Most mayflies have two tails, but how do you tell the difference between a two tailed mayfly and a stonefly?  You probably didn’t learn this in high school, but students in Prineville’s Cook County High School did last week.  During the week of November 1 – 5, members of the Deschutes Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU)  and members of Central Oregon Flyfishers (COF) participated in an angler education program in Prineville for Middle School students of Tawnya Layne and high school students of Brian Wachs.  Tawnya teaches a semester long science class entitled “Stream Team ” where the students use Ochoco Creek as their laboratory.  Brian’s students are taking a semester long course on Fisheries and Wildlife.

The week started off with basic education in angling:  setting up a rod, tying knots, casting.  Lee Ann Ross found a great website which includes super clear graphics on knot tying, in case you want to brush up the location is: http://www.proknot.com/html/fishing_knots.html.  We started the kids off with casting yarn line practice rods, great for getting the right motion down. Tuesday was led by John Anderson covering entomology for the high school students.  In the classroom they learned the difference between mayfly and stonefly nymphs, as well as how to identify several other important taxonomic groups of insects and other aquatic critters (like scuds, aquatic sow bugs, and leeches).  John brought specimens that were displayed in vials and dishes that students were able to view with microscopes and hand lenses.  Herb and Ted helped point out key features of different insects as students prepared sketches and written descriptions of what they were observing.