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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.

Dorsal view of a Kogotus (Perlodidae) Stonefly Nymph from Mystery Creek #199 in Washington
This one pretty clearly keys to Kogotus, but it also looks fairly different from specimens I caught in the same creek about a month later in the year. With only one species of the genus known in Washington, I'm not sure about the answer to this ID.
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.
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Crepuscular
Crepuscular's profile picture
Boiling Springs, PA

Posts: 920
Crepuscular on Feb 23, 2013February 23rd, 2013, 1:43 pm EST
Entoman
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Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Feb 26, 2013February 26th, 2013, 4:25 am EST
Isonychiids are tough for you guys. We've only got one out here to worry about. This specimen has the overall light color of rufa and the leg banding and prominent full length dorsal stripe of some forms of bicolor. The latter is my opinion. They are all so similar in this species group that there aren't any morphological characters (that I'm aware of) reliable enough to tell them apart in the nymph stage. Kondratieff came up with a few provisionally back in the 80's that were largely shot down a few years later by McCafferty. Depending on color and maculation patterns with species so variable (at least in this regard) is shaky diagnostic ground. :)
"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
Crepuscular
Crepuscular's profile picture
Boiling Springs, PA

Posts: 920
Crepuscular on Feb 26, 2013February 26th, 2013, 4:34 am EST
Ah yeah. But what I take from this photo is that I need to look at some from the streams I fish and maybe incorporate some yellow into the gills on my nymphs.
Entoman
Entoman's profile picture
Northern CA & ID

Posts: 2604
Entoman on Feb 26, 2013February 26th, 2013, 4:41 am EST
Do you see many this color? I'm wondering if this could be another example of recent molting.
"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
Crepuscular
Crepuscular's profile picture
Boiling Springs, PA

Posts: 920
Crepuscular on Feb 26, 2013February 26th, 2013, 4:57 am EST
you know i don't think i do, but that Ameletus nymph had yellow trachea as well, and was collected from the same location. Diet? O2 levels? Neither the Heptageniids nor the Paralept had any yellow. I do see a yellow hue in the stripe sometimes though.

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