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.
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It's only barely visible in one of my pictures, but I confirmed under the microscope that this one has a prosternal horn and the antennae are mid-way between the eyes and front of the head capsule.
I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.
The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.
Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
I'm calling this one Pycnopsyche, but it's a bit perplexing. It seems to key definitively to at least Couplet 8 of the Key to Genera of Limnephilidae Larvae. That narrows it down to three genera, and the case seems wrong for the other two. The case looks right for Pycnopsyche, and it fits one of the key characteristics: "Abdominal sternum II without chloride epithelium and abdominal segment IX with only single seta on each side of dorsal sclerite." However, the characteristic "metanotal sa1 sclerites not fused, although often contiguous" does not seem to fit well. Those sclerites sure look fused to me, although I can make out a thin groove in the touching halves in the anterior half under the microscope. Perhaps this is a regional variation.
The only species of Pycnopsyche documented in Washington state is Pycnopsyche guttifera, and the colors and markings around the head of this specimen seem to match very well a specimen of that species from Massachusetts on Bugguide. So I am placing it in that species for now.
Whatever species this is, I photographed another specimen of seemingly the same species from the same spot a couple months later.
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JAD on Jan 8, 2011January 8th, 2011, 7:35 am EST
)I actually did encounter a fly fisherman I didn't like! He was rude, boorish, condescending)
Now Here is a good one , many fellows think like this.
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7795583/
Best
JAD
Now Here is a good one , many fellows think like this.
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7795583/
Best
JAD
They fasten red (crimson red) wool around a hook, and fix onto the wool two feathers which grow under a cock’s wattles, and which in colour are like wax.
Radcliffe's Fishing from the Earliest Times,
Benjlan on Jan 8, 2011January 8th, 2011, 9:16 am EST
JAD,
That link was very cute, and very educational at the same time.
Thanks,
Ben M.
That link was very cute, and very educational at the same time.
Thanks,
Ben M.
Jmd123 on Jan 8, 2011January 8th, 2011, 12:17 pm EST
First reaction: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!
Second reaction: that's what it's all about to some of the folks out there...also known as "posers" - I can just SPEND my way to flyfishing success!!
Third reaction: the "latest and greatest" rod technology runs something like about $1170. For that much money, I can buy:
a highly collectable WWII military rifle (or two) that will probably double in value over the next 20 years, by which time I will be tired of the rod and want a new one; or
a couple of nice modern bolt-action hunting rifles, and maybe even a scope for each; or
a current-production Winchester Model 1895 lever-action rifle in .405 Winchester caliber, a favorite of none other than Theodore Roosevelt; or, best of all,
a couple-week-long fly fishing trip to practically ANYWHERE in the lower 48 with the nice cheap rods I ALREADY OWN.
I'll stick with the $50 Cabelas Three Forks...maybe I should go buy a dozen or so!! That way I can keep a couple of spares in the trunk should I break one again...
;oD
Jonathon
Second reaction: that's what it's all about to some of the folks out there...also known as "posers" - I can just SPEND my way to flyfishing success!!
Third reaction: the "latest and greatest" rod technology runs something like about $1170. For that much money, I can buy:
a highly collectable WWII military rifle (or two) that will probably double in value over the next 20 years, by which time I will be tired of the rod and want a new one; or
a couple of nice modern bolt-action hunting rifles, and maybe even a scope for each; or
a current-production Winchester Model 1895 lever-action rifle in .405 Winchester caliber, a favorite of none other than Theodore Roosevelt; or, best of all,
a couple-week-long fly fishing trip to practically ANYWHERE in the lower 48 with the nice cheap rods I ALREADY OWN.
I'll stick with the $50 Cabelas Three Forks...maybe I should go buy a dozen or so!! That way I can keep a couple of spares in the trunk should I break one again...
;oD
Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
JAD on Jan 9, 2011January 9th, 2011, 3:59 am EST
I got a lot of mixed feelings from viewing that flick. I am waiting for Wbranch to view this :)
John
John
They fasten red (crimson red) wool around a hook, and fix onto the wool two feathers which grow under a cock’s wattles, and which in colour are like wax.
