Help newbie w/ bug ID?

[mbwmn]

I was fishing the Musky last night and saw 20-30 small white(ish) flies fluttering about several inches above the river surface. This was in a relatively quite pool 30+ ft upstream of a riffle. I was unable to catch one. They flew and looked very much like a caddis (moth) as apposed to a mayfly. Could these have been Whiteflies, or is there a small, late-season caddis?
Unfortunately there were no significant rises so I ended up w/ a small sunny on a cricket...

 

[Rusty Spinner]

Whiteflies. They are a Musky staple although we don't see them in the numbers we did 10+ years ago. Too much sedimentation of the river.

 

[mbwmn]

Whiteflies. They are a Musky staple although we don't see them in the numbers we did 10+ years ago. Too much sedimentation of the river.

i was looking for the "weak, useless legs" and they were not readily apparent.
i'll have to get some smaller whitefly imitations; these were smaller than anything in my box.
thanks!

 

[biot]

If they flew very low near the water in a back and forth motion they probably were a Caddis that's called the White Miller.
It has very light grey wings (that look white)and a light Olive abdomen, probably a size #16 to #18.
The way you described them,that's what they sound like to me.

 

[Corndog]

Whitefly, caddis, cahill???

MB, When you see a fly in the air catch one. Keep a small zip lock bag in your pack so you can put it in it and take it home to study. (Blow a little air into the bag before you seal it so the fly won't get crushed.) You will learn much when online trying to identify the fly, plus it will help you identify them on future trips. Thus giving you a better idea what fly to tie to your tippet.

Here's a great site to help with fly identification.

http://www.troutnut.com/

I also carry a minnow net to catch flys in. Good for scooping them out of the water as well.

Fly fishing is as much about entomology as it is about catching trout.

Cdog