Early November Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - November 7, 2018

The low clear water of October is behind us as November brings cooler and higher water.

Significant recent rains has the river levels up on the local rivers including the Manistee, Betsie, Boardman and others. And with it should be another push of steelhead. Water levels are going to get a bit stained but that can be a good thing.

As water temps settle into the mid to upper 40’s look for fish to be in all kinds of water. Fresh fish moving through the river will be in the soft seams ascending the river where a mix of fresh and hold-over fish will be in the holes. With a few salmon still around look for the dark water downstream of them as well as vacant gravel to funnel any eggs drifting downstream to steelhead looking for an easy meal.

Egg patterns are ideal but a nymph bite continues to get stronger with steelhead buggers, bigger stoneflies and caddis producing. This is the time of year to pull the two-handed rod out and over runs and fish near structure as fall fish are generally more focused on eating and will eat – sometimes even chase – a swung fly.

Trout are in a post-spawn mode and looking to eat streamers. Some days they will hunt the big tandem articulated streamer out of aggression, but smaller 3 to 4 – inch patterns seem to be more stable producers. Natural looking sculpin and baitfish patterns are a great place to start but if the water is stained or has lots of leaves in it, try fishing something with a little flash to help it stand out. With the cooler water, slow your presentation down a little bit and even consider using a lighter sink-tip line.

Good luck.

Ted

Fall Steelhead – Fall colors include chrome Steelhead until Winter gets here.
Fall Trout Combo – Target both steelhead and trout (streamers) on the lower Manistee
2019 Fishing – It isn’t too early to get next year’s fishing dates secured – booking through October

egg patterns, fall steelhead, manistee river, michigan steelhead fishing., steelhead fishing, streamer fishing, swung fly, tippy dam, trout, two-handed rod

Early November Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - October 31, 2018

As we flip the calendar to November it is full-on steelhead season. Almost all of the salmon are gone in rivers like the Manistee, Betsie and Platte but there are a few remaining chinook and coho salmon around providing an egg drop to help keep the steelhead focused on eggs. Northwest Michigan hasn’t received significant rainfall in weeks leaving the rivers with fewer fish than we are used to for this time of year and the water low and extremely clear. Thankfully the sun hasn’t been out much giving us a chance at these hot fish.

With the clear water, water temps in the upper 40’s and well-informed anglers, the fish have scattered throughout the systems and where they are holding. Runs and holes directly below any last spawning salmon are a great places to focus on, but when those don’t produce, it might be time to look for fish hunkered in structure but still in position to collect the drifting eggs. Bottom bouncing rigs, fishing indicators and fishing flies on the swing are all ideal right now. Natural sized eggs and beads continue to take their fair share of fish but a nymph bite is starting to build. The leaves are at a minimum, the days are getting shorter, the sun is at a lower angle – it’s all about the deep-bodied steelhead of 2018.

Trout fishing on the upper Manistee is pretty much a streamer game as the brown trout are mostly in a post spawn pattern. As the salmon continue to drop off below Tippy Dam, look for the trout to not only look for eggs, but start to chase streamers as they have an appetite after gorging on a steady diet of eggs the past 5 weeks.

Good luck

Ted

Fall Steelhead – Fall colors include chrome Steelhead until Winter gets here.
Fall Trout Combo – Target both steelhead and trout (streamers) on the lower Manistee
2019 Fishing – It isn’t too early to get next year’s fishing dates secured – booking through October

Betsie, egg patterns, eggs, fall steelhead, manistee river, Platte River, salmon, steelhead, streamer, tippy dam

Mid-October Fly Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - October 20, 2018

It definitely feels like Fall on and off the river. The recent winds have really put a lot of leaves into the river leaving a number of trees bare and anglers putting on an extra layer.

Cooler temperatures have dropped the water temps significantly the past week as they hover around 50 degrees. Between the lack of significant rainfall, drop in water temps and all of the leaves drifting through the river, the steelhead fishing has been more challenging than it had been, but yet there are fish around and still playing the game and every day is different.

