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Posts tagged "bass fishing"

Bluegill / Panfish / Bass

Posted by Jeanne Kraimer - January 9, 2023

Bluegill - Panfish - Bass - Fishing -Traverse CityBluegill and Panfish on The Fly - Fun for All Levels of ExperiencePanfish are simply a lot of fun with a fly rod. Often considered Bluegill, they are just one of the many species in the panfish family, along with pumpkinseeds, crappie, rock bass and others.

What makes these fish so desirable to catch with a fly rod is their population density and eagerness to eat. Another reason this a great species to pursue is the number of lakes in the region that are home to “gills” and other species – there are lots of places to fish close to Traverse City.

Bluegill - Panfish - Rock Bass Fly FishingBluegill - Bass Fly Fishing

Beginner to Veteran

Bluegill - Beginners and ExperiencedPersonally, I think these fish offer new anglers the best opportunity to learn how to fly fish – maybe because that’s how I got started myself. If you are looking to learn, or want to introduce someone to the sport, panfish are a great choice — they require you to cast, strip and manage line, set the hook and bring fish to hand — all without the fastidious nature that trout often exhibit. There is no moving water to worry about a drag-free drift, or that your fly size is off just a bit which can be a deal-breaker when trout fishing.

Bluegill and Panfish are forgiving and simply fun and like to eat giving you lots of action providing repetition as you develop your fly fishing skills. And once hooked are the best fighters pound for pound — which is why accomplished anglers who have fished for years still go after them.

When to Fly Fish for Panfish/Bluegill

Bluegill - Fishing May through AugustEach May the fish move from the depths into shallow water to spawn and can repeat this cycle up to three times in a year – it’s no wonder why there are so many of them. Their beds are often easy to locate, but not always. This is when the bigger fish are at some of their most aggressive state of the year and will defend their territory. The smaller, immature fish are all around the spawners and they are eager to eat flies too.

As the season progresses, the fish move into the deeper waters and take refuge in and around structure like weeds, drop offs and fallen in trees and can be targeted through July and into August. Bass almost always share the same water and catching a large or smallmouth bass on a light fly rod is more then a lot of fun.

Spend a half-day in a boat and learn to fly fish or, if you already know how, just catch some of these fun fish on one of our many beautiful lakes and ponds. It’s a great way to practice or spend an afternoon on the water.

Bass

Bluegill and Bass Fishing Lakes

Since Largemouth Bass share a lot of the same water as panfish and offer yet another species to catch in our waters.

Whether by sneaking a slider along the surface, pulling a swimming/diving fly seductively under some lily pads or causing commotion on the surface with an obnoxious popper, fishing for bass puts smiles on anglers as the fish climbs all over it.

Often visual, typically with jumps and always a steady tug – hit the weed beds and drop offs in the warm summer months for some bass fishing on the local lakes and ponds.

Bluegill and Bass - Smallmouth in LakesSmallmouth Bass inhabit a number of our local inland lakes, too, and these might just be the mid-weight fighting champs of species we chase.

Since smallies tend to be in a little deeper water, we typically adjust our approach to increase our ability to hook up. And when we do, they usually come out of the water to try and shake your fly. The better fishing for smallmouth in lakes tends to be mid-May through mid-June before they go deep and are harder to reach with flies.

If you are interested in Smallmouth Bass and have some fly fishing experience, consider fishing them in the rivers. We leave the lakes later in June and focus on rivers  through August – you can read more here.

Bluegill on the Fly
Bluegill on the fly!
Smallmouth Bass Lake Fishing
Largemouth Bass - Fish 3
Largemouth Bass

bass fishing, blue gill, bluegill, fly fishing, learn to fly fish, pan fish, panfish, traverse city fly fishing guide

Mid August Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - August 19, 2022

It’s mid-August and it feels like it’s the end of a lot of seasons. This time of year the months of long days, prolonged fishing pressure and water temperatures that are often elevated, can make the fish hard to find and/or engage.

