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Troutnut.com Fly Fishing for Trout: News

Troutnut.com helps fly fishermen understand life below the surface of their trout streams through thousands of extremely detailed photos of stream insects, descriptions of the behavior of hundreds of important species, and underwater photos of trout and stream invertebrates in the wild. There are original articles, trout stream landscape photos, and forum discussions. Significant updates are broadcast on this RSS channel.

Female Paraleptophlebia debilis Mayfly Dun Size: 9mm. These photos really highlight the brown pigmentation of the wing venation, but in the hand they look to be a uniform smokey gray. - Entoman Ephemerella dorothea infrequens Mayfly Nymph This mature nymph is associated with the dun from the same location and date range posted on this hatch page. Size 10mm. Lepidostoma podagrum Little Brown Sedge Larva This egg packet was dropped from the specimen with the severely foreshortened abdomen in the other photo series. It's amazing how much abdominal length is given up in this process. The egg packet looked black in the hand. Lepidostoma podagrum Little Brown Sedge Larva The photo of the specimen cased is alive. The photo of the uncased larva is the same specimen taken after it was preserved in its case. Unfortunately, there was a lot of pigment transfer making the specimen look olivaceous. In life it was grayish white as shown in the first photo. Female Lepidostoma podagrum Little Brown Sedge Adult These specimens are still alive, just very cold, so the colors are accurate. I put them in the freezer for a bit to settle them down and overdid it a little:) Male Lepidostoma podagrum Little Brown Sedge Adult Added pictures of this new specimen. Female Centroptilum album Mayfly Dun Approx. 5 mm. This is a very significant hatch. It is mostly seen at the height of Summer and I was very surprised to see it emerging this late in the season and in such numbers. When this one is emerging, the fish can become quite selective. 3 New Landscape, Scenery, and Trout Pictures Descriptions: Hydropsyche californica Caddisfly Larva Size - 14 mm Condition - preserved Habitat - cobble bottom, moderate flow run, at a depth of approx. 1 1/2 feet. Key Characters - pair of large prosternal sclerites This is a very common taxon at this location. I collected using a kick net. In life, it is bright olive green ventrally, shading to a dull olive at its dorsal abdominal surfaces. In the hand, the legs, thoraxic regions, and head appear medium chocolate brown. The stark contrast of the thoraxic plate's dark edges and light legs are effects of preserving. The plumouse anal hooks were duck down gray, not the color of the gills as appears in the preserved specimen. The Lower Yuba River is a good habitat for this species, being a larger river with an open canopy. The Feather River just to the north of the Yuba system also finds H. californica in abundance. The other common Hydropsyche species in the area, Hydropsyche occidentalis, seems to prefer smaller, shaded streams. Entoman Rhithrogena morrisoni Mayfly Nymph Size - (excluding tails) - 12 mm Status at time of photo - preserved, but photographed within days of capture. W. C. Day, Aquatic Insects of California differentiates morrisoni nymphs by submedian pale dots on tergites 8 & 9, which look to be in evidence. This is one of the "super-hatches" on this river that can be prolific March through April. Entoman Isoperla quinquepunctata Little Yellow Stonefly Nymph Size - (excluding tails) - 10 mm Status at time of photo - preserved but no discernible color change as specimen was captured only a few days earlier. Key characters - unique pattern on dorsal head and thorax; dark medial terga stripe between two paler stripes This species is very common in west slope north Sierra watersheds. Richard W. Baumann & Boris C. Kondratieff did a study on the same section and at the same time of year (APRIL 25-29, 2010) where this specimen was taken. No other species of Isoperla were reported from this location and quinquepunctata was very abundant. Their hatches can be very heavy some springs. Entoman Ephemerella dorothea infrequens Mayfly Nymph Habitat: Shallow riffle over cobble; approx. 1 ft. deep Size: 8.5 mm. Mature specimens have been captured as large as 10.5 mm. Emergence schedule: Variable - starting as early as mid March and lasting as late as early June, depending on the year. Usual duration is at least several weeks or more. Dun Association: Body is elusive pale creamy yellow w/ orange highlights, cream legs and tails, and dun wings Specimen status in photo: Preserved Collection method: Kick net Comments: Extremely common in samples taken from this location. It's color in life was very close to as depicted in the photo; except for the gradual darkening of the abdominal segments as they progress posteriorly, which has been accentuated somewhat by the effects of preservation. Adult association is based upon capture of this taxon at various stages of emergence including: darkened wingcases, split thoraxic notums, and partially ecloded or ''stillborn'' specimens. Entoman Female Ephemerella dorothea infrequens Mayfly Dun Size: 10mm. At emergence the specimen was a fairly bright olive green and there was obvious difference in color between the forewing (med. dun) and the hind-wing (pale cream). It was really noticeable as they floated by. You can just make these features out in the second photo, but not so much in the first that was taken 24 hours after capture. Total time from emergence to molting - approx. 48 hours. Entoman Female Brachycentrus americanus Caddisfly Adult Size 11 mm. Prior to this photo the specimen dropped its large egg mass that was a very dark (almost black) olive sphere almost twice the diameter of the abdomen. Notice the abdomen visible through the wings is both thickened and shortened post egg drop. Ephemeroptera The life history and behavior information for Ephemeroptera has been updated.