Hex hatch to bring huge trout topside this week

Friday, July 08, 2005

For the past seven to 10 days on Maine's fly-fishing bulletin boards, posters have been asking the perennial late June and early July question that we hear every summer. Have the Hexes (or green drakes) started hatching yet?

As of last mid-week, they were just beginning to show in large enough number for lots of folks to notice each evening. Normally, the emergence starts just before dark and continues into the darkness.

These burrowing members of the mayfly family live on silt bottoms of cold-water ponds, lakes and rivers for two to three years before swimming to the surface, where they sit on the meniscus while going through their metamorphosis and wing drying. Then, they fly off and spend a few nights in bushes along shore before mating. Trout and salmon notice the abundant forage on the surface and go into a feeding frenzy.

These huge mayflies will attract angler crowds each evening now. The insects measure 2 to 2 1/2 inches long, depending on species, and that includes the very visible tails. They look ever so big compared to most aquatic insects, influencing writers to use metaphors such as "baby gulls."

Such a meaty mouthful brings the largest trout and salmon up from the depths, so fly rodders await this hatch with the same anticipation as a kid looking forward to Christmas. In short, this week offers us a grand opportunity to tangle with the trophy of a lifetime.

The body and wing colors of the duns vary with species -- cream to yellowish to dark mahogany.ÊMayfly wings resemble scalene sails, so these critters look like miniature sailboats, floating on the meniscus.

Weather, elevation and latitude all play a major role in the date these bugs emerge -- anytime from mid June to early August:

n This spring's endless rain has moved the hatch date about a week to 10 days later than usual, so plan accordingly when you know the usual hatch date.Ê(Dry,hot springs start festivities a week or two early.) Once these insects begin, they continue for 10 days to three or four weeks.

n Elevation influences the emergence time, and one small area in Maine really emphasizes this concept.ÊI have fished the Hex hatch about June 20 on Frost Pond just a few miles west of Baxter Park's southwest corner. In the park itself, mountains rise quickly and make the temperatures cooler. There, the Hexes normally begin the first and second week of July.

n Several years ago, on Denny Pond in T 15 R 9 just southwest of Fort Kent, one of Maine's highest latitudes, Harry Vanderweide, of Augusta, and I fished over a Hex hatch around August 10 long after Hexes had ended around Baxter and Moosehead Lake.

One point about this hatch astounds me, and "astound" is no exaggeration. These insects literally spur the Maine economy. Folks travel long distances to fish the evening hatch, and serious fly rodders even book reservations in sporting camps or motels a year in advance to coincide with the Hex hatch.

Many people in Maine call these bugs "green drakes," but I have never seen a true green drake (Ephemera guttulata) in this state. Our waters are too acidic for the species, but in the limestone belt in Aroostook County, people tell me green drakes thrive. That makes sense because water in that area tends to be more alkaline. I have fished Prestile Stream a lot, though, and have never hit green drakes.

Most of the giant-sized mayflies this month are Hexagenia limbata, which we simply call Hexes or green drakes. The problem with calling this insect green drake begins with a fact. Green drakes are smaller and a different color, so if someone tells a fly rodder who knows no better that "green drakes" are hatching, the poor guy or gal will show up with fly imitations the wrong size and color. That can be a major problem when fly fishers find themselves on the back side of nowhere without the right imitation because trout can get picky in the middle of a Hex hatch.

Folks should buy or tie H. limbata patterns on size 6, 2x long hooks. My favorite choice for a dry fly is a Compara-Dun with a light-yellowish body, light-tan deer hair and heavy brown thread for ribbing to make the very visible abdomen segments to match the natural.

A favorite nymph imitation begins with the exact same dressing as the Flick March Brown, and buyers or tiers should make sure the abdomen and thorax are dirty yellow. This pattern calls for two, size 10, 2x long hooks attached together with a loop of .013 brown Maxima mono, which makes the fly wiggle like a real insect. The back hook holds the abdomen and tail and the front hook the thorax, wing case, legs and head. Clip the bend and barb off the back hook, leaving just the shank. (Two hooks are illegal on fly-fishing-only waters.)

Two other mayfly species hatch in conjunction with the Hex:

The first is Anthopotamus distinctus, the absolute most beautiful of all mayflies. Most folks with a scientific leaning know this bug as Potamanthus distinctus and colloquially call it cream variant or golden drake because it is complete creamish with a slight touch of primrose yellow. Entomologists reclassified it from Potamanthus to Anthopotamus, screwing up old guys like me.

A light-cream Compara-dun tied on a size 8, 2x long hook works well, using cream deer hair (off the part of the deer between the sides and belly) for the wings and cream fur dubbed onto primrose yellow thread for the abdomen and thorax.

The second fly is Litobrancha recurvata, which was recently changed from Hexagenia recurvata. Fly rodders often call this fly a brown drake, a descriptive term. It has mahogany-colored wings, thorax and tails. This fly can come off the water like a blizzard, but the hatch is much more short lived than limbata. A brown Compara-dun on a size 6 or 8, 2x long hook works great -- just the ticket for a fun evening.Ê

Ken Allen, of Belgrade Lakes, is a writer, editor and photographer. To reach him, send e-mail to KAllyn800@aol.com