# Au Sable Hex?



## badercmu123 (Dec 29, 2010)

Don't get too excited guys. I have nothing to report so far.

I will be visiting a cottage located on the holy waters next weekend by coincidence and am keeping my fingers crossed that the hex will be hatching.

Throughout my fishing career the hex hatch is one event that has evaded me. Recently picked up some patterns from great lakes fly shop in rockford to replicate. Can't wait to get out on the river next weekend.

Any thoughts from you veterans on swinging flies in the dark. Haven't spent much time on the water past dusk in years past. Any advise will be appreciated.

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## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

Don't feel bad. It has evaded me as well.


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

You need a good head lamp, have a spare in your vest. Short heavy leaders, heavy rod (6wt). Keep your casts short. Be in a good position when the bugs start, they may not last long.


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## Bull Market (Mar 12, 2005)

Scout things out before the activity begins. When you find "your" spot, stake it out early on the night you want to fish. Don't be too surprised if you come in at 9:15pm and find that someone else got their earlier, and you have to look for another spot. Good luck. Be polite and considerate and things will work out fine.


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## walleyebum (Jan 2, 2011)

next weekend might be a tad early. my mom lives just a couple miles upriver of the holywaters and as of last night only drakes still. i have heard a few reports of a couple spotted but nothing to fish. it is going to be close on next weekend. good news is it wont be a mad house yet next weekend. not as bad as in about 3 weeks. then it really sucks. i dont much care for dealing with all the people any more. when i used to really fish it hard was about ten years ago and there were about half as many people fishing. 

now when we float it is not uncommon to see 50 to 75 boats a night


still got a couple of sweet spots down here twords mio that doesnt see many people. 

good luck next weekend!!! if you have any other questions or need a guy to take you out one night shoot me a pm.

-adam


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## Bulletproof (Jul 26, 2005)

With this warm weather, I wouldn't be surprised to see a big pop any night now, although we are still probably 5-6 nights away from a good one, assuming we keep warm weather, but this is prime for HEX. Low, low stretches of water will see the first bugs and the train will move up accordingly. The 'Holy Water' isn't really good HEX water, I'd move down the system a good bit.


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

No bugs located in the backwaters yet. i wouldnt be surprised to see some tonight though. Its suppose to cool down to below 60's thursday and through the weekend. Everything depends on weather. The water in town will be worth a try next week as well as th water in Mio. I wouldnt fish the holy waters. Like stated before get to your spot early more and more people are staking claims at 7 pm.
Feel free to pm me before you come and maybe you can get hooked up on to some bugs, despite the crowds its an awesome event.


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## aimus1 (Feb 28, 2011)

badercmu123 said:


> Don't get too excited guys. I have nothing to report so far.
> 
> I will be visiting a cottage located on the holy waters next weekend by coincidence and am keeping my fingers crossed that the hex will be hatching.
> 
> ...


If you try "swinging" a hex pattern in the dark...probably not gonna have much luck. "dead drift" will give ya a better chance.
Hatches tend to start down toward the mouth of these ditches and move up as the days/weeks go by.
Be on the water early and sit on an area that looks sexy. Good silt bottom with some deeper riffles/holes. Have a cigar and a beer and enjoy the scenery. Walk upstream a little and get that roll cast working. Big fish will tend to find a spot to feed thats virtually impossible to get a cast into. Pro cast with a perfect mend.
Bugs should start coming off just before dark. Fish will start to key in. Wait and listen for the fish you want and make the first cast a good one. Keep your ears open for a pig feeding upstream or downstream from your position. 
Try to time his feeding pattern. If he surfaces anywhere close to where you think your bug is...best lift the rod tip. Gets tricky in the dark when you can't see your bug. Try not to disrupt his feeding pot. Wait till your fly "dead drifts" well past his feeding location before you pick up and cast again. Drag or "swing" the fly across his pot and you'll put him down quick. "He'll stop feeding". For how long...who knows. You'll learn a lot if the bugs are coming off. Good luck.


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## woodie slayer (Feb 25, 2006)

aimus1 said:


> If you try "swinging" a hex pattern in the dark...probably not gonna have much luck. "dead drift" will give ya a better chance.
> Hatches tend to start down toward the mouth of these ditches and move up as the days/weeks go by.
> Be on the water early and sit on an area that looks sexy. Good silt bottom with some deeper riffles/holes. Have a cigar and a beer and enjoy the scenery. Walk upstream a little and get that roll cast working. Big fish will tend to find a spot to feed thats virtually impossible to get a cast into. Pro cast with a perfect mend.
> Bugs should start coming off just before dark. Fish will start to key in. Wait and listen for the fish you want and make the first cast a good one. Keep your ears open for a pig feeding upstream or downstream from your position.
> Try to time his feeding pattern. If he surfaces anywhere close to where you think your bug is...best lift the rod tip. Gets tricky in the dark when you can't see your bug. Try not to disrupt his feeding pot. Wait till your fly "dead drifts" well past his feeding location before you pick up and cast again. Drag or "swing" the fly across his pot and you'll put him down quick. "He'll stop feeding". For how long...who knows. You'll learn a lot if the bugs are coming off. Good luck.


 
that's good advice you can't ask for any better..don't forget the skeeter spray they're usually out in full force on those muggy nights the hex like


