Brookies, rainbows and hoppers

It has been another busy week here in Trout Creek, MI. Randy and Steve joined me for a couple of days of great fishing, great meals (if I do say so myself, given the fact that I cooked them), and great camaraderie. We began their adventure catching numbers of brook trout and ended it catching quality. Randy is an exceptional angler who selflessly gave up time with me for his good friend Steve. Steve hadn’t had a fly rod in his hand in a year, but proved that fly-fishing is like riding a bicycle. Both caught an amazing number of brook trout up to a foot long and Steve finished off the trip landing a large-shouldered, 17-inch rainbow on a Copper John, despite having never thrown a nymph rig in this life and overcoming that steep learning curve in just two pools.

The weather continues on its roller-coaster fashion. Last week Tuesday morning, residents covered their gardens for fear of frost, while Monday the high broke 90 degrees for the first (and hopefully only) time this year. Now we are back in the 70s, a much better temperature for fish and anglers alike. If you follow my Twitter account, you will already know that hoppers are the newest game in town. I had a day off on Sunday and absolutely hammered brook trout on a new stretch of river I had never fished. If you are looking to head for the U.P., now is the time.

Busy, fishy days in the U.P.

It has been an incredibly busy past few weeks as clients have come and gone from three different states. I fished with Sean and his son Jacob in late June. Sean recorded a U.P. Fly Angler first with a double Michigan Hat Trick, that being a brown, brook and rainbow trout from the same river on the same day. Sean did it on two different rivers and topped off that feat by catching a nice smallmouth bass. I fished with Pete and Bob in early July who proved themselves to be not only fine anglers, but just plain great guys to be around. David made the long trek from the Gulf Coast to spend four days hammering nice brook trout and spending a great morning catching northern pike from my drift boat. He even pulled in a 20-inch walleye from a deep river pool. On my rare days off, I managed to finish my camp sauna, allowing guests to fish brook trout during the day, relax in 140-degree comfort as night falls, and complete the day with a locally-made pasty. If you don’t know what a pasty is, you really need to experience one made by the local “Pasty Lady.”

The roller-coaster weather has been an issue as we seem to have either days in the upper 70s or days in the 50s. The fishing, though,  has taken a definite turn from sub-surface to dry flies. While streamers still are the ticket early in the morning, the fish have turned on to Royal Trudes, caddis and hoppers once the day has warmed up and bubble lines have become the drift of choice. The mosquitoes and deer flies have even slowed down significantly. It is a great time to fish the U.P. so if you have any interest, visit our website, shoot us an email, and get ready for some wilderness fishing.