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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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DangerAF1 has attached these 3 pictures to aid in identification. The message is below.
DangerAF1
DangerAF1's profile picture
CO

Posts: 2
DangerAF1 on Apr 19, 2020April 19th, 2020, 3:29 pm EDT
Could use a little help here. I know I've got some stonefly fly nymphs in the first picture but does anyone have ideas of the other few bugs that are in these shots
I like to put a little jiggle in my wiggle to set the hook
Millcreek
Healdsburg, CA

Posts: 344
Millcreek on Apr 19, 2020April 19th, 2020, 5:22 pm EDT
Jay,
You have some caddisflies in the bottom picture, probably Hydropsyche. The mayfly nymphs are possibly Heptagenia and the light colored cylindrical ones are members of the fly family (Diptera). The top picture is a midge or mosquito.
"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"
-Albert Einstein
DangerAF1
DangerAF1's profile picture
CO

Posts: 2
DangerAF1 on Apr 20, 2020April 20th, 2020, 6:48 am EDT
Thank you for the help I'm really new to fly fishing and I've been picking up every book I can but there's a lot to learn. So I really appreciate the patience that you guys have on this forum in teaching people like me how to enjoy the sport even more. I'll be sure to start putting all of my insects on white backgrounds for photography and anything else you can recommend to make this easier for me to learn and more productive for fishing.
I like to put a little jiggle in my wiggle to set the hook

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