Mayfly: Lake Natomas

[Sheepdog8404]

Last night, my wife and I went Kayaking on Lake Natomas. At around sunset I started spotting these large yellow mayfly duns on the water. Not a huge hatch, but one every 20 yards or so. I managed to catch one and put him on my foot while we paddled back to the launch ramp. The one in the picture was the larger of the 2 that were hatching. I caught another (not pictured) that was a bit smaller and not as yellow. I thought maybe they were the same species and the larger was the male, and the smaller darker was the female???

Can anyone help ID this Mayfly? Sorry for the bad picture!

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/t365/Sheepdog8404/Mayfly_zpsg8atecap.jpg (http://s1056.photobucket.com/user/Sheepdog8404/media/Mayfly_zpsg8atecap.jpg.html)

[Troutstalker55B]

Last night, my wife and I went Kayaking on Lake Natomas. At around sunset I started spotting these large yellow mayfly duns on the water. Not a huge hatch, but one every 20 yards or so. I managed to catch one and put him on my foot while we paddled back to the launch ramp. The one in the picture was the larger of the 2 that were hatching. I caught another (not pictured) that was a bit smaller and not as yellow. I thought maybe they were the same species and the larger was the male, and the smaller darker was the female???

Can anyone help ID this Mayfly? Sorry for the bad picture!

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/t365/Sheepdog8404/Mayfly_zpsg8atecap.jpg (http://s1056.photobucket.com/user/Sheepdog8404/media/Mayfly_zpsg8atecap.jpg.html)

Hexagenia Limbata, The bigger of the two is the female as she carries the eggs to perpetuate the species. They are a major food source for all species of fish whether it's the nymph, dun, or spinner. A few follow up reads here on my blog;

http://jonbaiocchiflyfishingnews.blogspot.com/2015/06/lake-davis-fishing-report-61515.html

http://jonbaiocchiflyfishingnews.blogspot.com/2013/06/newsflash-hexagenia-mayfly-invades-lake.html

-J.

[Sheepdog8404]

My wild guess last night was that they were Hex's, even though I had never seen one., based purely on their size. Thanks for the confirmation! As we were paddling back and more of the duns were spotted on the water, I saw a handful of HUGE splashy rises from an unknown species of fish. Not sure if they were feeding on the Duns or Emergers, or if it was just pure coincidence. Either way, it really made me want to go back with a fly rod and a few imitations to see if I could get a bite.

[TyV]

In the future a fly angler will be able to fish a blood midge hatch in the morning, then the damsel fly hatch, deep water chironomid presentations in the late afternoon, and fish the Hex in the evening.

Hey Jon, thanks for sharing the blog posts. I had read the first one when you first posted it. The one from your first experience with Hex on Davis...I hadn't. Really enjoyed both of them. Actually, when I read "In the future a fly angler will be able to fish a blood midge hatch in the morning, then the damsel fly hatch, deep water chironomid presentations in the late afternoon, and fish the Hex in the evening." I felt like that was a day on the water I would truly treasure. Would love to talk to you about a guide day on such a day next season...if that is possible.

Thanks for what you do...love reading your blog posts.

Fish _ON

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We have fished that hatch for decades on Lake Natoma.

They also come off in some of the side sloughs on the lower American River.

At Kiene's American Fly Fishing Company in Sacramento we have very good imitations for this evening mayfly hatch.

We have nymphs for early in the hatch under water, then adults and cripples for the last hour.


Lower Fall River and Lake Almanor are the most famous places for the evening Hex hatch in Nor Cal in July.

.