MP bug indentity

[icthys]

At around 8:30 last night I found a small swarm of large mayflies. They never let me get close enough to swat one down but here's a description. Size 12 or there abouts, medium brown to almost a cinnamony color, clear wings, and a tail that appeared to be about 2" long.

Does anyone have any ideas what they were? Fulano? Cary? Guru's?

[Lonnie]

Shhh!!!!!

You saw nothing of the sort, right?

[JayMorr]

Never mind LOL Lonnie ;)


JayMorr

[Utah DaveII]

I am guessing skinny and if so they are pmd spinners. Tons of them on another water in the evening that I fish.

[icthys]

They were skinny, sounds like the spinners.

[icthys]

Shhh!!!!!

You saw nothing of the sort, right?

If I did I was the only one.

[skighhigh]

If I did I was the only one.

No you weren't!

Did I let the cat all the way in?

[Curtis Fry]

Hmmm...size #12 PMD spinners? Yeah, that's the ticket. They're also Green during the day and molt from the Drake stage to the PMD stage quite mysteriously so as to keep the ruse in place. The whole thing is quite the conspiracy...

[Lewiskm3]

Worst time of the year to be in Virginia by far. We'll see what's hatching 3 weeks from now when I head home.

[Taxon]

icthys-

It would narrow the possibilities considerably if you noticed how many tails they had. Here is a link to Adult Mayfly Identification (http://www.flyfishingentomology.com/Adult%20Mayfly%20Identification.htm) which you might find useful.

[fulano]

If they're really skinny and rust or brownish/orange colored, they could be PED spinners. They can push size 12 but i'd call them a 14.

Where were you at on the middle when you saw them? E-mail the answer ,don't post or the hot spot police will be on ya.

[Utah DaveII]

Hmmm...size #12 PMD spinners? ...
My theory was most people overestimate the size of bugs by at least 2 hook sizes. Further those tails get awfully long after molting and make the spinners appear a lot larger than they really are.

[icthys]

12 was probably too large but they weren't 16.

[Lonnie]

Ya know, come to think of it, I've heard rumors of a rusty spinner hatch on the lower, so they could be something all together different.....

[jim m.]

12 was probably too large but they weren't 16.

Oh if we only had a flav hatch on that water ; )

My bet would be the PED spinner or drake spinners. Leaning towards PED though.

[Utah DaveII]

there are size 14 pmd's are their not?

Of course for most of use everything that is not a drake that hathces in summer is a pmd, right?

[jim m.]

there are size 14 pmd's are their not?

Nope....they only grow to sz. 16. Just like all the hatch charts say. You should know that Dave. just kidding.

I guess I'm making the assumption that itchys knows what PMD spinners look like so I ruled them out.

Bug talk is fun.

[Red.Fly]

I ran across some PED's the other night. They weren't 14's though unless we're talking short shank 14's.

[Utah DaveII]

OK, why would a pale evening dun be a spinner at night? that is an awefully quick molt. Just some food for thought.

The other thing is look at Taxon page of PED. Hell it is mayflies from several different families. I am not anyone knows what really is a pale evening dun.

All I know is this, on a stream I ahve been fishing a couple of times the last week there are sporadic hathces of PMD going on all day. When I stuck around and fished at night. There were large mating flights of rusty spinners. I am pretty sure they are the same mayfly.

Now the question was are the duns I am seeing in the morning a pmd? Who knows? But I am not going to label every spinner I see after 5 as a pale evening dun either.

[fishynsmelly]

If they're really skinny and rust or brownish/orange colored, they could be PED spinners. They can push size 12 but i'd call them a 14.

Where were you at on the middle when you saw them? E-mail the answer ,don't post or the hot spot police will be on ya.

There has been a very large yellow mayfly hatching on the MP. I haven't really fished the MP much until this year, so I don't know what it is. It is larger than a size 16, and it is a darker yellow than a PMD. If I didn't know better, I would think it was a Yellow May. But I thought that was a Pacific States fly. Size 14-12 is about right.

Its big enough, that I have been using a yellow stimmy with pretty good success.

[icthys]

Here's what they looked like. http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/739

I'm not a bug expert. I just observe what they are (mayfly, caddis, stone, etc), size, and color then pick something outta my box to match them.

[jim m.]

Being from PA, the link above is what we called a "sulfer". In the same generic way we use "BWO". Sulfers ranged from 16 all the way down to 20ish back home.

What I've always considered to be PEDs were larger, say sz 12 and they tend to hover above the water collectively in groups or swarms like a big ball of bugs. They have very long noticeable tails and are rusty in color. I rarely see them actually on the water floating spent or otherwise in large numbers. They seem to lay their eggs like a stonefly or caddis in that they will bounce on the surface. They will be around long after the drakes are gone.

What I consider to "PMD spinners" are smaller (say 18 to 16ish) and don't tend to ball up in a swarm like the "PEDs" but randomly fly upstream. I see them quiet a bit floating spent on the water and the back eddys can get littered w/ them.

Again, that's just what I see and what I've been calling them. I sure as hell could be wrong.