We headed down to Merrill Lake (near Mt. St. Helens) that is fabeled for it's hatches of Hexagania may flys (think 1 - 2 inch mayflys) brought on by the hot temperatures of summer. To reach Merrill lake you head down I-5 till you reach Highway 503, where you it turns into a two lane highway winding around several large lakes and resavoirs. We took off from seattle around 3 pm on Friday, hit Friday rush hour from Seattle too olympia. We got into the tiny town of Cougar around 7:30. Only to find that there was not a single free space to pitch our tent in the near 20 miles vicinity. As luck would have it, (or not as one of our party would argue), we were able to get the last room at the local motel. We hit the water about 8:30. My fiancee and I launched our sky blue canoe, tied on some Hex cripples (about an inch long, and lots of yellow). We could see a few fish rising around the lake. First cast in, a cutt launched itself out of the water at my fly shocking both us, I never felt it's pull, but we were excited to say the least. Just like I had read, at about 9 pm large Hex mayflys started to come off the water, and with them came so many fish it sounded like a orchestra. My fiancee had the first fish to hand, a small but spunky cutthroat. We found that while there were lots of hits, it was very difficult to hook up, we didn't land any more fish that last night, but cose to every third cast had some sort of hit on our flies.
The second day we decided to spend it lounging near a lake and not fish in the 100+ temperatures. Now little did I know that not only was there a great Hex hatch but there was also in the area was a awe inspiring hatch of jet skiis, motor boats, water skiiers. By 10 any park that had a boath launch to the nearby lakes, had a 10 - 20 line of trucks and trailers waiting to get in and launch their boats (btw these folks were not going to merrill lake). Eventually we decided to leave the masses and head up to Merrill lake, take a stove, and have a early dinner on the shores. We paddled away from the boath launch at merrill, which was a absolute cirus of campers and day trippers. Paddling down the lake we were able to extracate our selves from the masses and the screaming childres and fighting dogs. We spent our time swimming in a small cove and lying in the sun. At one point I saw some fish making some noise near us, and I cast a small bwo, and was rewarded with a healthy marked cutt, about 10 inches. This evening the wind had come up really hard. We anchored ourselves in various places while I tried a sinking line with a large hares ear attached, no luck. We noticed as the night went on that lots of fisherman seemed to be congregating in a particular area. Going against my "I want to be alone" nature and going with my "I want to catch fish nature" we paddled over to where everyone else was. Wind finaly died down and the hatch began. You could hear t fisherman saying all around us "Here they come". And they came. Again, we caught only a few small cutt, lots and lots of hits, swirls, slashes, rises, etc. but not a lot of hookups. Once the hatch died, we paddled along the shore and cast our flies towards the bank. I had two hookups on the way back but never brought them to hand. All in all it was a fun trip, a few things I learned that might help others if they wish to try it: 1. Go during the week, the weekend masses, can make it very hard to find any sort of place to spend the night 2. The hatch happens in a very late hour, goes crazy for about an hour, and then stops. Try and stay for a couple of nights, just so you get more bang for your buck 3. Fish the banks even when the hatch ends, you may pick up some fish along the banks We'll probably try and make the trip again next year .... Mark __________________________________ Mark Steudel Web Solutions Design | Hosting | Programming p: 206.226.4354 e: [EMAIL PROTECTED] w: www.gruvmachine.com Seattle, WA
