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Baetis

Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.

Stream photos

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Grayling fishing and bug collecting at Nome Creek

Grayling fishing and bug collecting at Nome Creek

By Troutnut on July 10th, 2011
It's been a busy year, and this is the first time I've been out fly fishing. My wife and I drove up to Nome Creek for a couple hours, looking for some easy action on small grayling, and it did not disappoint. I was still threading the line up through my guides when I heard her calling from the stream with a grayling on her fly. I told her that since she got the first fly-caught fish of the year, she can officially wear her I outfish my husband! merchandise now.



I also collected some nymphs for the site for the first time in a few years, including several mature Ephemerella aurivillii nymphs. Our dog Taiga had not experienced kick-netting before, but she decided to try to be as helpful as she could, imitating me by walking in front of the net and pawing at the water. The collection was very successful.

Photos by Troutnut from Nome Creek in Alaska

Closeup insects by Troutnut from Nome Creek in Alaska

15
Male Ephemerella aurivillii Mayfly Spinner
This spinner molted from a dun after being photographed, and the dun form is listed here as a separate specimen. I've rarely found a more cooperative and photogenic mayfly.
14
Male Ephemerella aurivillii Mayfly Dun
This is the most widespread species of Ephemerella, and also the most abundant in some places, but nobody I've talked to seemed to know what its duns looked like, and there were no pictures of its duns online or in any angling books. That mystery is solved with this male dun, which hatched from a definitively identified nymph.
9
Cinygmula ramaleyi Mayfly Nymph
This nymph is almost definitely the same species as this dun, which hatched from a nearly identical nymph from the same collection.
7
Female Cinygmula ramaleyi Mayfly Dun
This dun is almost certainly of the same species as this nymph, as it hatched in my cooler from a nearly identical nymph.
5
Female Ephemerella aurivillii Mayfly Dun
This dun hatched out in my aquarium from this nymph.
4
Ephemerella aurivillii Mayfly Nymph
8
Male Cinygmula ramaleyi Mayfly Dun
This dun hatched out from a nymph in my aquarium on July 16th, after being collected July 10th. It is probably of the same species as this nymph, and this dun which also hatched from one of these seemingly identical nymphs.
5
Drunella doddsii Mayfly Nymph
5
Ephemerella aurivillii Mayfly Nymph
This nymph hatched out in my aquarium into this dun.
8
Heptagenia pulla Mayfly Nymph
Like most Alaskan mayflies, this one is tricky to identify to the species level. See the discussion section for an informative chat about this one's ID. The current leaning is to call it a fairly immature Heptagenia pulla nymph, but a case has been made for Heptagenia elegantula as well.
9
Male Ephemerella aurivillii Mayfly Dun
This dun hatched in my aquarium on July 16th from an easily identified nymph collected on July 10th, and it molted into a spinner after I photographed it. The beautiful spinner form is listed as separate specimen. I forgot to photograph the dun with the ruler, but naturally his size is pretty similar to what it was as a spinner.
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