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.
This Baetis nymph is quite a bit larger than any of the others I found in winter 2004. Abdomen segment 5 is only slightly pale while 9 and 10 are quite pale. The tail is banded at the tip. Its body measures about 9mm long. It's much larger than the other Baetis specimens I collected, and it has quite well-developed wingpads.
It's most likely a mature nymph from a very early-hatching brood. It comes from the headwaters of a very small, very spring-fed Lake Superior tributary, which wasn't at all frozen despite very frigid temperatures and 3 feet of snow on the ground.
This mayfly was collected from Schacte Creek, Bayfield County in Wisconsin on February 5th, 2004 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on January 25th, 2006.