Its been warm for the past 10 days and it has sped up the hatches on local rivers. The big hex bugs at night that tend to bring out the big fish have ramped up but with the rest of the season, there have been some nights with more bugs than others and not much rhyme or reason to it. After some decent rains and overall wet month, the local rivers (Manistee, Boardman, Au Sable, etc.) are full and have some color to them – not necessarily a bad thing considering the big bright sun. Other than the hex spinners that fall right at dusk, look for big stones, isonychias, a remaining brown drake or two, epeorus, bat flies and blue winged olives. Water temps are high so land your fish quickly and please practice catch and release – our trout are too valuable to only catch once. Besides, brown trout simply don’t taste very good.
Carp fishing on the bay has been decent as long as the winds aren’t blowing too strong. Lots of fish are spawning but a lot have already done so and are in post-spawn mode and tend to be more willing to eat the fly. Smallmouth bass continue to offer shots, but it seems that the bigger fish have moved deep again with smaller fish in shallower where fly anglers can still reach them. Look for any type of cover and structure to provide a shot at smallmouth. Good carp flies have been hex patterns, crayfish and black wooly buggers while the smallmouth are liking crayfish, baitfish/Clouser Minnows, and goby/sculpin looking patterns.
Good luck,
Ted
Trout: Fishing with streamers and dries. Don’t forget the Big Bugs – Drakes, Isonychias and Hex.
Terrestrials & Trico hatches in the Months of July & August – start your mornings off on a cool, quiet trout stream.
Salmon: The end of August begins our salmon season extending through September. Limited dates available.
Steelhead: The end of September means it’s time to focus on fall steelhead – extending though November
Booking for all 2012 Seasons and through June 2013 – reserve your place in the boat.