Georgia Fly Fishing Blog

Posted By Kent Klewein on January 20, 2011

The Pteronarcys dorsata is the largest species of stonefly in the eastern United States. It’s most active during the late evenings and at night, but if you’re very lucky it’s possible to get into some great dry fly fishing. This past April, Louis Cahill and I were fly fishing a North Georgia trout stream and ran across some of these guys hatching in the rhododendrons.

Giant Eastern "Salmonfly" Stonefly - Louis Cahill Photo

To have a chance at witnessing this favorite aquatic insect of mine in person you should concentrate fishing tributaries of rivers and headwaters where’s there’s lots of riffles and plunge pools from mid-April through the end of May. These salmonflies require well oxygenated water and good water quality. Although most of your effective fly patterns for this species will be big nymphs fished in fast riffles (which are effective year-round) you always have a small chance to fish dry fly imitations to egg laying females. It’s a long shot but it did happen to us last year.

Adult & Nymph Fly Pattern for imitating the Giant Eastern Stonefly (Salmonfly)

Keep it Reel,

Categories: Fly Fishing, Louis Cahill Photography
Tags: giant salmonflies, giant stonefly, Kent Klewein, Louis Cahill, pteronarcyss dorsata, Reel Job Fishing