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Posts tagged "Betsie"

Summer Continues, Fall Approaching

Posted by Ted Kraimer - August 27, 2012

As kids prepare to return to school, salmon have their annual fall migration in mind as they  return to rivers. Numbers of fish are light due to the return of warm weather and the lack of rain with some fish in the Manistee and Betsie Rivers. Look for things to really change after a significant rainfall as good numbers of fish are staged at river mouths. Early season king salmon offer some exciting streamer fishing for those willing to put in the time casting large streamers with heavy sink-tips. As the days continue to get shorter, the fish will build in numbers and nymph fishing becomes our go-to method.

Trout fishing has been o.k. the past week with the fish feeling better with the cooler water temps. It has been a long season and the fish are getting smarter, naturally, so think about mixing up your approach and presentation. Small streamers fished on floating line is a good alternative to try. Terrestrial fishing has slowed but some good fish are still coming up from time to time to eat that rubber-legged hopper pattern or attractor. Very few bugs have been on the water however you will want some isonychias, cleons/bwos, flying ants, beetles and Lt. Cahills in your fly box.

The bass fishing in lakes remains good. Both top-water and sub-surface presentations have been working;  I usually start off with top-water. Swimming frog/baitfish patterns do a good job of fishing both the surface and subsurface. With the warm-up, look for fish to concentrate near weed beds and drop-offs.

Good Luck,

Ted

The latest newsletter just went out – click here to read and/or sign up for delivery

Salmon: Salmon season extends through September. Limited dates available.
Steelhead: The end of September means it’s time to focus on fall steelhead through November.
Fall Trout:  Fish the Upper Manistee  throughout fall or Lower Manistee in late October and through November.
Booking for all 2013 Seasons and through August – reserve your place in the boat.

Betsie, isonychias, manistee, salmon, trout

Fonzi Fry

Posted by Ted Kraimer - April 5, 2012
Fonzi Fry

Fonzi Fry

Each year as millions of salmon eggs turn into salmon, both steelhead and trout take notice and advantage of these naive, freshly hatched “minnows.” I originally developed this fry pattern for steelhead, but it didn’t take long for the trout to convince me they like it too, making it a staple in my fly box from March through June.

In rivers like the Manistee, Betsie, Bear Creek and the Pere Marquette, where natural reproduction of salmon is prolific, have some fry patterns with you. After the salmon eggs develop into alevins in February and March, the egg sack disappears and small fish/fry swim in much of the same gravel section of water that steelhead have recently migrated to.

Fonzi - Steelhead

Fry Eating Steelhead

While these small fish are a protein source, they are also future competition for the steelheads’ offspring. As nature and instinct takes over, the salmon fry is eaten. Trout recognize these naive fish as a food source, too, and are often the reason you see trout breaking the surface when no hatch seems to be taking place — they are chasing these fry to the surface to eat them.

When fishing for steelhead, I fish this fly like any other nymph — typically below an egg pattern — and I tend to swing the fly at the end of the drift, even as it rises off the bottom. These slack-less drifts/presentations are unrecognizable as you feel the tug from a fish immediately. Look for the take to be anywhere through the drift with this pattern.

Fonzi - Brown Trout

Brown Trout Love “Minnows”

Both fry and trout tend to move to the edges of the river— especially in higher water — which makes it a great place to target trout. Fishing the Fonzi Fry on a floating line with either a mono leader or sinking leader with a down-and-across swing (think soft-hackle fishing) works well. At the end of your drift (the “hang-down”), twitch the fly and strip it back in to add movement and possibly elicit a fish.  This pattern can also be fished on a smaller sink-tip line to get a little deeper or it can be fished as a tandem rig behind a much larger streamer pattern.

The Fonzi Fry is available from Rainy’s Flies and can be bought in stocking fly shops. Below are tying instructions for you fly tiers.

Fonzi - Wet

Wet Fonzi Fly

 

Recipe

Hook:           TMC 2457 #8
Thread:         Gray Uni 6/0
Tail:              Grizzly Marabou
Body:            Ice Dub – UV pearl
Thorax:        Ice Dub- UV pearl
Collar:           Teal Feather
Eyes:              Bead Chain – Black, Small
Back:            Ice Dub – peacock

Tying Instructions

Fonzi - Step 1Step 1. Wrap base layer of thread to above hook barb.

Fonzi - Step 2Step 2. Tie in tail – length to be as long as hook itself. Tie off

Fonzi - Step 3Step 3. Dub ice dub body, loosely, 2/3rds up shank towards hook eye.

Fonzi - Step 4Step 4. Tie in Eyes just behind hook eye on underside of the hook

Fonzi - Step 5Fonzi - Step 5.5

Step 5. Tie in teal collar by the tip and fold, wrapping at least once just in front of the dubbed body.

Fonzi - Step 6Step 6. Dub in front of the teal and around the hook eye (figure-8)

Fonzi - Step 7Fonzi - Step 7.5

 

Step 7. Prepare some peacock ice dub and tie in so it extends forward,
over eye, wrap down behind hook eye, then move thread behind eyes.

