Stoneflies

Stoneflies are the largest of the three main types of trout stream insects. While far less important than caddis and mayflies in the East and Midwest where they are mostly thought of as handy nymphs to imitate when nothing much is hatching, it's in the West where this order comes into its own. They can cause outstanding fishing, and on many rivers their hatches are the premier events of the season.

The year begins with the little dark stoneflies of the Capniidae, Leuctridae, and Nemouridae families as some of the only active aquatic insects available to trout. As the year progresses into late Winter and early Spring, the Large Springflies of the Perlodidae family in the West and Willowflies of the Taeniopterygidae are sometimes the first dry-fly insects of the season. When Spring fully arrives, so do the most significant stoneflies for the angler - the gigantic Pteronarcyidae Salmonflies of western legend. The large Golden Stones of the Perlidae supplement these hatches and are more common across the country. Summer brings on significant hatches of the Little Yellow Stones of the Perlodidae family and the little yellow or green Chloroperlidae flies that are common sights.