Shop Hours are 8am – 6pm seven days a week. We have guides and lodging available…please call to inquire or book a trip/room – 231-745-3529. Currently, my open Guide dates are : June 7 – 11, 19, 24, 26 – 30 & Lots of days/nights available in July.
June has finally arrived!!! The weather is improving and the fish are looking up! Dry fly fishing has been very good since my last report. Sulphurs and Gray Drakes are the main focus for the fish, but stones and attractor bugs will draw them up too. Bugs currently hatching….Sulphurs (#16), Gray Drakes (#10), yellow sallies (#12 – #14), BWOs (#18 – #22), Mahoganies (#12 – #14), a few caddis and some Giant Stoneflies at and after dark. The bank are coming alive too. It is not too early to try ants and other rubber-legged foam bugs.
It really feels good to be dry fly fishing again. There is no better time to be a fly fisher in Michigan. We have some very exciting weeks in front of us…Drakes and HEXES coming soon. The hexes are still at least a couple weeks off, but fun to daydream about. The afterdark fishing is hot and cold. The water level bounced up again after a bad storm Friday night, but clearing up very well. The upper river is a couple inches high and light tea color, while the lower is a bit higher and darker tea. The fish can see the bugs no problem!
John Robinson and I did a group trip last Saturday (after the big storm Friday night) and elected to fish a mid/lower section. The water was dark and we were planning on tossing streamers and spinning gear until the hatch started. But our plans were quickly changed after launching our boats. We experienced an epic all day spinner fall of drakes with tons of rising fish. It was an excellent day of fishing!!! Then the weather cooled off and the bugs were done by the time they should have been just starting…You just never know what you will find. The more you go fishing, the more “events” you get to experience. The old saying is “You don’t know, if you don’t go!”
The streamer game is still (and always) an option. Mid-sized patterns in olive, black, tan, white and yellow have been producing the best results in my boat. Tons of flash on a couple days was the magic bullet, but everyday is different. Twitch bugs on a floating line fished near the bank/structure is a great way to search for aggressive players too.
The extended forecast looks very good, so give us a call for a full or half day float trip. We have boats available and Motel rooms also…231-745-3529. I am extremely excited for the dry fly opportunities coming up!!! The hatches over the next 4 – 5 weeks will generate some magical memories, humble some trout bums and will test some relationships. Are you ready? I AM!!!!
Best of luck and please respect your fellow angler. I will type at you next week…enjoy!!!
Later,
John