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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Neoleptophlebia Mayfly Nymph Neoleptophlebia Mayfly Nymph

Dorsal view of a Neoleptophlebia (Leptophlebiidae) Mayfly Nymph from the Yakima River in Washington

Some characteristics from the microscope images for the tentative species id: The postero-lateral projections are found only on segment 9, not segment 8. Based on the key in Jacobus et al. (2014), it appears to key to Neoleptophlebia adoptiva or Neoleptophlebia heteronea, same as this specimen with pretty different abdominal markings. However, distinguishing between those calls for comparing the lengths of the second and third segment of the labial palp, and this one (like the other one) only seems to have two segments. So I'm stuck on them both. It's likely that the fact that they're immature nymphs stymies identification in some important way.

10 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.

Site updates from September 13, 2019

Photos by Troutnut

Comments / replies

Martinlf

Moderator
Palmyra PA

Posts: 3047

Martinlf on Sep 14, 2019September 14th, 2019, 4:37 pm EDT

Nice work. School has me too busy to fish right now, so I'm enjoying your trips. Dries, nymphs, streamers?

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

--Fred Chappell

Wbranch

York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2635

Wbranch on Sep 21, 2019September 21st, 2019, 6:34 pm EDT

Awesome photos. Do you enhance the colors with some editing software?

Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.

Troutnut

Administrator
Bellevue, WA

Posts: 2758

Troutnut on Sep 22, 2019September 22nd, 2019, 4:18 am EDT

This trip was all streamers. Caught four pretty good browns and missed several others. The water was high from recent rains, over 2X the normal flow for this time of year.

The colors are fairly natural. All digital photos have "enhanced" colors, whether manually or automatically behind the scenes, but I try to get them as close as possible to what I remember in-person. That big brown was gorgeous.

Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist