The Upper Manistee and Boardman Rivers received some much needed rain and the rivers have cooled down and levels are good. Streamer fishing conditions have improved for those looking to hit the bigger fish when the bugs aren’t out.  Olive, white and yellow streamers have been working well, but mix it up to find the fish’s daily preference.

Hatches have been sporadic, but on the right night, they have been good and varied. Look for Isonychias, Brown Drakes, Gray Drakes (Boardman), little Yellow Sally Stones, Medium Brown Stones, a few of the large salmon-fly stones, Bat Flies, Light Cahills, Tan Caddis and the last of the sulphurs to be coming off in the evening hours. It’s time to have your head lamps with you as the bugs will often go well into the dark. Stick around a little later as a few hex have been seen and they will build over the next week with the warmer and more stable weather in our forecast.  This is the best time of the year to go after trout with dries.

The fishing on the Lower Manistee below Tippy is still good with trout eating a handful of flies from caddis, midges, scud and sow bug nymphs, BWOs and wet flies. Smaller baitfish/fry patterns have been working stripped and swung and the big stone fly has brought up some nice fish too. Streamer fishing has improved on this section with the increase in water flow and cloudy days.

Carp fishing has been a little tough in the past week with the change in weather and water temps. Wind direction is key and the warmer water is imperative to finding fish that want to eat. Look for the fishing for both Smallmouth Bass and carp to improve on the Grand Traverse Bays when we get some warmer weather once again. Crayfish patterns have been best lately, specifically Hadda’s Creek Crawler pattern since the fish are a little deeper and this pattern sinks quickly. Leeches and hex nymphs deserve a place in your box too with all of the nymph activity.

The Bluegills/Panfish on local lakes continue to provide fun for the fly angler. Top-water flies like min-poppers and spiders have been bringing fish up and smaller streamers like bead head buggers and minnow patterns are doing their damage sub-surface.Largemouth Bass have been getting a little more aggressive on top-water flies now that many of them have completed their spawning activities and if there are pike in the lakes you fish, don’t be surprised if they take the sliders, divers and poppers. Fish them quietly rather than big and loud until the weeds get heavy.

Steelhead anglers will find the Manistee and Betsie both have some fish in it.  Be prepared to move around and fish not only the big, deep holes but the smaller slots and depressions too as we are sharing the water with more people now that the weather has warmed up. With the clear skies at night comes the cold so look for the late morning and afternoon bite to be a little stronger as the sun has its way with water temperatures. Lots of small black stones are crawling around and with the clear water conditions, be sure to knot one to some lighter tippet/leader for your best chance at hooking up.  Other patterns to use include caddis, alevins and smaller egg patterns in lighter shades and spectrums. Mix it up if you aren’t finding success – try hex and bigger stonefly nymphs as they are becoming a little more active with the warming sun.

The trout bite below Tippy Dam is fair with the occasional steelhead surprising the angler fishing with a 5 weight rod. Small stones, eggs, zebra midges and BWO nymphs have been working when fished below an indicator. If you are looking to streamer fish, retrieve your fly slowly – these fish are still partially hibernating.

The Upper Manistee above CCC Bridge is running cool and clear. Streamer fishing is your best bet and rather than using sinking lines, try shorter sink-tips and strip slowly to keep your fly down while keeping your line from hanging up and use patterns that have lots of motion: rabbit strips and marabou are an angler’s friend. Look for fish to be anywhere – from the deeper holes (tail-outs) to mid depth runs with sunshine – they often can be found sunning themselves. The water is still cold, so temper your expectations a bit and enjoy the solitude.

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.

NOTE: Ted is offering a great winter fishing special of five hours of guided fly fishing and lunch for only $250 — available through March 15th.

Also Ted will be teaching a fly tying class this Saturday, March 6 th at The Northern Angler in Traverse City. The theme will be flies for Pike, Musky and Bass, but with slight variation as you can use these same patterns for salmon, steelhead and trout. Class time is 10-Noon. Cost is $25   Call TNA @ 231-933-4730 to register.

The Cabelas Bears

About a month ago in Pennsylvania, a groundhog poked his head out of a hole and the experts proclaimed another six weeks of the same weather. While that has been mostly true, we have been experiencing a welcomed increase in sunshine and it feels good. In keeping with the prediction, the fishing, too, has remained pretty consistent with some days being a better than others regarding the fish activity.

Steelhead remain the primary target and the slight increases in water temp at mid-day can be the difference between fishing and catching. Sun helps with that and it hasn’t been getting awfully frigid-cold at night, stabilizing water temps rather than dropping more. Actually, we have been seeing a slight increase on the week long average which might mean that March really is only a few days away.

Still, water levels on the Manistee and Betsie are low and it’s clear.  As it’s been true all winter, fish with stealth, lighter tippets and make numerous presentations to find those fish to play along with. Then again, this advice holds true almost the entire year, but it’s more imperative now with the winter like conditions.

