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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.

Dorsal view of a Epeorus albertae (Heptageniidae) (Pink Lady) Mayfly Nymph from the East Fork Issaquah Creek in Washington
This specimen keys to the Epeorus albertae group of species. Of the five species in that group, the two known in Washington state are Epeorus albertae and Epeorus dulciana. Of the two, albertae has been collected in vastly more locations in Washington than dulciana, suggesting it is far more common. On that basis alone I'm tentatively putting this nymph in albertae, with the large caveat that there's no real information to rule out dulciana.
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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Sekod has attached these 4 pictures to aid in identification. The message is below.
Sekod
Sekod's profile picture
New London, NC

Posts: 1
Sekod on Aug 26, 2019August 26th, 2019, 9:49 pm EDT
The larger fly had 2 long tails and one very short tail (almost a stub) in between the longer ones. The smaller one had 2 tails. Warmwater river (Little River) in the Piedmont of North Carolina. ID help? Thank you.
Taxon
Taxon's profile picture
Site Editor
Plano, TX

Posts: 1311
Taxon on Aug 27, 2019August 27th, 2019, 6:54 am EDT
Hi Jonathan-

I believe those mayfly subimagoes are both of genus Hexagenia. The larger one is a female, and the smaller one is a male.
Best regards,
Roger Rohrbeck
www.FlyfishingEntomology.com

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