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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.

Lateral view of a Onocosmoecus (Limnephilidae) (Great Late-Summer Sedge) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
This specimen keys pretty easily to Onocosmoecus, and it closely resembles a specimen from Alaska which caddis expert Dave Ruiter recognized as this genus. As with that specimen, the only species in the genus documented in this area is Onocosmoecus unicolor, but Dave suggested for that specimen that there might be multiple not-yet-distinguished species under the unicolor umbrella and it would be best to stick with the genus-level ID. I'm doing the same for this one.
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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Adirman
Adirman's profile picture
Monticello, NY

Posts: 479
Adirman on Jun 14, 2016June 14th, 2016, 5:00 am EDT
Hey Guys, I was fishing last evening on the Willow and noticed the usual stuff that been around lately, a mix of caddis, Slate Drake, Sulfurs, etc. but then i started seeing a few quite large Mayflys float past me. I picked one up to get a good look, it was around a size 10, VERY white, wings looked pretty white too, sorry I dont have a pic, maybe I can get one in a day or 2, any thoughts based on time of year and limited description I provided? Im thinking its a Light Cahill of the Species Macaffertium Ithaca

Thanks,

Adirman
Millcreek
Healdsburg, CA

Posts: 344
Millcreek on Jun 14, 2016June 14th, 2016, 6:24 am EDT
Adirman,

Could be Maccaffertium ithaca, also could be Maccaffertium terminatum or Epheron leukon. Also probably others I missed.

Here are some links:

Maccaffertium terminatum - http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/600/Mayfly-Maccaffertium-terminatum

Epheron leukon - http://bugguide.net/node/view/316968/bgimage
"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"
-Albert Einstein
Adirman
Adirman's profile picture
Monticello, NY

Posts: 479
Adirman on Jun 16, 2016June 16th, 2016, 7:37 pm EDT
Not Ephoron leukon, too different, either Terminatum or Ithaca I think, was definitely a good sized Mayfly, i thought a 10 when I observed it
PagansMind
PagansMind's profile picture
Pennsylvania

Posts: 2
PagansMind on Jun 22, 2016June 22nd, 2016, 9:22 pm EDT
Light cahills were hatching last week in PA, so it is likely that you are correct. A big one might be a 12.

http://www.djlflyfishers.org/hatches.htm

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