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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.

Lateral view of a Male Baetidae (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #308 in Washington
This dun emerged from a mature nymph on my desk. Unfortunately its wings didn't perfectly dry out.
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.
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Angler's Curses

This common name refers to only one family. Click its scientific name to learn more.

Mayfly Family Caenidae

These are often called Angler's Curses.
The tiny mayflies of this family are usually found in warm, slow, marginal trout water, although some trout streams hold good populations too.

The only genus ever known to produce fishable hatches is Caenis. It turns up frequently for anglers who sample nymphs, but it is rarely of any practical importance for fly fishing because its emergence traits and tiny size (even smaller than Tricorythodes) make it relatively unimportant.

Brachycercus is even more focused on warm water than Caenis.
Here's a goofy picture of a Caenis dun falling off the back of a leaf, never to be seen again.  These mayflies are very tiny and fragile, and very hard to capture and photograph without damaging. This little dun hatched from the nymph in a tub of nymphs while I was picking through for aquatic specimens to photograph... I grabbed the leaf it hatched onto and tried to take some pictures but it got away after about half a picture.

Female Caenis (Caenidae) (Angler's Curse) Mayfly Dun from unknown in Wisconsin
Caenis (Caenidae) (Angler's Curse) Mayfly Nymph from unknown in Wisconsin
I confirmed the identity of this nymph by looking at it under a microscope to be certain of the shape of its gills and head.

Angler's Curses

Scientific Name
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