Posts tagged ‘Terrestrials’
Letting Go
With the passing of Labor Day, summer is unofficially over and so is the hot weather – at least that’s the way it is supposed to be. We have experienced a week of high-pressure, bright sun and virtually no clouds – just what you would expect in July and August – perhaps it’s just a little late. Most of the recent angler’s attention has been focused towards rivers with salmon runs and this year got an early start thanks to the cooler summer temps and rain. The recent weather (and lack of rain) has put things on hold, but look for things to really change big-time after we get some rain.
The Betsie with its cold water has had a good number of fish in it for a while and there is still a decent number of fish in the system. Time and place on the water is making the difference between hooking up and wondering where the fish are. The past weekend’s angling pressure took a toll on the fish that were patiently waiting, and now we are looking for fish inventories to build up again. Look for fish in holes, runs and around gravel – some fish are doing their shaking and wiggling. Flies that have been working well include large black stones, hare’s ears, muddler minnows, sparrows and tied in tandem with an egg fly.
The Lower Manistee also had a good number of fish in it early this year, but the heat wave has “The Run” on hold. There are still fish to be caught, but they have experienced lots of pressure and are a little stale. Look for fish near and in wood as well as those slow, deep sandy holes. As soon as the cool evenings return and an increase in water flow occurs look for things to get even better. This nice weather has got the smallmouth bass fishing ratcheted up a bit, but most anglers are looking for something a little heavier, stronger and longer this time of year.
The Boardman here in Traverse City has the weir down and fish are starting to collect below it. Pressure can be heavy at times, but if you are looking to get a fix and have a limited amount of time to do it – this might be the right place to bend the rod.
I haven’t spent as much time on the trout water lately, focusing instead on the salmon waters. This warm weather has increased the terrestrial activity – most notably with the grass hoppers and flying ants. On both the Upper Manistee and Boardman the flying ants have been hitting the water and the fish are looking to get a mouthful – they simply love the formic acid within – it’s like crack cocaine to a trout. Other bugs on the water include some caddis, white millers and the remaining Tricos.
Ted Kraimer is a professional guide and fly tier, owner of Current Works Guide Service, and field editor for True|North|Trout. His fishing reports will continue to appear in T|N|T and on his website.
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Gearing Up
Note: My apologies for taking some extra time in getting this post online… Ted’s fishing report came to me on time, but I’m posting it from Wyoming and Montana, where I am out chasing Western trout. – JL
Despite a few days of hot weather, some cool rain has got river levels not only ideal and a little above where they typically are at this time of year, but the temperatures too are remaining cooler than normal for this time of the year.
The Upper Manistee looks good: a nice flow, temps in the mid-60s and with just a hint of color. Hatches are minimal, but look for: caddis, a few Isonycias, Light Cahills, BWOs, and Tricos. The weather has the Tricos a little messed up – look for bugs in the both the evening and mornings – mornings typically being the heavier hatch. Ants, grasshoppers and beetles are around and bringing some fish to the surface, as are foam and rubber leg creations.
The Lower Manistee is still offering good trout fishing. Caddis and BWO fished dry, soft hackles swung and tandem nymph rigs fished under an indicator are all catching fish. Smaller streamers will get some response from not only trout, but some smallmouth too. Because the temps continue to be below 70 degrees, the numbers of fish just aren’t there. The wind and rain has some salmon in the river but mostly lower in the system looking for well presented streamer fished deep and with some action.
The Boardman too is benefiting from the rain and cool weather. It’s really a terrestrial bite right now, but have some caddis flies in your box too. Matching the hatch isn’t much of a factor right now, but have some white flies/Ehphrons in your box as heavier evening hatches should kick off soon. Swinging emergers is a great strategy for this hatch before and during.
The Betsie river has salmon in the river with rain and sunlight impacting where you might find them one day and where the next. Remember — these fish are migratory and they are running on the bigger side this year. Hang on and have fun.
Ted Kraimer is a professional guide and fly tier, owner of Current Works Guide Service, and field editor for True|North|Trout. His fishing reports will continue to appear in T|N|T and on his website.
Mayfield Pond
It isn’t news that the weather has been cool and water temps reflect that. Local rivers are in better shape than I can remember for this time of year so get out and take advantage of it.
The Upper Manistee continues to offer a sampling of bugs each day: BWOs, Light Cahills, Isonycias and Tricos. The heaviest hatch is the Trico spinner fall in the mornings and with the cool nights – one doesn’t have to be on the water at first light to find fish eating them. Have a difficult time seeing these tiny bugs? Tie the trico to a dropper off of a larger dry and use it as an indicator. Look for the other bugs in the late afternoon and evening. The cooler weather has stymied the growth of the grasshoppers on the water’s edge; typically this time of year larger hoppers work, but the smaller patterns have been more productive lately. Still, the big patterns with rubber legs and foam have been bringing up fish and some good ones, but more as an attractor rather than a match to the natural hoppers. Play around with patterns and presentation until you get some positive feedback from the fish.
