The unofficial start of summer begins with Memorial Day weekend and this year it coincides with our technical match-the-hatch dry fly fishing on the Manistee, Au Sable and Boardman Rivers.

After a long winter and short, cool spring, warmer temps are coming around and so are the bugs. So many different bugs can be found on the water this time of year, you might find your gear bag/fly vest a little heavier with all of the fly boxes holding the appropriate fly patterns.

If headed to the river, look for: Light Hendricksons, BWOs, Black Quills, Sulphurs, Little Yellow Sally Stones, Medium Brown Stones, Mahoganies, and small Black Caddis. I wouldn’t be surprised if some Gray Drakes show up in the riffle sections of rivers any evening. Of course, the bugs come out when they come out and the evening mayfly spinner falls occur when temps hold steady, but be flexible and prepared for anything at any time – nature doesn’t follow a strict schedule. If there are no bugs around, go with some smaller weighted streamers fished on floating lines or short sink-tips for some sub-surface activity.

Those fishing lakes and ponds will find some large mouth bass in the shallows as well as those bigger bluegill that rarely give the shallow-water fly angler a chance to catch them.

The mosquitoes are just starting up to join the black flies so keep some bug repellent with you if needed; after the warm weather forecast, it’s likely to be required.

Good luck.

Ted

Trout– Match-the-Hatch fishing through June including the big bugs. Terrestrial & Tricos in July and August.
Father’s Day – Get dad on the water this year with a gift certificate for either a half and full-day trip.
Fall Fishing – Salmon begins in September which leads to Steelhead in October and November.