Hex - The Morning After

that is one beautiful box

So I'm sitting here exhausted, hot and thirsty.

This doesn't stop me from drinking my coffee though. I drove home this morning as the eastern horizon began to glow and by the time I got to bed you could see by the gray early light. Five hours of energy then five hours of sleep later I'm contemplating my next move.

Tom prospecting before dark

I was supposed to work today but I don't care- everyone else is on vacation this week, why should I work myself to death? I spent the whole week in that hazy twilight of sleep deprivation, caffeine, alcohol and bad food. I spent every moment I wasn't swinging a paint brush or patching a wall or hanging a mirror (I work in construction) thinking, planning and scheming.

Actually I did those things while working. After work, and while driving between jobs and on my lunch and breaks I was making phone calls, exchanging text messages and gathering intel. The question is always the same: where are the Hex? Where were they last night? Where exactly in three hundred miles of river system was there a spinner fall? Where will it be tonight? Where will it be next week?

Alex starts the hex bite early

It's all a crap shoot. I fished with Tom Hazelton and his friend Adam the other night at a secret walk in location- no bugs and no fish. Not even on a mouse. I hear Zach hooked up on one not far from us though. The next evening they floated the Au Sable and had a late spinner fall and even got an okay fish. I floated last night with Alex. We had a light spinner fall and almost no rising fish. It seemed like everyone but us managed a decent fish though, and in the wee hours of the morning during a barely coherent and patently unsafe drive home that required dodging and braking for multiple deer, we talked about where we should have been, could have been.

"We should have left earlier"

"We should have waited up above"

"We should have pushed down"

We should have, perhaps could have. The truth is it was a weak spinner fall and the fish aren't gaga yet. Late into the night, early in the morning, we set up on a steadily feeding fish. It was two feet off the bank in a back eddy with a big shrub just upstream of it. We worked this fish for an hour before getting it to eat. When it did there was a splash, and Alex' line jumped and then nothing.

Reister's boat found a fish. Chris Reister photo

We heard a couple of blurps and splashes on our way out, but never found any more active fish, no more bugs on the water.

And when we got back to the launch we broke the trailer.

Salut!

Bamboo, Bass and Bugs

I didn't get Monday Morning Coffee done today, but I wanted to get something up on the blog. I'm starting to get this back-log of trips and posts, and I don't want to let FR to continue to languish away. So here's a trip report. 

I got a message from Facebook friend Lee that he would be up north attending a bamboo rod event in Grayling. He's one of those people who like or comment on your social media posts but you don't know from Adam. He seemed like a decent guy and so I told him I'd take him fishing. He's a bamboo rod builder from southwest Michigan. 

Lee and Alex watching the rise

As it turned out he had also contacted my friend Alex Cerveniak and so the three of us fished the South Branch Au Sable Thursday evening. The bugs were scarce and the fishing was kind of a dud, but we agreed to meet again on Sunday and do some flats fishing. Lee had a 7 weight bamboo he wanted to flex on some carp and bass. 

Sunday came and we met early. We parked and started hiking down the beach trying to get away from the crowd. 

We didn't get far when we saw a pod of dark shapes in the surf- carp. We gave it a shot but the fish were restless. There was a hard northeast wind blowing and I wondered the effect it would have on the fishing. I also wondered how it would affect Lee's bamboo. 

We hiked for nearly an hour to the spot I had in mind. After some tricky wading in heavy current across open water we got into some sheltered bays and started fishing in earnest. 

The carp were a complete bust. The northeast wind had them skittish and spooky. Any time a boot or fly touched the water they scooted out. We didn't actually see that many carp. We saw a few dozen whereas my last trip I saw hundreds. 

The bass were another story. We weren't out long before Lee was into a small bass. It put a pleasing bend in his rod and a smile on his face. 

Then he found a pod of them in a spot of green water with obvious big boulders. He landed two fish before I could even get there. Most were small, but Lee caught a decent one and we had much larger fish chasing our hooked fish. 

After that we hopped over into the next back bay and went to town. We got several fish in the 4-5 lb. range. It was fantastic.  The carp remained aloof to panicked. 

Around 5 PM we looked at each other. We were sun-tired, wind burned and cast-sore. We had caught about forty bass between us. It was a slow day for the location, but still a great day. After the first hour we never saw another soul. It was just us, the wind, waves and seabirds. 

And some fantastic fishing. 

We hiked the north shore back. The midge hatch began in earnest, and they lifted from the low shrubs like black smoke. We had to wear our buffs to keep them out of our mouths and noses. The whine of their wings drowned out even the surf and wind. 

