This specimen appears to be of the same species as this one collected in the same spot two months earlier. The identification of both is tentative. This one suffered some physical damage before being photographed, too, so the colors aren't totally natural. I was mostly photographing it to test out some new camera setting idea, which worked really well for a couple of closeups.
The Hendrickson hatch is almost synonymous with fly fishing in America. It has been romanticized by our finest writers, enshrined on an untouchable pedestal next to Theodore Gordon, bamboo, and the Beaverkill.
The fame is well-deserved. Ephemerella subvaria is a prolific species which drives trout to gorge themselves. Its subtleties demand the best of us as anglers, and meeting the challenge pays off handsomely in bent graphite and screaming reels.
I collected this female Hendrickson dun and a male in the pool on the Beaverkill where the popular Hendrickson pattern was first created. She is descended from mayfly royalty.
This one's a bit bedraggled because it was rainy and I had a hard time keeping anything dry, including the container I was putting mayflies in. I was practically juggling up there balanced on a rock trying to catch mayflies and trout at the same time.