Throughout the months of July, August, and September, these stoneflies can be found on many freestone rivers throughout the northern Rockies.
Below are a couple of pictures that I managed to snap this evening of some freshly hatched short-wing stoneflies. It appears that it's time to bolster the Chernobyl supply.
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Never heard of them. How big are they?
ReplyDeleteThey're big, comparable to golden stones. Size 8 for the females, 10 for the males.
DeleteWill, nice pics of the short-winged stones. I've encountered them often along the Metolius River in Oregon, particularly in late August and on into September. They can be a significant hatch there at that time of year, and will bring some explosive strikes from redsides. I have had success using Clark's Stone-type patterns, although I have no doubt Chernobyl patterns work as well.
ReplyDeleteIain
Hi Iain - That's interesting to hear. I've seen them as late as early October here in Montana. A tan Chernobyl-style fly works really well. Were they commonly referred to as "short-wing stones" in the Metolius area? Around here most people refer to them as "midnight stones". Hope your summer is going well! I just checked out your spring reports from Oak Creek... very nice. It's great to see the creek producing so many browns in the 20"+ class.
DeleteWill
Will, the short-winged stones tend to be called "willow flies" around the Metolius, and they are found in greater numbers in the middle section of the river; I have seen both the shorter-winged males and the larger females scurrying atop the river surface, and sometimes redsides will detonate on the large insects. As you noted, I have also found tan-bodied patterns to be effective, to match the more drab colors of the naturals, compared with golden stones. I will actually be heading there in mid to late August to chase after both redsides and bulls, so I'll let you know how it goes...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments on the blog, I have felt pretty fortunate this year with some of the fish I have connected with on Oak Creek, not to mention a few other spots in northern AZ...
Iain
You sure about that?
ReplyDeleteAm I sure about what? That they're not goldens? I assure you they aren't. You might have heard of them by one of the many common names that this species goes by: midnight stone, nocturnal stone, summer stone, short-wing stone... willow fly. The scientific name is Claassenia sabulosa. To the untrained eye they look similar to goldens. Their habits are much different than those of the golden, at least in the adult form.
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