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.

This little pool in update New York is enjoyed by many tourists every day, and it still holds a few trout -- stockers mostly, but you can't complain about the setting!

From Mystery Creek # 62 in New York

Stream photos

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Clostoeca disjuncta (Northern Caddisfly) Caddisfly Larva Clostoeca disjuncta (Northern Caddisfly) Caddisfly Larva

Lateral view of a Clostoeca disjuncta (Limnephilidae) (Northern Caddisfly) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington

This one was surprisingly straightforward to identify. The lack of a sclerite at the base of the lateral hump narrows the field quite a bit, and the other options followed fairly obvious characteristics to Clostoeca, which only has one species, Clostoeca disjuncta.

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.

Water Penny nymph

Psephenus (Water Penny) Beetle Larva

5 Pictures

Here's a "water penny" (a Psephenidae beetle larva) crawling around on a real penny.

Artistic view of a Psephenus (Psephenidae) (Water Penny) Beetle Larva from Fall Creek in New York

Collected March 28, 2006 from Fall Creek in New York

Added by Troutnut on April 6, 2006

Collected March 28, 2006 from Fall Creek in New York and added by Troutnut on April 6, 2006

Wbranch

York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2635

Wbranch on Jan 18, 2014January 18th, 2014, 7:59 am EST

I'm pretty sure there are no current flies tied specifically to imitate the Water Penny. I really don't know if they are a significant food source to trout. If I was to tie one I would just use a pair of those round Velcro tabs about 1/2" in diameter and put one tab on the bottom of the hook shank and add some glue and put the other half on top and press them together so the Velcro hook and loops mesh and the glue is distributed well. After the glue dried I could color the top and bottom with various waterproof pens and trim the diameter to match the size of the natural.

Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.

LowBudget
Afton, NY

Posts: 25

LowBudget on Jan 20, 2014January 20th, 2014, 6:28 am EST

Like many flies, my musings on a water penny larva fly was more about a fly for the fisherman than perhaps for the fish.

Now that I've had time to think about one, I am thinking about a round tab of brown leather (I have some from an old jacket) over a bit of light brown / white mohair mix.

I could envision a trout downstream of a disturbance of the stream bottom, caused by wading fishermen or a herd of deer, slurping up some random water pennies dislodged from their attachment to gravel and rocks.

Adding a pattern on top made by waterproof pens as Wbranch suggests would be a nice finishing touch.

Ed

Ed
Low Budget Fly Tying and Fishing author of "Behind the Fly"
http://edengelman.com/BTF.html

Wbranch

York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2635

Wbranch on Jan 20, 2014January 20th, 2014, 5:26 pm EST

Well go tie up a couple and post pictures of your creations.

Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.