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.

The trees were leafing out and the trout were rising on this productive Wisconsin stream

From the Namekagon River in Wisconsin

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.

Site updates from January 13, 2007

Videos by Troutnut from Mystery Creek #19 in Wisconsin

Winter trout at a spring creek's mouth

In mid-January I visited a spot where a heavily spring-fed tributary feeds into a river without much as much spring flow, creating an area of (in the winter) warmer water where hundreds of brookies were stacked up.

The video quality's as lousy as in all my early videos, but it's still amazing to see so many brook trout in such a small spot.

Shot on Jan 12, 2007 from Mystery Creek #19 in Wisconsin

Added by Troutnut on Jan 29, 2007