Flies: pale egg combos, small black stones, Alevins, hex nymphs and the bigger stones are good places to begin with fly selection.

A few trout below Tippy dam are eating the same flies suggested above for steelhead, but the trout angler would be better served tying on the midge pupa patterns like zebra midges and WD-40s for a nymph bite.  Streamer fishing should be more of a traditional down and across with slight strips and bumps since we still have some cold water.

It won’t be long now before the steelhead fishing kicks-in with trout to overlap in April. The lack of snowfall might have an affect, but we can still get hit with some big snow so don’t put that shovel away just yet.

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.

NOTE: Ted is offering a great winter fishing special of five hours of guided fly fishing and lunch for only $250 — available through March 15th. Check it out.

Steelhead Season. Photo by Surrealis_uk, Copyright 2006.

The significance of a slight temperature increase can make all the difference; look for late mornings and early afternoons to be best as the sun is its highest. While a blessing, the sun can be the curse when combined with the clear winter water; this is the time to make your best drag-free presentations with lighter tippets – preferably fluorocarbon. An indicator will not only help monitor your drift, but help you suspend your flies off the bottom to get a presentation to fish near and in structure.  Eggs in paler colors combined with your standard assortment of nymphs: hexes, little black stones, larger black stones, and caddis in green, cream and “cased” are all effective this time of year.

There are steelhead throughout the Manistee river system and the closer you get to Tippy dam you will find them mixed with trout.  Trout anglers fishing nymphs under an indicator are finding midge, bow nymphs and caddis to be preferred with an occasional steelhead rendering the 6x tippet useless. Fishing on the Betsie seems to be more a matter of the day as both hold-over and newer fish move throughout the system.  Urban anglers in Traverse City are finding a fish here and there throughout the Boardman system but more skippers than adult fish. Regardless of the river, look for the slower and deeper water to be the home of chrome right now and make sure your first cast in each hole and run is spot-on and the same with your last – this time of year be sure to fish the water thoroughly since fish aren’t moving a whole lot to eat.  Fish throughout the all rivers seem to be a mix of fall and early winter holdovers along with some brighter fish too.

The bright side is the days are getting longer and the calendar says that March and the spring steelhead run isn’t that far away!

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.

NOTE: Ted is offering a great winter fishing special of five hours of guided fly fishing and lunch for only $250 — available through March 15th. Check it out.

The Au Sable in Winter, Photo Copyright 2009 by Nina Asunto

The days are getting shorter, a little cooler, and the fishing remains good for both steelhead and trout. Remember last year at this time when we already had two weeks of solid snow?

The Big Manistee is running at good levels with water temps hanging  in the low 40s – odd for this time of year. It’s running relatively clear and there are some new steelhead that are coming into the river but not huge numbers of fresh recruits to join the fish already in the system. Look for the bite to come on both nymphs and eggs. On the gray, overcast days look for the brighter egg patterns to work with pale color when the sun is out. Nymphs that have been working include some of the old standbys: black stones, caddis and hex. This is also a good time to swing flies with that two-handed rod.

The trout fishing below Tippy Dam continues to be a pleasant surprise this fall with lots of fish coming to streamers and nymphs fished under an indicator. The bigger fish have been coming on streamers, but not exclusively.  Baitfish patterns like T&A Bunkers, Mummy Chubs and C&F Baitfish have been working well but daily color preferences can make the difference. The biggest common denominator has been white. Nymphs include small, natural pale eggs, scuds and BWO/pheasant tails.

The Upper Manistee is offering up some good fishing, too, now that the browns are done with their annual spawning ritual.  This time of year, with water temperatures being cool, fish a shorter sink-tip and retrieve it a little slower than normal.  Lately, I have found that fish are following streamers and are eating them when the retrieve is paused longer than normal – something that is usually a no-no when streamer fishing. Make sure your pattern has movement when paused. Mix it up and identify what the fish want – we do spoil them.

The Betsie and Platte both have some steelhead in them but what would really improve things is some more rain. With the Firearm Deer Season beyond us, we can get rid of that blaze orange hat and take advantage of stealthy approaches  to our favorite runs and holes. Look for the fish to be in the deeper, slower holes and slots since the temperatures continuing to drop.

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.

Ed. Note: Check out the latest fly tying article on Ted’s website — he has a nice piece on tying and fishing the “Fin Clip,” which is a great pattern for imitating those little stocker rainbows that the DNR drops in many of our rivers each year. It’s a cool tie and is indicative of a style of fly that can be used to successfully fish the shorelines of the big lakes as well.

Years ago when I was living in the Mount Pleasant area I often fished the Chippewa River for smallies, and in that case the hatchery truck would hit the river near the end of May. The DNR stocked the Chippewa with trout, though I never found trout anywhere in the upper system with the exception of some cold spring-fed feeders way up in the system. I heard that steelhead were occasionally caught in the upper waters, but most of those trout became food for the resident bass and, lower in the system, walleye and pike. In any event, fishing patterns that mimic those stockers can really work out well.

