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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 Holocentropus (Polycentropodidae) Caddisfly Larva from the Yakima River in Washington
This one seems to tentatively key to Holocentropus, although I can't make out the anal spines in Couplet 7 of the Key to Genera of Polycentropodidae Larvae nor the dark bands in Couplet 4 of the Key to Genera of Polycentropodidae Larvae, making me wonder if I went wrong somewhere in keying it out. I don't see where that could have happened, though. It might also be that it's a very immature larva and doesn't possess all the identifying characteristics in the key yet. If Holocentropus is correct, then Holocentropus flavus and Holocentropus interruptus are the two likely possibilities based on range, but I was not able to find a description of their larvae.
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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By Troutnut on May 28th, 2020
I spent most of the month of May in Alaska, and most of that sitting in an AirBnB in North Pole abiding by the required 2-week indoor quarantine for travelers from out-of-state due to Covid-19. After the quarantine came a frantic sequence of fieldwork to train the technician we hired to complete our second summer of data collection on a study of food resources for juvenile Chinook Salmon in the Chena River. However, our weather-dependent sampling schedule allowed for a break from May 29th-31st, and I drove south to chase rainbow trout.

Photos by Troutnut from Mystery Creek #252 and the East Fork Chulitna River in Alaska

Lower 4th of July Cr

From Mystery Creek # 252 in Alaska
4th of July Cr Confluence

From Mystery Creek # 252 in Alaska
I tried fishing the East Fork Chulitna River near the mouth of Hardage Creek. It's a pretty little creek mouth and not difficult to access, but the mixing zone between the clear tributary and more turbid river was all over shallow, fast water and there wasn't really any good habitat to hold fish.

From the East Fork Chulitna River in Alaska

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