UPDATE August 11: Two heavy rainfalls in the region the past two days have increased river flows significantly. Anglers will find the rivers high, moving fast, and dirty. To monitor your favorite river, use these sites:
Upper Manistee/M72 Upper Manistee Near CCC Lower Manistee/Tippy Boardman Platte
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River conditions on the Manistee and Boardman are pretty much in step with the season – running slightly clear and low making mornings and cloudy days the best approach to fishing this time of year.
Hatches on the river are pretty much limited to Tricos in the evenings and Trico spinner falls in the a.m. Some days these last for a while giving you multiple targets to cast to, other days it is short lived with a brief window of spinners falling and feeding fish. The occasional Isonychia is coming off, more likely in the evening and they are getting smaller in size (#12 & 14) as the summer continues.
When bugs aren’t around, it’s time to cast “Foam and Rubber” – attractors and terrestrial patterns which have rubber legs. Somedays they want big patterns dead-drifted, other days twitched, or sometimes it’s a smaller pattern that looks more natural. Good brook trout and decent brown trout are coming up but the bigger fish – it seems – have mostly gone on summer vacation which is normal; look for them to start showing up again when school starts, water temps cool, and fishing pressure drops.
Lake fishing, too, has slowed with more bluegill playing along than the bigger bass. If looking for the bass, go sub surface with small streamers fished slow on either an intermediate line or small sink-tip.
Smallmouth bass fishing on rivers has been a good option for those looking to cast a larger fly on sink-tips, slow sinking lines, and the occasional floating line with a dry fly for fish that tend to pull pretty hard.
Good luck,
Ted
Trout Fishing – July and August is Terrestrial and Trico time! Start the day off casting to brook and brown trout
and get back to the family for lunch time – it’s a great way to start the day when in Northwest Michigan.
Learn to Fly Fish – Tailor a half-day trip to learning how to fly fish –perfect for beginners.
Fall Steelhead – Some good dates remain in November and into December.