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.
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By Troutnut on July 28th, 2020
I fished a long stretch of creek from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm with camp on my back, then used the mid-afternoon lull to set up camp at a new location. The river was higher than yesterday and a bit murky from the storm.
Fishing was slow. In the morning I caught a 13" naive fish an an attractor dry (Royal Doublewing), a 15" steady riser that ignored many flies before finally taking a midge emerger, two fish (15" and 17") on a Sculpzilla streamer, and an 18" riser that took a yellow sally stonefly dry on the first cast. There were no major hatches, just a few scattered bugs of many kinds in the air, most commonly yellow sally stoneflies (Chloroperlidae).
In the afternoon, I had to stop fishing twice to shelter from thunderstorms, hunkering down somewhere in the willows far from the tallest trees around. I managed 15" and 18" fish on streamers before the storms hit. After the storm, lots of big fish were chasing streamers but none were eating them. After the second storm, everything really shut down until a slight, mixed dusk hatch brought a few fish to the surface. I caught.a few small ones.
Fishing was slow. In the morning I caught a 13" naive fish an an attractor dry (Royal Doublewing), a 15" steady riser that ignored many flies before finally taking a midge emerger, two fish (15" and 17") on a Sculpzilla streamer, and an 18" riser that took a yellow sally stonefly dry on the first cast. There were no major hatches, just a few scattered bugs of many kinds in the air, most commonly yellow sally stoneflies (Chloroperlidae).
In the afternoon, I had to stop fishing twice to shelter from thunderstorms, hunkering down somewhere in the willows far from the tallest trees around. I managed 15" and 18" fish on streamers before the storms hit. After the storm, lots of big fish were chasing streamers but none were eating them. After the second storm, everything really shut down until a slight, mixed dusk hatch brought a few fish to the surface. I caught.a few small ones.
Photos by Troutnut from Slough Creek in Wyoming
Comments / replies
Martinlf on Aug 17, 2020August 17th, 2020, 3:55 am EDT
Wow! Hatches? Flies?
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"
--Fred Chappell
--Fred Chappell
Troutnut on Aug 17, 2020August 17th, 2020, 5:02 am EDT
I'll work on adding the narratives after I finish adding the pics. The short answer is there wasn't much hatching, fishing seemed kind of slow (although I have a surprising number of fish pics for "slow" fishing, I guess), and mostly I had to earn each fish with a different fly and technique.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Martinlf on Aug 20, 2020August 20th, 2020, 2:34 am EDT
Well done! The fish are beautiful. I look forward to the narrative.
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'"
--Fred Chappell
--Fred Chappell
Wbranch on Aug 22, 2020August 22nd, 2020, 12:48 pm EDT
All healthy thick bodies cutties. You did very well.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
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