Nearly twenty years ago I learned to fly fish in and around Grayling, Michigan, while working at a summer camp outside of town. Graying is more or less (in my mind at least) the mecca of "The Hex". I remember being totally captivated when going into The Fly Factory in early summer and seeing large foam boards covered with flies the size of baby birds hanging on the walls and down from the ceiling. There were whispers in the shop that the bugs came off here or the bugs were supposed to be there. The hex was a mystery.
I never fished the hex hatch while spending summers up there, which now I look back on as a grave mistake. I was young however, downright nervous with my elementary skill set as a fly angler, and felt that without a doubt my $100 two tone (one of those being primer gray) Ford Escort would have broken down on some forgotten sand trail of a road in the middle of the night leaving me stranded and without someone to bail me out with a ride.
It was years before I had a proper "Hex Experience" and for whatever reason I hit it just right. The bugs started coming off right at dark, they came in waves, they fell on us thick, and before the night was over I had tussled and caught several heavy brown trout.
Robert Thompson's newly released film, Night of the HEX, is an excellent primer for those that have wondered what this hexagenia limbata bug is all about and tells the story of the highs and lows of the experience.
Hex fishing trailer from RT on Vimeo.
I never fished the hex hatch while spending summers up there, which now I look back on as a grave mistake. I was young however, downright nervous with my elementary skill set as a fly angler, and felt that without a doubt my $100 two tone (one of those being primer gray) Ford Escort would have broken down on some forgotten sand trail of a road in the middle of the night leaving me stranded and without someone to bail me out with a ride.
It was years before I had a proper "Hex Experience" and for whatever reason I hit it just right. The bugs started coming off right at dark, they came in waves, they fell on us thick, and before the night was over I had tussled and caught several heavy brown trout.
Robert Thompson's newly released film, Night of the HEX, is an excellent primer for those that have wondered what this hexagenia limbata bug is all about and tells the story of the highs and lows of the experience.
Hex fishing trailer from RT on Vimeo.
Night of the HEX is not just thirty minutes of big fish and hero shots filmed in the dark. This film keeps it realistic and offers up all the elements that anglers who chase this bug ask themselves every night that they decide to stay up way past bedtime hoping that it all comes together. Is it to humid? Will the humidity lead to a thunderstorm that will wash the night out? Is it warm enough? Is it to hot? Will the bugs come off here? Or there? Is someone already in my "Hex Spot"? Will the bugs come off minutes after I've given up and walked back to the car? It's all still a mystery and for those that dedicate long nights and several weeks each summer to this big bug, it's something that is hard to shake from the system.
Night of the HEX is well done, filmed and edited masterfully, and tells the story of chasing the hatch from the perspective of both guides and anglers. It is certainly worth adding to your angling films collection and with a limited run of just 500 DVD's pressed you'd be smart to order sooner than later.
1 comment:
what a unique and wonderful experience! Night fishing is so cool!
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