Winter stoneflies. Most years, these little insects, whose larvae dwell on stream and river bottoms, begin to hatch in February and to seek landfalls on the nearby shore.

Emerging from icy waters as nymphs, they shed their skins to become dark, winged insects, about six to nine millimeters in length—weak fliers who spend most of their time crawling across the snow, probably on missions that entail mating.

Writing about these insects three years ago, I supposed that their emergence was triggered by lengthening February days, and wondered “what would happen if local streams, including the Delaware River, were tightly sealed by ice” during February.

The answer—in this winter’s prolonged icy conditions—has been a weak stonefly hatch. I’ve seen a couple dozen on snow below the Damascus Bridge, where the river and nearby Cashe’s Creek are open, but that’s the largest hatch I’ve found.

For the myriads of stoneflies that normally explore the Delaware shoreline near my place, I’ve supposed one of two fates: either they’ve delayed their hatching and will emerge when the ice breaks up, or they’ve been trapped below, and will perish.

The Big Eddy. Ice fishing continues on the Narrowsburg Eddy, with one fisherman a story in himself. Four weeks ago we ran a picture of Ralph Delamater of Carbondale holding a 21-inch walleye. Two days later Ralph had major cancer surgery, but on March 2 was at the Eddy again, enduring the rain and slush to catch three more walleyes.

Ron Piorkowski of Honesdale landed a 31-inch walleye the same day. Ron, Ralph and other fishermen were supported by 21 inches of ice, the winter’s thickest.