Back Lake Hex Hatch Update: 6/23

Our changing weather in Pittsburg over the last two days has led to changes for the hexagenia hatch on Back Lake as well. A cold front, trailing a string of storms a couple of days ago, has cooled the water’s surface of the lake the last two nights (down to the upper 40’s Tuesday night, and low 40’s last night), throwing a bit of a wrench in the plans of anglers that like to take advantage of the hex hatch.

The change that I could see last night was the timing and intensity of the hatch, and the resulting rising activity of the fish pursuing it. A few nights ago, hexes were coming off when we got out there in the early evening, and it just intensified all the way until dark. Much like the hatch, the amount of rising fish also built all the way until dark, as they pursued the giant mayflies with great gusto.

Last night, hexes were sporadically coming off here and there early in the evening, and it continued that way until about 8:45. The rising activity mirrored the hatch – relatively light and in no way resembling how it was a few nights before. As the daylight faded after 8:45, so did the temperature. It was downright cold last night out on the boat, but the fading light seemed to trigger more hexes to make their watery journey, and that triggered the fish as well. By the time we left the water at 9:30, our boat was surrounded by hungry fish, taking hexes and sometimes our flies.

We landed three rainbows, two of which were in the 16″ neighborhood, as well as two smallmouth bass. Being positioned favoring the middle of the lake probably helped us be in the right location for trout last night. The water temp a couple feet from the surface was 64 degrees (cooler than it has been lately), and it is undoubtedly colder this morning after a 40 degree night. We should have great conditions for the hatch the next couple of nights – warmer temps during the day and placid conditions for casting should get things going for us consistently again.