Posts tagged "streamer"

Trout

Posted by Ted Kraimer - January 12, 2023

Traditionally Trout season begins the last Saturday of April and runs through September, but some sections of rivers like the Manistee remain open year-round. Within an hour’s drive of Traverse City we have a number of trout rivers/streams, good hatches, beautiful scenery and great fishing. Here is what you can expect throughout the year.

April – May

Hatches are going in earnest by the month of May and often start earlier in April which include: Hendricksons, Little Black Stone Flies and Caddis, offering some really good dry fly fishing. Later in the month of May, expect Sulphurs, March Browns, Black Quills/Borcher’s Drakes, and others extending into June. With water temperatures rising and angling pressure low, this is a great time to be on the water for the angler willing to mix up their fishing between streamers and dry flies.

These are the months to throw streamers for some trophy fish. Streamer fishing has become common the past few years and remains a great way to cover water when the bugs aren’t on the surface. Not necessarily for beginners, we cast some big flies on sink-tip lines for big fish. There is nothing like watching a 20-plus inch fish come out of nowhere and pounce on your fly.

June

The “bug month,” June has so many different aquatic insects hatching that it can sometimes be maddening trying to determine which bugs the fish are eating at a particular time. That’s why a lot of anglers like to fish Michigan in June. Sulphurs, March Browns, Mahoganies, Tan Caddis, Borchers Drakes, Isonychias, Yellow Sallies, Golden Stones, Big Stones, Brown Drakes, Grey Drakes and of course, the Hex (Hexagenia Limbata). Looking for dry fly fishing? Then this is a great month for you.

Note: The month of June books early for guided trips. Secure your dates »
Hex fishing is the time of the year that 2-1/2″ – plus mayflies hatch in the last minutes of light and into the dark hours of our longest days. With the dark comes those wary night-time roaming brown trout feeding on the surface, often making a noise hard to accept from a fish that is typically such a nocturnal recluse. While the West is known for its Salmonfly Hatch, we have the Hex as our claim to fly-fishing fame.

July – August

Coming off of a very busy month of hatches, we look for the small Trico hatches in the morning to bring fish up to the surface. Grasshoppers and other terrestrial patterns come out of the box and on the water making for some fun and exciting fishing. Evenings typically produce some bug activity including Isonychias and others like Light Cahills and Blue Wing Olives.

Night Time

“Mousing” — the casting of big surface flies resembling mice and other surface disruptions — can bring up those nocturnal brown trout which are out in the shallow flats looking to eat big without much work. Not necessarily for beginners, mouse fishing is for anglers who are looking for a unique opportunity to fish at night with glow-in-the-dark fly lines and big flies for big fish. Find out what the allure is to this fishing and remember to set the hook on the feel, not the sound!

September – November

With kids back in school, college football on TV and the salmon and steelhead in some rivers, trout rivers in the Traverse City and northern Michigan regions are yours to claim. Water temps have dropped and streamer fishing gets going again with some good terrestrial fishing on top. Enjoy the river and the fall colors with an opportunity to catch some trout that themselves are changing color and are as vivid as the foliage. The trout fishing below Tippy Dam at the end of October and in November can be some of the best fishing of the year on both nymphs and streamers as they are coming off a diet of eggs and looking to keep the feed bag on.

Off-Season

“Off-season” is considered fall, winter and early spring. When most anglers are in pursuit of steelhead or salmon, hit the extended season rivers and have the trout water to yourself. Both the Manistee and Boardman Rivers have sections that are open all year. Sometimes we experience warm-ups throughout the winter, and often a change of a couple degrees is enough to get some fish feeding. It’s always good to get out and get some fresh air, sunshine and hopefully fish. Streamer fishing during ideal conditions can bring out the hibernating browns that are looking to eat big — some of the largest fish of the year are taken at this time — well before the traditional trout opener arrives.

Obviously, being a fly fishing guide for trout in northern Michigan can be a year-round endeavor with each of our distinct four-weather seasons which offer unique conditions to all anglers. Simply put, we don’t get bored guiding just one species, one way. And we have lots of equipment to prove it.

Rivers

Local trout waters that Current Works offers guided fly fishing trips on include both the Upper and Lower Manistee and the Boardman River, located close to Traverse City. For more information on these rivers, check out the Rivers / Hatches section of the website.

