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Posts tagged "fonzi fry"

Early March Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - March 1, 2022

Now that it’s the first of March, it’s time to start thinking about fishing again!

It’s been a pretty cold winter with a few mild days mixed in to help keep the snowpack reduced. These mini run-off situations gave some bumps to the water levels which encouraged a few steelhead to come into the local rivers like the Manistee, Bear Creek and the Betsie. Water temps have been pegged in the mid-30s with, but with overnight temps staying in the double digits, things will slowly warm and fishing will only improve.

This time of a year the sun can come out just enough to help warm the water up just a bit. But if it is too warm and causes run-off from melting snow, the water temp usually drops making fish that tend to be lethargic even more so, and a little grumpy too. As we get a few warm-up cycles, look for fishing to improve, especially on the smaller rivers that tend to fluctuate quicker (think warmer) than bigger rivers.

Dead-drift egg and nymph combinations are your best bet this time of year, especially in some of the deeper slower moving water where a lot of the fall and winter hold over fish have taken up residence. The fish are shuffling around a little with the days getting longer with some steelhead starting to stage near the gravel sections of rivers. If you are fishing near gravel where salmon spawned in the fall, don’t hesitate to fish Alevin or even Fry patterns as these are starting to become active. Small (#10 and 12) Green Caddis in clear water can be real effective this time of year, too.

If you are looking to get fired up about fishing, check out the Fly Fishing Film Tour (FT3) this Saturday, March 5th, hosted by The Northern Angler at The City Opera House here in Traverse City.

Good luck.

Ted

May Days – The month that offers so much variety for a number of species. <<More info>>
Match the Hatch  – Late May and June offer dry fly anglers some of the best trout fishing of the year.
Fall Steelhead – Some good dates remain available in October, November and into December.

alevin pattern, betsie river, egg patterns, fly fishing guide, fonzi fry, fry pattern, green caddis, manistee river steelhead fishing, steelhead fishing, traverse city, traverse city fly fishing

Early April Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - April 2, 2021

With the start of April behind us, anglers are finding water levels on the Manistee and Betsie uncharacteristically low and clear for this time of year. The region hasn’t received any significant rain yet this year and the snow melt has been gone for over a month. Without the rivers rising and being stained, the steelhead migration has been more of trickle than a “run”.

The fall fish that wintered over and those that came throughout the winter have already performed their spawning and moved back to the lake. There are a lot of empty gravel beds which should help with wild fish reproduction rates – all of our rivers could stand a population increase. Fishing has been tough as we continue to experience more anglers and less fish. Sure helps make the case for catch and release for those that don’t practice it.

With the water being clear, lighter line and smaller flies have been working better than the bigger and bolder patterns. Eggs and beads in smaller sizes and natural color schemes (orange-ish) have been working better than others. The green caddis tied in size 8 and 10 have been working well and the fry bite is starting to take place as more juvenile salmon fry are swimming around clueless – the fry bite is one of the more aggressive takes while nymphing. Don’t forget your black stones and hex nymphs.

The long-term weather forecast is calling for more of the same – dry conditions and mild temps. With the water in the low 40’s it might be a good thing that we don’t have a big push of water as the steelhead run would likely be condensed to a short 5 day event. As it looks, it will be a long, slow trickle of fish, until any appreciable rain and runoff takes place.

Good luck.

Ted

Trout Fishing – May and June offer some of the best streamer and dry fly hatches of the year.
Learn to Fly Fish – Tailor a half-day trip to learning how to fly fish –
perfect for beginners or those looking to dial in a new technique.
Fall Steelhead – Some good dates remain in November and into December

betsie river, egg patterns, fonzi fry, fry pattern, green caddis, guide trips, hex pattern, manistee river, steelhead patterns, tippy dam

April Steelhead Fishing Report – Manistee and Betsie Rivers

Posted by Ted Kraimer - April 8, 2017

Despite rain and some fluctuations in the water and weather, the steelhead fishing was a little slower than the previous weeks on the Manistee and Betsie rivers.  While we are still catching fish, we are working harder and finding fewer – especially on those sunny days that tend to be more crowded.

The steelhead that either held-over since fall or trickled into the river through winter had provided a nice surplus of fish to play with but once the water stayed in the 40s, they hit the gravel and returned back to the lake. Except for those fish that ended up on a stringer.  Keep in mind and spread the word – these fish can return multiple years if we let them; harvesting fish simply reduces the quality of our steelhead fishery in respect to both the size of fish and the number of them.

Water levels are up a bit, but not out of character for this time of year. With water temps in the 40s we are seeing more stoneflies on the warmer days and the natural sized egg patterns in realistic colors have increased in effectiveness. Other egg patterns that have been working include: clown eggs, rag eggs in Sockeye/Dark Roe and Golden Nugget Bling/Burnt Orange. Nymphs:  Green Caddis, R2D2 Stones, Small Black Stones and fry patterns.

With water temps rising, it’s time to start thinking about trout as an alternative to steelhead fishing. The next two months can be some of the best streamer fishing for brown trout on local rivers.

The MI-DNR has released their trout “management” plan and are seeking comments – if interested, you can read by clicking here.

Good luck.

Ted

May Fishing – Trout, late steelhead, hatches, streamer fishing, bluegill on lakes – don’t overlook fishing in May.
Trout – The hatches of late May lead into June making for some of the year’s best dry fly fishing – don’t miss out.
2017 Fishing – Plan your year around your fishing – get your dates on the calendar, life will fit in around it.

betsie river, black stone fly pattern, black stoneflies, fonzi fry, fry patterns, green caddis for steelhead, MI_DNR, steelhead, steelhead fishing, steelhead flies, tippy dam

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
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