Trout fishing continues to be more challenging than normal on the local rivers. The Trico hatches of mid-morning have been inconsistent the past month not providing the reliability of fun surface activity we expect this time of year. Terrestrial fishing has been o.k. but most days have been bright and sunny that combined with low water tends to drive fish to deep and/or dark places and not looking up at our flies.

If you hit the water on a cloudy or overcast day – you have picked a good day as the fishing tends to be much better with fish out and looking to eat. The foam and rubber legged patterns have been working with various size and colors, but the real big ones haven’t been working; like streamer patterns, word is out that the big ones hurt. A few flying ants have been around and are always worth tossing whether alone or as a dropper behind a larger, easier to see pattern.

The smallmouth bass fishing on rivers has gotten a little slower, too. We are still finding fish, it’s just not as consistent. The full-moon could be the reason why they aren’t eating as much but in rivers like the lower Manistee, it could be the presence of some early running salmon that have them off the bite as the smallies are no longer feeling like they are the top of the food chain. Classic baitfish streamers in white/gray have been most consistent, but yellow is a good back-up color to have in your box.

The lake and pond fishing, too, has slowed some. More so than ever, seek out the structure of weed beds and drop offs for your best chance at both bluegill/sunnys and largemouth bass. A very small weighted streamer fished on a floating line with a slow retrieve has been productive when the surface bite isn’t happening.

Good luck.

Ted

Learn to Fly Fish – Book a half-day trip with the idea of learning the basics in how to cast and fly fish.
Trout and Terrestrials – Start your day on a cool river fishing for trout with dry flies into September. 
Fall Steelhead –
Finish the season with what started the season – Steelhead! Good dates available in November

bass fishing, fishing, learn to fly fish, salmon, streamers, terrestrial fishing, traverse city, trout

Late July Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - July 29, 2022

The trout fishing has been decent lately with a mix of Tricos hatching in the morning and mostly smaller trout rising; it’s a lot of fun with a lighter weight rod. Other times when bugs aren’t on the surface, terrestrials will bring some fish up and sometimes decent sized fish so, having a little bigger rod makes casting the larger flies and bringing in larger fish easier. Mornings are still the ideal time with the sun still low and the water temps still ideal from the cooler evening temperatures. Water levels are still low and clear but considering July is coming to an end, that’s typical. It’s just a nice way to start a nice summer day.

Anglers with an ability to fish a streamer are finding the smallmouth bass a lot of fun on the end of the line. Targeting these on the lower sections of rivers is a great way to hone a number of fly fishing techniques as we often are using lighter sink-tip lines and “selling” the fly to interested fish that come to look at it. And when they eat, they pull. Baitfish patterns have been most productive, but smaller crayfish patterns have taken their share of fish, too.

The smaller lakes and ponds still have bluegill and bass willing to eat your fly both on the surface and below. Perfect for those learning how to fly fish and a lot of fun for those who already do, especially when fishing diving bugs, small streamers and popping a popper. Mornings and evenings are best when it’s a sunny day, but overcast is always best and can offer good fishing throughout the day, especially around weed beds, drop offs and other structures.

Good luck.

Ted

Learn to Fly Fish – Book a half-day trip with the idea of learning the basics in how to cast and fly fish.
Tricos and Terrestrials – Start your day on a cool river fishing for trout with dry flies from July into September. 
Fall Steelhead –
 Although the Spring Season just ended, think fall steelhead. Good dates available in November

bass fishing, bluegill fly fishing, blugill fishing, guided fishing trip, learn to fly fish, manistee, manistee river, smallmouth bass fishing, terrestrial fly fishing, the northern angler, traverse city fly fishing, trout fishing

Mid-July Fly Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - July 15, 2022

It’s mid-July and the major hatches have come and gone on the Manistee and Boardman Rivers. With the lack of rain the past two months, river levels are low, and so is the water table, resulting in significant daily river temperature fluctuations. Our spring-fed rivers need a supplied water table to moderate our water temps but since we didn’t have them, our hatches (and fishing) never quite got into the grove where hatches were dense and/or predictable. Thankfully we have mostly had cooler evenings to keep water temps safe for fishing as trout don’t like water north of 68 degrees and experience higher mortality after being caught in temps above that.

