Posts tagged "river"

December Steelhead and Trout Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - December 13, 2012

With Winter pretty much set in, it’s time to fish like it. Steelhead numbers remain decent in the Manistee river but few fish are in the Betsie. Water levels and clarity are in step with the season – that is low and clear and it’s the stealthy angler who will have the odds in their favor in these conditions. As the steelhead are tucked away in the deep and slow holes be sure to target that water and on those rare days when the sun is out, look for fish to be in tail-outs actually sunning themselves. You will also find some fish near bubble lines close to slow moving water and in and around wood making suspended flies under floats/indicators ideal. Swung flies on heavy sink-tips work well in these conditions, too, as water temperatures hover around 40 degrees; look for an undulating spey or streamer pattern to peel some fish from the wood.

The trout fishing below Tippy Dam is picking up now that they are not solely eating eggs in various stages – look for midge, scudsow bug and small mayfly/bwo patterns to accommodate an egg pattern on your tandem nymph rig. Slow sinking streamers with lots of action make for some good streamer fishing this time of year for some of the bigger fish looking to put the feed bag on before Winter really sets in hard – just remember to move the fly slower this time of year as water temps remain cold.

Happy Holidays and Good Luck!

Ted

— The Winter/Holiday newsletter just went out – click here to read and/or subscribe —

Winter Special: Take advantage of warm-ups this winter! 5 hours of fishing and lunch – $250
Gift Certificates: Ask for or give the gift of a guide trip or casting lesson. It’s a quick and easy gift! Click here.
Spring Steelhead: Mid-March isn’t that far away – get your dates secured and reserve your place in the boat.
– – Currently Booking for all 2013 Seasons – –

betsie river fishing, indicators, manistee river, river, spey, streamers, swung flies, trout, winter steelhead

It’s Officially Summer (and it feels like it)

Posted by Ted Kraimer - June 21, 2012

Its been warm for the past 10 days and it has sped up the hatches on local rivers. The big hex bugs at night that tend to bring out the big fish have ramped up but with the rest of the season, there have been some nights with more bugs than others and not much rhyme or reason to it. After some decent rains and overall wet month, the local rivers (Manistee, Boardman, Au Sable, etc.) are full and have some color to them – not necessarily a bad thing considering the big bright sun. Other than the hex spinners that fall right at dusk, look for big stones, isonychias, a remaining brown drake or two, epeorus, bat flies and blue winged olives. Water temps are high so land your fish quickly and please practice catch and release – our trout are too valuable to only catch once. Besides, brown trout simply don’t taste very good.

Carp fishing on the bay has been decent as long as the winds aren’t blowing too strong. Lots of fish are spawning but a lot have already done so and are in post-spawn mode and tend to be more willing to eat the fly. Smallmouth bass continue to offer shots, but it seems that the bigger fish have moved deep again with smaller fish in shallower where fly anglers can still reach them. Look for any type of cover and structure to provide a shot at smallmouth. Good carp flies have been hex patterns, crayfish and black wooly buggers while the smallmouth are liking crayfish, baitfish/Clouser Minnows, and goby/sculpin looking patterns.

Good luck,

Ted

Trout: Fishing with streamers and dries. Don’t forget the Big Bugs – Drakes, Isonychias and Hex.
Terrestrials & Trico hatches in the Months of July & August – start your mornings off on a cool, quiet trout stream.
Salmon: The end of August begins our salmon season extending through September. Limited dates available.
Steelhead: The end of September means it’s time to focus on fall steelhead – extending though November
Booking for all 2012 Seasons and through June 2013 – reserve your place in the boat.

boardman, carp fly fishing, hex, manistee, river, trout

The Betsie River

Posted by Jeanne Kraimer - March 13, 2012

Betsie River Bright King Salmon - Guided Fly Fishing Trips

Fresh Chinook/King Salmon as early as Mid-August

The Betsie River is located in Benzie County, 30 miles south of Traverse City, and is most known for its Steelhead and Salmon fishing. The river itself has a mix of sand, gravel and clay bottoms, and the depths vary from long shallow flats to short, deep, cool holes for fish to hold in. The river is anywhere between 30 and 60 feet wide and is relatively easy to wade when using common sense.

Because of the watershed’s composition, the Betsie River can be easily affected by rain and run-off, and this impacts the fishing. While these surges of water “muck-up” the fishing for a while, it is the catalyst that brings more migratory fish into the river — take the good with the bad.