Radcliffe's Fishing from the Earliest Times,
Wbranch on Feb 17, 2011February 17th, 2011, 7:00 am EST
Hello John,
I just got an opportunity to look at the posts on Troutnut.com. I was in Egypt from 01/07 - 01/22 and then my computer hard drive went south and I just got the processor back today.
That was a funny little video. Funny because I often meet guys like the one with the 9' #5 4 piece super duper high strain modulus special nano carbon fiber orientation with state of the art autoclave curing of the nano fibers and adhesive medium.
If you can walk the walk, as well as talk the talk, and have the wherewithal to buy the most current iteration of the rod builders's art then I guess it is okay to wax poetically about the stick. But if you are one of those guys who I've seen on the Delaware, and out west, who can't reach rising trout 40 feet away but wants to show/tell me about the stunning qualities of his 9' 4 piece nano fiber $800 Orviloomsage I'll more often than not nod a few times, smile, and walk away.
I'm fortunate to have bought most of my rods before the prices went over $350. I also have acquired the skill to build more than half of my fly rods. Now that the major rod makers are adding quality rods made off shore for reasonable prices I just don't see the need for most fly fishers to feel they have to have the high end rods unless of course they have the means to buy them and can use them effectively so the pride of ownership is not just in saying you have the best rod but that you possess the skills to really enjoy it.
I just got an opportunity to look at the posts on Troutnut.com. I was in Egypt from 01/07 - 01/22 and then my computer hard drive went south and I just got the processor back today.
That was a funny little video. Funny because I often meet guys like the one with the 9' #5 4 piece super duper high strain modulus special nano carbon fiber orientation with state of the art autoclave curing of the nano fibers and adhesive medium.
If you can walk the walk, as well as talk the talk, and have the wherewithal to buy the most current iteration of the rod builders's art then I guess it is okay to wax poetically about the stick. But if you are one of those guys who I've seen on the Delaware, and out west, who can't reach rising trout 40 feet away but wants to show/tell me about the stunning qualities of his 9' 4 piece nano fiber $800 Orviloomsage I'll more often than not nod a few times, smile, and walk away.
I'm fortunate to have bought most of my rods before the prices went over $350. I also have acquired the skill to build more than half of my fly rods. Now that the major rod makers are adding quality rods made off shore for reasonable prices I just don't see the need for most fly fishers to feel they have to have the high end rods unless of course they have the means to buy them and can use them effectively so the pride of ownership is not just in saying you have the best rod but that you possess the skills to really enjoy it.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
PaulRoberts on Feb 17, 2011February 17th, 2011, 7:11 am EST
Excellent response WB.
Jmd123 on Feb 17, 2011February 17th, 2011, 7:18 am EST
See my rants under the thread, "Cosmo adds?", to which several of you have contributed, including Matt. I also cross-referenced the little video on that thread.
Jonathon
Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Oldredbarn on Feb 17, 2011February 17th, 2011, 8:46 am EST
"He was rude, boorish, condescending (assumed I was a rank beginner when I have actually been throwing flies for over 25 years), overbearing (I couldn't hardly get a word in edgewise), insulted my choice of tackle, etc."
That sounds like many of the guys I run into on the rivers I fish.
Matt,
I'm confused here!!! Isn't this why we fish to hassle trout & yahoos??!! :)
As an aside...Most humans are really only concerned with how they percieve the world and find anyone that doesn't agree with their particular fantasy, "boorish, condesending, ...etc, etc." That knife cuts both ways...I guess...:) That's why, for the most part, I fish alone, only concerned with what the fish thinks...I've had only one very observant trout say to me, "Hey buddy! Nice rod...I don't feel so bad now falling to an angler with such wonderful taste in equipment...Damn! Is that a Wheatley box?"
Spence
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Benjlan on Feb 20, 2011February 20th, 2011, 1:46 pm EST
Spence,
I fish alone mostly too, I like it but it's always nice to have someone to talk to.
Ben
I fish alone mostly too, I like it but it's always nice to have someone to talk to.
Ben
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