The Michigan Stay Home/Stay Safe order has been extended through the month of April, so guide trips will become available again starting May 1, 2020.
<<Click here to read an overview/options for May fishing>>
Anglers can still fish on their own if they maintain social distancing (6’) and will find steelhead in all the local rivers. You will find steelhead anglers, too, as there are a lot of folks with extra time on their hands and spending some of it on the water.
The forecast is calling for milder temps to return after some recent dustings of snow and sub-freezing overnight temperatures. It’s still mid-April, don’t let the mild month of March have you getting your swimsuit out just yet. Besides, most public beaches are closed anyway.
With so many of us anglers finding ourselves with extra time, there are a few things we can do related to fly fishing while sheltering in place. Here are just some ideas:
Organize your fly boxes. Either by species (steelhead, salmon, bass, carp), style (streamers, nymphs, dries) or hatches (Sulphurs/March Browns/Isos, Terrestrials/Tricos, Hex/Drakes), there are a number of ways to keep your flies in order and easy to access on the water. It also helps you find some vacancies in your line-up. Sharpen some hooks, throw away the rusty hooks and get some of the new style fly boxes.
Tie or buy flies. Fly tying materials are in high demand industry wide as folks are sitting down and wrapping some fur and bending some feathers at rates not quite experienced before. Locally, The Northern Angler is shipping out orders of materials available on their website. Whoever your local fly shop is, consider giving them your business as these are difficult times for independent retailers nationwide.
Gear Bags. Every year I go through mine a few times to clean out what needs to be, sort through some things, inventory what’s missing or doesn’t belong, replace some leaders and tippet and refill the first-aid kit. If you don’t have a gear bag, consider getting one – they are awesome for organizing, keeping you ready for fishing opportunities and helps keep you from being unprepared.
Clean your fly lines. Send your broken rod back to the manufacturer. Click here to read an article on equipment care and maintenance.
Cast. On the nicer days, head outside and practice your fly casting in the yard or in the local park. We can all get better at casting. Yes, even you.
Read that old pile of fishing magazines or pull that dusty book off the shelf. Sometimes we can re-read something we forgot about that still works on the water today or simply enjoy a good story/novel with fly fishing intertwined throughout it.
Lastly, you could get to that list your spouse has created for you, which (speaking from personal experience) I am guessing doesn’t have anything to do with fishing.
Lastly, here is an old article I wrote with ideas for off-season activities for the fly fisher.
Good luck, do your part to be safe, and stay healthy.
Ted
Trout – May and June aren’t far away and offer ideal conditions for both streamer and dry fly fishing.
Tricos & Terrestrials – A great way to start a summer day. Float and Trout fish the Manistee in July and August
Fall Steelhead – Some good dates in Oct. and Nov. remain available but they are starting to become limited.