A week with little rain fall has left the local rivers in good shape. Clarity is ideal with a little stain, while temps are in the mid-60s and water levels are not too high and not too low. Hatch activity has been varied and inconsistent but has improved since my last report with more fish […]
Lots of rain has fallen over the past 10 days and the rivers look like it. The Upper Manistee river continues to be challenging with high water, sporadic bug emergences and fish that are mostly uncooperative. Finding times when both the bugs and fish are active has been rare with the occasional good day to […]
The bugs continue to be mixed and varied on the Upper Manistee, Au Sable and Boardman rivers. March Browns, Sulphurs, Black Quills, BWOs, and Mahoganies have been around with some Brown Drakes on the Au Sable and a few Isonychias just starting on the Manistee. And some nights, no bugs – much depends on the […]
With June here, anglers will find that the rivers are running full after some much needed rain throughout the week. The weather has been up and down, but the forecast is calling for stable and, well, fish like stable. On the upper Manistee there has been a smattering of bugs coming off – light Hendricksons, […]
As we approach late May the Mayflies are starting to become more prolific and varied on the upper Manistee, Boardman and Au Sauble Rivers. The next month offers our best match-the-hatch dry fly fishing of the year – make sure your boxes are filled and varied and your fly casting accurate – those selective risers only […]
It’s Mid-May and we are in the middle of Hendricksons which continue to emerge on certain days on local rivers including the Manistee, Boardman and AuSable. May mayfly emergences continue to baffle us and are occurring at times and in weather counter to what is typical which means the best time to be out is […]
It’s really feeling like spring around northwest Michigan – warm temps, blue skies and green showing up fast on both the ground and on trees. The transition from steelhead fishing to trout fishing has been kind of stuck with neither fishing extremely well right now but one gets the sense that it’s going to change […]
Trout opener has come and gone and apparently most of the steelhead run has too. Without any rain the past week or two, the water levels have really come down on the Manistee and Betsie Rivers as the water temps are around 50 degrees and have cleared up – not what you think of when […]
Fishing pretty much has remained the same – it’s been inconsistent. One day we find a bunch of fish, the next – a few, then fewer and back to a bunch again – you just don’t know. On both the Manistee and Betsie the steelhead have been coming and going pretty quickly. A few drop […]
Last week was bizarre – the steelhead came before the rain and then the rain came and has left us wondering where the fish are in the Manistee River. A few days last week fished really well with some big, bright fish playing along nicely, but lately, they have been mostly shy. The water came up […]
We still haven’t received significant rainfall but a few fresh fish have moved upstream with warmer water temperatures while the older fish in the river have moved out of the deep winter water/holes and closer to gravel. Some days are better than others but the action has been trending nicely and improving. The forecast is […]
There is no fooling that the steelhead run is behind schedule. Typically the run-off and rains have increased river flows encouraging fish to migrate upstream by now. With the cold winter, drawn-out thaw of snow (and not much of it) and cold nights, the water has been running lower, clearer, and colder than normal for […]
