As Summer (solstice) takes place on the 21st, June starts to end and the night fishing really begins. Angler’s are looking for the nocturnal Hex Mayflies on the local trout rivers and some (Au Sable) have already begun and it’s about to begin on others (Manistee) if they haven’t already. Headlamps, bug spray, patience and […]
Mid June’s trout fishing has been decent considering the bugs have been fickle. The days of reliable hatches in the evenings and spinner falls at dusk seem to be something of the past. I can’t help but think it’s weather related and in the past couple of weeks its been bright sunny and hot days […]
As May comes to an end, it sure seems like we are in middle of summer with these hot days. It’s been a while since we have had any significant rain leaving the trout rivers running low and clear. Thankfully evening temps have been cool which has kept the water temps in check, but they […]
Mid-May finds us headed to different waters in pursuit of different fish as this time of year offers choices to anglers. May often means Mayflies but the cold nights have had an effect on the hatches. Once stable weather comes back, anglers can look for a mix of bugs on the upper Manistee and Au […]
The first of May has me thinking its like the first of March – cold, windy and snowy. Like most weather events, this won’t last, but this weather halted the progression into spring trout fishing. Some Hendricksons and BWOs have been seen on the upper Manistee and Au Sable Rivers but much of the time […]
As we approach the end of April, it appears that spring steelhead season is also winding down. It has been a strange spring with back-and-forth weather, following a relatively mild winter. It appeared that a lot of fish spawned much earlier this year than normal which is good as they were able to get the […]
The water levels from last week’s rain has pretty much moved through the system and have returned to normal level. Clarity remains good, but still has a stain to it on both the Betsie and Manistee Rivers, which is usually a good thing. The abnormal July-like weather with temps in the 80s and bright sun […]
Early April showers has our local rivers running high and dirty while promising May flowers. If fishing smaller rivers and wading, be advised of very high water. Leading up until recent storms, the water had come up with rain late last week. And with it, some fresh fish. We have an assortment of steelhead in […]
As March winds down, we find ourselves in a unique situation with the steelhead. Not much has changed since the last report as we still have had back and forth weather including some storm systems that have left some snow on the ground, but then bright sunny days to melt it soon after. A lot […]
Despite the relatively mild winter we have had, the steelhead fishing is about where it should be for this time of year. The sun has been shining a bit more lately bumping the water temperature into the upper 30s on the Manistee and into the 40s on smaller rivers like the Betsie. However, some cold […]
It sure has been a see-saw winter with plenty of ups and downs, dramatic shifts in weather and, well, not much snow on the ground. The past week we had an unusual string few of sunny days and that really knocked out any snow that was lingering. Don’t worry, more is in the forecast. A […]
Winter officially started today, but we have been dealing with winter-like fishing conditions for a few weeks now. Water temperatures are in the low to mid 30s, running clear and the steelhead have seemed to find great places to hibernate as fishing has been challenging. If you head out, look for the deep, slow water […]
