Posts tagged "smallmouth bass fly fishing"

Mid July Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - July 13, 2024

Trout fishing on the local rivers continues but with a more casual approach as we aren’t matching hatches in low light to finicky fish. Instead head to the river with a mix of general dry flies that imitate mayflies since they have been eating them regularly for the past 10 weeks. Beyond fishing those natural dry flies, tie on attractors and some terrestrials.

Larger flying ants have been more noticeable lately than any other, but the deer fly and beetle imitations have been fooling fish reliably. Look for Tricos to start emerging and falling in the mid-mornings any day now. It’s also a great time to fish a swung wet fly as is a “micro streamer” – those subsurface flies that look more like a nymph, but fished with twitches and strips.

The smallmouth bass fishing on the lower Manistee has been varied – some days they play our game, other days it seems like they take their ball and go home. The softer streamer approach is the most productive most days fished on clear sink-tip lines. The popper and dry fly fishing hasn’t been as productive but I suspect with the dog-days of summer coming, that should change as it usually does this time of year.

Bass and bluegill fishing on the local lakes continues to be our favorite venue for those trying / learning to fly fish with all their eagerness to come to the fly and provide action as the skills are developing. Those more experienced can fish a streamer or diving bug near the weed beds and drop offs for those bigger largemouth bass.

Good luck!

Ted

Trout, Tricos & Terrestrials – July & August offer fun dry fly fishing on the upper Manistee river.
Smallmouth Bass – Fish the lower Manistee with streamers & poppers this summer for fish that can pull.
Learn To Fly Fish – 1/2 Day trips are perfect for beginners! Learn how to cast before hitting the water to fish.

bass and bluegill fishing, fly fishing guide, fly fishing traverse city, guide trip, manistee river, manistee river guide, smallmouth bass fly fishing, streamer fishing, terrestrial fishing, upper manistee fly fishing

Early July Fly Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - July 2, 2024

The Hex flies have mostly finished a really heavy hatch period this year on the local rivers including the Manistee. This steady stream of bugs has left the trout fat and happy and like many of us after Thanksgiving dinner – second guessing that last serving.

The rivers are in good shape: height, clarity and temperature are all where they should be. After a significant hatch, the fish usually sulk for a little bit and wait for digestion to take place, but they’ve been known to eat a hex fly as a few late bloomers either hatch or spinners fall. Isonychias on the cloudy days can make for some fun fishing, but mostly it’s time to think about attractors, wets and small streamers as most of our hatches are over. It also means you can take some fly boxes out of the gear bag/vest since there isn’t as much match-the-hatch fishing going on.

You can read more about fishing following the Hex Hatch here.

The really good lake fishing for bluegill/panfish has slowed some with the fish going deep again after another round of spawning. Look for them in the drops near weeds and other structure. The largemouth bass fishing is ramping up as they are starting to look up at diving bugs, poppers and attractors that get their attention. Small streamers, too, fished on a floating line can also bring some fish to the net.

The smallmouth bass fishing in rivers continues to offer some good streamer fishing for those looking to change gears from the evening and night trout fishing we seemed to have been doing for the past 6 weeks. Once temperatures warm back up, I suspect the surface/popper bite might begin.

Good luck.

Ted

bass fishing, fishing report, hex hatch, learn to fly fish, smallmouth bass fly fishing, traverse city fly fishing, trout fishing, trout fly fishing

Late May Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - May 30, 2024

With May coming to an end, the Mayfly hatches and trout fishing continues.

This time of year it’s often time for headlamps and evening spinner falls at dusk when the mayflies drop to the surface to feed the fish. Hatches have been sporadic and with the weather, they can emerge at various times of day. It’s the spinners that typically collect in the evening to form decent numbers that anglers get excited about.

The upper Manistee has had it’s share of Great Mahoganies the past ten days and this is a hatch that seems to build in density each year. Sulphurs have been sporadic but are winding down, and those small #14 black caddis continue to feed a lot of the smaller fish. There are a handful of other bugs that can show up this time of year which can be intimidating when we try to match the hatch, but you can get by with a nice assortment of Borcher’s Drakes, Robert’s Yellow Drakes and Adams patterns to do a good job representing what you are imitating. And a drag-free presentation is just as – or even more important – than the pattern itself. Some medium brown/yellow stones belong in your box as do Isonychias and if it’s a warmer evening, stay till dark with some Brown Drakes – they should be starting if they haven’t already.

