1. Troutnut Forum
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2. Fly Fishing
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3. a recent foray into the land of dry flies and wild trout

Seemingly without fail the annual appearance of Drunella cornuta provides some of the most memorable fishing of the year for me. So far this year has been no exception. Jeez, I love this bug.. literally hundreds of rising fish and epic fishing. I will say that the fish while rising freely can be quite picky, ventral abdominal coloration of the imitation had better be good. Just a few photos for a taste of what this bug brings to the surface...













this fish's coloration blew me away...





And it ain't over yet...

Wow, that is a pretty one! And it's not anywhere near spawning season, either. Nice looking flies, too.

My own attempt to go fishing tonight ended with two trips to places that looked like chocolate milk...guess we did get that 1-2" they were talking about! I'll give it a couple of days and try again...

Lot of color variation in your specimens there, Eric. Must be a decent gene pool there.

Jonathon

Nice...

Eric. I have thought about this fly for some reason here in Michigan for a long time, but can't truly claim to have seen it. We get a wonderful D lata hatch on the Au Sable, but my curiosity about D cornuta goes unsatisfied...

Leonard barely mentions it, comparing it to walkeri and lata..."Our small collection of E. cornuta was made from streams in the Pre-Cambrian uplift region of the western Upper Peninsula within a single week at the beginning of July." -p47 "Mayflies of Michigan Trout Streams."

Ann Miller kind of does the same thing by lumping them (cornuta, lata, cornutella, and walkeri) under the heading "Drunella Nymph-Summer Olive" (Hatch Guide for Upper Midwest Streams). She too makes mention of "the extreme north" for cornuta and cornutella...and she gives the group its props, as you do, concerning the hatches ability to pull up feeding fish.

I haven't made it up in July for some years, but remember the D lata hatches with fond memories.

Nice fishing report...

Spence

My goodness those are beautiful fish. Thank you for sharing your day on the water. Someday, I gotta make a trip to fish for them.