The salmon are pretty much wrapping up their spawning run on the local rivers including the Manistee, Betsie, and Platte and those eggs are what the chrome steelhead are keying in on. Natural egg patterns and/or beads have been working well, however when the leaf-drop is heavy, jumping up in pattern size can help the fish see your fly. Target the holes behind remaining spawning salmon and the end of runs bellow gravel sections. Since there are fewer salmon (Chinook and Coho) right now and therefore fewer eggs, a nymph bite is beginning – caddis and steelhead buggers have been starting to produce. With less of an egg bite look for the swing-bite to start soon as the leaves are no longer fouling the presentation/flies.

Good luck.

Ted

Schedule changes have left a few dates available this fall: November 21, 23-27

Fall Steelhead – Fall colors include chrome Steelhead until Winter gets here.
Fall Trout Combo – Target both steelhead and trout (streamers) on the lower Manistee
2019 Fishing – It isn’t too early to get next year’s fishing dates secured – booking through October

betsie river, big manistee, caddis, egg patterns, manistee river, salmon, steelhead buggers, tippy dam

Early October Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - October 7, 2018

With a week of October behind us it’s looking and feeling like fall.

Trees have started to turn color and so have the salmon. There are still a number of salmon in the local rivers – Betsie, Manistee, Platte, but its safe to say we are past the stage of bright, fresh fish. Most of the fish are either on gravel or near it doing their spawning ritual. Fresh fish will continue to trickle into watersheds as fall advances but I’m thinking we are past the peak of the run.

As the salmon migrate upstream to spawn, so do some early fall steelhead looking to eat as many of their eggs as possible. Realistic egg patterns and beads are fished effectively directly below spawning fish or in the runs downstream. With the moderate water temperatures, the steelhead have been difficult to land as they are zig-zagging up and downstream when they aren’t jumping. There is no mistaking when a steelhead is on vs. a salmon.

More on tying and fishing egg patterns can be read here.

More on rigging for steelhead/salmon here.

Trout fishing continues to offer alternatives for anglers wanting the upper rivers to themselves. Small streamers are taking some nice fish pre-spawn browns when fished on floating lines and small sink-tips. With the warm up in the forecast this week, I think another round of terrestrials and terrestrial fishing might present itself so make sure you have a box of both small and large terrestrials for what could be the last of our dry fly fishing of the year.

Good luck.

Ted

Fall Steelhead – Fall colors include chrome Steelhead from Early October into December
Fall Trout – Fish the upper Manistee or combine steelhead and trout on the lower Manistee
2019 Fishing – It isn’t too early to get next year’s fishing dates secured – booking through September

beads, Betsie, egg patterns, manistee river, Platte River, salmon, steelhead fishing, trout fishing streamers

Early April Steelhead Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - April 8, 2018

Since the last report we have had some cold weather – especially low overnight temps – keeping the water temperature right around 40 degrees. While some snow fell, most of it is still on the ground so the water/river levels have not increased leaving us with unusually clear water conditions on the Manistee and Betsie Rivers. Without a surge of warm water to pull a bunch of fresh fish from Lake Michigan we are still working over a mixed bag of steelhead – some winter hold-overs and others that have trickled through the river system the past weeks.

Some fish are spawning but with the low and clear water you are likely to find those and pre-spawn fish in the pocket water near gravel sections. We are getting drop-back steelhead in the runs as they put on the feed bag before returning to the big water.

Effective flies have been mixed….. eggs patterns in Clown, orange and John 3:16 colors combinations. Nymphs too have been varied: green caddis, ice buggers and Hex Nymphs seemed to have worked best in the past week. With the clear water, you might have to drop tippet/leader size but know that the fish have been uncharacteristically feisty and strong-fighting with water temperatures as low as they are so drop down only when you need to.

Good luck.

Ted

Steelhead & Trout Combo – The first two weeks in May can offer steelhead in the morning and trout after noon.
Trout – Reliable hatches begin in May for surface activity and it’s also a great time for fishing streamers.
Learn How – Take a 1/2 day trip with the goal of learning how to fly fish or improve, customized to your interests.

betsie river steelhead fishing, egg patterns, flies, hex nymphs, manistee river fishing report, steelhead, steelhead nymphs, tippy dam

Posts tagged "egg patterns"

Early November Fishing Report

Early November Fishing Report

Mid-October Fly Fishing Report

Schedule changes have left a few dates available this fall: November 21, 23-27

Early October Fishing Report

Early April Steelhead Fishing Report

Ted Kraimer • Current Works, LLC • PO Box 333 • Traverse City, Michigan 49685 • (231) 883-8156