Picture of the Day – 15″ brown on a dry fly

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Ed McCoy and I ventured down the Manistee River yesterday throwing around one of the standard early season dry flies the Medium Brown Stone (video link) .  Ed and I drummed up some nice fish on the boon dog, and then setup and zapped some smaller fish eating Hendrickson spinners.  Here is a picture of Ed holding a nice 15″ brown that could not let the stimulator go by.  Used a 15mm Canon Fish Eye lens for this photo.  Some of the most overlooked dry fly fishing of the season is early May.  No crowds and plenty of chances at decent trout.

POD – April 26th Streamers and Snow

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Snow fell yesterday along with rain, on April 26th and even though I’m sick of the cold and want to move forward with the weather.  The trout were hungry to say the least.  Capt. Lance Keene picture  with his largest trout to date on a streamer.

POD – Hoydenpyle Trout

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Picture of the Day – Hoydenpyle Trout

One thing about fishing the Hoydenpyle is that you need to come to that section with a full cup of belief and a whole bunch of desire.  Stripping streamers on a bright sunny blue bird day will test all that desire in this section.  Trout below came in the bottom of the 9th with two outs.

Let trout season begin – Picture of the Day

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POD was actually taken Monday with a last minute cancellation, I personally had a chance to venture out and throw some fur and feathers around.  Great to throw overhead again, and get back into the game.  With my spring steelhead season officially over for the year, time to focus on other species, hatches, and inland lake mysteries.

Sipping Dries

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Had a great email back and forth session with Simon today, check out one of his videos. Working on getting this type of footage and working on getting this good in the editing room. Thanks for sharing Simon! Nice work!

Sipping Dry trailer from Sharptail Media on Vimeo.

Stoneflies and Michigan Trout

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Stoneflies make easy meals for Michigan brown trout

One of the bugs that I’m falling more and more in love with for Michigan trout is the stone-fly.  With so many species of stone-flies in Michigan rivers, trout are very accustom to seeing and feeding on stones.  While michigan does not get the notoriety of having a “salmon stone-fly hatch” like some of western rivers.  Here in Michigan we do have plenty of stones, and as an angler we need to have a little understanding of the what’s, where’s, and when’s of this big morsel.
One of the biggest misperception of stone-fly nymphs is that they are not very active swimmers.  Actually the only stone-fly that curls up in the fetal position is the Pteronarcys.  The Pteronarcys is the big boy that we have all read about.  But unlike the Pteronarcys all other stone-fly nymphs are great swimmers, their wiggle like swimming motion pulsates them threw the current.  Letting them move around and feed and find shelter.  Now they do not dart around like sculpins or black nosed dace.  But there is no need to dead drift most stone-flies.
Most definitely my favorite stone is the Golden Stones or Paragetina, which run size #6-8, and are very common in the Upper Manistee river.  These yellow to olive colored stones can be found in gravel runs, on downed wood, and are found in a variety of water conditions.  Making them very easy to target in the nymph or dry fly phase.
Understanding that stones are always in our rivers lets us know that trout are used to feeding on them, but May and June you should really take notice as they stones start to crawl around even more and become active, as it’s time for them to emerge.  Stones are crawlers, you will find them on random stumps and logs near river banks.  When you don’t see fish rising in early season to Hendrickson’s or Black Caddis don’t be afraid to put on a stone!

