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Lateral view of a Female Hexagenia limbata (Ephemeridae) (Hex) Mayfly Dun from the Namekagon River in Wisconsin
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.

27" brown trout, my largest ever. It was the sub-dominant fish in its pool. After this, I hooked the bigger one, but I couldn't land it.
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Wbranch has attached these 6 pictures to this report. The message is below.
19"

Report at a Glance

General RegionYork County water
Specific LocationIf you know the area you will know where I was
Dates FishedSeptember 12 & 13
Time of Day10 - 5 both days
Fish CaughtSmallmouth
Conditions & HatchesVery low water, only 10,300 cfs. It should be around 18,000 cfs. Water clarity is excellent. I could easily see the bottom in 4' of water. No hatches but fish are chasing bait.

Details and Discussion

Wbranch
Wbranch's profile picture
York & Starlight PA

Posts: 2635
Wbranch on Sep 14, 2017September 14th, 2017, 10:07 am EDT
Just a few pictures from a recent outing.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Jmd123
Jmd123's profile picture
Oscoda, MI

Posts: 2474
Jmd123 on Sep 14, 2017September 14th, 2017, 2:45 pm EDT
Ever chuck streamers at those smallies, Matt? Or are they too deep for that? I would think one of my Killer Bass Flies in size 6 with nickel-plated dumbbell eyes would do the trick, or one of your own nice minnow imitations. Do they ever come up for dry flies, or are you too busy chasing trout when that's happening? As you have seen, I have pulled some really nice ones like yours from Cooke Pond, but I usually try to hit that during fly hatches because even 20-inchers will take a freakin' #12 EHC! Not to mention there's good Hex, Brown Drake, and Light Cahill hatches out there that really bring them up.

There is not a harder-fighting freshwater fish in North America! Trout can sure give you a battle, but I've worn out 18" trout a lot faster than any 18" smallie I've ever tied into, sometimes it seems like they are NEVER going to wear out! You have to go to saltwater species to get that hard of a fight.

Very nice looking bronzebacks. Glad to hear that river is doing well again, it sure got a lot of bad publicity not that long ago. Done with trout for the year? I'm just getting ready for my Fall Attack, before it gets too damned cold to hold a fly rod...

Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...
Partsman
Partsman's profile picture
bancroft michigan

Posts: 321
Partsman on Sep 16, 2017September 16th, 2017, 9:20 am EDT
Beautiful fish Matt, the smallmouth is an awesome fish, and one I intend to fish more of. Jonathon I used to used to fish loud and five channels ponds quite a bit, back then they were full of hammer handle size pike, and some really nice smallies! I'm going to looking for a canoe to play around with up there, no more boats for me.

Take care guys'
Mike.

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