Had to head north last weekend to help around my folks' place. They just so happen to live near one of the best trout rivers in Michigan, and I also happened to be joined by a few good friends. The plan was to fish the hex hatch to pass the time until it got nice and dark for mousin'. Pretty normal gathering at one of the hexin' access points. Waiting for darkness to set in. The mission was for my buddy, a recent Michigan transplant, to get his first big MI brown. 23" of hex eating brown trout...mission accomplished. Shortly after that, we met a buddy at our mousin' destination up river around 1am. We got a few teeners right off the bat to keep us busy. Then, around 3am, we got what we came for. We fished until the sky began to lighten, which kills the mouse bite. Stupid sun. The good thing about fishing until dawn is that restaurants begin to open for breakfast. Pile of breakfast goodness. That day was filled with loading and stacking wood. Only thing left to do after a hard days work is fish until dawn again. Waiting for darkness again and more hexin'. Then it was off to throw concontions of rabbit, foam, and/or hair.
Hex fishing is pretty straight forward. See a fish rise, cast above it. The hardest part is knowing your distance. Mousin' is a whole different world. Its best at the darkest part of the night and the fish will explode on it. The best/worst part about it is you never know when it will happen. Its a lot of fun and you rarely "see' anyone else on the water.
That is correct. Hex is short for hexangina limbata, which is a very large mayfly that hatches after dark. Mousin' involves waking large, mouse or frog imitating flies. As the summer warms, the mice rely on the river for a drink. They aren't very good swimmers if they fall in, and become prey for bigger trout.
Looks like you all had a great time Matt, wish I could have been there but just to much to do right now. Good luck and keep posting those pictures.
