While walking in the back door of the shop this morning I did my usual scan of the array of bugs that like to cling on the back porch every day. It’s a good heads up of what’s hatching on the river so I’ve made a habit of taking a minute or two to study up on my aquatic entomology while starting my work day. This morning I was greeted by the usual army of midges, a few different shapes and sizes of PMD’s, the anticipated little black Trico’s, some Caddis, and surprisingly a Hexagenia.

A member of the mayfly family, the Hexagenia limbata is not a bug we would expect to see in Montana. They are mostly found in the Great Lakes region of the Midwest, but every once and a while we find one here on The Missouri around Craig. You won’t see any swarms of them thick enough to show up on satellite radar, nor will they create a cloud large enough to make traffic jams like they do back east. However, it’s pretty cool to find a huge mayfly species we don’t typically get to enjoy fishing on The MO. Who knows? It might even be worth tossing one around late at night here on the river. We would love to hear any stories(B.S. or not) about any fishing with this bug in the area.

I was so excited to find this guy hanging out on the shop I felt obligated to bring him inside for a little photo shoot with our new free sticker and the last issue we have of The Drake. When Phil showed up to work today he decided to name him George and has adopted him as a pet. If you are interested in meeting George you can either find him in his cage or at the end of Phil’s leash going for a walk down Bridge Street. I wonder if Phil knows George will only live for another day or so…