Lateral view of a Male Baetis (Baetidae) (Blue-Winged Olive) Mayfly Dun from Mystery Creek #43 in New York

Blue-winged Olives
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.

I spent more than an hour casting to several rising trout in this pool and caught only two. Its clear water and tricky currents harbor dozens of free-rising, usually very hard-to-catch fish.

From Enfield Creek in New York

Stream photos

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Perlodidae (Springflies and Yellow Stones) Stonefly Nymph Perlodidae (Springflies and Yellow Stones) Stonefly Nymph

Artistic view of a Perlodidae (Springflies and Yellow Stones) Stonefly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington

This one seems to lead to Couplet 35 of the Key to Genera of Perlodidae Nymphs and the genus Isoperla, but I'm skeptical that's correct based on the general look. I need to get it under the microscope to review several choices in the key, and it'll probably end up a different Perlodidae.

11 Recently Added Photos

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.

What is the big DEAL about the HEX?, Page 2

This topic is about the Mayfly Species Hexagenia limbata

It starts like a rise of small trout. There are dimples on the surface--fingerling trout eating midges, perhaps. But these are no fish. The water breaks and out pop the yellow sails of a giant Hexagenia dun. Then another. And another. A vortex appears in a flash below the mayfly and it vanishes with a slurp so loud it echoes off the distant bank. A square tail like a shark fin breaks the surface behind the swirl as a brown trout twice the size of your net retreats back to his deeper lair. The Hex hatch is on.

This Midwestern legend plays out every year on calm, dark, humid nights in early July. Anglers who only fly fish once a year drive hundreds of miles to play their part in the drama, while the mayflies themselves make the television news by showing up on doppler radar or calling snowplows out of dormancy to remove layers of Hexagenia (or "Hex") duns from the bridges. In the cold trout rivers of Wisconsin and Michigan, huge nocturnal brown trout whose usual menu consists of smaller brown trout become, for a week or so, prime dry fly quarry.

According to the literature, these are the second largest mayflies in the United States, behind the related Litobrancha recurvata flies. However, there are reports of limbata exceeding 40mm in some locales, which would make them the largest.

Example specimens

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Female Hexagenia limbata (Hex) Mayfly Dun

Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

This female Hex dun emerged around 11 pm, one of relatively few on the water as I rushed back to the truck to beat an approaching thunderstorm. Her tails in reality were longer than shown in the picture, but they broke off.

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Male Hexagenia limbata (Hex) Mayfly Spinner

Artistic view of a Male Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Spinner from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

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Male Hexagenia limbata (Hex) Mayfly Spinner

Lateral view of a Male Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Spinner from Atkins Lake in Wisconsin

RedQuill27
Wisconsin

Posts: 13

RedQuill27 on Nov 15, 2009November 15th, 2009, 10:19 am EST

The guy who posted this thread "SPINNER" has been kicked off all of the other Wisconsin Fly fishing Forums. He doesn't like the HEX hatch because it's too hard to imitate with a Panther Martin, Mepps or Crankbait.

Fishing is like sex, when its good its great, and when its bad its still pretty good.

Bombillo
Posts: 2

Bombillo on Jul 5, 2016July 5th, 2016, 10:45 am EDT

If this doesn't look like some of the most fun a person could have with a fly rod I'll eat my drying patch. Check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px2z9P2DIsM