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Posts tagged "steelhead"

With Rain Comes Steelhead

Posted by Ted Kraimer - October 17, 2012

Significant rainfalls over the weekend really raised the water levels on local rivers bringing in more fresh fish under the cover of stained waters. Estimates on the total rainfall amount are approximately 3 inches and the Lower Manistee came up about 18 inches and has already “crested” and has fallen a bit since.  The water below Tippy dam will be clearest as tributaries further downstream continue to contribute a stain. The weather forecast is calling for more so stay tuned and check out the flows on your favorite river (click here for the USGS water data website).

Water temps are still in the 50s and the steelhead are far from friendly when hooked – hold on tight.  I have come to the conclusion that if bonefish could jump they would be called fall steelhead. Eggs are the primary food source right now for steelhead as the spawning salmon are creating a chum line. The salmon numbers are starting to decline but there are still plenty of fish around with steelhead nearby taking advantage of the protein drip. With the stained water bigger egg flies have been working better than the small, actual sized flies and when the leaves get in the river, bigger, bolder patterns help stand out. As the water clears up look for the nymph bite to improve and if the eggs aren’t working, try the typical patters – hex, buggers, caddis and stones.

Good luck,

Ted

Fall Steelhead & Trout –  Early November Available Dates: Nov. 1

Fall Steelhead: It’s time to target angler’s favorite sport-fish now through November.
Fall Trout:  Fish the Upper Manistee  throughout fall or Lower Manistee in late October and through November.
Booking for all 2013 Seasons and through September – reserve your place in the boat.

egg patterns, steelhead, steelhead fishing the manistee

It’s October – Steelhead and Salmon Fishing

Posted by Ted Kraimer - October 3, 2012

The month has changed and so has the color of the leaves – it’s fall’s best fishing.  The weather has been more than pleasant lately but the much needed rain never came however the forecast for some precipitation is promising. Actually Sunday’s forecast is threatening a rain and snow mix – its officially fall.

On the Manistee there are lots of salmon in various stages – from holding in deep pools to gravel and more fresh fish moving upstream as the calendar advances. More steelhead have been showing up and with the water temp in the upper-50’s they are hard to hold onto once hooked.  With all the salmon spawning, the egg bite for skipper and adult steelhead has been good in the water near beds with nymphs like buggers and hex working in the runs targeting migrating fish. For more on fishing eggs for steelhead click here.

This time of year offers a nice mix of fish – from Chinook/King  and Coho/Silver salmon, steelhead and even a rare lake run brown or two.  As water and air temps cool and more water flows through our already clear waters, look for fishing to only improve, not that it isn’t good now.

Good luck,

Ted

October is the month for Steelhead! Available dates:  16, 18, 30, 31

Fall Steelhead: It’s time to target angler’s favorite sport-fish now through November.
Fall Trout:  Fish the Upper Manistee  throughout fall or Lower Manistee in late October and through November.
Booking for all 2013 Seasons and through September – reserve your place in the boat.

egg flies, egg patterns, fall steelhead, flies, lower manistee, manistee, salmon, steelhead

Salmon Fishing with Steelhead Beginning

Posted by Ted Kraimer - September 26, 2012

Last week’s weather was a great shot in the arm to salmon fisheries in the area.  Water levels have pretty much returned to normal and with that push of water came a nice push of fish in the Betsie, Platte and Manistee Rivers. The Betsie is still plagued by low water levels at the mouth of the river making it difficult for a lot of the fish to make it up stream – another significant rainfall should help change that.

The fish in both the Manistee and Betsie can be found scattered throughout the system and in various types of water: some are on gravel, others moving upstream in both slots and inside bends and others staged and holding in the deep holes. This time of the month with the big moon you might find good numbers of fish in a specific area one day only to have them  gone the next day so look to cover different sections of water as these fish migrate. A few steelhead have trickled into the Manistee making for a fun, mixed bag of fish along with king/Chinook and Coho/silver salmon but with more rain, a fresh push of all species should make their way up.

There have been no magic flies that are working better than another lately with a nymph ( caddis, hex, bugger) and egg fly combo being the go-to choice right now and as more fish hit the spawning gravel, look to the double egg rig to perform best.

With the MI-DNR significantly reducing the number of salmon stocked/planted in the Lake Michigan by 2/3rds in 2013, please practice catch and release to help promote natural reproduction and future fish populations.

Good luck,

Ted

October is the month for Steelhead! Available dates:  16, 18, 30, 31

Steelhead: The end of September means it’s time to focus on fall steelhead through November.
Fall Trout:  Fish the Upper Manistee  throughout fall or Lower Manistee in late October and through November.
Booking for all 2013 Seasons and through August – reserve your place in the boat.

Betsie river salmon fishing, Manistee Salmon fishing, Platte River, salmon, steelhead

“Well, We’re Waiting”

Posted by Ted Kraimer - April 13, 2012

A classic quote from the movie Caddy Shack comes to mind as we wait for some rain to inspire the remainder of the steelhead to move upstream. While we have had some rain and some snow, no significant amount has fallen and the steelhead run remains stagnate, stale and otherwise unprecedented. The forecast is calling for some this weekend and the lack of hot days has pretty much put water temps in check with normal readings for this time of year. Surf/Pier fishing reports indicate that fish are there -also waiting.

There are some steelhead in the Manistee and other area rivers with spawning taking place as water temps hover around 50 degrees. By no means are there as many fish around as there typically is this time of year but still some are around. As a few fresh females slip in, they are quickly attended to by dark males looking to do their part. With water clarity a little too good right now, they are pretty easy to see. Look for more respondent fish to be in the darker slots and holes near the bright gravel and cover a lot of water. Drop-back steelhead continue to play the game as they head back to the lake making for some spirited fights since their minds are back to eating and not spawning. Smaller, natural looking egg flies in smaller sizes are choice as are smaller nymphs like caddis, stones and fry when fishing near the gravel and hex, fry, buggers and leeches are working in the runs.

Trout fishing is well under way on the Upper Manistee with some hendricksons, bwos and black stone flies emerging as the day gets warmer in the afternoons. Water clarity is dramatically clear so stealth goes a long way with the fish being in all sorts of water – not just bunkered in the deep, woody holes. Streamer fishing smaller streamers with slower retrieves is working well with the cold water temps, but be prepared to mix it up if you aren’t getting the results you are looking for. Shaded water should demand your attention, but don’t overlook featureless water. Look for the bugs to continue to build in density with time and warmer conditions – it’s sure is a good to see trout rising again.

Good luck!

Ted

drop-back steelhead, hendickson hatch, manistee, steelhead, streamer fishing

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

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