The Boardman terrestrial fishing is decent right now with bookies and browns playing the game. Small grasshoppers, beetles and ants of various sizes are go-to patterns along with the Tricos and #16 and #18 tan caddis. Trico hatches in the mid-morning can be found in the many riffle sections of the river – look for sippers in the calmer, smoother water just downstream of where they are falling to the water.
The Lower Manistee continues to run cool for this time of year, stretching our trout fishing season on that section. Those with a nymph, either under an indicator or dropped below larger dry flies with rubber legs – twitched are finding fish in the seams and holes. Caddis are still coming off in the evening as well as BWOs and other midges throughout the day. Streamer fishing can produce a bend in the rod from not only trout, but smallmouth bass too.
The smallmouth continue to be the minority in the river this year due to water temperatures – if it warms up, the fish numbers will build until the salmon start to enter in big numbers. If water temps continue to be cool, look for a decent number of salmon to enter a little earlier than normal. According to the charter boats, the fish are running significantly larger this year so get ready to battle these Chinook salmon.
Ted Kraimer is a professional guide and fly tier, owner of Current Works Guide Service, and field editor for True|North|Trout. His fishing reports will continue to appear in T|N|T and on his website.
The following is the last installment in T|N|T’s four-part series on tying and fishing hopper flies, and on the the joys of Michigan midsummer trout fishing. Bryon Anderson will be back in the near future with another entertaining series.
The Crystal-Butt Hopper
Fly tiers are funny about patterns. On one end of the spectrum are strict purists who stick to the tried-and-true classics, insisting on adherence to the original pattern and all-natural materials, and on the opposite end are those who seem born to innovate—people who see everything from cat hair to fingernail clippings as potential pattern ingredients.
Harrison Steeves, a former professor of biological sciences at Virginia Tech and contract tier for Umpqua Feather Merchants, is no stranger to innovation, as evidenced by his many signature patterns that marry natural and non-traditional materials, and that also happen to catch the bejeezus out of trout. Among his inspired creations are the Steves’ Firefly, the TransparAnt, and this week’s grasshopper pattern, the Crystal-Butt Hopper.
This is a great pattern to have in your box in late summer, near the end of hopper season, when the trout—especially those in streams that get lots of pressure—may have gotten wise to the more traditional patterns by seeing so many of them. It seems to still say “hopper” to educated fish in a way that’s just different enough to re-pique their interest. I have had large trout follow, inspect, and refuse two or three flies that looked way more like a real hopper to me, only to blow up on a Crystal-Butt the instant it touched the water.
Keep a few Crystal Butt Hoppers tucked into a corner of your terrestrials box as an insurance policy for those wise old lunkers who think they’ve seen everything…you’ll both be surprised at how well it works.
The Crystal-Butt Hopper
Hook: 2x long dry fly, size 8-10
Thread: 6/0 Uni-Thread, color to match body
Tag: Krystal Flash (or equivalent)
Ribbing: Rod-winding thread, color to contrast with underbody.
Underbody: Yellow, light olive, or tan closed-cell foam (match colors to naturals in your area)
Shellback: Closed-cell foam, color to match naturals
Legs: Rubber or Silicone legs, color to complement body colors
Underwing: Elk Hair, natural
Overwing: Turkey quill segment, treated with artist’s fixative
Dubbing: Any dry fly dubbing, color to match or contrast with body
Head: 3/8” foam disc, cut from same foam as shellback
Eyes: Black permanent marker
Tying the Crystal-Butt Hopper
1. Start thread just behind the eye, wind to the bend. Tie in 10 to 12 strands of flash at the bend so that it projects rearward. Trim to 3/8” length.
2. Trim the end of a 3/16”-1/4” wide strip of shellback foam to a point and tie in directly over the tail tie-down.
3. Trim the end of a 1/8” strip of underbody foam to a point and tie-in directly over the shellback tie-down.
4. Tie-in ribbing material just ahead of body tie-down. Wind thread forward to a point one hook-gap width behind the eye.
Step #5
5. Wind the underbody foam forward to the thread, tie-off and trim. Wind ribbing forward to the same point, tie-off and trim.