As we progress through summer, look for mornings to offer the best fishing with hatches of Tricos and some terrestrials bouncing around for feeding brook and brown trout. The number of deer flies swarming make imitations of them a good choice in fly patterns when the Tricos aren’t around. Grasshopper and beetles, too are around and are worthy of imitating the next time you hit the water. This time of year you always want some BWOs, Isonychias, Lt. Cahills and Little Yellow Sally Stoneflies in your box as they can show up sporadically.

<<More on trout fishing After the Hex Hatch>>

River smallmouth fishing continues to be good most days. These are fickle fish with weather systems that might be moving through, but typically they are only moody for short periods of time so keep fishing streamers and poppers and your fishing is likely to change without much notice. When they eat, they demonstrate why we use heavier rods; for their size the pull and fight of a smallmouth bass is impressive.

Fishing on the lakes and ponds has been good most of the spring and summer. The larger gills have mostly gone back to the depths after another round of spawning, but they will surprise you from time to time. Plenty of smaller fish are around to keep action happening if learning how to fish or just enjoying some low-key time on the water. The largemouth bass have been sassy and are eating both on the surface and below so mix it up.

Good luck.

Ted

Learn to Fly Fish – Book a half-day trip with the idea of learning the basics in how to cast and fly fish.
Tricos and Terrestrials – Start your day on a cool river fishing for trout with dry flies from July into September. 
Fall Steelhead –
 Although the Spring Season just ended, think fall steelhead. Good dates available in November.

bass fishing, fly fishing, hex hatch, learn how to fly fish, traverse city, tricos, trout fishing

Late June Fly Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - June 28, 2022

As June winds down, the Hex Hatch winds up. It has been sporadic with the fluctuations in the weather for both the emergences and spinner falls so there is no telling when you will have good bugs on the local rivers including the upper Manistee. Water levels are low and clear since it has been a while since our last rain.

Water temperatures also have been fluctuating making fishing inconsistent and having us stay home or shift to bass fishing when they approach 70 degrees. Other bugs on the water include a few brown drakes, Isonychias, bat flies and medium brown stones so you will want more than a few hex patterns in your fly box. Of course, you’ll want your headlamp and bug spray too.

For some, this is the only time of year some folks get out and fish who might not have heard of new invasive species in our local waters which include Didymo, aka Rock Snot (Manistee) and New Zeeland Mud Snails (Boardman, Manistee, PM, Au Sable). Michigan Trout Unlimited has produced a guidebook to identification and decontamination that I strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with and practice. Otherwise, these invasives will likely show up on other watersheds you fish (rivers and lakes) before you know it. It’s also upon anglers to spread the message to other anglers to get the word out. You can read the Guidebook here.

Largemouth bass and bluegill fishing in lakes continues to offer both new and experienced anglers a lot of opportunities to bend the rod and enjoy a non-technical day of fishing on the water. Dry flies, poppers, swimming nymphs and the occasional streamer near and around structure and drop offs has been the approach. Smallmouth bass fishing has slowed down in the lakes but has been getting better in the rivers for those that like to lazily fish a streamer and feel a fish pull much harder than any trout.

Good luck,

Ted

Learn to Fly Fish – Book a half-day trip with the idea of learning the basics in how to cast and fly fish.
Tricos and Terrestrials – Start your day on a cool river fishing for trout with dry flies from July into September. 
Fall Steelhead –
Although the Spring Season just ended, think fall steelhead. Good dates available in November.

bass fishing, brown drakes, casting lessons, fishing at night, hex hatch, invasive species, learn to fly fish, manistee, panfish, smallmouth bass
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