Megaloptera Chauliodinae (Fishfly)

[albatross]

Found on the Yough 3 miles downstream of Confluence on June 7, 2014. I thought it might be an Alderfly, but the white markings I think put it firmly in the Fishfly family.

Special thanks to David Colner, hand model...

 

[MrMustard]

Albatross,

did you see this specimen/any others in the air? I was a couple miles up from Ohiopyle on Saturday as well. I saw some big ugly flies hovering around but wasn't sure what they were. I'm thinking that this may be the culprit.

Also, how did you guys do?

 

[albatross]

Yes, David grabbed it out of the air. We initially thought it might be a stonefly. There were all sorts of large aquatic insects about. We saw green, brown, and yellow drakes but not in numbers to get the fish excited. The only fishable hatch was the light cahill. We had maybe 90 minutes of good dry fly action prior to dark. Earlier in the day we picked up a few odd fish swinging wets and nymphing. My general impression was the fish were not yet settled down into a regular pattern. We've had too much high water this spring, and the Yough is blown out again!

How did your day go?

 

[MrMustard]

Yeah I was thinking big stonefly as well but wasn't able to get my hand on one. I would subscribe to your thoughts on the fish being unsettled. This is the first time I have fished the Yough this spring. I have been waiting for the levels to drop and stabilize, but it hasn't happened all year.

I did ok nymphing some pocket water and a long run. I landed 4 and missed/lost a few more. I was hoping to see some green drakes in good numbers for some dry fly action but didn't see many fish rising consistently. I saw a decent #of spinners at dusk, but the fish never really turned on to them. I picked up one fish swinging a green drake nymph, the rest were on an orange hotspot Beadhead pheasant tail.

I also netted a fish for a guy throwing a big heavy rooster tail about half way across the river. it was a solid 18 inch silver football. He caught another as I was making my way back up to the trail. That was the only other person I saw fishing.

 

[David]

Good call with the white stripes... I was thinking dobsonfly as it had small protrusions from it's face that I thought might be pinchers, but you nailed it... as usual.

PS Mustard... Alby, as usual, caught a pig of a rainbow that had a girth to match its length that rivaled the rooster tail fish.

 

[Chaz]

I'd say fish fly too, but some people do call them alder flies.