: Winter Fishing

: Brown Trout and Streamer

: Morning Trico Hatch

Check out the local Hatch Chart for additional bug details.

boardman, borchers, current works, flies, flies only manistee river, fly, fly-fishing guide, flyfishing, grasshopper, guided trip, hex, isonycias, kraimer, manistee river fly-fishing, mousing, season, streamer, ted, terrestrials, traverse city, trico, trip, trout

Salmon

Posted by Ted Kraimer - January 10, 2023

King / Chinook Salmon

Salmon start running upstream on our rivers as early as mid-August on the Betsie River and the season extends into October on the Big Manistee River.

Spending their “growing years” in the big water of Lake Michigan, the King (Chinook) and Coho (Silver) enter our rivers to spawn. After staging in holes and pools waiting for conditions to be ideal the fish move to gravel sections to spawn. In both pools and around gravel, salmon are often visible while fishing, which helps fuel an angler’s excitement.

Averaging 12 -16+ pounds (depending on the year), these fish do climb well into the 20-pound range making for more than a handful of fish. Landing these fish on fly rods is fun and often challenging at the same time in the smaller confines of a river. Angler’s love it so book early.

Methods

Double Header

Nymph fishing with either floating lines or the most effective “duck and chuck” method gets our flies to the river bottom, where the fish are typically holding.

Also known as drift fishing, this is an easy-to-learn technique for beginners; experienced anglers just get better and more efficient with this method.

When fresh fish move into the river, these salmon can be caught throwing big streamers with sink-tip lines on 9- and-10 weight fly rods. Much like trophy streamer fishing for trout, this can be exciting as you never know when a fish is going to materialize and try to pull the rod out of your hand on the take.

To realize success, anglers interested in fishing with this method must be able to cast a fly rod proficiently prior to booking a guide trip.

Spawning Salmon

Betsie River Coho Salmon Fly Fishing Northern Michigan

Coho / Silver Salmon

Rivers

Most of the rivers in the Traverse City and northern Michigan regions that flow into Lake Michigan have a “run” of salmon. Typically starting as early as mid-August, fish begin to school up at the river mouths and/or pier heads and swim upstream when ideal conditions occur, usually after a decent amount of rainfall. Join us on a guided fishing trip on the Betsie, Manistee or Platte Rivers.

To learn more about the rivers we fish salmon, click on the links below.

• Manistee River below Tippy Dam • • Betsie River •

–To preserve our fisheries all trips are catch and release —

: Coho Salmon on the Manistee

: Fly Fishing The Betsie

: Bright and Fresh Salmon

Betsie river salmon fishing, betsy, current works, drift boat, duck and chuck, fishing, fly-fishing guide, manistee fly-fishing guide, manistee river below tippy dam, platte, river, salmon, september, streamer, ted kraimer, tipy

Early November Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - October 31, 2018

As we flip the calendar to November it is full-on steelhead season. Almost all of the salmon are gone in rivers like the Manistee, Betsie and Platte but there are a few remaining chinook and coho salmon around providing an egg drop to help keep the steelhead focused on eggs. Northwest Michigan hasn’t received significant rainfall in weeks leaving the rivers with fewer fish than we are used to for this time of year and the water low and extremely clear. Thankfully the sun hasn’t been out much giving us a chance at these hot fish.

With the clear water, water temps in the upper 40’s and well-informed anglers, the fish have scattered throughout the systems and where they are holding. Runs and holes directly below any last spawning salmon are a great places to focus on, but when those don’t produce, it might be time to look for fish hunkered in structure but still in position to collect the drifting eggs. Bottom bouncing rigs, fishing indicators and fishing flies on the swing are all ideal right now. Natural sized eggs and beads continue to take their fair share of fish but a nymph bite is starting to build. The leaves are at a minimum, the days are getting shorter, the sun is at a lower angle – it’s all about the deep-bodied steelhead of 2018.

Trout fishing on the upper Manistee is pretty much a streamer game as the brown trout are mostly in a post spawn pattern. As the salmon continue to drop off below Tippy Dam, look for the trout to not only look for eggs, but start to chase streamers as they have an appetite after gorging on a steady diet of eggs the past 5 weeks.

Good luck

Ted

Fall Steelhead – Fall colors include chrome Steelhead until Winter gets here.
Fall Trout Combo – Target both steelhead and trout (streamers) on the lower Manistee
2019 Fishing – It isn’t too early to get next year’s fishing dates secured – booking through October

Betsie, egg patterns, eggs, fall steelhead, manistee river, Platte River, salmon, steelhead, streamer, tippy dam

Early May FIy Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - May 8, 2018

If feels like we skipped spring and went right to summer as temperatures approach 80 degrees. Nature is catching up with the season as the fields on the way to the river have turned from brown to green and foliage is starting to become omnipresent in the woods. So is the fishing.

Trout fishing is starting to shape up although the river levels are a little high and stained – perfect for the Hendrickson mayflies that are sporadically emerging on the upper sections of the Manistee and AuSable Rivers. A few BWOs are around on the cloudy days and it won’t be long before tan caddis should be dancing on the surface. Before the surface and bug activity takes place, now is the time to cast a streamer looking for those larger trout looking to eat big. With the stained water yellow, black, and olive streamer patterns are great first choices. With the water temps still in the mid-50s, slow the streamer presentation down and don’t hesitate to fish the inside bends.

Steelhead fishing is pretty much done. A few fresh fish moved in over the past week but they are getting in and getting out quick with the water temps being so warm. While a bit cold, overall it was an exceptional spring steelhead run as it was spread out with a good number of fish throughout without any surge of fish. And the fish for the most part were a little bigger this year making for some really nice fish photos. Already looking forward to the fall run of steelhead that begins in October.

As water temps continue to climb look for the shallow, dark bottom lakes to see a little bluegill/panfish action to start any day now – this is a great way to get tuned up with your casting while having access to some really nice gills that usually too deep. Pike anglers should find similar lakes providing an opportunity to fish shallows for post-spawn fish.

Good luck.

Ted

Trout – Reliable hatches begin in May for surface activity. It’s also a great time to fish streamers for bigger trout.
Big Bugs – The big Bugs of June will be here before you know it…. Isos, Drakes and Hex – limited dates available.
Fall Steelhead – Spring Steelhead is just finishing up but it’s time to get your Fall Dates reserved – Oct. thru Dec.

bluegill fishing, drakes, fall steelhead, hendrickson au sable, hendricksons, mayflies, pike, steelhead, streamer, tippy dam, trout fishing

November Fly Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - November 9, 2017

Its feeling like November with signs of Jack Frost in the morning, a little white stuff in the air and fish that are transitioning into mixed cover. With the salmon done in the rivers, steelhead are no longer easily found directly below them. A good number of fish have moved into the local river systems this fall including the Manistee and Betsie, but with all the rain, the fish have scattered themselves throughout the systems. Look for fish to be anywhere on a given day: in structure/ wood, holes, pocket water, cross-overs and inside seams.

The past week’s fishing slowed down after a productive fall, but there are still good numbers of fish to be caught with ideal water temperatures which remains in the upper 40s. The water clarity remains stained as the river works though all the run-off and tannins from all the rain the past two weeks.

With fish less focused on eggs, we have been fishing a tandem rig – one egg pattern with nymph trailers like steelhead buggers, hex nymphs and caddis. Those who prefer to swing flies – this is the time of year to pull out that two-hander and swing a big streamer across both transitioning flats and around wood. Some leaves are still around but the leaf drop/catch has been reasonable.

The trout fishing is starting to get going as they, too, look for alternative food sources now that the all you can eat salmon egg buffet has come to an end. Streamer fishing for brown trout should remain solid for the next month or so. Small baitfish patterns like Dirty Hippy – rainbow, are a great pattern to start with, then cycle through your favorite sculpin and attractor patterns after.

Good luck.

Ted

Fall Steelhead – October, November and into December, these fish will bend your rod like no other – experience it.
Trout/Steelhead – The lower Manistee offers good streamer fishing for trout in late Fall for a combo of species.
Gift Certificates – With the Holiday Season near, give or ask for the gift of time on the water or a lesson.

Betsie, brown trout, dirty hippy, egg patterns, hex nymphs, manistee, nymphs, steelhead, streamer, streamer fishing, swinging streamers, two-hander

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