| This is a pickled stonefly, now 4-5 years old.
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| It lost its coloring long ago. But pickled bugs
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| are still useful models to work with for sizing,
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| shape and profile.
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| Adult Pteronarcys Californica (Salmon Fly) stoneflies
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| average 1-5/8" to 1-3/4" long (4.1 -- 4.4cm).
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| Every once in a long while you'll find one a full two inches long.
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| That's a big bug. It's no wonder the fish like to dine when it's Salmon Fly time.
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| But Salmon Fly imitations tend to be too bushy for me. Most have
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| long hackles that make the fly ride too high on the water.
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| Real stoneflies sit low on the water, dimpling the surface
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| tension. They squirm and wiggle until they somehow manage
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| to fly away or drown.
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| Smaller Golden Stoneflies almost always hatch simultaneously,
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| or perhaps a week or so later. Either way, the fish will
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| take a floating dry fly imitation weeks after the hatch.
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| If we had a sirloin or flank steak hatch in summer, I'd be temptable too,
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| even weeks after it was all over.
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Adult Natural bottom
Adult Natural side
Adult Natural top
Bug Photos/
BunyanBugger
Foam Adult Side
Foam Adult Top
Foam Adult bottom
Goldenstone Bottom
Goldenstone Top