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.

The trees were leafing out and the trout were rising on this productive Wisconsin stream

From the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

Stream photos

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Tricorythodes (Trico) Mayfly Nymph Tricorythodes (Trico) Mayfly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Tricorythodes (Leptohyphidae) (Trico) Mayfly Nymph from Mystery Creek #308 in Washington

9 Recently Added Photos

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.

Mites and Spiders

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

Arthropod Class Arachnida

These are pretty much always called Mites and Spiders.

These occasionally aquatic creatures are not known to be particularly important to trout, but I have a few neat pictures.

Acari (Mite) Arthropod Adult

4 Pictures

This is the only picture in the set in which the mite was alive. I had to kill it in alcohol for the others, because it was scurrying around too much to stay in focus at the high zoom level needed to show some detail on such a tiny critter.

Dorsal view of a Acari (Mite) Arthropod Adult from Mystery Creek #62 in New York

These tiny little aquatic mites show up in my samples from time to time. This fairly large one is only about 1mm long, so these aren't relevant to trout, but it's interesting to know that they're down there, anyway.

Collected March 31, 2007 from Mystery Creek #62 in New York

Added by Troutnut on April 2, 2007

Collected March 31, 2007 from Mystery Creek #62 in New York and added by Troutnut on April 2, 2007

Arachnida (Mites and Spiders) Arthropod Nymph

3 Pictures