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.