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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.

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.
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.

Landscape & scenery photos from the Chatanika River

The Chatanika River in Alaska
Here's the first of many new pictures of Alaska that I'll be putting online as soon as I get the chance. It's a panorama of my dad standing and looking across the valley of the river where we both caught our first arctic grayling an hour or so later.

You've got to see it full-size to appreciate it.

From the Chatanika River in Alaska
My dad went to great lengths to place a good cast above this high spruce sweeper into a little back slough where he saw a grayling rise.  The cast was good, he assures me, but the grayling did not take.

From the Chatanika River in Alaska
The Chatanika River in Alaska
The Chatanika River in Alaska
The Chatanika River in Alaska
The Chatanika River in Alaska
The Chatanika River in Alaska
The Chatanika River in Alaska
Here's a little bigger arctic grayling from my first day fishing for them.
The Chatanika River in Alaska

Underwater photos from the Chatanika River

This simple rubber-legged foam beetle is one of my favorite flies for Arctic grayling.  It's quick to tie so I don't mind losing one or two on snags.  It's durable, so one fly can last a hundred fish or more.  It never needs floatant to ride the surface well.  Most importantly, it catches fish, although grayling often hit almost anything.  The bold profile and attention-grabbing plop of the beetle, I think, draw fish from farther away than a more subtle fly might, and it often draws unusually savage strikes.

From the Chatanika River in Alaska
The Chatanika River in Alaska

References

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