Welcome to NEFF

Sign up for a new account today, or log on with your old account!

Give us a try!

Welcome back to the new NEFF. Take a break from Twitter and Facebook. You don't go to Dicks for your fly fishing gear, you go to your local fly fishing store. Enjoy!

Hendricksons light/dark a bit confusing

Ant

New member
What is the true division of this mayfly.

In a new book I purchased by Ted Fauceglia "mayflies" he only lists Hendricksons.

Stating male (also the red quill) is simply darker and the female is lighter. Additionally theres the size difference between the 2

Also 3 tails or 2? His book has both as having 3.

I have seen so many differences through the web it's crazy. He classifies the Species as Subvaria. On this site I see 2 areas on the hatch chart: Hendrickson/red quill (subvaria) dark Hendrickson/red quill (rotunda) But no mention of light, at least I didn't see it.
Caucci has a "Ephemerella X" added in his with subvaria as the species

I'm guessing most of the confusion is due to reclassification.

I know the fish don't care but...I want to have it right.

BTW nice site.

Thanks
Ant
 
if you wanted to make this all easier for you... be sure to have light and dark hendricksons. you can actually get the flies from his shop. i would get compara emergers and duns as well as spinners. make sure to have size 12 and 14. you usually see that the flies are larger for the first half of the hatch and they get smaller. i have seen hendricksons as small as a size 16 on the delaware but the fish didnt seem to mind the size 14 with the hook in it. :) if you are starting out dont get caught up in latin names but get caught up in what catches fish. when i started dry fly fishing i only had a few flies ... and they worked. now i find myself talking in latin names and many times i am overthinking the whole thins. to make reference to an old saying KISS keep it simple stupid!
 
Off topic - ajfromnj

Off Topic​
ajfromnj:
Between your custom title and you signature, you seem to be promoting your website just a bit more forcefully than most other members.

How about a link to njflyfishing.com on your links page?
 
What is the true division of this mayfly.


Ant,
As far as I know...... as of now :dizzy:

Hendrickson...... Ephemerella subvaria
Dark hendrickson..... Ephemerella needhami

Whichever Hendrickson is hatching, just try to match
size, shape, color.

Qg.
 
Last edited:
Ive always gone with the following: easier..
Not confusing at all.
Subvaria: Hendricksons Male or Female
Light Hendrickson: Female - 12's and 14's
Dark Hendrickson: Male : AKA Red Quill - 14's & 16's
3 tails
 
Hi,

I would not sweat the details!

I have not seen a situation when the fish will not take a dark hendrickson. I like the DS emerger that Dennis Skarka ties and the Secret Weapon that Karl Gebhart ties.

IF you have those in size 14, you will catch about any fish you see feeding for the next month or so.

Jim
 
I like the DS emerger that Dennis Skarka ties and the Secret Weapon that Karl Gebhart ties.


Dude,
Where can you get those flies? sounds like i wanna try em.
 
a hendrickson cripple will work every time no matter what hendrickson is on the water. Use a Brown/maroonish biot body with pink dubbing as the upper 3rd of the hook. THe wing you can use whatever I prefer a darker material then light but if you want to see it better you can get away with a mid colored cdc or something. Very effective especially for those tougher big fish that have seen everything.
 
This has always confused me as well but the dark and light are really two different mayflies. The dark hendrickson being the Emphemerella Subvaria which is a brown color and what people think of as the traditional hendrickson that hatches at the end of April.

The light Hendrickson is really a large Sulpher called the Ephemerella Invaria or Rotunda. It is sort of a pale yellow and the hatch overlaps the end of the traditional hendrickson. Great hatch on the main Delaware.
 
This has always confused me as well but the dark and light are really two different mayflies. The dark hendrickson being the Emphemerella Subvaria which is a brown color and what people think of as the traditional hendrickson that hatches at the end of April.

The light Hendrickson is really a large Sulpher called the Ephemerella Invaria or Rotunda. It is sort of a pale yellow and the hatch overlaps the end of the traditional hendrickson. Great hatch on the main Delaware.
What entomolgy / hatch book did this theory come from? The light hendrickson is NOT a large sulphur.
Light Hendrickson - subvaria female (sz 12/14)
Dark Hendrickson - Red Quill subvaria male (sz 14/16)
"Large" Sulphur - invaria
"Smaller Sulphur" - dorothea

Hey, don't take my word for it but thats what I have learned over the last decade or so.

