Pete -
Many thanks,
I have the collection apparatus and little vials but I've seldom been able to
put down the rod and turn over stones. I really wish that I'd collected a
certain stonefly about four years ago. Back then I was choosing to tie flies
based on what the actual insect tasted like to me.
If the insect tasted good I figured that the trout was also gonna be
interested. Turns out that there are certain mayflies that taste sorta like
the pale green base of a grass shoot. Mosquitoes are amazingly sweet, and some
of the small brown caddis are fairly nutty, like a very weak almond. Maybe
this was a clue to selectivity!??!
Anyway, my friend Billy liked to egg me on, you know... sort of the Jackass
situation, and he caught a monster huge adult stonefly and then insisted that
there was no way I'd eat that sucker. So in the face of a "double-dog-dare-ya"
I chomped that thing (making sure that the wings were still outside while
chewing, for maximum visual effect) and it tasted really *bad*.
Not like rotten or anything, just mostly like old mud. But that's not the best
part of the story because that night I couldn't get to sleep (ZING) and my
pulse was seriously elevated (maybe 160)... racing thoughts,... etc. Anyway,
the sensations were similar to what's delivered by certain controlled
substances (not that I have any direct experience with those).
Anyway, it kind of undermined my "taste" theory of selective trout, but mostly
I wish I had preserved a sample of that bug, since some other friends who are
expert in herbal medicine were intrigued by the unknown chemistry that that
stonefly embodied.
Anyway(2), I should have thought of all this back when the IOFF discussion was
going on, cause it might have earned me a wacky place in the that collection,
but work was busy then. I still think taste has meaning in some instances,
although trout are clearly visual predators.
Anyway(3), I'll go back to that place this summer, and with your fine formula
in my pocket, will capture the stonefly in question, turn it over to my lab
friends, and see if it takes a place in the pharmacopeia.
Mark
--- "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Hey, Mark K! Just gained access to the computer after 3 days and the
> weekend, and I'm going through 212 more e-mails after this one...
>
> My preservative for 'bugs' is as follows:
> 7 parts Grain Alcohol (aka 200-proof Ethyl Alcohol)
> 1 part Glycerol/ Glycerin
> 2 parts water (I use deionized, but you don't have to)
>
=====
Mark Klemick ! GoFishGo ! [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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