A fair amount of rain on Sunday and Monday brought the upper Manistee river level up while leaving a significant stain to the water. Those looking to get some streamer fishing would be best to do that before things clear up again.

Bass and bluegill fishing is mixed depending on the body of water you are fishing. Some bluegill have moved back into the shallow water for their second round of spawning thanks to a mild winter and early spring. The largemouth are in a post-spawn funk and the smallmouth bass are mixed but in the inland lakes, they are packed up and have mostly have moved deep again, only to hover around the breaks and drop offs. Weed growth in the past week has been remarkable and only helps anglers look for ideal spots to target fish.

Good luck.

Ted

Smallmouth Bass – Fish the lower Manistee with streamers & poppers this summer for fish that can pull.
Learn To Fly Fish – 1/2 Day trips are perfect for beginners! Learn how to cast before hitting the water to fish.
Trout, Tricos & Terrestrials – July & August offer fun dry fly fishing on the upper Manistee river.

bluegill fishing, fishing guide, fishing traverser city, fly fishing, grayling, hatch chart, smallmouth bass fly fishing, terrestrials, tricos, upper manistee

May Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - May 8, 2024

With May here, it’s time for the Mayflies on the local trout rivers.

This time of year can be a great time for the technical dry fly fisherman as there can be a variety of hatches ( and various stages of those hatches ) with fish keyed in on just what they want, served on a drag-free drift.

You can expect the Hendricksons which are winding down, but also mahogany duns, Sulphurs, March Browns, and some caddis. BWO’s always belong in your box, but they might get used more now than other times of the fishing season. For the next 6 weeks, it’s a good time to have an assortment of Borchers Drakes and Robert’s Yellow Drakes as they will get you through a lot of hatch situations.

Between hatches, cover the water with streamers. The Upper Manistee and Boardman are running at good levels – they are full, not high, and have a nice tint to it for good streamer fishing. Fishing from a boat with a sink-tip is the most effective, but if wading, shorter, less dense sink-tip lines with a weighted fly is an effective approach.
More on streamer fishing can be read here.

Some of the local lakes are just now starting to see some bluegill/panfish start to move into the shallows but a lot of them are hanging at the drop offs. A little bit more warm weather and some moon phase and it should be game on – especially the smaller lakes and ponds with a dark, silty bottom.

It’s still a good time to fish those lakes for the pike that are still milling around in the shallow water where we can easily get to them with a fly. Like most fish, they like structure to hide in before pouncing on prey.

Lastly, the smallmouth bass fishing is going on lakes and some on rivers. Baitfish patterns fished sub-surface either on floating lines or intermediate tip fly lines in those magic areas when structure and depth combine should be your target.

Good luck.

Ted

baitfish patterns, bass fishing, borchers drakes, fly fishing michigan, guide, hatches, hendricksons, smallmouth bass fly fishing, traverse city, trout

Late May Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - May 30, 2023

As May comes to an end, it sure seems like we are in middle of summer with these hot days.
It’s been a while since we have had any significant rain leaving the trout rivers running low and clear. Thankfully evening temps have been cool which has kept the water temps in check, but they are creeping into the mid-60s on the Manistee, Au Sable and Boardman Rivers.

The bug hatches have been decent with sulphurs, mahoganies and caddis being the usual suspects. Clouds of spinners are forming in the evening but with rapidly falling temps as dusk settles in, they go off to the trees only to fall another day. Brown Drakes and Isonychias should be in your box as they can start showing up if they haven’t already on your favorite section of water.

Streamer fishing has been off with the lower, clear water so smaller streamers fished on lighter sink-tips or even floating lines have been fooling some fish. A lot of suckers are spawning in rivers so don’t hesitate fishing behind them for trout eating their eggs.

The lake fishing for smallmouth and largemouth bass has been really good. Surface activity with poppers has been working as the fish have moved in shallow. The bluegill fishing has been good too, just depends on which lake you are fishing. Sometimes smaller streamers for the bass are required on the bright days when the fish don’t want to look up and are fished with either intermediate tip and floating lines.

Good luck.

Ted

Trout – It’s Match-the-Hatch time on the trout rivers through June. Just a few dates to choose from.
Smallmouth Bass– Spend a half or full-day on the lower Manistee fishing smallies – June through Late August.
Fall Steelhead – November still has some dates available in 2023 – finish the fishing season strong.

bass fishing, bluegill fishing on the fly, fall steelhead, hatches, mahaganies, manistee river fly fishing, manistee river hatches, smallmouth, smallmouth bass fly fishing, sulphurs