Go to the bible of hatches and take Al Caucci's word for it. mayfly.com
 
Do a search from Fly Fisherman magazines database on Jim Serio flies for the flies mentioned above. I happened to stumble on it yesterday.
 
Ant-

The following are the mayfly common names in use which include Hendrickson, and their current scientific name with prior scientific name appearing in parentheses:

Common Name - Scientific Name
Bluewinged Hendrickson – Ephemerella subvaria
Dark Blue Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria
Dark Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria
Dark Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria (Ephemerella rotunda)
Dark Hendrickson - Ephemerella needhami
Dark Hendrickson - Ephemerella subvaria
Dark Hendrickson - Serratella deficiens
Dark Hendrickson - Ephemerella excrucians
Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria (Ephemerella rotunda)
Hendrickson - Ephemerella subvaria
Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria
Large Dark Hendrickson - Timpanoga hecuba hecuba (Ephemerella hecuba)
Light Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria
Light Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria (Ephemerella rotunda)
Little Dark Hendrickson - Ephemerella needhami
Little Dark Hendrickson - Serratella deficiens
Little Dark Hendrickson - Serratella serrata
Small Western Dark Hendrickson - Serratella tibialis

When differentiating betwen sexes, the common name Hendrickson is often used to refer to an Ephemerella subvaria female, and Red Quill is used to refer to an E. subvaria male. Other non-Hendrickson common names used to refer to E. subvaria are Beaverkill, Borcher’s Drake, Brown Hen Spinner, Lady Beaverkill, and Red Quill Spinner.

The common name Dark Hendrickson is most often used to refer to Ephemerella invaria. Other non-Hendrickson common names used to refer to E. invaria are Chocolate Dun, Dark Red Quill, Lady Beaverkill, Little Marryat, Pale Evening Dun, Pale Evening Spinner, Red Quill, Sulphur, Sulphur Dun, Whirling Dun, Yellow Dun, Yellow Egg Spinner, and Yellow May.

Perhaps this illustrates the futility of attempting to use common names to refer to certain mayflies.
 
Thanks again Taxon. Really appreciate your input on this. Overall, a great thread on Hendricksons!

I would say to write yourself a little book but by the time it came to publish it, you would have to write part II because of all the changes!
 
Ant-

The following are the mayfly common names in use which include Hendrickson, and their current scientific name with prior scientific name appearing in parentheses:

Common Name - Scientific Name
Bluewinged Hendrickson – Ephemerella subvaria
Dark Blue Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria
Dark Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria
Dark Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria (Ephemerella rotunda)
Dark Hendrickson - Ephemerella needhami
Dark Hendrickson - Ephemerella subvaria
Dark Hendrickson - Serratella deficiens
Dark Hendrickson - Ephemerella excrucians
Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria (Ephemerella rotunda)
Hendrickson - Ephemerella subvaria
Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria
Large Dark Hendrickson - Timpanoga hecuba hecuba (Ephemerella hecuba)
Light Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria
Light Hendrickson - Ephemerella invaria (Ephemerella rotunda)
Little Dark Hendrickson - Ephemerella needhami
Little Dark Hendrickson - Serratella deficiens
Little Dark Hendrickson - Serratella serrata
Small Western Dark Hendrickson - Serratella tibialis

When differentiating betwen sexes, the common name Hendrickson is often used to refer to an Ephemerella subvaria female, and Red Quill is used to refer to an E. subvaria male. Other non-Hendrickson common names used to refer to E. subvaria are Beaverkill, Borcher’s Drake, Brown Hen Spinner, Lady Beaverkill, and Red Quill Spinner.

The common name Dark Hendrickson is most often used to refer to Ephemerella invaria. Other non-Hendrickson common names used to refer to E. invaria are Chocolate Dun, Dark Red Quill, Lady Beaverkill, Little Marryat, Pale Evening Dun, Pale Evening Spinner, Red Quill, Sulphur, Sulphur Dun, Whirling Dun, Yellow Dun, Yellow Egg Spinner, and Yellow May.

Perhaps this illustrates the futility of attempting to use common names to refer to certain mayflies.



Ouch. :) Taxon thanks for all the info.

I can see why so many sources I have checked are different.

Thanks to all for giving your input.

For patterns I think I will stick with 2 options. The larger dark male and the smaller female light. Both with 3 tails.

Ant
 
Back
Top