Lance
07-10-2005, 09:14 PM
I just got time to post some pictures from my annual excursion to northern Michigan chasing the fabled hex hatch and I have to say I was treated to a very memorable week!
With the forecast looking great in my favor we arrived in Grayling Sunday afternoon (fathers day) and with the forecast of cool evening and the plan to start the week off with a family campfire the week was shaping up quite nicely. I spent the afternoon after setting up camp checking in with the rest of the “regulars” to get a current update and plan my strategy. Nobody had seen more than a hex or two but it was just a matter of time till these guys popped!
Monday night I hit the water at what has been one of my most favorite spots. About 9:30 the Isonychia started to show up pretty good along with a few brown drakes. Not many hit the water but there were some very good fish feeding just the same. Just not as consistently as I would have liked. One was extremely erratic and I stung another as it hit as I picked up my fly. I was shut out for the night as the bugs and fish both quit early. I didn’t “see” any hex but I could have sworn I heard a couple fly by! It was an early night and I was off the water by 12:15 AM.
Tuesday night turned out to be a nice surprise. With a overnight low forecast of a dip into the upper 40’s I negotiated a swap of the last night in camp marshmallow roast to Tuesday night and planned fishing Saturday. After everyone conked out at 11:40 and making sure the embers were under control I walked to the back of our site to listen to the river and was surprised to hear the heavy slurps that you only here when a good fish is gobbling up HEX! I quickly walked up to the camper and told Angi what I’d heard and headed for the water. I surprised to see that there was actually a pretty respectable hatch in progress and was blessed with three respectable fish feeding in a slow off shoot of the river. I was even luckier to break in the trip with a nice 15” brown! Pretty cool for an 11:45 start. J
Wednesday night was the start of things really beginning to turn on. 9:30 the Iso’s and drakes appeared like clock work and some decent fish started to feed. Managed a nice scrappy brown early before pulling in the line to wait for the big guys to get started. About 10:30 a halfway decent flight of hex spinners showed up over the water and while the bigger fish started feeding I was fooled into thinking it was spinners hitting the water. As it turned out ever few hit the water but a nice steady hatch had started the proceeded to last for more than 2 hrs of which I spent fishing to a couple nice fish of which I lost one. And then got into hunter mode probing all of the side channels fishing to slurping fish. The most rewarding fish of the evening was about a 13-14” fish that was tight to a log in a narrow backwater run. That was really cool to get a fly to him in the dark. Fish shut down about 1:15 AM. Ahhh another early night…… Sleep.... driving to sleeping bear dunes in the AM!
A pretty brown from the night!
http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/507/33another_hex_brown.jpg
Thursday night was not at all what I expected to say the least. I went back to the spot I fished Monday and the night started innocently enough with the usual 9:30 Iso/drake appearance but at about 10:15 THEY came. We went from no hex spinner fall to a FULL BLANKET spinner fall!! I’ve only had one heavier in all my years of chasing and the fish were feeding with reckless abandon! Including the fish that I could not match my timing up to Monday. After 40 minutes of trying to get my fly taken among the flotillas of spinners coming down the river I was rewarded with this nice 18” brown! BABY!!
http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/507/3318_in_brown_hex_6-23_web.jpg
My good luck continued on as the guys below me left early giving me another section of water with nice fish feeding which yielded another 17” fish on my 3rd cast and lost another bigger fish a bit later. I fished my way back to camp and got off the water about 3:00 AM leaving feeding fish behind with an overnight low of 70 degrees. Had to get some more sleep though as today’s trip to the dunes got rained out when we got there so we’re leaving earlier today… whew….!
While I was looking forward to another great night of fishing conditions, I was cringing at the thoughts of the crowds to be expected on a Friday night during the hex. I was also worried about the severe thunderstorm watch so I stuffed my rain jacket in my vest. I burned out of camp a little tired from lack of sleep and swimming with the family but determined to get down a get on a different section of water before the crowds showed up. Again luck was on my side and I was rewarded with a nice colorful brown 14” brown at 8 PM when I could actually SEE. A guy floating by with a friend who’d not seen a brown yet snapped a pic for me while I showed off the fish for his friend.
http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/507/33Early_evening_brown.jpg
As I’m watching the nightly 9:30 bugs turn on I’m also watching a nasty looking thunderstorm rolling across the horizon. L Just as the hex start to fall again but in a better fishing volume the storm got really close. I set the rod down away from and put on my jacket and as some rain kicked the couple guys nearby head for cover. After about 15 minutes the weather was gone and the fish were still feeding, but now it was also accompanied with nice hatch of duns again and to top it all off I had all of the river for at least three full bends all to myself and had a blast!
I never landed any real monsters but hooked some VERY nice fish that came off and another that broke off. I rolled off the water at 4:00 AM again leaving behind feeding fish. I never thought I’d ever do that one but I was tired after back to back 8 + hr nights on the water with little sleep and a lot blessings it just seemed like it was time. Even was lucky enough to have all my encounters with other fisherman be polite ones, which is not always the case! Saturday afternoon I went to the Trout Bum BBQ fundraiser for the local watersheds and opted to skip the night on the water and spend it with the family. What a week!