The banks are mostly covered with trees, tags and other vegetation so those with a good roll cast will be the most rewarded. When fishing below Homestead dam you will find the highest concentration of anglers which is why I prefer to take clients to more secluded sections of the river. Regardless of where you fish the steelhead and salmon in this size river, you will find that landing them is challenging adding to the experience.

Salmon

King / Chinook Salmon

Early runs of King (Chinook) Salmon helps extend the angler’s fishing season as there are typically fishable numbers by the last weeks of August and continues through the month of September and sometimes into October. Believe it or not, there are salmon caught in the Betsie sometimes into January, but few. Pools loaded with fish holding and waiting to move up even closer to their spawning habitat provides lots of fun and challenges for the angler with the fly rod. Imagine 20 pounds of fresh salmon in a small river with lots of logs in it – more fish are lost than landed adding to the enjoyment of this fishery I refer to as the “Betty-Lou”.

Steelhead

Double-Striped Steelhead

Eggs and nymphs (particularly small black stone flies, caddis, hex nymphs, buggers and b.h. hare’s ears) are typical flies used for the spring steelhead with either floating lines with and without indicators or bottom-bouncing with split shot on a “duck-and-chuck” set up.

Fall steelhead are much like the spring steelhead; water conditions are absolutely key to a good run. If the fish are close to shore at the pier heads in Frankfort and a good rain increases water levels, the fish come in eating salmon eggs their entire way up the river. Hint: Use lots of egg patterns for the fall fish.

Early Fall Steelhead

While there are trout that live in the Betsie, they are the minority species. Although I am not a biologist, it is my understanding that the Betsie’s water temperatures increase a little too much for healthy populations of trout, but I could be wrong — it’s yours to discover. When catching rainbows 6 to 10 inches long, treat them with care — these are the steelhead of the future. Each fall, anglers catch lake-run brown trout. These fish usually enter the Betsie in November and are caught by anglers fishing for fall steelhead.

Where

King Salmon

The Betsie River has a number of state access points including River Road, Grace Road, US-31 and Homestead Dam. The latter is the most popular as fish tend to stack up below the dam; however some fish do breach the dam. There is fishing above the dam, but it’s limited by the amount of state property.

Eventually as you travel upstream you will find the river is closed to fishing during the fall, winter and early spring and follows the traditional trout season dates. This upper water works as a sanctuary for the fish to spawn to ensure future populations of fish.

Coho / Silver Salmon

The Betsie River flows west and before emptying into Lake Michigan it flows into Betsie Lake, which is connected to Lake Michigan. A popular “port” for charter boats, Betsie Lake and its neighboring villages of Frankfort and Elberta offer surf fishing both on the piers and in the lake itself, all within a short distance of good restaurants when the fishing is done.

The State of the Betsie River

Bruiser of a King Salmon

The Steelhead run on the Betsie was one of legend. After a dam washed out in the upper watershed years ago, the river has had to deal with a significant increase of sand and silt. This “erosion” filled up holes that once held good populations of steelhead which now temporarily stay in those “holes” before continuing to move upstream. Efforts by various conservation groups (Conservation Resource Alliance / CRA, Betsie River Watershed Restoration committee, Trout Unlimited and others) have stabilized banks to eliminate further degrading, and I am happy to report improvements based off of observing deeper water, better spawning gravel and cooler water temperatures.

Winter Steelhead

In addition, there seems to be better returns of Steelhead through the stocking program done in conjunction with the state’s Department of Natural Resources and a local conservation group. Other projects include rehabilitating access for fish to Dair Creek which should also increase successful natural reproduction of both Steelhead and Salmon.

Directions

The Betsie river is located in Benzie County 30 miles South of Traverse City, 10 miles East of Frankfort / Elberta and runs through Benzonia. The Homestead dam is located just outside of Benzonia and is a popular place to fish because of parking and access.

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The Boardman River

Posted by Jeanne Kraimer - March 12, 2012

The Boardman River is a gem when one considers its proximity to Traverse City. Starting as two rivers, the North and South Branches near the villages of Kalkaska and South Boardman, they merge and become one, flow north and eventually drain into West Grand Traverse Bay. The river generally runs clear and cooler, resulting in insect hatches that can be delayed behind its neighboring rivers.

Beginning in 2012 and ending in late 2018 a total of three hydroelectric dams were removed on the Boardman River watershed after some controversy and a lot of work in an effort to return the river to it’s natural riverbed.

Brown Bridge dam – the furthest upstream – was the first to be removed, followed by Boardman Dam (Cass Road traveled over the dam) and lastly, Sabin Dam. A small dam and fish ladder are in place in downtown Traverse City while the future of a proposed FishPass system works through the process of design, approval and implementation.

