I noticed, about 3 weeks ago, that it appeared there were a couple of different callibaetis popping off, and one of them was just as Wes described. However, I think of them even a little smaller than the "scant #14", and believe they were more like a #16.
Richard ----- Original Message ----- From: "Leland Miyawaki" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 2:59 PM Subject: Re: Lenice - Nunnally Calibaetis Variations > Wes, > > It's a bit difficult identifying your bugs without a looksee. I don't > know that there are callibaetis that are not gray, gray/brown, or > dark gray. I won't question that you know the difference between a > mayfly and a midge but I have seen large midges in these lakes that > have been green to bright yellow/green at about a size 14, and you > did pick up fish on a wet green willie. > > Leland. > > > > > > >On Mon, 6 May 2002, Wes.Neuenschwander (@Home) wrote: > > > >> Fished Bobby last Saturday with Sean and a couple of other friends. Cloudy > >> to partly cloudy skies with a stiff, gusty westerly wind most of the day. > >> Very sparse activity - to either dries or emergers or slow retrieved > >> chironomids - from 9:00 to about noon when a few medium sized egg-laying > >> chironomids skittering across the protected flats began producing the > >> occasional desultory rise from otherwise uninterested trout. > >> > >> About 1:00 I decided to push on up to Nunnally, checking out the shallow > >> channel connecting the two lakes along the way. Very little activity in the > >> channel, either cruising or feeding, but as I rounded the bend to Nunnally I > >> could see large numbers of sparrows feeding intensively along the east end > >> of the lake. Foam lines and waves obscured the insect activity, but the > >> solo float tuber fishing the area said chironomids had been hatching, with > >> the occasional rising trout here and there. I trolled across the east end > >> to the tules along the south side, picking up a couple of small browns on a > >> size 12 "Green Willie" fished on my Type II uniform sink. When I neared the > >> south side I could see fish rising along the foam lines and wind-wave > >> creases so I switched to a #14 parachute pheasant tail and cast to the > >> nearest rise, a good fish barely 15' away. The fly was taken in a classic > >> head to tail rise almost immediately and a few minutes later I landed > >> another small brown, this one about 17-18" long. A couple more casts and a > >> couple more browns, but the next cast was taken viciously by a very large > >> rainbow that immediately took me into my backing, jumping 2 or 3 times along > >> the way. Fifteen minutes and about a third of a good cigar later, I landed > >> a very full-bodied 24" rainbow that would barely fit in my net. A couple of > >> casts later and I hooked a very similar fish, similarly energetic; this fish > >> breaking me off after a 200' run. I continued to catch fish running 18-22" > >> regularly until about 4:00 when the rising slowed and I had to get back to > >> the rest of the group still at Bobby. > >> > >> When I crossed back to the relatively protected waters near the connecting > >> channel, I was able to collect a couple of small Calibaetis duns that were > >> floating on the surface. These adults were quite small (a scant size 14) > >> and extremely pale, with a very light lime green - almost white - underside > >> and a light lime green (close to a Pantone 344) top. The wings were also > >> very lightly colored with very small dark brown spots, giving them almost a > >> clear appearance. At a glance, one would have taken them for PMD's rather > >> than the larger, more darkly and densely colored Calibaetis typically found > >> in eastern Washington lakes. Indeed these pale green Calibaetis were at > >> least a full size smaller than the deep mahogany colored duns we had seen > >> just a couple of weeks before on Lenice - just a mile or two away. > >> > >> Does anyone have any idea what causes this variation in size and color among > >> the Calibaetis of Nunnally and Lenice? Are these actually different > >> species, hatching more or less at the same time on closely associated waters > >> or is the variation due to environmental or seasonal factors? The small > >> pheasant tail parachutes worked fairly well, but I did get a number of > >> conspicuous refusals, so next time I would probably fish something with a > >> light dubbed body, and probably in a size 16. > >> > >> It's interesting to find yourself at the end of a day of fast and furious > > > fishing, for some particularly large and energetic trout, thinking more > >> about the bugs you saw than the fish you caught, but this has me perplexed. > >> Was this just an anomaly or does this kind of variation in size and color > >> occur commonly on other lakes and other times? I try to excuse my > >> fickleness by thinking this might be useful information, and perhaps it is. > >> > >> -Wes > >> > >> Wes Neuenschwander > >> Seattle, WA USA > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >