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## carsonr2 (Jan 15, 2009)

aimus1 said:


> If you try "swinging" a hex pattern in the dark...probably not gonna have much luck. "dead drift" will give ya a better chance.
> Hatches tend to start down toward the mouth of these ditches and move up as the days/weeks go by.
> Be on the water early and sit on an area that looks sexy. Good silt bottom with some deeper riffles/holes. Have a cigar and a beer and enjoy the scenery. Walk upstream a little and get that roll cast working. Big fish will tend to find a spot to feed thats virtually impossible to get a cast into. Pro cast with a perfect mend.
> Bugs should start coming off just before dark. Fish will start to key in. Wait and listen for the fish you want and make the first cast a good one. Keep your ears open for a pig feeding upstream or downstream from your position.
> Try to time his feeding pattern. If he surfaces anywhere close to where you think your bug is...best lift the rod tip. Gets tricky in the dark when you can't see your bug. Try not to disrupt his feeding pot. Wait till your fly "dead drifts" well past his feeding location before you pick up and cast again. Drag or "swing" the fly across his pot and you'll put him down quick. "He'll stop feeding". For how long...who knows. You'll learn a lot if the bugs are coming off. Good luck.



I agree this is great advice. One thing I'll toss in is in reference to the headlamp suggestion earlier. I would suggest getting a lamp with a red lens that you can turn off and on without having to cycle through a straight white light LED.

The red lens will save your night vision and isn't visible to the fish. If you hit (shine) the water with a white light you'll put those fish down quick.

I would recommend finding the water you want to fish and wade it during the daylight. Try to find landmarks that will be easy to distinguish in the dark, such as log jams a particular tree that overhangs the water, etc. Note where you are able to wade in relation to these landmarks. This will make your fishing that much easier.

You can even hit water like this really early in the day and practice casting to the likely lies where the fish will be. Pay attention to how much line you have out for your cast, and how much you need to mend to get a good drift.

Figuring out how the wading is and the type of cast needed during the daylight is much easier than trying to go at it in the dark.


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## brookies101 (Jun 23, 2008)

woodie slayer said:


> don't forget the skeeter spray they're usually out in full force on those muggy nights the hex like


 I would double up, with the spray and a thermacell. That damn thing is a lifesaver. I use it all the time while brookie hunting, never have a problem


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## aimus1 (Feb 28, 2011)

carsonr2 said:


> I agree this is great advice. One thing I'll toss in is in reference to the headlamp suggestion earlier. I would suggest getting a lamp with a red lens that you can turn off and on without having to cycle through a straight white light LED.
> 
> The red lens will save your night vision and isn't visible to the fish. If you hit (shine) the water with a white light you'll put those fish down quick.
> 
> ...


 Thats Hex fishin in a nut shell. Should be enough info for the OP get started.
It seems that everybody wants to be a fly fisherman during the hex hatch. I only say this because the fly fisherman traffic more than quadruples on my local ditches during this period. If you want to be a GOOD hex fisherman...you'll have to put your time in during daylight hours. If you struggle in the daylight...dark won't make it any easier.


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## woodie slayer (Feb 25, 2006)

aimus1 said:


> Thats Hex fishin in a nut shell. Should be enough info for the OP get started.
> It seems that everybody wants to be a fly fisherman during the hex hatch. I only say this because the fly fisherman traffic more than quadruples on my local ditches during this period. If you want to be a GOOD hex fisherman...you'll have to put your time in during daylight hours. If you struggle in the daylight...dark won't make it any easier.


 
boy that's the truth.my wife is great with her fly rod during the day but she has all kinds of trouble with that big hex fly at night.she also has trouble telling where the fish is feeding after dark and roll casting to it..
most nights she'll opt out


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## Shupac (Apr 17, 2005)

If your line starts to feel "funny" when you cast it, check immediately to see if the leader is tangled. A few times early in my hexing career, I discovered I'd been fishing with my leader in a big snarl but hadn't noticed it in the dark.


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## Davey Boy (Jan 5, 2011)

Make sure you have some spinner patterns with you as these often fall before the hatch.I have also found that a little drag at the end of the drift sometimes helps to trigger a strike.After the fall and hatch swinging a mouse can stop stop your heart when a fish slams into it.


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## badercmu123 (Dec 29, 2010)

Thanks for the help everyone. There is some priceless information in there. Can't wait to get up there on Friday. 

One more question, how short of a leader and what #. 

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## fishinlk (Apr 14, 2000)

5-6' is plenty. I generally fish my way to my spot with a normal 9' and once it get's closer to dusk I cut it back to about 7' or so and quit fishing. Just let the water settle and start watching.


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## beer and nuts (Jan 2, 2001)

3-5 feet of leader is all I use. No hex yet by the way.

Hey woodie, was up at the cabin sunday mowing the yard. I'm going to try and get up there this year once or twice and try and catch a night of flies hopefully?!


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## leechwrangler (Aug 9, 2010)

You guys ever see the mayflies hatch?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## doogie mac (Oct 24, 2010)

leechwrangler said:


> You guys ever see the mayflies hatch?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


 Ya. Cloudy warm days usually bring on emerging duns. Sometimes after the spinner fall usually well into the early morning hours,duns will emerge as well. Not many people key on the duns,very sporadic


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