For the nostalgic history buff or interested angler, one of the most popular dry fly pattern used – The Adams, was originally developed by guide Len Halladay for angler Charles Adams who fished the Boardman River.

Upper Section

Brook Trout

The upper section includes both the North and South Branches of the Boardman and where they come together, the “Forks” and downstream to Brown Bridge Pond. This is the smaller water of the Boardman which experiences fair to good hatches. Ranch Rudolph is located in this section of river and there are a number of places to access the river including some State of Michigan campgrounds: The Forks, Sheck’s Place, Trail Camp and Brown Bridge Road. The river averages 25 feet in width and flows quickly over a gravel bottom. Not good with a roll cast? You will be soon as there are bank-side and overhanging trees in much of the upper section of river. Don’t look for real large fish in this section, but fun fish nonetheless. Fish slow and thoroughly and you might be rewarded with something a little bigger than and handful of brook trout – larger fish do exist in this water.

Middle Section

Boardman River - Fly Fishing For Brown Trout

Fishing Close to Traverse City

When Brown Bridge Dam was removed, so was Brown Bridge pond – the impoundment upstream from the dam. It’s been fascinating to witness this old lake bed become a river again as the water moves quickly through a valley of vegetation. Quick moving and relatively shallow water is lined with easy to read structure all the way to the former dam site. With additional time, the Boardman’s wild fish population should redistribute throughout what is essentially new river.

Below the former Brown Bridge dam’s location anglers will find the quick and swift water continues with the addition of some deeper holes along its gravely bottom. Hatches of Hendricksons, Sulphurs, Brown Drakes and Grey Drakes can offer the fly angler some great fishing for brookies and brown trout close to town. Public access is relatively limited to a few bridge crossings and Schumsky’s access.

Just below the Beitner Road crossing is some of the fastest and deepest water in the river and requires even more care when wading. In short order the river meets the former impoundments of Boardman and Sabin dam which have also been returned to their natural river bottom and offers great looking water with lots of potential.

The water in these sections are still in transformation as of early 2019 and it will take another couple of years for the banks to completely stabilize, the planting of vegetation to take root and spread, structure added and ultimately the fish to occupy it. While the fish are still learning the water, anglers will be doing the same because this water resembles nothing like it had for the past 70 plus years.

By removing the dams, the average high temperatures have already dropped significantly making for better fish survival in the warmer months of the year which will only help the non-stocked waters offer fly fishers an opportunity at brown and brook trout.

Lower Section

The water below Boardman Lake – specifically downstream of Union Street Dam located in Traverse City is considered the lower section. At this time, migratory fish are not passed above this dam as decisions on policy and a potential FishPass barrier and sorting system proposed for this location are made.

While considered “Urban Fishing,” steelhead anglers catch fish throughout the fall, winter and spring — often on their lunch break or just after work. In the warmer months, anglers can find Smallmouth, Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, Pike, Carp, Walleye and who knows what else swimming in it. Not a bad place to cast a line when in town with a limited schedule.

In late August as Salmon begin to move upstream, a weir is placed just below Front St. and is used for egg collection and processing. The fish congregate below the dam as do anglers making it a bit of a spectacle. Watching the fish jump up the fish ladder can be entertaining as is watching the fish processing – if in town this time of year, stop by and have a look.

Anglers can be found in the surf — where the mouth of the Boardman meets the bay — swinging flies or casting baitfish patterns which can bring a Steelhead, Salmon, Lake Trout, Cisco, or Smallmouth Bass to hand.

Boardman River Hatches

Boardman River - Fly Fishing and Matching the Hatch

Hendrickson

There are a number of insects that can be found on the various sections of the Boardman River, and the times of the hatch can depend on which section as the dams and the waters above and below them are affected. The most noteworthy of insects include Hendricksons, Tan Caddis, Sulphurs, Brown Drakes, Grey Drakes and The Hex.

The summer months can offer some good terrestrial fishing due to the overhanging vegetation along the river. When nothing seems to be working on top, try swinging soft-hackles, smaller streamers that imitate small fish or, when all else fails, go with a big streamer on a sink-tip.

Check out the Hatch Chart for specific bug emergence information.

Map & Directions

The Boardman is located in Traverse City and starts 20 miles east near the villages of Kalkaska and South Boardman. Most of the river is Grand Traverse County.

Map of Traverse City and the lower Boardman River. Click to interact and scroll south for additional mapping.

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