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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Female Sweltsa borealis (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult Female Sweltsa borealis (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult

Lateral view of a Female Sweltsa borealis (Chloroperlidae) (Boreal Sallfly) Stonefly Adult from Harris Creek in Washington

I was not fishing, but happened to be at an unrelated social event on a hill above this tiny creek (which I never even saw) when this stonefly flew by me. I assume it came from there. Some key characteristics are tricky to follow, but process of elimination ultimately led me to Sweltsa borealis. It is reassuringly similar to this specimen posted by Bob Newell years ago. It is also so strikingly similar to this nymph from the same river system that I'm comfortable identifying that nymph from this adult. I was especially pleased with the closeup photo of four mites parasitizing this one.

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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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Fishing with my Nephew: Third Annual Trip, Page 2

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Martinlf has attached these 14 pictures to this report. The message is below.

Here we are before the trip at the botannical garden in Phoenix.

Smallmouth on a wooly bugger caught from a kayak on Fool Hollow Lake.

Apache trout caught at the Fool Hollow boat landing on a wooly bugger.

Fishing the upper reaches of the Little Colorado

West Fork of the Black River. After a 3 mile hike in, some of which was vertical, we arrived at this small beautiful stream. It was full of wild brown trout.

An upper meadow on the West Fork of the Black River.

After spending the day fishing about two miles of the West Fork, we stopped for a photo, and then started the three mile hike out of the canyon. To say the hike back wasn't easy would be a bit of understatement. At the elevation it was hard to catch our breath at times. Then we had to cook dinner back at camp and crawl into our sleeping bags in 42 degree weather with the wind howling. I won't forget that day anytime soon, not would I trade it for anything. We slept pretty well, except for a few times waking up gasping for oxygen in the thinner air, or pulling the sleeping bag over our heads to warm back up.

Then the lap of luxury. An old desert motel, with a real bed! And a shower.

Our final fishing, up the the dam above Lee's Ferry, with guide Jeff English. If you go there, go with Jeff, get to the landing at 6:45, and fish on Sunday. The Lee's Ferry Anglers website will give you a sense of why to do this. Jeff is a superb guide, a bit of a curmudgeon, who really knows his stuff. If anyone can put you onto big fish there, Jeff can.

Jeff estimated this one at 19"; I had another take me downriver fast. After I followed it as far down as the shore would let me, it popped the 6X like thread.

Report at a Glance

General Region	Arizona
Specific Location	All Over
Dates Fished	May 18-May 24
Time of Day	Sunrise to Sundown
Fish Caught	Largemouth, Smallmouth, Bluegill, Apache Trout, Browns, and Rainbows
Conditions & Hatches	The temps varied from the low 40's to the upper 80's depending on elevation. We camped at 9,000 feet on Big Lake and it was chilly. No hatched besides midges at Lee's Ferry.

Details and Discussion

PaulRoberts

Colorado

Posts: 1776

PaulRoberts on Sep 24, 2016September 24th, 2016, 5:58 am EDT

Wow! Nice. Guess I'd missed this one. What a great trip, Louis.

To say the hike back wasn't easy would be a bit of understatement. At the elevation it was hard to catch our breath at times. Then we had to cook dinner back at camp and crawl into our sleeping bags in 42 degree weather with the wind howling. I won't forget that day anytime soon, not would I trade it for anything.

This is when you know you are ALIVE!

Oldredbarn

Novi, MI

Posts: 2600

Oldredbarn on Sep 26, 2016September 26th, 2016, 9:00 am EDT

Spence, see the last few photos. We ate at the restaurant at the Lee's Ferry Fly shop. It was amazing. And booked our guide, who knew his stuff, there as well.

So. Louis. Tell me about it...Where I was standing the water looked very un-trout-like, but your photo shows clear water...Was I not far enough upstream or what?

In one of my pics you can see drift boats on the river?

I do remember you posting these and that you may have been out that way.

At the time I stopped at that fly shop I had no clue there was a place to eat there. I saw it later back at home in their brochure I had picked up. We actually stopped at a super-market near the Monument Valley and Lisa made us sandwiches we ate in the car...In the damn desert! :) We could of had a nicer meal had we known.

Just got back from a Fall Warbler seminar down in Ohio at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory...One day of lectures and talks and the next day we walked the famous boardwalk at Magee Marsh. Great looks at birds.

I added the Cape May Warbler to the life list, and back at the BSBO headquarters sat with a bunch of other birders and watched a rare Harris Sparrow at the feeder there, another "Lifer"!

Have you ever read Ken Kaufman's, "Kingbird Highway"? He's a famous authority on birds and we did Magee together. My friend that talked me into going, and Kaufman, and I are all the same age. "Kingbird Highway" is a great road book and explains a Big Year he did in 1973 by hitchhiking across North America...We swapped hiking stories...Mine were of the 1973 attempt to hitchhike from Seattle to Detroit, and he of his big year...

We all agreed that there must of been something in the air in the early 70's that turned late teens into gypsies...Maybe in my later years, with these big trips away from home, I'm trying to rekindle a connection to the curiosity I had as a youth...If only I had directed it in a more serious manner I might be a little further on down the road...

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

Martinlf

Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3047

Martinlf on Sep 26, 2016September 26th, 2016, 8:22 pm EDT

Spence, see the Glen Canyon dam photos. It was clear there, with lots of wild rainbows. They were very picky, though. It appears you were much farther downstream. I haven't read Kingbird Highway, another one to add to my list.

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

--Fred Chappell

Crepuscular