Fonzi - Step 8Step 8. Pull Ice Dub back towards hook bend and tie down. Whip Finish.

Notes:

Pick out some of the body dubbing to give the fly a minnow like appearance but be careful it doesn’t extend beyond the marabou tail.

Be sure to use water-based head cement on this fly as other types will ruin the synthetic ice dub back. I have found Fish Pimp – Hard Headed head cement to be a very good product.

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alevin, Bear Creek, Betsie, fonzi fry, fry pattern, manistee, Pere Marquette, rainys flies, steelhead, trout

Pack-boots and Sandals

Posted by Ted Kraimer - March 27, 2012

Next to my front door are pack-boots and sandals. While it’s been a few weeks since boots were needed, last week’s sandal wearing weather made the latest cool down feel like pack boots might be a good call in the mornings. Confused on the weather? So seem the steelhead.

What started off as a great steelhead season a few weeks ago with a good run-off of snow, the Spring run has become stagnate the past week with few fish entering the Manistee and Betsie Rivers. Yes, some fresh fish have moved through but with water temperatures being in the high 40’s and even low 50’s, they seem to come and go quickly. The increased water flows/levels have mostly tapered off and clarity has left us with a nice, sun-shielding stain.

I think we need a good rain to increase flows and bring in the next wave of fish – then again, this Spring’s weather has been unprecedented so no one really knows what is going to happen. I do know that few walleye and suckers have come into the Manistee and since they typically share the water with a large percentage of the Spring steelhead, there should be more chrome to enter the river in the weeks ahead. Last year’s run that extended strong in to mid-May provides hope and proof that a run can pause before starting up strong again.

Most of the fish are in the “Occupy Gravel” movement doing their spawning with some fish in the dark water nearby. Low light is best, but is nothing new. Flies have varied – fry patterns, caddis, black stones, and hare’s ears below egg patterns that are smaller and more realistic looking shades like nuke eggs in Oregon Cheese/Steelhead Orange are good bets. With decent water temps, the drop-back fish are moving to Lake Michigan swiftly – target these fish with buggers, leeches, small baitfish patterns and even some bigger eggs in tail-outs and runs. It should be a decent spring for those dedicated to swinging flies on the two-hander/spey rods with the high water temps.

Don’t forget that new fishing licenses are required 4/1/2012

Good Luck!

Ted

– Book a Trip for the Upcoming Fishing Seasons –

Now-April: Steelhead on the Manistee and Betsie Rivers
April-May: Trout – Streamers & Dry Flies. Hendricksons & Early Bug Hatches
June: Trout -Big Dry Flies – Drakes, Isonychias and The Hex.
Booking for all 2012 Seasons – Some Fall Dates Remain Open

Betsie, drop-back steelhead, fry patterns, manistee, nuke eggs, spring run

Rigging for Steelhead & Salmon

Posted by Jeanne Kraimer - March 16, 2012

Rigging For SteelheadThere are a number of ways anglers can pursue steelhead and salmon with a fly, and different techniques require various approaches to rigging: line, leader, tippet &/or terminal tackle like swivels and weight.

Just like many things, there are numerous ways of doing something – my goal is to demonstrate some of the most common and practical methods used on Michigan Rivers and their steelhead that have worked for me and my customers over the years.

Duck and Chuck

Probably the most common, effective and easy method for steelhead in the Great Lakes region is Chuck ‘n Duck. This technique gets your fly down quickly and doesn’t require traditional fly casting skills, making for a flat learning curve. Running/shooting line is typically used as the fly line with a butt section attached via either a Nail knot or Albright knot. I prefer to use Maxima 12# Ultragreen or 12# Fluorocarbon if water clarity is a concern.

Smaller Rivers

Rigging for Duck and Chuck - Small River

On smaller rivers like the Betsie, Bear Creek, Pere Marquette, and others, the length of the butt section is usually about 7 to 8 ft because the rivers rarely have holes that approach that depth. I tie the butt section to a quality barrel swivel and leave a long, tag end which serves as a dropper to attach various pieces of split shot. In theory, the shot – if caught – will slide off the line under a deliberate pull, potentially saving your entire rig or at least part of it. If the shot is slipping off the tag easily, tie a double overhand knot to provide a stopper – a must if using fluorocarbon since it doesn’t compress very well when attaching the split shot.

On the other end of the barrel swivel I attach my “leader,” which varies in strength – 5 to 8# test depending on conditions and species. I usually tie my first fly 30 +/- inches from the swivel and the second fly about 24 inches from that; secure the line around the bend of the hook of the first fly. Some like to tie both pieces of leader material to the eye of the first fly – it’s your choice.

Larger Rivers

Rigging for Duck and Chuck - Large Rivers

On larger rivers like the Big Manistee, Muskegon and AuSable where depth becomes a consideration, use an 8-12 ft of butt section. Because flow and depth tend to be greater on the larger rivers, the need for extra weight is also a concern. Rather than use split shot, I use pencil lead, which comes in one-pound coils and can be cut to whatever length/weight is required. A hole is punched through the end of the lead which attaches to a snap swivel running along the butt section.

