A certain stretch of the Manistee above M-72 gave me very consistent hex fishing for four years. Some nights were better than others, but there were always bugs and there were always rising trout. Some nights I fished in a crowd, some nights I had it to myself. But last year I spent two nights there and saw good numbers spinners but no flies on the water. This year wasn't even that good.
Wednesday, a few hex spinners started to show around ten, but a swarm never appeared. Nothing emerged later. Thursday I never even saw spinners. That's really all there is to say about hex hatch 2012. I'd been lulled by previous experience into thinking I'd found a surefire hex hole, but I stand thoroughly disabused of that notion.
Ready for a change of pace, I spent Friday on the Au Sable's south branch in the upper Mason Tract. Hexes are done on the south, so I figured I would enjoy a nice solitary evening catching brookies on blue winged olives, and have at least a shot at a late isonychia spinnerfall that would entice some larger trout. Found plenty of rising trout from 7:00 on, but had a hard time connecting. I watched the water for a while after wading in and saw a couple of flying ants tumble into the flow. I put one on and quickly landed a decent brook trout. Believing I'd found the secret, I tossed the ant at a few other feeders and received only one short strike. A few olives were flying around so I tried a #20 dun and drew more short strikes. Many of these rising trout were quite small, and I didn't cast to the little ones at first. Finally I did out of desperation, and even they spurned me. Getting refused by a 6" brook trout is one of the keener humiliations an angler can suffer.
Around 8:00 I was seeing quite a few small brown caddis in the air so I tied on a reasonable facsimile and got nothing, even though around I was seeing a lot of splashy rises. Only about half an hour later, as the feeding began to slow in the run I was on, did I find an emerger that would have worked. By then I was seeing more smooth rises, as well as more BWOs in the air (though still not very many), so I tried my spinners and duns again, and again was refused by each fish that took notice of my fly. Many didn't.
A bit after 9 the run seemed to have gone dead. I had seen just a few iso spinners, so I cut back my leader and tied one on. I started wading back to where I'd walked in only to see another group of active feeders two runs up. The rises were quiet again, and stirred a few bubbles but I didn't see anything on the surface the trout would be eating, even with the aid of my headlamp. Having barely been able to see to tie the iso on, I wasn't going to attempt threading the hook eye of a #18 or 20 olive. I cast the spinner to a few of the risers and caught one, a whopper 8" brookie. Hooked a couple more briefly before feeding slowed and I kept moving upstream.
Close to my walk-out point a heard a couple of other rises. I can't say if they were consistent or not because in the dark I couldn't see them, and the sound of most of them would have been drowned out by the fireworks that had begun exploding almost continuously once the sun had set. Where I was, the tract is bordered by cottages, and most of their occupants were apparently exploiting Michigan's recent legalization of high powered fireworks. I kept drifting my iso through the run where the rises had sounded, and occasionally between the fusillades I heard more. Sadly, I didn't hear the ones that counted. Twice when lifting my line at the end of a drift I felt a fish pulling on it. By that point it's too late to set the hook. Except for the damn fireworks I would have landed a couple of good fish.
I wouldn't have minded trying a little longer, maybe moving to another spot, but the blasts from beyond the tract kept coming. My ears hurt from them--how loud would they have been close up?
Another frustrating night of fishing, but at least I felt like I was back in the game. If I was up there again tonight and someone told me I had a 50% chance of hitting a monster hex hatch on the Manistee, I think I'd still go to the south branch and try to crack the riddle of those twilight rises. A little further from town, though.
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