What Kind of Mayfly?

[one last cast]

Does anyone know what kind of mayfly this is? There were a lot of these spinners flying around the river this evening. They were pretty large. Size 12, maybe even 10. My guess is a brown drake. Maybe a grey drake??? The fish weren't feeding on them because they weren't laying their eggs on the water while I was there, just mating midair.

 

[planettrout]

Here:

" Generally speaking, they have two distinct color phases and hatching periods, with the Coastal states having the lighter version emerging late February through April in lower elevation tailwaters and the darker version in the Rocky mountain states emerging a month or two later."

Mayfly Species Rhithrogena morrisoni (Western March Brown) hatch & pictures

I would suggest this for light reading and for distinguishing what yer' holding in thy hand from a Grey Drake and Brown Drake:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Western-Mayfly-Hatches-Rick-Hafele/dp/1571883045"]Western Mayfly Hatches: Rick Hafele, Dave Hughes: 9781571883049: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51R5SE9N8PL.@@AMEPARAM@@51R5SE9N8PL[/ame]


PT/TB

 

[one last cast]

Ahh March Brown! Yeah, that is not a hatch I have much experience in. Like I said, the spinners were just fly around doing their thing. I left an hour before dark. If I would have stayed do you think a spinner fall might have occurred?

 

[sweetandsalt]

Clearly it is a male spinner but it is hard to identify a species by the spinner.

 

[planettrout]

Ahh March Brown! Yeah, that is not a hatch I have much experience in. Like I said, the spinners were just fly around doing their thing. I left an hour before dark. If I would have stayed do you think a spinner fall might have occurred?

"Spinners return to lay eggs over the riffles, but they usually do so sporadically and rarely in a concentration that captures the interest of trout."

March Brown | Rhithrogena | Fly Fishing | Entomology | Westfly

The reason I knew it was a MB, was your location, time of the year and size of the insect...These four bugs (other than Midges) are most important in the Spring, for most locations in the West...

1. BWO's
2. March Browns
3. Grannom (Mother's Day Caddis)
4. Skwalas



PT/TB

 

[stenacron]

PT nailed the species.

Always a good idea to carry a selection of Rusty Spinner patterns in various sizes just in case you hit a fall heavy enough to get the trout sipping.

Look for dimple rises just ahead of funnel flows where pools start to tail out. Those will be trout sipping the spent spinners off the film. These can be big fellas sometimes.

 

[bigspencer]

Looks like our eastern Paralep(Blue Quill) spinner except for the two tails....usually three..y/n?

 

[winstonwt]

I will agree with planettrout,a stenonema vicarium,AKA march brown.