anyone know this mayfly?

[turkey]

I saw these mayflies right around dark on 5/26 on the Allegheny near Pittsburgh. It looks like a hex but a little smaller. I initially thought it was a yellow drake but they only had 2 tails. Hex's aren't suppose to emerge for several months...any thoughts?

 

[Chaz]

There are Hexs on the Allegheny R. this time of the year. It could also be an isonychia, but it's a bit too greennish yellow for that.

 

[wildtrout24]

I'd say Hex for sure!

 

[turkey]

You guys were absolutely right. They are hex's. I went back yesterday evening and found some of the bigger females. I firmly assumed that these bugs only have one concentrated hatch towards the end of summer. I can't recall ever seeing them this early in the year.

A mild storm rolled through right at sundown and like clockwork, there were hundreds of them riding the surface of the river and swarming the floodlights. I tried fishing them but the fish didn't seem too interested.

Thanks Chaz and Wildtrout for the responses.

 

[JackM]

Hex, male, spinner is obvious. It is the only mayfly to hatch in good numbers on the lower Allegheny. I saw them on TV while watching the Pirates sweep Chi-town this weekend.

 

[troutbert]

I've been hearing about these huge Hex hatches on the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh for years. Have any of you ever gone there to fish the hatch? And if so, how was it?

 

[turkey]

I've tried a few times. I've never had much luck. I watched with a headlamp last night and the only fish that I saw paying any attention to the bugs were a gar, a catfish that was cruising the surface, and mooneyes. I didn't see any smallmouth. I'll go out again and watch tonight.

Mooneyes seem to really like them,

 

[Maurice]

JackM wrote:
Hex, male, spinner is obvious. It is the only mayfly to hatch in good numbers on the lower Allegheny. I saw them on TV while watching the Pirates sweep Chi-town this weekend.

Jack go to Donzi's for a beer some night this week.....look at the lanterns outside and inside the joint. Its elbow to elbow sulphurs. So its not only hexes.

 

[Chaz]

Mooneyes? looks like a shad to me.

 

[turkey]

Maybe it is a shad. I thought i read somewhere that there werent any shad in this section of the river. What i dont know is a lot.

 

[sandfly]

Alwife ---- cousin to shad can survive in freshwater year round...stocked as food fish for larger species..

 

[pcray1231]

In the lower river, I'd not expect too much. Farther north, as you approach the Kinzua dam, they are very well liked by a lot of fish, including trout and smallies. They also come off many of the tributaries, some of which harbor wild trout.

They're typically close to drake time, maybe a week or so later on average. It's not a late summer thing.

 

[PennKev]

pcray1231 wrote:
It's not a late summer thing.

I've personally seen hexes in good numbers starting about this time of the year and still going into August. Granted, the heaviest hatches seem to be around the beginning of July on my local creeks, but I've also seen them in good numbers mixed in with whiteflies and also into mid august.

 

[streamerguy]

Definitely a mooneye.

I caught this one 2 years ago on a tributary to the Ohio River. Emailed it to the ODNR to see if it was a mooneye or goldeye(look almost the same) and they said it was a mooneye.

 

[albatross]

Does this mean we'll be fishing the white flies on the 4th of July? My experience with hexes in western Pa has been July/August not late May.

 

[pcray1231]

I think there are two separate species. Limbata, I believe, is the early one, usually early June.

Like this story, timing is about right:

http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20010608mayflies0608p2.asp

And then the later ones are bilineata, like this:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/326392

On the trout streams of NW PA, I've mostly ran into Limbata. I think the bilineata's tend to stick to the extreme western edge of the state.

 

[Chaz]

There are at least 2 in Pa. limbata which should be hatching now on streams and lakes where they occur. The secondis atrocaudata(sp.) which hatches from mid August to late September.