6. Wind thread forward 2 to 3 turns ahead of body/ribbing tie-down. Cut a strand of rubber leg material about 1 ½ times the length of the shank and tie-in by its center. Pull one-half to each side of the body and wind thread rearward to the body tie-down—legs should protrude rearward at about a 45° angle from the body, as shown in the photo.
7. Cut and stack a small bunch of elk hair, and tie it in directly over the body tie-down. The tips of the hairs should be even with the rear of the bend.
Step #8
8. Tie-in a hook-gap width section of turkey quill directly over the underwing tie-down. Cover the butts of the underwing and overwing completely with thread, then wind the thread forward to the eye.
9. Apply dubbing to the thread and dub rearward, building up dubbing to the circumference of the body. Leave a gap of about 1/16” between the dubbing and the body/wing tie-down.
10. Tie-in the foam head disc over the bare thread between the dubbing and the body/wing tie-down, with 2/3 of the disc toward the rear of the fly, and 1/3 toward the eye. Secure with 6 to 8 turns of thread. Whip finish and cut thread. Take a moment to admire the shape of the fly. Silently congratulate yourself on a job – done.
11. Add eyes on the edge of the foam disc with black permanent marker.
It seems that most of this year’s trout fishing has been affected by inconsistent weather. This past week and the days ahead are no different, but rather than negatively affecting the fishing, our water temps are a few key degrees cooler, making for not only good fishing, but good for the fish, too.
Summer Trees on the Manistee
The Upper Manistee is running about its normal height right now as it didn’t receive much rain and what did fall went right into the sandy soil. Tricos are a little fickle to find right now in the mornings. Look for warmer, sunnier mornings for the best hatches and fish responding. Afternoons are spent either casting smaller streamers on cloudy days or terrestrial patterns on the surface. Cinnamon/rust colored ants have been fishing very well (Turk’s Power Ant) where as most other terrestrials vary from Chernobyl Ants to Grasshoppers. Rubber legs and foam have been working, but look for the fish to have a daily preference on size and color – mix it up. Other bugs include Isonychias, Lt. Cahills, Small Caddis, Yellow Sallies, BWOs and midges. Try fishing small Griffith’s Gnat or Renegades when you see rising fish, but no real emergence or spinner fall.
The Lower Manistee below Tippy Dam is running cooler than normal and this can be a great destination for those looking to do some trout fishing. Good caddis activity in the afternoons and technical midge dry fly fishing can get you into fish of all sizes. Wet flies and streamers fished both dead drift and/or twitched. Small Clouser Minnows have been working for both trout and smallmouth bass alike. Look for your better smallmouth fishing to happen when water temps increase a bit more.
The Boardman is almost all done with the Gray Drakes, but have a few in your box if you are out there in the evening. Caddis, Yellow Sallies and BWOs can be expected most days. Since this river has a nice mix of grass banks and overhanging trees, it can be a fantastic river for terrestrial fishing. Small hoppers, ants and beetles fished dead drift, twitched or even sunk can really provide some good fishing close to town. Fishing a soft hackle in deep slots and riffles is also a proven technique on this river on a floating line with either a standard leader or a sinking leader.
The area’s lakes are still providing some good fishing especially with the darker, cloudy days. When/if the sun returns, look for mornings and evenings to be best and target structure (weed beds, docks, swim platforms and fallen trees). One can expect large and smallmouth bass and pike to play the game.
Ted Kraimer is a professional guide and fly tier, owner of Current Works Guide Service, and field editor for True|North|Trout. His fishing reports will continue to appear in T|N|T and on his website.
Trout fishing has pretty much moved passed the Hex hatch, although there is still a sporadic showing of bugs on certain rivers on certain days in certain sections. It’s proved difficult to predict when and where, but it’s always good to see those huge mayflies flying around. In all, it was a strange hatch this year thanks to the weather. On those days when good bugs were out, we had good fishing, but now it’s on to summer trout fishing.
It's summer ... take a kid fishing.
On the Upper Manistee the Isonycia hatch has been good in the evenings. With the clouds, BWOs have been giving the fish a steady diet. Other bugs you can expect to see include: Light Cahills, Yellow Sallies, Golden Stones, and small black caddis. Tricos are just staring for those of you on the water before noon and look for the numbers to increase as warmer weather settles in for a period of time in the region.
The Boardman – Still some hex, but look for tricos to be the primary staple for fish feeding on the surface right now throughout the mornings with caddis in the afternoons and Lt. Cahills and Grey Drakes just before dark.
Both the Upper Manistee and Boardman are just coming into their “terrestrial “ season – that is, where grasshoppers are getting blown into the river and the fish grabbing them. Beatles, ants and rubber-legged foam creations can bring up some of the larger fish of the year. Experiment with size and action – some days they like dead-drift, other days twitched. Catch a trophy fish without a headlamp on! Like headlamps? Stay out after dark and throw the mouse/surface pattern.
