May fishing Archives - Current Works Guide Service

The Michigan Stay Home/Stay Safe order has been extended through the month of April, so guide trips will become available again starting May 1, 2020.

<<Click here to read an overview/options for May fishing>>

Anglers can still fish on their own if they maintain social distancing (6’) and will find steelhead in all the local rivers. You will find steelhead anglers, too, as there are a lot of folks with extra time on their hands and spending some of it on the water.

The forecast is calling for milder temps to return after some recent dustings of snow and sub-freezing overnight temperatures. It’s still mid-April, don’t let the mild month of March have you getting your swimsuit out just yet. Besides, most public beaches are closed anyway.

With so many of us anglers finding ourselves with extra time, there are a few things we can do related to fly fishing while sheltering in place. Here are just some ideas:

Organize your fly boxes. Either by species (steelhead, salmon, bass, carp), style (streamers, nymphs, dries) or hatches (Sulphurs/March Browns/Isos, Terrestrials/Tricos, Hex/Drakes), there are a number of ways to keep your flies in order and easy to access on the water. It also helps you find some vacancies in your line-up. Sharpen some hooks, throw away the rusty hooks and get some of the new style fly boxes.

Tie or buy flies. Fly tying materials are in high demand industry wide as folks are sitting down and wrapping some fur and bending some feathers at rates not quite experienced before. Locally, The Northern Angler is shipping out orders of materials available on their website. Whoever your local fly shop is, consider giving them your business as these are difficult times for independent retailers nationwide.

Gear Bags. Every year I go through mine a few times to clean out what needs to be, sort through some things, inventory what’s missing or doesn’t belong, replace some leaders and tippet and refill the first-aid kit. If you don’t have a gear bag, consider getting one – they are awesome for organizing, keeping you ready for fishing opportunities and helps keep you from being unprepared.

Clean your fly lines. Send your broken rod back to the manufacturer. Click here to read an article on equipment care and maintenance.

Cast. On the nicer days, head outside and practice your fly casting in the yard or in the local park. We can all get better at casting. Yes, even you.

Read that old pile of fishing magazines or pull that dusty book off the shelf. Sometimes we can re-read something we forgot about that still works on the water today or simply enjoy a good story/novel with fly fishing intertwined throughout it.

Lastly, you could get to that list your spouse has created for you, which (speaking from personal experience) I am guessing doesn’t have anything to do with fishing.

Lastly, here is an old article I wrote with ideas for off-season activities for the fly fisher.

Good luck, do your part to be safe, and stay healthy.

Ted

Trout – May and June aren’t far away and offer ideal conditions for both streamer and dry fly fishing.
Tricos & Terrestrials – A great way to start a summer day. Float and Trout fish the Manistee in July and August
Fall Steelhead – Some good dates in Oct. and Nov. remain available but they are starting to become limited.

fighing, local rivers, May fishing, stay home, stay safe, steelhead, tie flies, traverse city

**** UPDATE – 4/18/17 *****

Due to significant rains over the past weekend, local rivers are running high with limited visibility. Use caution when wading or operating boats. You can gather more information on Michigan river flows/levels at the USGS Site.

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With warmer temperatures around, it has felt more like the beginning of May as the grass turns greener, leaves on the tress pop out, turkeys gobble and the steelhead starting to dwindle.

The water temps are around 50 degrees which has pretty much encouraged all the early running fish to get their spawning activities behind them and return to the lake. At least the lucky ones. More fish continue to come into the Betsie and Manistee rivers but it’s like hitting a moving target with their migration as they are not sticking around long.

The Betsie has its fair share of suckers in it which is a sign that the river has seen its peak of steelhead, but there should still be fishable number of steelhead for another week or two – timing as it relates to rainfall is crucial.

The Manistee, too, is starting to see some suckers come into the system and are mixed in with the walleye. Like the Betsie, there should still be fishable numbers of fish coming and going through the river for a few more weeks with timing to rainfall and cloudy days vs. sunny days being the biggest factor leading to success. Water levels are ideal and there is a slight stain to it which has made smaller egg patterns more effective over the large, bold ones. Effective nymphs include fry, caddis, and small stone flies.

One benefit of the warmer water is the trout fishing has started a little sooner than normal. A few Hendricksons and stoneflies have been on the upper Manistee bringing a few fish to the surface. When there isn’t an emergence, cover the water with streamers to take advantage of less pressured fish wanting to eat big after a long winter. Look for the combination of streamer and dry fly fishing to be strong for the next six weeks.

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 steelhead, caddis, egg patterns, fishing report, hendricksons, manistee, May fishing, small stone flies., streamer fishing, tippy dam, trout fishing

Posts tagged "May fishing"

Mid-April Ramblings

Mid-April Fishing Report

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