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.

For how many years, I wonder, have these huge slabs of rock sheltered wild brook trout?

From Mystery Creek # 89 in New York

Stream photos

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Onocosmoecus (Great Late-Summer Sedge) Caddisfly Larva Onocosmoecus (Great Late-Summer Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

Lateral view of a Onocosmoecus (Limnephilidae) (Great Late-Summer Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington

This specimen keys pretty easily to Onocosmoecus, and it closely resembles a specimen from Alaska which caddis expert Dave Ruiter recognized as this genus. As with that specimen, the only species in the genus documented in this area is Onocosmoecus unicolor, but Dave suggested for that specimen that there might be multiple not-yet-distinguished species under the unicolor umbrella and it would be best to stick with the genus-level ID. I'm doing the same for this one.

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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.

Female Eurylophella (Chocolate Dun) Mayfly Spinner Pictures

I collected this uncooperative specimen as part of a small cloud of female spinners clustered tightly together high about 10 feet above the water, without any males that I could see.

Ventral view of a Female Eurylophella (Ephemerellidae) (Chocolate Dun) Mayfly Spinner from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

Lateral view of a Female Eurylophella (Ephemerellidae) (Chocolate Dun) Mayfly Spinner from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

Dorsal view of a Female Eurylophella (Ephemerellidae) (Chocolate Dun) Mayfly Spinner from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

Ruler view of a Female Eurylophella (Ephemerellidae) (Chocolate Dun) Mayfly Spinner from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin The smallest ruler marks are 1/16".

This mayfly was collected from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin on June 21st, 2005 and added to Troutnut.com by Troutnut on May 26th, 2006.

Discussions of this Spinner

Anyone care to guess at this one?

Posted by Troutnut on Jul 3, 2006

Last reply on Jul 3, 2006 by Troutnut

I found her in a small cloud of females about ten feet above the water on June 21st. At the time I assumed she was an Isonychia bicolor spinner, because of the size, the stripe down the back, and the fact that she was flying near my favorite Isonychia pool at the right time of year. The hind wings are quite large, too.

But something just doesn't look right. The front legs should not be so light-colored, and the body proportions, while generally in the ballpark, just don't look quite right. I might even guess that this is some large Ephemerellid.

I apologize for the low quality of the pictures. They were taken at the worst time in my photography development: after my Canon 20D's sensor had accumulated significant dust, but before I learned how to clean it.

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