Grand Traverse Bay Carp


Had the opportunity to film and photograph Ed McCoy today on the Grand Traverse Bay for the big boy carp that swim the waters of the great lakes. Working with Chuck Hawkins and Ed we are trying to put together a short 2-3 minute carp fishing video. So I shot a couple hundred pictures and minutes of film so that we can develop a carp video for the hawkins website. Look for it soon. Hope it turns out, if not I guess I’ll have to go shoot more footage, the things I must do!

Fishing crayfish patterns and other fresh water patterns very similar to bonefish flies used in the salt. There is something special about wading the flats of Grand Traverse that reminds me of fishing in the Caribbean . The crystal clear waters with three shades of blueish green water are a nice break from the river shorelines that I’m spoiled by.

Carp fishing this year is off to a great start, as the beasts from the deep have crashed the shallows after last weeks warm up. The first part of June should be prime to hunt these golden bones.

Trout fishing with Dry Flies

Warmer days have really kicked in the dry fly fishing the past three or four days! Is there a better way to catch a trout than with a Dry Fly? Watching a trout no matter what size come up and taking a dry fly is such a special part of fly fishing. With May and June being the prime time months here in the state of Michigan to get your full enjoyment of the dry fly season.

Last night Ed McCoy and I enjoyed a section of the Manistee River were we had Caddis, Yellow Sallies, Mahogany’s, Hendrickson spinners, Medium Brown Stones, and a couple unidentified bugs in the air. While May understanding what the fish are actually eating can be difficult the reward of catching a couple fish on top is worth the couple fly changes for success.

For the next 6 weeks look for the best dry fly fishing of the season. I am working on trying to get that perfect shot of a trout eating a bug. Never did relize how much work it was going to be. Almost had it last night on video, working with zoomed in shots with a tripod in low light, and a unstable platform (by boat) is not that easy. But I love the challenge an I look forward to the next evenings spinner fall.

Now that May is here..


May is here and mother nature and trout fishing are rolling around nicely. Morels will be popping with warm temperatures and this past weekends thunderstorms. Most trees have buds popping, almost looks like fall in some spots with the multi-colors. Bright days have the sky line screaming insane colors of blue. Hard for me to choose which season I really do like more spring or fall? I’ll have to say spring for now, as the amount of additional life forms running around. Wish I could just carry my camera everywhere!

Upper picture is a shot of the Manistee River below Tippy. I so do love this river, especially outside the months of April and September. With nobody else on the river today, trout fishing was pretty epic. One can choose from skating caddis, to swinging wet-flies, to ripping streamers. Today our weapon of choice was the 2/0 streamer. With many nice trout coming to hand, and couple “oh my god, look at that” butter balls showing their sides, we had a great day on the river.


Enjoying our lunch riverside we had one of my favorite bugs join us, the Giant Stone fly. Or
Pteronarcys dorsata , better wise known as the Salmon Fly. I think most people only think this is a western bug, but here in Michigan we do have a pretty big hatch, you just have to know where to look. Also you have to know how to fish the bugger. But when you figure it out, as I’ve mentioned before, be ready. The strikes are some of the best in the game for dry fly fishing. The Salmon fly will continue to hatch sporadically over the next month. Triggering some of the best dry fly fishing of the year!