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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.

Stream photos

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July 4th getaway to a small stream

July 4th getaway to a small stream

By Troutnut on July 4th, 2020
Looking to do something outdoors and asocial during July 4th of the year of Covid-19, I took my wife to a small stream full of feisty westslope cutthroat trout. Of course, being July 4th, there were a few people around the easy-to-access spots (i.e. places to drive and set up a cushy camp ten feet from the truck), but it was easy to walk past them and have a beautiful little stream to ourselves. I'm both baffled and grateful that so few people see the value in chasing little trout in pretty little streams.

Videos by Troutnut from Mystery Creek #249 in Washington

Cinygmula par mating flight

It's remarkable what thick hatches, and especially spinner flights, can come from a species few anglers have ever heard of. The genus Cinygmula is thought to produce unremarkable spinner flights, but this one would certainly have gotten the trout going if it weren't happening just before dark on a small stream where there isn't a lot of nocturnal feeding.

Featuring: Mayfly Species Cinygmula par
Added by Troutnut on Jul 12, 2020

Photos by Troutnut from Mystery Creek #249 in Washington

Closeup insects by Troutnut from Mystery Creek #249 in Washington

7
Drunella doddsii Mayfly Nymph
7
Female Ephemerella excrucians Mayfly Dun
Although there is no key to female duns, I'm calling this dun Ephemerella excrucians because I collected several mature nymphs of that species on the same trip.
5
Drunella grandis Mayfly Nymph
9
Epeorus longimanus Mayfly Nymph
11
Male Ephemerella excrucians Mayfly Nymph
I used the ID of this nymph (and some others like it) to infer the identity of a female dun collected on the same trip.
15
Male Rhithrogena hageni Mayfly Spinner
I collected this spinner from the trail (old logging road) above a whitewater canyon on a small stream in the Cascades. I'm using its positive ID to put a species ID on a female dun and [speclink id]1217]mature nymph collected on the same trip.
7
Female Rhithrogena hageni Mayfly Dun
I was surprised by the olive cast on the body of this female Rhithrogena dun, which led me to mistake it for a western green drake (Drunella) in the field. I was pleasantly surprised to get a closer look and find something I hadn't collected yet. Its species ID is based on proximity to male spinner collected on the same trip, as well as physical similarity (size, tergite coloration, dark streaks on the femora) to that specimen.
6
Female Suwallia pallidula Stonefly Adult
I didn't key this one out under the microscope, but I just keyed a similar one from Montana and this one matches the macroscopic appearance closely enough that I'm guessing it's the same thing.
9
Male Cinygmula par Mayfly Spinner
This spinner came from one of those huge swarms that make one just stop fishing and admire the spectacle. Not bad for a little-known species. In the same swarm I collected a female and another male.
3
Female Cinygmula par Mayfly Spinner
This female spinner was captured in a swarm with this male and this other male, allowing for identification.
9
Male Cinygmula par Mayfly Spinner
This specimen was collected from a swarm with a female and another male.
9
Rhithrogena hageni Mayfly Nymph
I'm basing the ID of this near-mature nymph on a male spinner with similar size and markings, collected on the same trip. There isn't a key to reliably identify the nymphs of most Rhithrogena species otherwise.
8
Chironomidae True Fly Larva
I don't see a lot of green Chironomidae larvae in my samples, so I photographed this one.
10
Dolichopodidae True Fly Larva
5
Hexatoma True Fly Larva
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