That's not smoke

And when we got back to the car clouds of mosquitoes, big as bats, brought us back to earth. Almost. 

Lee Slikkers photo

Lee Slikkers photo

Monday Morning Coffee- June 16

Yyaaauuuucccchhhh!! Yawn stretch, scratch, repeat. It's Monday morning, so let's have some coffee. 

I know- it has been a few weeks since I've shared MMC. My buddies are giving me grief over it. I've done my usual early summer thing and way over-booked myself with work, which makes it difficult for me to write or do much for the blog. The last two years I had booked my entire summers solid with work. Not this year. The good news is I finished my side job yesterday which should leave me free to fish and write more, and hopefully get FR back to resembling a blog. I have several good posts in the works.

I've been getting some fishing in as well. I've given up any notion of having a normal life or sleep schedule. I work and I fish. I eat and sleep occasionally. Sometimes I see my girlfriend. I was going to write about my last three outings on this post but it quickly turned into 3,000 words- way too long for Monday Morning Coffee, so what I’ll do is break it up into three posts over the next three days. Here’s a brief synopsis.

I got out flats fishing for carp and smallmouth ten days ago and had a fantastic trip. The carp bite this month has been nothing short of phenomenal and I caught a monster smallmouth.

not the monster

Then last Sunday I got to float the South Branch Au Sable River with Alex Cerveniak and Cameron Mortenson of The Fiberglass Manifesto. We fished the brown drake hatch and caught fish. Cameron made me cast glass. He didn’t have to try that hard.

Cameron hooked up on the first fish of the day

Two nights later I floated again with Alex and friend Dave Smethurst. It was another fantastic float, a night in which I felt I could do no wrong.

To sum it up- despite a tough work schedule (50+ hours/week for my job plus side work) I have gotten in some quality trips and caught some big fish. So yes, it's worth tuning in for.

one of several from the other night

Well, I'm almost out of coffee and it's time to go to work.

Let's get after it.

Fly Brunch

There's a place in Bayview, Petoskey called Staffords Bayview Inn (I rent a lot from these people truth be told). They have a fabulous Sunday brunch. The bacon is thick cut, the fruit is fresh, the baked goods are hand made, thick and moist. The scrambled eggs never have that dried out crust. Ditto the hollandaise. They make your Belgian waffles while you wait. You walk up to the buffet tables and are lost for a moment. Where do you start? If I eat the eggs benedict will I have room for waffles? What about the Virginia ham and boutique sausage? Still, you have to saddle up and give it your best shot.

And that's how I feel right now about the fishing at home. We are finally in a stretch of steady warm weather with warm nights. The insects are popping all over the place and the trout are finally looking up. The weeds in the lakes are sprouting. And the fish everywhere are on a gluttonous rampage.

One interesting thing about this late spring is that several of the local steelhead runs just took off in the last week. I checked the Boyne River last week and it was full of fish. The downside is that when the run is this late it tends to be compressed, and the fish get very tight lipped. I fished another local stream on Memorial day, and despite seeing large numbers of fish I only  hooked up on a couple and didn't land any.

So here I stand poised at the brunch of fly fishing, surveying the tables. Over here the bluegills are in pre-spawn mode and ready to eat. The pike are in post-spawn mode and still up shallow while the water is still cold. The largemouth bass are also pre-spawn and ravenous.

But then there's the smallmouth bass fishing. Wilderness should be dynamite right now, but so is Grand Traverse Bay. If I go to Wilderness I can have a wild and lonely experience; if I go to GTB I can have a gourmet lunch.

The Hendrickson hatch is in full swing on the Au Sable; something I think I should try, but the brook trout in my local creeks are calling too. All the little pothole trout lakes still have good hatches with rising fish. It's like having to choose between three kinds of bacon.

And now that the nights have warmed up the mouse bite is going to turn on and will be fantastic until the Hex hatch.

Crap. The Hex hatch. Will I have time? What about all those patterns I promised myself I'd tie? I'd better get busy. And I need to wrap up that annoying side job before the hatch starts. I'm not missing a minute of it.

And what about carp? Oh the carp! They should be moving into shallow water any time. And didn't I promise myself I was going to catch a muskie this year? A walleye on the fly wouldn't be bad either. I can go for both on Crooked River right outside my door, at least until the boat traffic gets too bad. If I drop my bike at Mission road I can do an evening float down and pedal home. Or yo-yo the float since the current is quite negligible.

