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.

Of all the pools I've fished, this one was most deserving of the colorful little brook trout it held.

From Mystery Creek # 89 in New York

Stream photos

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Glossosoma (Little Brown Short-horned Sedge) Caddisfly Larva Glossosoma (Little Brown Short-horned Sedge) Caddisfly Larva

Dorsal view of a Glossosoma (Glossosomatidae) (Little Brown Short-horned Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington

I caught this tiny larva without a case, but it seems to key pretty clearly to to Glossosomatidae. From there, the lack of sclerites on the mesonotum points to either Glossosoma or Anagapetus. Although it's difficult to see in a 2D image from the microscope, it's pretty clear in the live 3D view that the pronotum is only excised about 1/3 of its length to accommodate the forecoxa, not 2/3, which points to Glossosoma at Couplet 5 of the Key to Genera of Glossosomatidae Larvae.

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.

Had some great silver salmon fishing

By Troutnut on October 5th, 2012

There are some very late-season Coho (aka silver) salmon runs in interior Alaska. I've never found the time to fish them before, because it's often below freezing by the time the fish arrive, and few spots are accessible by foot. This year has been unseasonably warm, so a couple friends with a boat invited me to join them on the most well-known of these rivers. We found a few good spots where the fish were aggressive, and caught them until our arms were tired. Almost a thousand miles upriver from the Bering Sea, these fish might not have fought as hard as they would fresh from the ocean, but they still had plenty of energy left to perform some impressive runs and acrobatics.

Photos by Troutnut from the Delta Clearwater River in Alaska

I kept my limit of cohos and gave them to a friend to smoke, since my freezer is full of sockeye already.

Salmon pool

From the Delta Clearwater River in Alaska

This pretty male Coho salmon took a purple egg-sucking leech.

It's nice fishing for salmon in such clear water, and really fun when they're as aggressive about chasing the fly as these fish were.

Comments / replies

Entoman

Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604

Entoman on Oct 8, 2012October 8th, 2012, 10:02 pm EDT

Very cool, Jason!:) You are blessed, as few anglers have the experience to literally "wear their arms out" catching salmonids. Beware the culture shock (as I ran into back in the 70's) coming back to the lower 48!:)

Before anyone raises an eyebrow at your comments regarding the fighting qualities of "dark" silvers, I have experienced the same thing with them. Not just from my years in AK, but also from many subsequent years chasing chromers in BC where they (even dark ones) have fooled me into thinking they were steelhead at first. I can't think of a higher compliment...

"It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman

PaulRoberts

Colorado

Posts: 1776

PaulRoberts on Oct 9, 2012October 9th, 2012, 9:09 am EDT

Jason, did you fish to those ones in the pics? I mean in the slow clear water? Or did you fish them in faster slots? Curious? How do they respond to flies?

GldstrmSam

Fairbanks, Alaska

Posts: 212

GldstrmSam on Oct 9, 2012October 9th, 2012, 10:38 am EDT

Paul,
A friend of mine went fishing in the Clearwater and said how he would throw in a egg sucking leech and let it drift by a row of redds. He said all the salmon would line up waiting for the ESL to come by.The reason they respond to an ESL is out of defense for their redds. Which is why this fly works so well. I do not know they how they would respond to anything else though.

There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm. ~Patrick F. McManus

Adirman

Monticello, NY

Posts: 479

Adirman on Oct 9, 2012October 9th, 2012, 12:18 pm EDT

So if they're not specifically on their redds do you think this leech pattern wouldnt be quite as effective then?

thanks,

Adirman

Troutnut

Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758

Troutnut on Oct 10, 2012October 10th, 2012, 10:44 am EDT

I fished for them in the slow water (including the ones in the pictures). The whole river is that clear -- it's one giant spring creek. The fish in slow water were very aggressive toward moving flies, though, and many of them chased a stripped egg-sucking leech several feet and hit it on the first cast.

I also tried fishing to the ones on redds with a variety of presentations, and I don't think I caught a single one. I maybe caught one or two fish that were on the move through faster water, but they were much more willing to hit in the slower water, in several locations. Many of these were migrating fish that stopped in the slow water sections for just a few minutes to rest, not inactive fish hanging out there 24/7.

I don't think the egg-sucking leech really triggers any sort of redd defense because they think it's stealing their eggs. It's just easy to see, it looks very alive, and it triggers some latent aggressive instincts they have from being predators.

Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

PaulRoberts

Colorado

Posts: 1776

PaulRoberts on Oct 10, 2012October 10th, 2012, 10:50 am EDT

Thanks, Jason.

Pryal74

Escanaba, MI

Posts: 168

Pryal74 on Oct 10, 2012October 10th, 2012, 11:29 am EDT

As always... fantastic photos and gorgeous fish.

-James Pryal
Into The Wild Fly Fishing

Jesse

Posts: 378

Jesse on Oct 11, 2012October 11th, 2012, 4:36 pm EDT

A-W-E-S-O-M-E ! ! !

Most of us fish our whole lives..not knowing its not the fish that we are after.
http://www.filingoflyfishing.com

Shawnny3
Moderator
Pleasant Gap, PA

Posts: 1197

Shawnny3 on Oct 23, 2012October 23rd, 2012, 9:23 am EDT

I'm so jealous of all these places and wildlife you get to experience, Jason. What a fantastic place to live. I'm glad to see you're taking advantage of the many opportunities for sport. Inspiring stuff. Makes me feel so... suburban.

-Shawn

Jewelry-Quality Artistic Salmon Flies, by Shawn Davis
www.davisflydesigns.com

Boowill
Posts: 1

Boowill on Jan 23, 2013January 23rd, 2013, 12:11 am EST

Way cool website! I haven't seen anything like it in the fly fishing arena. Thanks for all the hard work in bringing all of this to life..literally to life.

Afn2012

Australia

Posts: 1

Afn2012 on Feb 18, 2013February 18th, 2013, 10:32 pm EST

Wow! Great fishing with salmon. Thanks for sharing this info, very interesting to read.

Cheers!

Australian Fishing Network

Martinlf

Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3047

Martinlf on Feb 19, 2013February 19th, 2013, 9:33 am EST

Cheers back at you.

Troutnuts, I always wonder when I see a post like Afn2012's above, but following a few links on the AFN website I found this fun video. Scroll to the bottom of the page.

http://www.afn.com.au/flyfisher/

"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"

--Fred Chappell

Wbranch