Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

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.

A small spring creek in Wisconsin. A little brook trout stream tumbles over boulders

Stream photos

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Female Sweltsa borealis (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult Female Sweltsa borealis (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult

Lateral view of a Female Sweltsa borealis (Chloroperlidae) (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Harris Creek in Washington

I was not fishing, but happened to be at an unrelated social event on a hill above this tiny creek (which I never even saw) when this stonefly flew by me. I assume it came from there. Some key characteristics are tricky to follow, but process of elimination ultimately led me to Sweltsa borealis. It is reassuringly similar to this specimen posted by Bob Newell years ago. It is also so strikingly similar to this nymph from the same river system that I'm comfortable identifying that nymph from this adult. I was especially pleased with the closeup photo of four mites parasitizing this one.

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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.

Eddy Creek

Landscape & scenery photos from Eddy Creek

A couple Canada geese take off from the scenic but nasty, swampy, and apparently troutless headwaters of a small, beaver-ravaged stream.

From Eddy Creek in Wisconsin

What was once an excellent trout stream now meanders through a swamp as a shallow, silty beaver pond. The ground is anything but firm, and I was insane to try to navigate it on foot.

From Eddy Creek in Wisconsin

A beaver swims around the swampy corpse of a trout stream his species destroyed, with a little help from ours.

From Eddy Creek in Wisconsin

Underwater photos from Eddy Creek

This stickleback lost fear of the camera after I held it still long enough in the icy water.

Here a stickleback investigates a little piece of grass in the slack water of a beaver pond on a remote stream rumored to have been great for brook trout at one time. It's now a swampy hellhole ruined by silt-trapping beaver dams, and I found no trout. Wading it in early April, when the ground was only half-frozen, was a nightmare.

Hex MayfliesHexagenia limbata

Trout Streams › Wisconsin › Eddy Creek