Header image
Enter a name
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 Psychodidae True Fly Larva from Mystery Creek #308 in Washington
This wild-looking little thing completely puzzled me. At first I was thinking beetle or month larva, until I got a look at the pictures on the computer screen. I made a couple of incorrect guesses before entomologist Greg Courtney pointed me in the right direction with Psychodidae. He suggested a possible genus of Thornburghiella, but could not rule out some other members of the tribe Pericomini.
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.

Stenonema modestum (Cream Cahill) Mayfly Nymph Pictures

I looked at this nymph closely under my crappy microscope. It has truncate as opposed to rounded gills, postero-lateral spines only on abdominal segments 7-9, and oblique crossbars through the center of each sterna, not on the posterior edge like on some of the other Maccaffertium species. As best I can tell from the keys this is either modestum or ithaca and from the distribution maps I've seen I'm guessing it's modestum.

This mayfly was collected from unknown in Wisconsin on March 10th, 2004 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on January 19th, 2006.


Start a Discussion of Nymph

Stenonema modestum (Cream Cahill) Mayfly Nymph Pictures

Collection details
Location: unknown, Wisconsin
Date: March 10th, 2004
Added to site: January 19th, 2006
Author: Troutnut
Troutnut.com is copyright © 2004-2024 (email Jason). privacy policy