I didn't see any posts from John or Brad yet, so I gotta update you on the Hex Rendezvous in northern Michigan!
Brad Robinson, John Ridderboss, Bob Haering, Ed Roden, and a non-listmember (though John was trying to convince him to fix that) friend of Ed's - Aaron Rubel met at Hartwick State Park. After dinner, all but Bob (whose shoulder is still not up to par) headed out to Lovell's on the North Branch of the Au Sable to Brad's super-secret hot spot. After a grueling hike in (which left us all drenched in the 80+ degree heat and humidity), we set about fishing. I started with a streamer, and switched to a dry when I saw some risers. I caught the first fish (a small brookie). John asked the size of the grey drakes I saw coming up. In my focus on my fly, I responded about 1/2 inch, which confused him. When he rephrased it, I realized the stupidity of that answer to a fly fisherman and answered a size 16. He also found out how I classify some of my dries (I'm terrible at remembering what I have) - I told him I was fishing a cream-colored mayfly pattern - which was true, but not quite what he was looking for. Brad and Aaron soon responded with brookies on their line, and we gave John the usual good-natured ribbing for not having his yet. He did manage to get some caddis to mate with his fly, which we've never seen, and we weren't quite sure what that means about the quality of his tying.... Brad rounded the bend while the brown drakes were heating up, and me being the one with a camera, heard him yelling for me, but as I had a riser in front of me, wasn't about to give it up to chase down a picture. He claims an 18 inch brown, and I'm inclined to believe him. The drakes kept us going, and we all had several hits, and John claimed a good-sized hookup, but was still fishless. Once the hex started coming off, the mosquitoes went nuts, and the lightning could be seen in the distance. Brad moved back around the bend so he wasn't too far away, but we kept fishing anyways. Since they stopped taking the drake pattern (I wasn't seeing hex in the air yet), and the slurps were getting bigger, I tied on a hex dry as quickly as possible (along with getting the requisite cigar going, hoping to repel mosquitoes). As I had that drifting over the feeder lane, the rain came down. The fish stopped shortly thereafter. The rain didn't last long, and it wasn't heavy, so we stood silently at our posts waiting to see what was going to happen. I had a few sporadic feeders around me, but didn't see any bugs coming off, and drifted the hex over the feeders. Then it was quiet. We headed back out, with John fishless - he should have stuck to his bass and bluegills of earlier in the day.... Overall, an excellent night, and many thanks to Brad "Bushwhacker" Robinson for a fine evening of hospitality and fishing! It was a great evening to spend with some tight-lines (sorry John!) on a beatiful stream! Ed Roden Quest for Quality Computers, Inc. "Any BYTE-sized Job" [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.questquality.com Living would be easier if men showed as much patience at home as they do when they're fishing.
