Rigging Up - A night on the river takes preparation. Kawkawlin's Dan Schmidt (right), Essexville's Mark DeSanto (center) and Oscoda's Sam DeSanto anchor on the river to prepare for a midnight flyfishing float on the Ausable River near Mio. Midnight on the AuSable -- In Search of Trophy Brown Trout
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Hot nights in June trigger the annual brown trout feeding frenzy for Michigan's famous hex hatch. The water warms and the Hexagenia Limbata (hex flies) rise from the silt on the river bottom to dance momentarily on the river's surface drying their wings.
The flies then migrate to the trees and remain there for up to 3 days, mate (most often in the dark of night) in the air and fall to the water, where the females lay their eggs that sink to the river bottom to start the year-long process over again. After the mating and the egg-laying, both the male and female flies lay dead on the river's surface - an easy meal for hungry brown trout.
The Hexagenia Limbata is both the largest food treat of the summer for the brown trout that inhabit Michigan's inland river systems and is also one of the few flies (of any size) that are active after dark. It is not unusual for hex flies to appear on the river as late as 2-3:00 a.m. in the morning. This combination of food size and the safety of the night's darkness brings out the "wallhangers" - the brown trout over 20 inches in length - the fishing prize that bring hex fishermen out into the river at midnight.
The 20"+ brown trout, rarely seen during the daylight in June, become veritable party animals under the curtain of night. Under the cover of darness, big, bruiser browns move into open, unprotected feeding lanes that are easily cast to by floating or wading flyfishermen. The large fish, blinded by their desire for the big flies, thrash on the surface of the river, gorging themselves (recklessly) on the floating dinner entrees.
This annual fishing tradition usually begins with the first days of summer - anytime after June 21st. Most hex fishermen start looking for the big flies in the latter days of June. But the hex activity can continue in various parts of Michigan rivers until well into mid-July. See Related Fly Fishing Column by O. J. Cunningham Here.
Below Left: Mark DeSanto (with miner's headlamp) and fly rod readies a midnight cast toward a brown trout feeding on hex flies floating down the AuSable River.
Below Right: Dan Schmidt stops for a photo opportunity after a successful night fishing expedition on the AuSable River. When asked if the trip was successful, Schmidt said laughingly, "If the boat comes in right side up and nobody's wet . . . we call it a successful trip."
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