Hex Mayflies
Hexagenia limbata
The famous nocturnal Hex hatch of the Midwest (and a few other lucky locations) stirs to the surface mythically large brown trout that only touch streamers for the rest of the year.
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This one pretty clearly keys to Kogotus, but it also looks fairly different from specimens I caught in the same creek about a month later in the year. With only one species of the genus known in Washington, I'm not sure about the answer to this ID.
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RedQuill27 on Nov 15, 2009November 15th, 2009, 2:11 am EST
I was wondering if anyone has fished the Lt Hendrickson hatch on the Holy Waters. I never have and I am taking a trip with a few buddies who have fished it the last 35 years and I am the designated fly tyer. I got the job because I am the new guy in the group and about 35 years younger than all of them.
I am just looking for Ideas on patterns. Something new that those guys probably have never fished before. I usually tie flies ala A.K. Best with Quill or Biot bodies.
We do not want to fish emergers we want to fish Dries. The reason is that this is the first reliable Dry fly fishing us guys from Wisconsin can get.
Any help would be helpful.
Thank You and Tight Lines!
I am just looking for Ideas on patterns. Something new that those guys probably have never fished before. I usually tie flies ala A.K. Best with Quill or Biot bodies.
We do not want to fish emergers we want to fish Dries. The reason is that this is the first reliable Dry fly fishing us guys from Wisconsin can get.
Any help would be helpful.
Thank You and Tight Lines!
Fishing is like sex, when its good its great, and when its bad its still pretty good.
Oldredbarn on Nov 16, 2009November 16th, 2009, 1:59 am EST
Bill,
It's a wonderful hatch if you get lucky. Sometimes it gets going so hard that your fly looks like a yacht among the naturals. When are you guys planning on being there? I have fished the same week, just prior to Memorial Day, for 20+ years. I missed one year in 2005 for back surgery.
I know you said dry flies only, but I have had wonderful luck with just using a Sparkle Dun...I think that technically a fly with a trailing shuck is still in the process of emerging, but I won't say anything.
Still in the emerging (damp) neighborhood there are all kinds of versions of Mike Lawson's "Half-N-Half" emerger and his PMD version works pretty well for the Light Henny's. There is a nice loop-wing version that has been popular up there for a long time and you can fashion it on scud type hooks.
There can be a few "cousins" hatching at the same time...It's difficult to describe the actual color of some of them. Some are in the yellowish/sulpher neighborhood that everyone thinks of when they think of sulphers, but there are some that lean towards the olive hues...I don't want to stress color, but they all aren't the same.
The dry fly works, I use it all the time, but the Ephemerella seem to come off in pretty substanial numbers when they go. I've fished when they were crawling all over you, your rod, and just about everything else. The fish chase them from the bottom all the way to the top of the water and a large portion just don't make it to the surface.
I'll stop here...I think I may be better able to help you out if you could give me a rough time you guys are planning to be up there.
The problem, though it's not a bad problem to have, on the Au Sable when the Sulphers start is they are not alone. It's probably not a good idea to just target this one bug. Google "Michigan Emergence Chart" and the first chart that shows up is a good chart... (trailstotrout)I think it is...Also, www.gateslodge.com and toogle to Hatch Chart.
It's not a bad idea to start at Gates' Lodge for info...Give them a call and ask for Josh and tell him your dates...He'll be happy to "sell" your friends all the flies they can handle or you can't manufacture for yourself.
There are a great many local favorites up there and I was always schooled to speak with the guys that know the river. Part of the fishing experience, for me, has been to ferret out this local knowledge. All around the Au Sable there are guys that sell their flies in local gas stations and party stores...They have been chasing trout for sometime up there.
For quite some time I have floated with a friend that is a guide at least once or twice a year. The Au Sable Riverboat is a unique way to see a great deal of water and spend the day with someone who guides everyday on the river. The boats are long and narrow and go back to the logging days...Again...Gates' web page shows a couple nice photos of the boat on the guide page.
Take Care! Good Luck!
Spence
P.S. Look in to Ross Mueller from over your way. His, "Upper Midwest Flies For Trout" has some helpful stuff in it.
It's a wonderful hatch if you get lucky. Sometimes it gets going so hard that your fly looks like a yacht among the naturals. When are you guys planning on being there? I have fished the same week, just prior to Memorial Day, for 20+ years. I missed one year in 2005 for back surgery.
I know you said dry flies only, but I have had wonderful luck with just using a Sparkle Dun...I think that technically a fly with a trailing shuck is still in the process of emerging, but I won't say anything.
Still in the emerging (damp) neighborhood there are all kinds of versions of Mike Lawson's "Half-N-Half" emerger and his PMD version works pretty well for the Light Henny's. There is a nice loop-wing version that has been popular up there for a long time and you can fashion it on scud type hooks.
There can be a few "cousins" hatching at the same time...It's difficult to describe the actual color of some of them. Some are in the yellowish/sulpher neighborhood that everyone thinks of when they think of sulphers, but there are some that lean towards the olive hues...I don't want to stress color, but they all aren't the same.
The dry fly works, I use it all the time, but the Ephemerella seem to come off in pretty substanial numbers when they go. I've fished when they were crawling all over you, your rod, and just about everything else. The fish chase them from the bottom all the way to the top of the water and a large portion just don't make it to the surface.
I'll stop here...I think I may be better able to help you out if you could give me a rough time you guys are planning to be up there.
The problem, though it's not a bad problem to have, on the Au Sable when the Sulphers start is they are not alone. It's probably not a good idea to just target this one bug. Google "Michigan Emergence Chart" and the first chart that shows up is a good chart... (trailstotrout)I think it is...Also, www.gateslodge.com and toogle to Hatch Chart.
It's not a bad idea to start at Gates' Lodge for info...Give them a call and ask for Josh and tell him your dates...He'll be happy to "sell" your friends all the flies they can handle or you can't manufacture for yourself.
There are a great many local favorites up there and I was always schooled to speak with the guys that know the river. Part of the fishing experience, for me, has been to ferret out this local knowledge. All around the Au Sable there are guys that sell their flies in local gas stations and party stores...They have been chasing trout for sometime up there.
For quite some time I have floated with a friend that is a guide at least once or twice a year. The Au Sable Riverboat is a unique way to see a great deal of water and spend the day with someone who guides everyday on the river. The boats are long and narrow and go back to the logging days...Again...Gates' web page shows a couple nice photos of the boat on the guide page.
Take Care! Good Luck!
Spence
P.S. Look in to Ross Mueller from over your way. His, "Upper Midwest Flies For Trout" has some helpful stuff in it.
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
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