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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Setvena wahkeena (Wahkeena Springfly) Stonefly Nymph Setvena wahkeena (Wahkeena Springfly) Stonefly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Setvena wahkeena (Perlodidae) (Wahkeena Springfly) Stonefly Nymph from Mystery Creek #199 in Washington

As far as I can tell, this species has only previously been reported from one site in Oregon along the Columbia gorge. However, the key characteristics are fairly unmistakable in all except for one minor detail:
— 4 small yellow spots on frons visible in photos
— Narrow occipital spinule row curves forward (but doesn’t quite meet on stem of ecdysial suture, as it's supposed to in this species)
— Short spinules on anterior margin of front legs
— Short rposterior row of blunt spinules on abdominal tergae, rather than elongated spinules dorsally
I caught several of these mature nymphs in the fishless, tiny headwaters of a creek high in the Wenatchee Mountains.

7 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.

2015 Caribou Hunt

By Troutnut on September 19th, 2015, 11:28 am EDT

A week ago I returned from a hike-in, float-out, solo caribou hunt in the Arctic. I've posted the whole story in sections, but here are a few previews of the spectacular scenery.

Comments / replies

Oldredbarn

Novi, MI

Posts: 2600

Oldredbarn on Sep 19, 2015September 19th, 2015, 2:24 pm EDT

Stunning landscape Jason!

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

Crepuscular

Boiling Springs, PA

Posts: 920

Crepuscular on Sep 23, 2015September 23rd, 2015, 6:08 am EDT

Wow!

Jmd123

Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474

Jmd123 on Sep 23, 2015September 23rd, 2015, 9:42 am EDT

Looks COLD, Jason! Stunning, but CCCCCOLD...

Jonathon

P.S. Know you don't wanna hear this, but things are nice around here lately, 70s in the day and 50s at night...

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

Wiflyfisher

Wisconsin

Posts: 622

Wiflyfisher on Sep 23, 2015September 23rd, 2015, 3:46 pm EDT

Jason awesome story and photos! Thanks for sharing it on the website.

So you feel better I was just out in West Yellowstone and got snowed on last Thursday!

Campfire Lodge Resort

but by the next day the snow was melted in the lower elevations and I found bank feeders...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTzy7Tm9X9A

John S.
https://WiFlyFisher.com

Troutnut

Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758

Troutnut on Sep 24, 2015September 24th, 2015, 12:42 pm EDT

Wow John, that looks like a great trip! Hope you'll have time to post a full report sometime.

Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

Kvnfraley

AK

Posts: 2

Kvnfraley on Jun 24, 2020June 24th, 2020, 6:19 am EDT

Nice write up. Looking at doing a packraft trip in that area this August, checking out some known Dolly Varden staging/spawning sections in the adjacent rivers

Troutnut

Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758

Troutnut on Jun 29, 2020June 29th, 2020, 6:07 am EDT

That should be a great trip Kevin. I'd love to see pictures when you're done. I did bring a fly rod and a few flies along on this caribou hunt, but floating out of there soaking wet in the snow I was pretty much focused on getting back to the car and didn't have the motivation to stop and fish.

Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

Kvnfraley

AK

Posts: 2

Kvnfraley on Nov 30, 2020November 30th, 2020, 7:06 am EST

Hey Jason, I finally remembered to return to this comment. The trip went really well! We had crazy nice weather for the slope in August, pretty much sunny the whole time. Caught a ton of big beautiful dollies and a few good grayling. We weren't sure we would actually find any dollies so it was really exciting to hit the motherlode. Saw griz, caribou, moose, and musk ox up close. And got a nice bull caribou on the float out. Couldn't have gone more perfectly, hoping to replicate the trip next year. Some photos here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10222178697443911&type=3

Kvnfraley

AK

Posts: 2

Kvnfraley on Nov 30, 2020November 30th, 2020, 7:37 am EST

That lower ribdon had some exciting whitewater!

Troutnut

Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758

Troutnut on Dec 1, 2020December 1st, 2020, 7:34 am EST

Wow Kevin, looks like you had an awesome adventure there! Congratulations on the nice bull and great dollies.

That is some exciting whitewater on the lower Ribdon, but on my solo trip I was very glad I just lined the raft down through all of it. :)

Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist

Kvnfraley

AK

Posts: 2

Kvnfraley on Dec 1, 2020December 1st, 2020, 3:20 pm EST

Thanks Jason! You were probably smart to line it. We ended up stopping after every other rapid to dump out water so running the whitewater didn't save us too much time.