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Building a Collection

Like any type of collection, there are several ways to approach it.   The goal of seining is to give you knowledge of the quantity, variety and stage of aquatic life in a body of water so here are a couple ideas to help jump start your collection.

1 - Types of water:   Make sure to include and record the varieties of water you fish, because they all relate to the types of insects you'll find.   Riffles vs pools, clear vs murky water, rocky stream vs vegetation filled run, etc.

2 - Seasonal differences:   Do you fish the same size, color and type of fly in every season ?   Probably not, and seasonal seining will help make sense of the adjustments you can make.

3 - Different Regions:   If you're lucky enough to travel a little and hit waters in other states or countries, it's always fun to have samples of what you found.

4 - The Odd-balls:   Every so often you find an insect you just can't believe.   Thumb-sized stoneflies, monsterous Green Drake nymphs, etc.   (good conversation pieces among your FF friends !)

Label Your Vials !

Your collection will grow, and your memory will fade !!   Some form of indexing/labeling is required in order for your collection to provide value.   One easy way is to cut small strips of index card paper to include inside the vial.   You won't be able to fit much info, so keep it simple.   Include a reference to your stream log sheet from that day and an identification for the insect.   I've also used colored stickers on the lid to quickly identify the major species.

Storing & Organizing

How you organize a collection to make it usable is purely personal preference.   Some people have a set of vials for each major river they fish.   Others maintain a collection by season, so it's easy to take out the "winter" bugs and tie some up.   You can also organize by nymph vs adult, or simply by type of insect.   Experiment a little as your collection grows to see what works for you.

A Couple Hints:

1.   Once you've had the insects stored for day or two you may notice debris (dirt, waste, etc) or even a colored tint to the solution.   While not harmful, it does make reviewing the insect more difficult.   Simply wait a couple days, empty out the existing solution and refill.

2.   Some insects change color while in the preserving solution.   Olive Scuds are a prime example.   They turn orange within a couple hours, and will eventually turn completely white.   The solution will tint to orange as well.   So it can be important to view the colors before preserving.

3.   Make sure to cross-reference the vials to your Stream Logs.   Use a simple numbering or lettering scheme to identify a specific stream log.   By matching this log to your vials, you can tell when and where an insect was collected as well as the conditions at that time.

 
 
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