Winding Down

It’s inevitable. The hex hatch begins … and then it ends.

We’re nearly two weeks (12 days now) in to the annual Hexagenia hatch at Back Lake, and the hatching activity unfortunately appears to be winding down. It’s about the right timeline, as the hex hatch is typically a two-week event, more or less. That’s only half the story, though, as it relates to the hex hatch. The trout and bass have still been active the last few evenings, taking the dwindling supply of hexes that are still available.

As is the case most nights during the hatch, boat positioning on the lake is nearly everything. Being too close to shore or in a shallower part of Back Lake will doom you to a night of casting to smallmouth bass – they’re fun, but that’s probably not what we’re looking for, after all.

Each evening, my boat, as well as Cindy and Jon’s, have had at least a few good rainbows brought to justice in addition to a multitude of smallies. The fish are there and they’re still looking upward for hexes, but there is no doubt that there’s not as many of them coming off each evening. This fact was made clear to me on Saturday night in nearly windless conditions on the lake. We probably saw a grand total of twenty of them hatch that night – a pittance compared to what we witnessed a week before.

Still, the hex hatch does not simply “end” – it slowly trickles out, like someone slowly closing a spigot. They’re not all on the same schedule, so we’ll have some stragglers coming off in the next couple weeks, and there will still be hungry fish looking upward for them too.

Enjoy it before it’s over for another season …