Casting for Steelies, Copyright 2009 by Robert Couse-Baker

The recent weather has made for some great conditions, although we need things to get a little uglier – i.e. rain and clouds to bring in more steelhead and get fish out from the shade that the logs are providing. Looking at the forecast we can expect more seasonal conditions which should increase fish numbers, improve conditions, and have us reaching for our fleece.

The Big Manistee is still a great bet for those looking to cash in on some silver. There are steelhead throughout the river system from the dam to the lake but not too many fresh pushes have reloaded the current inventory. As such, look for fish to be closer to wood than they have been or in the runs and holes that are a little deeper and slower. Water temperatures remain in the mid-40’s, which is a bonus for this time of year, so feel confident that a fish will move a bit to eat a fly – just make sure your presentations are good since water is a bit clearer than we would like. Eggs in all shapes and sizes have been working with no one color or pattern being more effective than another. This is a good time to transition from the double egg rigs to one egg and one nymph presentations: Black stones, hexes, shrimp and steelhead buggers are all good bets right now.

Trout anglers are finding the fishing on the Big Manistee below Tippy Dam to be some of our best trout fishing of the year. Holdover fish from this year’s cooler summer are not only giving anglers some great fishing, but proving that water tempertures from the dams are critical to fish survival. Fishing with mid-sized streamers and a slower strip/retrieve is a fun way to cover the water looking for nice trout and a chance at something bigger – a 20-plus inch fish or an aggressive steelhead. Other methods producing right now include nymphing with eggs and small nymphs (pheasant tails and BWO imitations) under an indicator.

The Betsie is still giving up some fish but with the lower water, cover lots of it and try to find the players. There are so many slots and seams on this river. Most people wade past spots that often hold fish. If you are willing to loose a fly or two, fish these slots and you should be pleasantly rewarded.

The lower weir on the Platte River is gone and fish are free to move about the system. Well at least up to the hatchery weir. With conditions looking favorable mid-week, look for the lower water to be the place to be. Until then, probe along on the upper-water probing the deeper holes.
The Boardman has a few steelhead in it too, but like the rest of the local rivers, a little rain and some clouds can really make the difference. Fish it from Sabin to the mouth in West Bay. It’s a nice way to spend part of the day if you are in town for the holiday weekend with family and can only make it out for a few hours.

Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving.

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 Betsie still has salmon moving through it with the higher, dirtier water. Fresh fish are moving through the river and dark ones are on and near gravel throughout the system. A few steelhead have been caught by the salmon angler but more Coho/Silvers are in the system than the lake run rainbows. Egg-sucking leeches, Stone Flies, Hexes, Steelhead Buggers, Caddis and eggs in chartreuse, Oregon cheese and clown patterns have been working — run one egg high and a nymph below it.

The Manistee has salmon throughout the system from the dam down to the mouth. The largest concentration of fish and anglers is below the Tippy Dam as it is the furthest upstream limit spawning fish can get to and it is surrounded by ideal spawning gravel. A good number of steelhead are in the upper river in the darker holes and runs behind the spawning salmon and are looking to eat the eggs and nymphs getting dislodged from the active salmon. For the steelhead, try realistic looking egg patterns – nukes in chart/pink (grapefruit), Oregon cheese, golden, and pinks. These same colors should work well for the salmon if you are focusing on them. Try using smaller nymphs like pheasant tails and caddis for the steelhead with larger buggers, stones and sparrows for the salmon. The lower river has a mix of adult and skipper steelhead moving though but not really holding. With all of the leaves getting washed into the river and the higher, dirtier water, try patterns that are a little bigger and brighter than normal.

The Platte River is going strong thanks to the change in weather. There are lots of Kings in the river and a good number of Cohos. Because of its proximity to Lake Michigan, conditions and fish numbers can change within hours and usually for the better. Another nice attribute of the Platte is its stability of water levels – it rarely gets too high or dirty where it hurts fishing – no clouds and sun is the Platte angler’s enemy. The typical flies mentioned above are working with the addition of Muddler Minnows, buggers and smaller baitfish patterns like Cross Dressers. Remember that the Platte has a hook gape restriction of 3/8” so be careful what size fly you have in your box while on the river.

The trout fishing on the Upper Manistee has been O.K. With the rain and water levels coming up and the aggressiveness of the alpha brown trout, the pre-spawn bite should be strong over the next couple of weeks. This is a great time to go streamer fishing – adjust your retrieve based on water temps and the response you are getting from the fish; some days they like it ripped through the water, other days slowly jigged. Please leave spawning browns alone – this is a natural reproducing river!

Good Luck getting out and hooking up – this is truly one of the best times of the year to fish – so many species and rivers – Northern Michigan really is a Sportsman’s Paradise.

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.

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.