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.

Stream photos

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Ephemerella mucronata Mayfly Nymph Ephemerella mucronata Mayfly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Ephemerella mucronata (Ephemerellidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington

This is an interesting one. Following the keys in Merritt R.W., Cummins, K.W., and Berg, M.B. (2019) and Jacobus et al. (2014), it keys clearly to Ephemerella. Jacobus et al provide a key to species, but some of the characteristics are tricky to interpret without illustrations. If I didn't make any mistakes, this one keys to Ephemerella mucronata, which has not previously been reported any closer to here than Montana and Alberta. The main character seems to fit well: "Abdominal terga with prominent, paired, subparallel, spiculate ridges." Several illustrations or descriptions of this holarctic species from the US and Europe seem to match, including the body length, tarsal claws and denticles, labial palp, and gill shapes. These sources include including Richard Allen's original description of this species in North America under the now-defunct name E. moffatae in Allen RK (1977) and the figures in this description of the species in Italy.

17 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.

Wild Trout in the Backcountry

Report at a Glance

General Region	Central Utah
Dates Fished	Early August
Fish Caught	Rainbow and Cutthroat Trout

Details and Discussion

BigTrout

Posts: 18

BigTrout on Oct 26, 2011October 26th, 2011, 11:43 pm EDT

Hey everyone, I'm new to this site and I am liking it so far! So I hope these pictures work out.. It's great to share your passion of fishing with others. This past August I fished a clear cold water stream that I always enjoy going to. Beautiful country and alot of fun to fish! I didn't catch anything big but it's really fun to see how aggressive these smaller trout can get.

The great charm about fly fishing is that we are always learning; no matter how long we have been at it, we are constantly making some new wrinkle. - Theodore Gordon

Motrout

Posts: 319

Motrout on Oct 27, 2011October 27th, 2011, 5:58 am EDT

Welcome and those are some truly wonderful pictures. I live to fish little streams like that for wild trout. Well done!

"I don't know what fly fishing teaches us, but I think it's something we need to know."-John Gierach
http://fishingintheozarks.blogspot.com/

Oldredbarn

Novi, MI

Posts: 2600

Oldredbarn on Oct 27, 2011October 27th, 2011, 7:01 am EDT

Nice spot you have found there! Thanks for sharing.

Welcome, by-the-way!

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

Goose
Posts: 77

Goose on Oct 27, 2011October 27th, 2011, 8:04 am EDT

Really nice photos. Thanks for joining and sharing.

Adirman

Monticello, NY

Posts: 479

Adirman on Oct 27, 2011October 27th, 2011, 12:56 pm EDT

Beautiful fish and welcome!! What state were those pics taken in?

Troutnut

Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758

Troutnut on Oct 27, 2011October 27th, 2011, 1:28 pm EDT

Welcome to the site and thanks for posting such great pictures!

Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

Jmd123

Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474

Jmd123 on Oct 27, 2011October 27th, 2011, 4:57 pm EDT

BT, welcome to the site and nice photos!! It's not the size of the fish that counts, much as the magazines would have us believe with their constant trophy photos on their front covers. To be honest, I think that those fish are much more occasional than even the so-called "experts" would like to admit, and that they catch plenty of dinkers and mid-sized fish and save their photos only for their very biggest catches. I have recently moved back to proper trout country (northern lower Michigan) and I prefer to spend my time chasing brook trout, which never get all that big but are plentiful, eager, and oh-so-beautiful! Not to mention the places that they live, like in your photos above. It isn't the size that counts so much as the fun you have catching them! And some of those rainbows look like a few that I have plucked from the little streams in my neck of the woods too...again, welcome and thanks for the pics!

Jonathon

P.S. I am also known for posting photos of, how shall I say, other-than-trout fish caught on flies, so don't hesitate if you do some warmwater fly fishing too. As they say, it's all good!

No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...

BigTrout

Posts: 18

BigTrout on Oct 27, 2011October 27th, 2011, 8:47 pm EDT

Thanks for the comments everyone! Adirman, These pics and fish were caught in Central Utah.

The great charm about fly fishing is that we are always learning; no matter how long we have been at it, we are constantly making some new wrinkle. - Theodore Gordon

Jesse