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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 Epeorus albertae (Heptageniidae) (Pink Lady) Mayfly Nymph from the East Fork Issaquah Creek in Washington
This specimen keys to the Epeorus albertae group of species. Of the five species in that group, the two known in Washington state are Epeorus albertae and Epeorus dulciana. Of the two, albertae has been collected in vastly more locations in Washington than dulciana, suggesting it is far more common. On that basis alone I'm tentatively putting this nymph in albertae, with the large caveat that there's no real information to rule out dulciana.
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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By Troutnut on October 9th, 2013
I bought a new raft this week (more on that in an upcoming post) and took a couple free hours to test it out in a local pond. Caught one little stocked grayling that revealed itself by rising to one of the very sporadic Callibaetis duns emerging just days before the pond freezes for the next 7 months. Winter is coming.

Photos by Troutnut from Miscellaneous Alaska in Alaska

New packraft. My new PR-49 packraft getting ready for its first test in a local pond.

From Bathing Beauty Pond in Alaska
Even stocker grayling are pretty. I planned to keep this one for dinner if it was the first of many, but the others weren't biting and the stringer hadn't done any permanent damage, so I released it unharmed.

Comments / replies

Sayfu
Posts: 560
Sayfu on Oct 14, 2013October 14th, 2013, 9:23 am EDT
You need to have an imaginative mind like I have. I catch my limit last stool at the happy hr. bar all the time, and my season never ends. We just had a nearby lake stocked with grayling recently. Good pics, and nice boat.

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