Willowflies

The Early Brown and Early Black Stoneflies of this family are some of the first relevant insects of the very early season. The egg-laying adults produce good dry fly fishing on lucky days when the river warms enough for the trout to rise. On cooler days their nymphs produce well.

This species was better known under its former name, Acroneuria pacifica. It's the only stonefly in the angler's Golden Stone category which bears the scientifically accepted common name Golden Stone as well.

In 1955 in Matching the Hatch, Ernest Schwiebert wrote that this species is partially responsible for the "willow fly" hatches of the West, and he described some Colorado mating flightas as "really a spectacle to see." Modern anglers more often use "willowfly" to refer to the stonefly family Taeniopterygidae instead.