To change the amount of lead, simply open the snap swivel and replace with a different piece/size. To protect the knot use a 4mm plastic bead (I prefer black) between the sliding snap swivel and the barrel swivel attached to the end. Fly placement is similar to the rig used on smaller rivers, detailed above.

Floating Line & Optional Indicator

The floating line method has become more popular in the past few years as anglers’ abilities to cast and mend have improved. When used with an indicator, this method offers advantages such as detecting light takes and suspending flies over obstacles on the river bottom. By casting longer sections of line, unlike chuck n’ duck, you don’t need to strip in as much line before recasting. Slightly heavier fly lines like Scientific Angler’s Magnum Taper make casting these rigs easier.

A tapered leader is used with a floating line, attached either by a loop-to-loop connection or Nail Knot. Stiff-butt leaders like Bass and Stripped Bass leaders work well in this application to help cast the weight of two flies, split shot and optional strike indicator. These leaders are typically about 8 feet long. I like to use one that breaks a minimum of 10# test (often I will replace the tippet section of the leader with fluorocarbon for clear water). At the end I tie a barrel swivel and leave a long tag (aprox. 2-3 inches) to apply my split shot to, often with a double overhand knot at the end to keep the shot from slipping off. The flies are attached to tippet/leader material tied to the swivel – 30 +/- inches to the first fly, 24 inches after that.

If you choose to use a strike indicator/float/bobber, attach it to the butt section at the proper distance for the depth you are fishing. Indicators like the Thing-a-ma-bobber offer simplicity – quickly add it to your leader and easily adjust it once on. Balsa style indicators like Thill’s Ice’ n Fly cast a little better as they have more mass – I like to run the line through it, and back through again, then adjust the length by loosening the loop and sliding the indicator up or down. When fishing water that is “snaggy,” I like to suspend the flies and prefer a Drennan Piker float. The line runs through the float and is held in place by either bobber stoppers or a heavy piece of mono attached via uni-knot as a bobber stop. The floating line rig is most effective when fishing holes and runs less than 5 feet deep.

Float Fishing/Fly-Pinning

Center Pin reels have become popular over the past decade mostly because of their effectiveness at presenting long, drag-free drifts. Fly anglers have adjusted their tackle and are doing something similar to the Center Pin approach. By using long, 11ft +/- rods, floats and fly lines, fly anglers, too, can get their flies to drift drag-free with lots of careful mending. This is a great way to keep your flies off of the bottom and moving through promising seams. When the float moves, get tight – it might be a fish. Adjust your float length per run to keep it off the river bottom and its snags.

The leader set-up I use consists of 1 foot of 30# Maxima Chameleon attached to the fly line and 10# Maxima Ultragreen, 6-8 ft in length for the large, deeper rivers with a barrel swivel tied at the end. On the other end of the swivel, I tie a leader/tippet approximately 18 inches long to the first fly and 12 inches to the second. When using a Drennan Piker Float be sure to run the butt section through it before tying on the swivel. Attach small split shot along the leader to get the proper amount of weight for depth and flow conditions. This “string” of split shot makes casting easier and helps keep the line directly vertical between the flies and the float making for a better presentation and strike detection.

Swinging Flies

Each year more anglers are swinging streamers, spey and wet flies with sink-tips thanks to the recent popularity of switch and spey/two-handed rods. Single-handed rods work too for this method but don’t have the advantage of line control and ease of casting the longer rods offer.

In almost all cases, swinging flies in Michigan rivers requires a section of sinking fly line, often called a sink-tip. Regardless if you are using interchangeable tip or a fixed length of sinking line, you need a leader. Umpqua makes a Freshwater Shorty leader which is 5 ft in length which will work but I prefer to tie a quick and simple leader – here’s the recipe:

  • 18” Maxima Chameleon 20#
  • 12” Maxima Ultragreen 15#
  •  30” Fluorocarbon – 12# Scientific Anglers or Rio Flouroflex

The different sections making up the leader should be joined by using a blood knot. Once tied, secure the heavy end of the leader by either a loop-to-loop connection or nail knot to the fly line; the fly is tied to the end of the leader with your preferred knot.

With our many rivers in Michigan and throughout the Great Lakes region which receive a run of steelhead and salmon, being prepared with the right equipment can lead to success. These methods are relatively straight forward and should assist in making for some good fishing and if done right, a few fish to the net. Good luck.

ausable, Bear Creek, Betsie, big manistee, center pinning with fly rods, chuck and duck fishing, drennan piker float, drift fishing for steelhead and salmon, duck and chuck rigging, floating line indicator fishing, great lake tributaries, leadmaster, Muskegon, Pere Marquette, platte, rigging fly rods for steelhead, salmon fishing, small river, spey rod fishing in michigan, swinging flies for steelhead in michigan, swinging spey rods, thills ice and fly indicator
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Ted Kraimer • Current Works, LLC • PO Box 333 • Traverse City, Michigan 49685 • (231) 883-8156

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