Gateway to Michigan's finest fly-fishing
Happy Opening Day all you trout anglers! The traditional trout opener (last Saturday in April) marks the start of what we consider the prime season. And it sure is looking pretty good in 2024. No snow in the forecast. Just enough rain to knock the dust down and keep the
As April winds down, I can say I’ve never experienced one like this one before. The steelhead fishing was affected by the lack of rain and high water from a snowpack that never happened in this El Nino year. Winter was mild and so was the run of fish as
You know when you’ve earned something. Maybe it was a week of fishing when, after 4 days of wretched luck but hard effort, a giant fish is found at the last hour of the trip. That’s earning it. Or maybe it’s trying all week to fool one difficult trout and,
Not much has changed since the last report as a trickle of fresh fish move up the rivers as others spawn, while those that already have drop back to the lake. We have had some rainfall but not as much as we were hoping for to really test the hypothesis
The last few (beautiful) days we’ve seen a little bit of everything on the Au Sable. Strong BWO hatches that, due to the sunny conditions, haven’t been of much use to the trout angler. A dribble of hendricksons. Some stones. It has been slow fishing for some, and great fishing
Steelhead fishing on the Manistee and Betsie Rivers has been slower than normal for this time of year. While we have received some rain events over the past two weeks, the fish haven’t showed up in significant numbers, but rather just a trickle of fresh fish. Because the land is
The first mayflies of the season mean something every spring, even if only serving as a sign of spring itself. For two of the last three days, the mayflies have also meant rising trout. Yes, there has been some dry fly fishing on the Au Sable. A lot? No, not in the
Some rain last week gave the rivers a nice little bump in water flow and some additional steelhead moving upstream from lake Michigan. Clarity is still really good on the Manistee River below Tippy Dam, and is a little more stained on the Betsie River. Water temperatures have pretty much
The joke all this winter has been that we had this coming and…we had this coming. The little ponds froze back up. White-outs. Wind. Frozen guides. And the timing couldn’t be more deliciously cruel. On the last warm day we had — I think it was the end of last
With the official start of Spring this week, it seems that Winter is making up for some delinquency bringing us some cooler temps, wind and snow. Steelhead fishing continues on the Manistee River below Tippy Dam and Betsie River with water conditions near ideal. It’s been a bit since we