Header image
Enter a name
Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York
Blue-winged Olives
Baetis

Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.

27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
Troutnut is a project started in 2003 by salmonid ecologist Jason "Troutnut" Neuswanger to help anglers and fly tyers unabashedly embrace the entomological side of the sport. Learn more about Troutnut or support the project for an enhanced experience here.

Light Cahills

Like most common names,"Light Cahill" can refer to more than one taxon. They're previewed below, along with 12 specimens. For more detail click through to the scientific names.

Mayfly Genus Stenacron

These are pretty much always called Light Cahills.
The species in this genus were formerly classified in Stenonema. See the genus Maccaffertium for details. Only one species, Stenacron interpunctatum, is important to fly fishermen. See its page for details.
Artistic view of a Male Stenacron (Heptageniidae) (Light Cahill) Mayfly Dun from the Teal River in Wisconsin
Lateral view of a Male Stenacron interpunctatum (Heptageniidae) (Light Cahill) Mayfly Spinner from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
Stenacron (Heptageniidae) (Light Cahill) Mayfly Nymph from unknown in Wisconsin

Mayfly Species Stenonema ithaca

These are often called Light Cahills.
Lateral view of a Female Stenonema ithaca (Heptageniidae) (Light Cahill) Mayfly Dun from the Little Juniata River in Pennsylvania
This female looks very much like a male I collected a few hundred miles away a few days later, so I'm guessing it's the same species, which I believe is Maccaffertium mediopunctatum.
Lateral view of a Stenonema ithaca (Heptageniidae) (Light Cahill) Mayfly Nymph from Paradise Creek in Pennsylvania
This specimen seems to be of the same species as a dun I photographed which emerged from another nymph in the same sample.

Mayfly Species Stenonema pulchellum

These are often called Light Cahills.

Mayfly Species Cinygma dimicki

These are sometimes called Light Cahills.
Lateral view of a Male Cinygma dimicki (Heptageniidae) (Western Light Cahill) Mayfly Spinner from the Cedar River in Washington
I found a couple small (one or two dozen flies) clouds of these male spinners dancing low over the riffly parts of a pool in this fast river draining out of the Cascades.

Mayfly Species Epeorus vitreus

These are sometimes called Light Cahills.
This is the second most common Epeorus species in the East and Midwest. Most anglers will encounter sporadic hatches of Epeorus vitreus once in a while, and sometimes a more concentrated emergence causes a good rise of fish.
Male Epeorus vitreus (Heptageniidae) (Sulphur) Mayfly Dun from the Beaverkill River in New York
This is my favorite mayfly from 2004, and it appears on my popular Be the Trout: Eat Mayflies products. Check them out!

Its identification is really up in the air. It might be a late-season vitreus dun but it may very well be one of the more obscure species in that genus.
Artistic view of a Female Epeorus vitreus (Heptageniidae) (Sulphur) Mayfly Spinner from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
Epeorus vitreus (Heptageniidae) (Sulphur) Mayfly Nymph from unknown in Wisconsin

Mayfly Species Ephemerella invaria

These are very rarely called Light Cahills.
This species, the primary "Sulphur" hatch, stirs many feelings in the angler. There is nostalgia for days when everything clicked and large, selective trout were brought to hand. There is the bewildering memory of towering clouds of spinners which promise great fishing and then vanish back into the aspens as night falls. There is frustration from the maddening selectivity with which trout approach the emerging duns--a vexing challenge that, for some of us, is the source of our excitement when Sulphur time rolls around.

Ephemerella invaria is one of the two species frequently known as Sulphurs (the other is Ephemerella dorothea). There used to be a third, Ephemerella rotunda, but entomologists recently discovered that invaria and rotunda are a single species with an incredible range of individual variation. This variation and the similarity to the also variable dorothea make telling them apart exceptionally tricky.

As the combination of two already prolific species, this has become the most abundant of all mayfly species in Eastern and Midwestern trout streams.
Lateral view of a Male Ephemerella invaria (Ephemerellidae) (Sulphur) Mayfly Dun from Penn's Creek in Pennsylvania
Lateral view of a Male Ephemerella invaria (Ephemerellidae) (Sulphur) Mayfly Spinner from the Teal River in Wisconsin
Dorsal view of a Ephemerella invaria (Ephemerellidae) (Sulphur) Mayfly Nymph from the Beaverkill River in New York
This small Ephemerella invaria nymph was at least a month away from emergence.
Troutnut.com is copyright © 2004-2024 (email Jason). privacy policy