Rhyacophia Caddis

[Mark Coons]

Bill, Was reading your book today and you mentioned the kill off of the ” green rock worm” in 1975,do you or does anyone else happen to know the cause. It’s 35 years since. You would think they should have come back by now. I do know my buddy saw one last year so there has to be some still in the river. Thanks, Mark

[Bill Anderson]

If I said 1975, I was wrong. The “green rock worm” disappeared with the total bug kill of winter 1996-1997. Before that it was a very dependable hatch from late April thru sulfur time. In fact there were years when the only caddis dry I carried was a size 12 green Henryville with a groundhog hair wing. The bug is present in small numbers especially in the upper (up stream from Tyrone) river. But be careful what you wish for. This bug is a climax predator among macros and its presence in large numbers will be at the expense of other mayflies and caddis. Its absence (along with better water quality) may be why we have a much larger variety of bugs than we did before the kill. go to http://www.troutnut.com for a good picture of green rock worm.
Bill

[Mark Coons]

Bill, I don’t know where that year rattled out of my brain from but you”re right, I was way off. I’m still curious what was the cause of the kill.(was it some type of spill) I’m assuming this is also when the green caddis also disappeared. I have looked at the troutnut site before and saw the rhyacophia and yes it is a real predator, it almost looks prehistoric. I am enjoying the book thanks for sharing all of you’re knowledge of the river.

Mark

[Bill Anderson]

The kill was never tracked to a definitive cause (we have our suspicions). The LJRA was formed in 1998 as a response to this event. The founders were determined that if there is ever a similar event we will at least be able to track the source.
Bill

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