The Lower Manistee River below Tippy Dam is still providing some good trout fishing since water temps have remained cool for this time of year. There is a mix of both trout and smallmouth bass in the river and look for the bass to continue to build in numbers with more heat and warmer water temperatures. Natural baitfish patterns ranging from 2 to 4 inches have been the most consistent producers of trout and smallies for the streamer fisherman, where wet flies and bead-head nymphs have been catching trout in the seams. Tricos should get going soon.
Regardless of where you choose to fish, the crowds are non-existent at this time of year and you can pretty much have a section of river all to yourself.
There are still some smallmouth bass in the bay with the early angler on a flat piece of water catching the fish. A carp here or there are around, but for the most part the carp fishing is done. Those who enjoy largemouth bass fishing are finding the weed beds in most lakes at the perfect height – that is providing cover, but minimal surface rafts getting in the way. Sliders, deer hair bugs and poppers are not only effective, but a fun way to catch fish – make sure your tippets are strong enough to pull a fish through the weeds.
Ted Kraimer is a professional guide and fly tier, owner of Current Works Guide Service, and field editor for True|North|Trout. His fishing reports will continue to appear in T|N|T and on his website.
The following is the third in T|N|T’s four-part series on tying and fishing hopper flies, and on the the joys of Michigan midsummer trout fishing. Look for the last installment early next week.
A.K.'s Hopper
If I could carry only one hopper pattern in my fly box, it would have to be A.K.’s Hopper. Like all of A.K. Best’s fly patterns, it is meticulously well-thought-out, with every detail born of years of careful observation on the water, which is undoubtedly why it works so well.
A former Michigander, A.K. is well-known to readers of John Gierach’s books and essays as Gierach’s long-time fishing companion on his angling adventures in Colorado (where they both reside) and across the U.S. Best is also a household name in the fly tying world, as he is one of the most highly-respected and commercially successful fly tiers in the country. His books include Production Fly Tying, A.K.’s Fly Box, and Dying and Bleaching Natural Fly Tying Materials. He has also done a number of excellent instructional tying videos.
According to A.K., his hopper is an amalgam of his favorite features from three other well-known fly patterns. The palmer-hackled body was borrowed from Joe’s Hopper (a/k/a the Michigan Hopper), the clean, simple wing design hails from Ed Shenk’s classic Letort Hopper, and the spun-and-clipped elk hair head comes from Dave Whitlock’s Dave’s Hopper. The result is a high-floating, durable, relatively easy-to-tie fly that rarely fails to ring the midsummer trout’s dinner bell.
A.K.’s Hopper
Hook: Standard dry fly, size 8-10
Thread: 6/0 Uni-Thread, color to match body
Body: Synthetic yarn (craft store variety)
Hackle: Brown dry fly hackle, 1-2 sizes smaller than hook size
Underwing: Turkey quill, treated with artist’s spray fixative
Overwing: Hard, shiny deer hair
Head: Elk hair, natural or bleached
Tying the A.K.’s Hopper
1. Start the thread one hook-gap width behind the eye and wind to the beginning of the bend. Wind back to the starting point. Tie in the end of the yarn at this point and once more wind to the bend, this time lashing the yarn to the shank as you go.
2. Twist the yarn tag to form a loop extending a hook-gap length beyond the bend. Take six or seven firm turns of thread at the bend to secure this body extension in place.
3. Tie in a brown dry fly hackle directly over the loop tie-down at the bend. Advance the thread to the starting point, then wind the yarn forward to that point, tie off and trim so that there is an abrupt “drop off” from the end of the thread to the hook shank. (This is important!)
Step #4
4. Spiral-wrap (i.e. palmer) the hackle forward in open turns and tie off directly over the yarn, maintaining the abrupt “drop off” transition from body to bare hook shank.
5. Clip a segment of turkey quill equal in width to the hook gap. Fold the segment lengthwise and snip the broad end at a 45° angle such that there is a “V” shaped notch in the end. Tie in the opposite end directly over the yarn and hackle tie-down.
6. Cut and stack a small bunch (10-12) of hard, shiny deer hair and tie in directly over the underwing tie-down. DO NOT TRIM THE HAIR BUTTS! They will be trimmed when you are shaping the spun-hair head.
7. Cut, stack, and clip the tips from a small bunch of elk hair. Spin and pack with the butts facing toward the rear of the hook. Repeat this process with a second bunch, again with butts to the rear. Tie in a third (and final) bunch with butts facing forward. Whip finish and cut thread.
