An army buddy sent me this experience - something new to look for

[DeepseekerADS]

I was in Virginia last week. After the labor day crowd left I went fishing at Virginia Beach. I thought of you for a couple of reasons, first I was in Virginia and second I saw a guy with a metal detector scouring the beach and digging up the sand where he got hits. I remember some treasure hunting I did and thought you might like to hear the story.

When I was in graduate school I worked for a Professor in the aquatic biology department and some research I did involved aquatic insects. I spent a good deal of time studying the Tricoptera, and I was so into it that I actually discovered a previously unidentified species. One of the fascinating things about the group I studied was that they lived on the rocks at the bottom of fast flowing streams and they are always in danger of being washed downstream to become trout food. One of the unique ecological adaptations they have made to this existence is the construction of cases made of small rocks they pick up from the bottom and build into mobile homes, kind of like hermit crabs do only on a much smaller scale. They pick up and discard small stones until they find the "right" ones and then they cement them into a shell. One of the things they like in a stone is density, the heavier they are the better they serve to hold themselves down.

One of my friends who was a Doctoral Student told me about a guy who studied Tricoptera in the Middle American region whose name was (removed). Turns out (removed) was researching and collecting in the streams in the Black Hills and he would semi-routinely find cases that used small gold nuggets as ballast stones. I guess the bugs liked them because they were so heavy. (removed) said he had seen some of them and the story was true, there were small gold nuggets incorporated into the cases. He did not say where exactly he found them but it really does make perfect sense that any stream likely holding gold nuggets and Caddis flies (Tricoptera) wound yield an occasional larval or pupal case with gold in it. When I was in the black hills I looked. I found lots of caddis cases but no nuggets. I don't collect as much as I used to, my eyes are failing me, but who knows maybe some day.......

Hang in there.

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caddisfly

The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the basis of the adult mouthparts. Integripalpian larvae construct a portable casing to protect themselves as they move around looking for food, while Annulipalpian larvae make themselves a fixed retreat in which they remain, waiting for food to come to them. The affinities of the small third suborder Spicipalpia are unclear, and molecular analysis suggests it may not be monophyletic. Also called sedge-flies or rail-flies, the adults are small moth-like insects with two pairs of hairy membranous wings. They are closely related to the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) which have scales on their wings; the two orders together form the superorder Amphiesmenoptera.

The aquatic larvae are found in a wide variety of habitats such as streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, spring seeps and temporary waters (vernal pools).[1] The larvae of many species use silk to make protective cases, which are often strengthened with gravel, sand, twigs, bitten-off pieces of plants, or other debris. The larvae exhibit various feeding strategies, with different species being predators, leaf shredders, algal grazers, or collectors of particles from the water column and benthos. Most adults have short lives during which they do not feed.

In fly fishing, artificial flies are tied to imitate adults, while larvae and pupae are used as bait. Common and widespread genera such as Helicopsyche and Hydropsyche are important in the sport, where caddisflies are known as "sedges". Caddisflies are useful as bioindicators, as they are sensitive to water pollution and are large enough to be assessed in the field. In art, the French artist Hubert Duprat has created works by providing caddis larvae with small grains of gold and precious stones for them to build into decorative cases.

 

[russau]

seems to be another thing to look for especially while out dredging!

 

[arizau]

When you have fish bumping your legs, waders or around your dredge nozzle while you are out in the stream that is a good indicator that you are kicking up larvae, pupae or adult bugs that are living in the gravel and the fish are feeding on them. Actually that is an illegal, in some places, way to "chum" when one is fly fishing. A common term for that is the San Juan Shuffle.

 

[GrizzlyGoldTrap]

When you have fish bumping your legs, waders or around your dredge nozzle while you are out in the stream that is a good indicator that you are kicking up larvae, pupae or adult bugs that are living in the gravel and the fish are feeding on them. Actually that is an illegal, in some places, way to "chum" when one is fly fishing. A common term for that is the San Juan Shuffle.

Fished the San Jaun a lot back in 80s and 90s when it was not so packed with people. Really fun place to fly fish!