Hex Mayflies
Hexagenia limbata
The famous nocturnal Hex hatch of the Midwest (and a few other lucky locations) stirs to the surface mythically large brown trout that only touch streamers for the rest of the year.
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This one seems to tentatively key to Holocentropus, although I can't make out the anal spines in Couplet 7 of the Key to Genera of Polycentropodidae Larvae nor the dark bands in Couplet 4 of the Key to Genera of Polycentropodidae Larvae, making me wonder if I went wrong somewhere in keying it out. I don't see where that could have happened, though. It might also be that it's a very immature larva and doesn't possess all the identifying characteristics in the key yet. If Holocentropus is correct, then Holocentropus flavus and Holocentropus interruptus are the two likely possibilities based on range, but I was not able to find a description of their larvae.
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This topic is about the Mayfly Genus Isonychia
Sporadic hatches are rarely as outstanding as those of Isonychia. On streams with good populations, they are reliably hatching in light numbers, here and there, for most of the evening through most of the mid- to late season.The spinners, and occasionally the duns, produce more concentrated action, but the real value of the Isonychia hatch is its duration and the size of the flies; large trout become ever watchful for them, even when they aren't emerging.
All the species of Isonychia are similar in appearance and behavior.
Example specimens
Jsell925 on Jul 17, 2007July 17th, 2007, 2:07 pm EDT
Penns is one of the few places where a #10 iso will nail em' all year long
GONZO on Jul 18, 2007July 18th, 2007, 4:43 am EDT
Justin,
Welcome to the site! Many find that the Delaware is also a great place to use the slate drake as a searching fly. The rainbows of the Big D seem to be especially fond of a big Iso imitation fished anytime from late spring into the fall. Personally, I'm a big fan of imitating the nymphs.
Welcome to the site! Many find that the Delaware is also a great place to use the slate drake as a searching fly. The rainbows of the Big D seem to be especially fond of a big Iso imitation fished anytime from late spring into the fall. Personally, I'm a big fan of imitating the nymphs.
Jimphoto on Sep 20, 2007September 20th, 2007, 1:08 pm EDT
I've found an emerger pattern to be successful on Penns. Apparently not all the nymphs crawl out on stones or the bank to hatch.
Konchu on Sep 22, 2007September 22nd, 2007, 12:24 pm EDT
Curious. Could it be that some get splashed back into the stream? Just a thought for discussion.
Shawnny3 on Sep 23, 2007September 23rd, 2007, 2:25 am EDT
...or could it be that the technical details of our flies don't matter all that much to the fish?
(I say this as much to draw Gonzo out of hiding as to make any serious point.)
-Shawn
(I say this as much to draw Gonzo out of hiding as to make any serious point.)
-Shawn
Jewelry-Quality Artistic Salmon Flies, by Shawn Davis
www.davisflydesigns.com
www.davisflydesigns.com
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