Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2005 Well bud I warned you the pic quality was BAD, it looks even more blurry now that its blown up bigger but anyways heres that mayfly we were tryin to figure out what it was. The pic sucks so I'll tryin give you the best decrip I can give to aid in you helping. It was about a size 10, it was the spinner stage (clear wings). It had a bit larger eyes then I am use to seeing on mayflys IMO. It had 2 tails, the main colors of it were somewhat of a grayish color with a bit of a ....I guess kind'a a brownish/rust color on the top of the body. It has sort of a brownish color between each body segment as well. The spinner was found on the Au Sable here in Michigan around 9:45PM about july 15th. There were clouds of these up abouve out heads about 15 ft over the water at 9:30-10pm. The area we found these was right below a fast moving rocky riffle area. Again sorry for the horriable pic, I forgot to switch my dig cam to the macro seeting when I took it. OLB was with me when we found them so maybe he can offer some info I missed Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taxon 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2005 steeldrifter- Most likely Siphlonurus alternatus. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2005 Cool Is there a common name of it that I might recognize as a pattern to use? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taxon 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2005 steeldrifter- On the Au Sable, I believe they are called Late Gray Drakes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted July 27, 2005 Ahh ok. I know the west side rivers here get them but I wasnt aware of them on the east side, I believe this is the first one I have seen here. Very interesting to find out Taxon. I appreciate the help Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Troutnut 0 Report post Posted July 28, 2005 Taxon's getting good at this! I'm pretty sure he's right. The description narrows it down pretty well, especially with the water and date. The Namekagon that I fish in Wisconsin has very similar bug life to the Au Sable, and summer evenings predictably include small clouds of Siphlonurus spinners over the riffles. In June, they're most likely to be Siphlonurus quebecensis. In July, Siphlonurus alternatus. The species look practically identical except for a difference in the markings on the bottom of the abdomen. I've never found either species to be very important to the fish at all, but I know they can be important on other rivers. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taxon 0 Report post Posted July 28, 2005 QUOTE (Troutnut @ Jul 28 2005, 03:30 PM) Taxon's getting good at this! Thanks Jason, but you da man. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites