Posts tagged "upper-manistee"

Mid-June Fly Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - June 12, 2019

The weather can’t make up it’s mind – it goes from cool spring-like weather to full-on summer, then back to cool and rainy. And the trout can’t decide whether they want to play our game or not.

Trout fishing remains challenging on both the Manistee and Au Sable Rivers. Hatches have been decent, but most days the wind blows the bugs off of the water not giving the trout much opportunity to sip them. Spinner falls have been occurring and seem to be more prolific during the warmer parts of cloudy days rather than evenings when we are accustom to them falling. Best suggestion – get out when you can, but be careful.

River levels are up significantly for the wading angler on all of the local rivers with more rain in the forecast. This will also drop the water temperatures, prolonging the various hatches and delaying the start of other bugs.

Right now you can expect to see the sulphurs, great and small mahoganies, BWO, Cahills, Grey Drakes, Brown Drakes, Stones (little yellow, early brown, medium brown) and some caddis. Isonychias should make an appearance any day if they haven’t already on certain sections of rivers.

Streamer fishing continues to be tough and with all the high water washing subsurface food down stream, the fish seem well fed this year.

Lake/pond fishing remains good – some have bluegill fishing where other have come and gone from the shallows. The next full moon should get them back in shallow again for round two of spawning. Bass – small and largemouth are taking both surface and subsurface flies where shallow water meets a drop off. The bays have some smallmouth fishing accessible to the fly rod angler, but it’s been tough as the water is so much deeper than normal. Carp, too, have been moving in and out of the shallows wherever the water is warm which has been difficult to find with the cold bay and constantly shifting winds.

Good luck.

Ted

Trout– Match-the-Hatch fishing through June including the big bugs. Terrestrial & Tricos in July and August.
Father’s Day – Get dad on the water this year with a gift certificate for either a half and full-day trip.
Fall Fishing – Salmon begins in September which leads to Steelhead in October and November.

cahills, fathers day trout fishing, gift certificates, grand traverse bay carp fishing, grey drakes, isonychias, smallmouth bass fishing, upper-manistee

Early June Fly Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - June 4, 2019

June is one of the most popular times on the local rivers for trout fishing. The technical dry fly fishing of May eases up as the bugs get a little bigger and the fish tend to look up more making for a little easier dry fly fishing when bugs and feeding fish coexist.

The upper Manistee is in good shape and the Au Sable levels are dropping back to normal levels. Water temps are in the low 60’s making for ideal conditions. Streamer fishing has been tougher this year than normal but it’s still a great way to cover water when waiting for some bugs and fish to appear on the surface.

This time or year you will want a lot of different flies in your fly box to have you covered for likely hatch scenarios. Sulphurs, Great Mahoganies, Little Mahoganies, a few remaining light Hendricksons, Black Caddis, Tan Caddis, Stones (little yellow & medium brown), March Browns, Grey and Brown Drakes, and some Isonychias could show up any evening. With the cooler nights/evenings, sometimes the heavier bug densities (spinners) occur at the warmest time of day, but it’s difficult to predict. A fly box with various sizes of Borcher’s Drakes and Robert’s Yellow Drakes will cover a number of bugs right now.

[You can read more about some of the bugs that emerge this time of year by reading, Trout Fishing Before the Hex Hatch.]

Local lakes have had a lot of the spawning bass and bluegill finish up sooner than expected considering the water temps are still a bit behind, but fish in post-spawn mode are still the shallow and transition water depths that are approachable to the fly angler.

Good luck.

Ted

brown drakes, isonychias, manistee river, manistee trout fishing, sulphurs, trout, trout fishing, upper-manistee

May Showers, May Flowers and Mayflies

Posted by Ted Kraimer - May 11, 2019

With May well underway, it seems that spring is catching up but is still behind on both land and on the water as the morels, leeks and trillium carpet the forest floor and the trout ignore the emerging mayflies.

Steelhead are essentially all done save for a straggler or two still in river systems – it was a great spring run with sizable fish and a very healthy population. Sadly, the harvest of these multi-year returning fish seemed much greater than normal which will affect future runs of fish. Hopefully when people throw out their stockpiles of frozen burned steelhead fillets later this year they will reconsider killing so many fish in the future.

Trout fishing on the rivers that also have trout (Manistee below Tippy Dam) have started to improve after a late start with salmon fry patterns taking some nice fish as well as small baitfish streamers fished on a sink-tip.

Last week’s rain has the rivers running high and stained and have interrupted some of the hatches that had been good. While there have been decent bug emergences (Hendricksons and BWOs) on the upper Manistee and Au Sable, the surface activity has been sparse with cool water temps in the mid-50s. We are just a few warm days and mild nights from conditions falling into sync with the time of year and fishing to improve especially the dry fly fishing.

Streamer fishing has been marginal between the cooler water temps and the angling pressure. Try fishing a little differently from the masses – with the higher water target the inside of bends and maybe tie on a little smaller streamer as the fish seem to have developed a case of streamer fatigue.

Lakes offer opportunity for those looking for the big toothy species, however the bass and bluegill fishing is still off by a week or so as the crucial moon phase occurs and waters temps increase.

Good luck.

Ted

Trout – May and June offers some of the best trout fishing of the year matching the hatch and fishing streamers.
Fall Steelhead– It’s not too early to look ahead to fall run of these fish. Hard fighting and a beautiful time of year.
Booking 2019 – Reserve your date(s) and schedule life around fishing rather than trying to fit fishing into life.

Good luck.

baitfish streamers, hendrickson, hendrickson hatch, steelhead, tippy dam fishing, trout fishing, upper manistee river, upper-manistee

Mid-September Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - September 16, 2018

At the mid-point of September, it has felt more like the middle of summer.

After a lot of rain the first part of the month the rivers came up and have since come down. The Betsie still has the “Betsie Stain” to it but reveals that there just aren’t as many salmon around as we are accustomed to this time of year. Temps in the 80s, bright skies and no wind has put the run of fish on hold while the fish already in the system are spread out. After a drop in temps, some wind and rain, look for things to change – there are more fish to migrate upstream based on the reports from the big lake. The Manistee has fish spread throughout it, too, with most of the fish holding in pools and waiting for water temps to drop.

Trout fishing continues and offers solitude not typically found on the salmon rivers. The upper Manistee is in good shape with clarity and temperatures making for decent terrestrial and small streamer fishing. The brook trout are vibrant in their colors and they will remain that way for another month until their spawning is complete later in fall. The bigger browns are starting to feel a little more comfortable and show themselves with the decrease in angling pressure. This time of year BWOs can give you a shot at some dry fly activity, but until then, go with the bigger “foam and rubber” bugs that not only suggest terrestrials but also serve as attractors.

Good luck.

Ted

betsie river, manistee river, salmon fishing, streamer fishing, terrestrrial fishing, trout fishing, upper-manistee

Early September Fly Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - September 10, 2017

A cooler end of summer had kicked off the salmon fishing on local rivers, but things are starting to slow down with some nicer weather. Fish are scattered and spread throughout river systems with pretty much all rivers having fish in them including the Betsie, Platte, Bear Creek, Big Manistee, Pere Marquette.

With the fish running bigger this year, they have been hard to handle. Crowds have been unprecedented and some “angler’s” tactics to hook these fish have been unconscionable. With the DNR’s realization of high natural reproduction rates and their decision to reduce stocking – it’s imperative that we respect the future of the fishery. If you witness illegal activity, let them know and/or call/text the DNR’s RAP hotline: 800-292-7800. While the fish are around, we are losing our fishery to the heavy-handed approach of disguised snagging.

The salmon fishing has been making a case for late season trout fishing. The late summer terrestrial bite has been pretty good for brook and brown trout on the upper Manistee where it’s rare to see another angler on a miles-long float. The brook trout are vividly colored as we approach spawning season and remind us why they are the State Fish. Ants, hoppers, and smaller streamers fished on floating lines have been effective and as we go a little further into fall, have some larger streamers nearby with short sink-tip fly lines for the pre-spawn browns.

Good luck.

Ted

Salmon/Steelhead Combo – Late Sept. through early October offers a chance at both species on the Manistee.
Fall Steelhead – October, November and into December, these fish will bend your rod like no other – experience it.
Trout/Steelhead – The lower Manistee offers some great streamer fishing for trout in late Fall as another option.

Betsie, brook trout. steelhead fishing, DNR, DNR's Rap Hotline, fishing, fly patterns for salmon, nymphs, salmon fishing, snagging, trout, upper-manistee

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