A big meal that is easy to fish


Using Ice to Learn more about Trout

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Russ Maddin showing me the way on the ice

So January and February are for the most part a michigan fishing guides off season.  Besides breaking down the rivers and learning new spots for the up coming spring run, or tying a couple hundred more flies.  I’ll try to venture out on the ice a few times a season on the vast amount of inland lakes.  Living in northern michigan, more lakes than I previously thought are stocked with trout.  I have to be honest, I am way more adept at reading a river than I am a lake.  But with the use of a couple maps and a Vexliar  getting my bearings on the breaks and drop-offs is not that hard.  Also with the added benefits of having a good friend and ice fishing master in Russ Maddin showing you a couple hot spots helps too.
The key reason for venturing out on the ice this time of year is to have those bearings for when the ice out occurs.  As you can argue my next point all you want, but it’s the honest truth.  If you are a big trout chaser, the biggest brown, rainbow, or laker trout are going to come from a lake.  This light-bulb was turned on after reading Bernie Taylor’s book 5 years ago.  Example is the world record brown trout caught a few years ago from the Manistee River.  This was not a river trout, it was a lake-run brown that ventured up the river.  Big trout meaning trout over 10 pounds, get big in a lake not a river.   Trout that live in a lake can eat and be lazy, while a river trout has to keep battling current.
With so many inland lakes being stocked with trout (browns, rainbows, and lake trout) the fly angler has a great opportunity to target these trout in the spring after ice out.  All three species are going to be looking for that warmer water in the spring, and most days this warmer water is shallow.  Perfect for the fly angler! Thermal warming from the sun brings the bait-fish shallow, and if you can find the bait-fish you will find the predator’s that hunt them.
Now how I use the ice, is when you can’t find these trout shallow, you have to know where to find them when they go deep.  Just like in a river their are certain hunting grounds that hold fish.  Being able to find these hunting grounds with a foot of ice underneath you will give you a head start for the upcoming spring melt.  Michigan anglers have so many opportunities, getting out and finding them is the fun part.

Inland lake brown caught on a smelt pattern

Brook Trout Fall Colors

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Amazing colors from a brook trout from the Upper Manistee River, late summer and early fall are some of the best times of year for fishing and for photography. This brook trout was on full display. I can’t wait for the coming weeks as news of a couple steelhead are around, and fall browns start to show off their yellows.

Big Fish Chase

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Wow have things changed in the past 24-48 hours, from highs of 90’s to now highs in the 60’s with blustering 20-25 mph winds out of the north. Feels more like fall now instead of summer. For more than just a few people, this change of seasons brings the feeling of hunting season rather than fishing season. I for one getting the feeling this is the time of year to hunt for the biggest fish in our rivers and lakes.

I do get asked more than a couple times a year, “what is your favorite season”, I often reply with the answer “I love the change in seasons”. All the opportunities that Michigan provides are special. I love the first dry fly day of the year, I love the first fall steelhead I find behind gravel, I love the aggressive nature of a bluegill in the spring. But September does bring the opportunity to hunt for the biggest fish. Be that King Salmon or monster browns. The opportunity presents itself because of the change in temperature, the struggle to preserve the species, and the fact that Old Man Winter is just around the corner.
The change in season brings opportunity to the fly angler. Go hunt your rivers, lakes, and shoreline. I for one have a box unchecked on the bucket list of a 30″ brown on a fly. This change in season brings opportunity. Time to go knock on some doors. Before Old Man Winter closes them until next year.

Biggest Trout Memories

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Being a fishing guide first and photographer second, being part of somebodiesbiggest trout ever is always something special. First to be there and walk them through the experience of the the fish you can hear but just can’t see. Helping them locate what log the fish is sitting near, how to wade into location, how to make the cast, how to mend the fly, and what to do if the fish eats your fly. As a fly fishing caddy, helping the angler choose the correct angle like a pro golfer working with his caddy before a really important putt on a difficult green.

Guiding is my love, I have so many special memories of so many people’s firsts. The first day they went fly fishing seeing their cast progress, the first day they landed a steelhead and got that monkey off their back, the first time they heard a big trout eating hex in the middle of the night and they calmed their nerves and made the cast. All are so special is actually why I love my job so much.
But now being a photographer to be able to capture the image, to see the joy in the anglers eye, as they beam with joy. To burn these memories onto film and to have these memories for the rest of our angling days. Now to have been the guide and the photographer is making these experiences even more special.