woolly Buggers around to sample the perch population or see if any brookies hit them, but I saw enough rises to convince me to put on a hopper. Not fast and furious, but more slow and steady, with lots of beautiful fish in the 8-10" range and one nice 11-er to top them all off. Twitching a #10 hopper got them to hit, nice sloppy loud takes too on the bigger ones. And no pestering insects, got off the water before any mosquitoes really showed up...a lovely afternoon and evening, and a little more trout fishing before I leave this beautiful place. For...

Had an interview by telephone with a firm in Hampton, VA on Wednesday - which is right on the Atlantic Ocean! Haven't heard back yet, but it went very well, looks like lots of wetland work. keep your fingers crossed for me, folks!

In the meantime, here's some pretty fishies and other things I've seen lately. Enjoy!

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

Posts: 46
Summer_doug on Sep 21, 2018September 21st, 2018, 10:33 pm EDT
Those are some absolute beautiful brookies - in my mind, the most beautiful fish.

Glad to hear that you had a phone interview and I’ll pray for that opportunity. Although we are both from Michigan, I met my wife in VA and will always feel a special connection to the place.

Doug
From Michigan
Wbranch
Wbranch's profile picture
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2635
Wbranch on Sep 22, 2018September 22nd, 2018, 6:58 am EDT
Jon, Are you a botanist? Would that even be the right term for someone skilled in the common and Latin names of flora?
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Partsman
Partsman's profile picture
bancroft michigan

Posts: 321
Partsman on Sep 22, 2018September 22nd, 2018, 10:40 am EDT
Jonathon, thanks for all the wonderful pictures from northeast Michigan, which is one of the most beautiful places in our great country. I have mixed emotions about your new possible employment, I know you need to the best you can for your self, but I have also very much enjoyed your reports and photos of a area I love, your humor and knowledge have made this a very important website for me. I still hope to meet you someday wading down a couple of those places we have fished.

Good luck and take care, Mike.
Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Sep 22, 2018September 22nd, 2018, 11:24 am EDT
Matt, in case you didn't know this already, I have a BS in botany from the University of Michigan, got that way back in 1986. And have been doing it ever since, and even got the chance this past summer to teach my first very own college field botany class myself. I've loved plants since the age of 4, it was my first interest in life and still my oldest love. I've been fortunate enough to live in a place with spectacular botanical diversity these past (almost) 8 years, and I have many books on flora of other states I've lived in and visited. So yes, I am a botanist, pretty much to the core, been doing that even longer than I've been fishing (started that at 9, fly-fishing at 21).

I'm glad you all like the photos! No matter where I end up at, expect them to keep coming. It's my pleasure to show the beauty of the natural world around me.

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Sep 22, 2018September 22nd, 2018, 1:16 pm EDT
BTW here's the lowdown on that big black wasp - it was described by Linnaeus himself!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphex_pensylvanicus

I caught some of these in my trap nests (artificial nesting habitat for wood-hole-nesting Hymenoptera, i.e. imitation hollow twigs) back when I was researching pollination relationships in the solitary bees, especially the leafcutter bees (Megachilidae). These guys would show up in the largest diameter holes (I had six sizes ranging from 4-9 mm), stuff them with one huge katydid (or on one interesting case a whole bunch of little ones!), and seal the nest with a bunch of grass sticking out way beyond the aperture. The article linked above says that their nests are raided by sparrows and catbirds, and I now realize that this would keep the birds from pecking through any other kind of covering or sealant (bees used leaves, leaf pulp, plant resins, etc.), kinda pointy and difficult to deal with.

Interesting creature and I've been noticing them for decades. And I see them often on milkweeds as stated in the article, including butterflyweed which is just an orange milkweed. As fascinating as aquatic insects are, the Hymenoptera will always be my favorite Order.

Jonathon

P.S. Here's a link to an article on trap-nesting that shows the technique. This is what I did for my Master's Degree!

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/etpmcpo12918.pdf
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Martinlf
Martinlf's profile picture
Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3047
Martinlf on Sep 22, 2018September 22nd, 2018, 4:07 pm EDT
Gorgeous! Thank you.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell
Wbranch
Wbranch's profile picture
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2635
Wbranch on Sep 23, 2018September 23rd, 2018, 4:04 am EDT
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Sep 23, 2018September 23rd, 2018, 4:23 am EDT
Thanks, Matt! Yep, we're not just all about aquatic bugs here. After all, hopper imitations are working really well now.

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

Quick Reply

Related Discussions

Topic
Replies
Last Reply
Troutnut.com is copyright © 2004-2024 (email Jason). privacy policy