Docsflies - Aquatic Insects

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Beaver Valley Inn

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Pulaski, New York

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Cross Fork, PA

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Fishing the Salmon River

Salmon & Trout

Pulaski, New York

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Other:

The Wulff School of Fly Fishing

P.O. Box 984, Livingston Manor, New York

Ph. 845-439-5020

Aquatic Insects:

USE - The intend use of the aquatic macroinvertebrate table below is to provide the angler an idea of the most prolific insect fauna in each stream. While insect populations change seasonally, an angler fishing a fly that mimics a prolific insect "§" should increase his or her chances of catching fish. An example of the use of this table is as follows; an angler decides to fish Clarks Creek (PA), a quick scan of the table reveals the following prolific insects:

Epeorus pleuralis

Ephemerellidae ephemerella

Hydropsychidae hydropsyche

Philopotamidae dolphilodes

Therefore, the angler should come prepared with the following flies in nymph, larval and adult form: Quill Gordon, Hendrickson, Olive and Tan caddis. The table below is provided as an aid to the fly fisherman. As this strategy carries no guarantee, a variety of flies should be brought when fishing the streams below.

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KEY TO AQUATIC INSECTS
Mayflies = Yellow	Caddis = Green	Stoneflies = Orange	Other = Grey
1 = Clarks Creek, Dauphin County, PA
2 = Spring Creek, Centre County, PA
3 = Swatara Creek, Dauphin County, PA
1 mm = scale most readily visible in the pictures below
‡ = no photo due to small size or poor specimen quality
§ = prolific in comparison to other specimens ( > 10 collected )

AQUATIC INSECTS TABLE
Aquatic Macroinvertebrate	Scientific Name	Common Name
6 - 15 mm	Epeorus pleuralis, 1§	Quill Gordon
3 mm ‡	Heptagenidae leucrocuta, 2	Pale Evening Dun
3 - 9 mm	Heptagenidae stenacron, 1, 2	Light Cahill or Pale Evening Dun
4 - 10 mm	Ephemerellidae ephemerella, 1§, 2§	Hendrickson or Pale Evening Dun
8 - 12 mm ‡	Ephemeroptera stenonema, 1, 2	Cream Cahill
2 - 6 mm	Baetidae baetis, 1, 2§	Blue-winged Olive
4 mm ‡	Baetidae acentrella, 2	Blue-winged Olive
14 mm	Isonychia sp., 3	Bicolor, White-Gloved howdy or Isonychia
4 - 7 mm ‡	Leptophlebildae Sp., 1, 2	Slate-winged Mahogany Dun
5 mm ‡	Limnephilidae goerita, 2	Cased Caddis or Cased Sedge
6 - 16 mm	Hydropsychidae hydropsyche, 1§, 2	Hydropsyche Caddis, Tan or Olive Caddis or Spotted Sedge
3 - 13 mm	Rhyacophilidae rhyacophila, 2	Rhycophila Caddis, Olive or Green Caddis, green Sedge or Green Rock Worm
4 - 13 mm	Philopotamidae dolophilodes, 1§, 2	Little Caddis or Little Sedge
3 mm ‡	Brachycentridae micasema, 2	Grannon
1 mm ‡	Hydroptilidae hydroptila, 2	Vari-colored micro caddis
19 mm	Pteronarcys sp., 1	Giant Black Stonefly
11 - 30 mm (body length)	Acroneuria sp., 1	Giant Golden Stonefly
8 mm ‡	Perudae acroneuria, 2	Brown Willow Fly or Golden Stonefly
4 mm ‡	Perlodidae isoperla, 2	Yellow Sally
4 mm ‡	Leuctridae leuctra, 2	Needle Fly or Little Brown Stonefly
4 mm ‡	Simulium tuberosum, 1	Black Gnat
4 mm ‡	Simulium Vittatum, 2	Black Gnat
3 - 9 mm	Chronomidae sp., 1, 2§	Chronomide or Midge
3 - 6 mm	Tipulidae antocha sp., 2	Cranefly
32 mm	Corydalus sp., 3	Hellgrammite or Dobson Fly
2 - 4 mm ‡	Asellidae caecidotea, 2	Cress bug
4 - 12 mm	Asellidae lirceus, 2§	Cress bug
4 mm ‡	Elmidae gonielmis, 1	Riffle beetle
2 mm ‡	Elmidae macronychus, 1	Riffle beetle
4 - 7 mm ‡	Elmidae optioservus, 1, 2	Riffle beetle
3 mm ‡	Elmidae stenelmis, 2	Riffle beetle
1 mm ‡	Hydracarina sp., 2	Water mite
10 mm	Planaria sp., 1	Flat worm
2 - 20 mm	Oligochaeta sp., 1, 2§	Aquatic earthworm
15 - 28 mm	Astacidae cambarus, 1	Crayfish
2 mm ‡	Conchostraca sp., 2	Clam shrimp
2 mm ‡	Mollusca sp., 1	Freshwater mussel