Step #7
8. Using a razor blade or scissors, shape the head. Trim the bottom flat (careful not to cut off hackles!), then each side. Trim the top at a slight angle as shown in the photo. With this cut you will also trim the butts of the overwing hairs, which were left in place to prevent you from accidentally cutting off the underwing itself. Neat, eh?
“Sometimes the stream ran through an open meadow, and in the dry grass I would catch grasshoppers and use them for bait and sometimes I would catch grasshoppers and toss them into the stream and watch them float along swimming on the stream and circling on the surface as the current took them and then disappear as a trout rose…” – Ernest Hemingway, “Now I Lay Me”
The Madam X
The following is the first in T|N|T’s four-part series on tying and fishing hopper flies, and on the the joys of Michigan midsummer trout fishing. Look for more installments in upcoming days.
With the arrival of midsummer and the “dog days” that follow comes one of the best opportunities of the season to catch a trophy size trout on a dry fly. No, I am not speaking of the celebrated “Hex” (Hexagenia Limbata) or Giant Michigan Mayfly that has recently begun its annual emergence on our northern rivers, but a much less famous (though no less tempting) morsel for the hungry trout in search of a substantial meal: the lowly grasshopper.
Grasshoppers, along with ants, crickets, beetles, spiders and various other terrestrial insects, are active in the grasses and trees lining the banks of Michigan trout streams beginning in early spring, and furnish easy calories for trout when they fall or are blown by the wind into the water. Hoppers become of greatest interest to trout in the hottest, driest weather of the year, from mid-July through mid-September. By this time, the hoppers born in the spring have had all season to mature, growing to as much as two inches in length.
Hoppers crawl up onto blades of grass in the early morning and wait for the sun to warm their bodies. They typically start moving around noon and remain active, flying from place to place to feed throughout the afternoon, which means that the best time to try your hopper flies is right through the heat of the day. Look for deeply undercut banks with tall overhanging grass on the banks above them. Hopper flies should be cast as close to these banks as possible, and should land with a bit of a “splat”, as this imitates the plight of the natural hoppers that get knocked or blown into the water. If a fish is there and looking up, the response will be near instantaneous, and the fisherman may get a nice surprise, for even the largest trout will regularly attack a hopper presented in this manner.
Hopper flies should be cast as close to these banks as possible, and should land with a bit of a “splat”, as this imitates the plight of the natural hoppers that get knocked or blown into the water. If a fish is there and looking up, the response will be near instantaneous, and the fisherman may get a nice surprise, for even the largest trout will regularly attack a hopper presented in this manner.
Hopper fishing is not nearly the technical business that hatch-matching can be, but the well-prepared angler will nevertheless want to carry several different hoppers for various conditions. Accordingly, this article is the first in a series, each of which will feature a different hopper pattern. These flies are fun to tie and an absolute blast to fish—their only possible downside is that they may keep you so busy catching fish all day that you’re all worn out before the evening rise even starts, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take…aren’t you?
Madam X
Hook: Standard dry fly, size 8 to 12
Thread: 6/0, olive
Tail: Elk hair, natural
Body: Olive dry fly dubbing
Underwing: Elk hair, natural
Head/Overwing: Elk hair, natural
Tying Instructions:
1. Start the thread about 1/8” behind the hook eye and wrap to the hook bend.
2. Cut and stack a small clump of elk hair. Tie it in at the bend, with the hair tips rearward, protruding about half a hook-gap width past the bend. Bind the hair butts along the length of the rear half of the hook shank. Clip the butts at the halfway mark and return the thread to the bend.
3. Apply dubbing uniformly over the underbody.
Step #4
4. Cut and stack another clump of elk hair, roughly 1 ½ times the diameter of the clump you used for the tail. Tie in this clump so that its tips are even with the tips of the tail hairs. Clip the hair butts and bind them securely. Apply cement to the thread wraps, then advance the thread to a point just behind the hook eye.
Step #5
5. Cut and stack a third clump of elk hair about 1 ½ times the diameter of the clump used for the underwing. Measure and cut the hairs to a length that is equal to the length of the hook shank. Tie the clump in just behind the hook eye with its tips facing forward—that is, projecting out past the hook eye. Bind the butts very firmly! Leave the thread hanging at the point where you tied in the underwing when you finish this step.
6. Grasp the entire clump of hair and pull it back toward the rear of the hook. Pinch the hairs at the point where your thread is hanging and bind them very firmly to create the bulbous head and flared overwing.
7. Tie in two lengths of rubber leg material on either side of the thread collar to create the “X” legs that give this pattern its name. Whip finish and treat the thread collar with head cement.