With the forecast looking great in my favor we arrived in Grayling Sunday afternoon (fathers day) and with the forecast of cool evening and the plan to start the week off with a family campfire the week was shaping up quite nicely. I spent the afternoon after setting up camp checking in with the rest of the “regulars” to get a current update and plan my strategy. Nobody had seen more than a hex or two but it was just a matter of time till these guys popped!
Monday night I hit the water at what has been one of my most favorite spots. About 9:30 the Isonychia started to show up pretty good along with a few brown drakes. Not many hit the water but there were some very good fish feeding just the same. Just not as consistently as I would have liked. One was extremely erratic and I stung another as it hit as I picked up my fly. I was shut out for the night as the bugs and fish both quit early. I didn’t “see” any hex but I could have sworn I heard a couple fly by! It was an early night and I was off the water by 12:15 AM.
Tuesday night turned out to be a nice surprise. With a overnight low forecast of a dip into the upper 40’s I negotiated a swap of the last night in camp marshmallow roast to Tuesday night and planned fishing Saturday. After everyone conked out at 11:40 and making sure the embers were under control I walked to the back of our site to listen to the river and was surprised to hear the heavy slurps that you only here when a good fish is gobbling up HEX! I quickly walked up to the camper and told Angi what I’d heard and headed for the water. I surprised to see that there was actually a pretty respectable hatch in progress and was blessed with three respectable fish feeding in a slow off shoot of the river. I was even luckier to break in the trip with a nice 15” brown! Pretty cool for an 11:45 start. J
Wednesday night was the start of things really beginning to turn on. 9:30 the Iso’s and drakes appeared like clock work and some decent fish started to feed. Managed a nice scrappy brown early before pulling in the line to wait for the big guys to get started. About 10:30 a halfway decent flight of hex spinners showed up over the water and while the bigger fish started feeding I was fooled into thinking it was spinners hitting the water. As it turned out ever few hit the water but a nice steady hatch had started the proceeded to last for more than 2 hrs of which I spent fishing to a couple nice fish of which I lost one. And then got into hunter mode probing all of the side channels fishing to slurping fish. The most rewarding fish of the evening was about a 13-14” fish that was tight to a log in a narrow backwater run. That was really cool to get a fly to him in the dark. Fish shut down about 1:15 AM. Ahhh another early night…… Sleep.... driving to sleeping bear dunes in the AM!
A pretty brown from the night!
http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/507/33another_hex_brown.jpg
Thursday night was not at all what I expected to say the least. I went back to the spot I fished Monday and the night started innocently enough with the usual 9:30 Iso/drake appearance but at about 10:15 THEY came. We went from no hex spinner fall to a FULL BLANKET spinner fall!! I’ve only had one heavier in all my years of chasing and the fish were feeding with reckless abandon! Including the fish that I could not match my timing up to Monday. After 40 minutes of trying to get my fly taken among the flotillas of spinners coming down the river I was rewarded with this nice 18” brown! BABY!!
http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/507/3318_in_brown_hex_6-23_web.jpg
My good luck continued on as the guys below me left early giving me another section of water with nice fish feeding which yielded another 17” fish on my 3rd cast and lost another bigger fish a bit later. I fished my way back to camp and got off the water about 3:00 AM leaving feeding fish behind with an overnight low of 70 degrees. Had to get some more sleep though as today’s trip to the dunes got rained out when we got there so we’re leaving earlier today… whew….!
While I was looking forward to another great night of fishing conditions, I was cringing at the thoughts of the crowds to be expected on a Friday night during the hex. I was also worried about the severe thunderstorm watch so I stuffed my rain jacket in my vest. I burned out of camp a little tired from lack of sleep and swimming with the family but determined to get down a get on a different section of water before the crowds showed up. Again luck was on my side and I was rewarded with a nice colorful brown 14” brown at 8 PM when I could actually SEE. A guy floating by with a friend who’d not seen a brown yet snapped a pic for me while I showed off the fish for his friend.
http://www.ohiosportsman.com/photopost/data/507/33Early_evening_brown.jpg
As I’m watching the nightly 9:30 bugs turn on I’m also watching a nasty looking thunderstorm rolling across the horizon. L Just as the hex start to fall again but in a better fishing volume the storm got really close. I set the rod down away from and put on my jacket and as some rain kicked the couple guys nearby head for cover. After about 15 minutes the weather was gone and the fish were still feeding, but now it was also accompanied with nice hatch of duns again and to top it all off I had all of the river for at least three full bends all to myself and had a blast!
I never landed any real monsters but hooked some VERY nice fish that came off and another that broke off. I rolled off the water at 4:00 AM again leaving behind feeding fish. I never thought I’d ever do that one but I was tired after back to back 8 + hr nights on the water with little sleep and a lot blessings it just seemed like it was time. Even was lucky enough to have all my encounters with other fisherman be polite ones, which is not always the case! Saturday afternoon I went to the Trout Bum BBQ fundraiser for the local watersheds and opted to skip the night on the water and spend it with the family. What a week!