Every year I say I'm going to hit the sand flats on Burt and Mullet lakes for walleye, steelhead and browns- you know- sight fishing. I need to get on that. Wish I had a skiff. I'll check with my friend Brett and see if he is up for that.

And what about the UP? There's a dozen or more rivers there I promised myself I'd fish this year, and time is slipping away. Then there's the secret spots- rivers and lakes talked about in whispers, things I dare not say aloud in my prayers. Here There Be Tygers.

Should I go for big rock bass on the fly? Should I try to strip streamers for channel cats at Cheboygan River? Is there some way to get a Sturgeon to eat a fly? Cripe- the suckers are running. They can be a lot of fun. Of course there's lake trout and steelhead in the surf in Little Traverse Bay. I commute past it every day but I never stop. I guess I take it for granted.

So I stand here at the start of Fly Brunch, slack-jawed, eager and hungry. Everything is fresh and ready. At the end of summer I hope to stretch back and scratch my belly  and yawn, and try to remember what happened, savor every moment, every fish, every sunset, the laughter of my friends, and those moments spent cradling a fish in the water.

Monday Morning Coffee- May 19

Urrrrgggghhh! Yawn, stretch, scratch, repeat. It's Monday again. It must be time for coffee.

This is going to be a fishing report and forecast, so here goes.

This last weeks saw a return to chilly and unsettled weather, with rain all week and snow on Friday. That's right- snow. Not a lot, and it didn't stick around of course, but enough to be very irritating. Fishing was tough, but if you played your cards right you likely found some Hendricksons and maybe even a rising fish or two. Fish are starting to look up on the Central rivers- the Au Sable, Manistee and Pere Marquette, but not further north where I live.

This coming week looks to be a return to normal temps and steadier weather and should make for some stellar fishing. A lot of the hatches are weeks behind and all it will take is some warm days to start a feeding frenzy. Look for high water from the weeks of continuous rain.

With the late cool spring there are still steelhead throughout Michigan rivers- I see new photos daily in my social media. Some runs further north haven't even begun yet. This means the fishing is wide open. You can fish for steelhead, throw streamers for big browns, fish the Hendrickson hatch also for big browns, or target brook trout. Guys on the lakes are doing well on smallmouth now and this is the hot time for muskie and pike as well. It's a great time of year to be a fly angler in Michigan.

If you're coming up for the Memorial Day weekend definitely bring your rod and schedule some time on a lake or river. With forecast temps in the 70's the fishing should be off the charts.

The mushrooms are popping everywhere now and so that will occupy some of my attention this week as well. Go get you some. 

Well, that's all I have this week and the coffee is done. Have a great week. Let's get after it. 

Schultz Demo Days!

Demo Days are coming to Schultz Outfitters in Ypsilanti Michigan June 7 and 8.

Now there's demo days and there's demo days but Schultz Outfitters seems to have taken it to a new level. Shop owner Mike Schultz is a rock star of the Michigan fly world, and he's bringing in an all star line-up for this event. Not only will he have reps on site with all your favorite gear for you to try, but he also has a full roster of talent giving demonstrations and presentations.

Who? People like Cameron Mortenson of The Fiberglass Manifesto, Mike Schmidt of Angler's Choice Flies, April Vokey of Flygal Ventures, the Fish Whisperer himself Tommy Lynch, and muskie guru Chris Willen.

First the basics-

What: Schultz Outfitters' Demo Days

Where: Riverside Park in Ypsilanti Michigan

When: June 7,8- Saturday from 10-6 and Sunday from 10-5

This will be a very exciting event. According to owner Mike Schultz, “First and foremost, Demo Days is about sharing knowledge and a passion for the fly fishing lifestyle. We’re thrilled to be bring together some of the most innovative individuals and brands in the sport for two days of fun in Ypsilanti.”

Brands represented include Scientific Anglers, RIO and Far Bank, Temple Fork Outfitters, Orvis, Hatch reels and Simms to name a few. There are also more presenters, so be sure and check out the full line up at the Schultz Outfitters website or Facebook page. There will be special deals on gear and even a gear Trade Up program.

If you'll be in Southern Michigan at all that weekend make sure you head over and check it out.

Monday Morning Coffee- May 5

Alex in action on Bigfoot Creek

Arrrrrrggggghhhhnnnnnppphhhhhh!!! Yawn, stretch, scratch, repeat- it’s Monday morning. It must be time for some coffee.

Well, the trout season here has been open for just over a week now. I hit Bigfoot Creek with Alex Cerveniak on opening day. We were just exploring really. We beat our way through a mile of the nastiest swamp and actually missed the creek where it joins the mainstream. We found a log hunting shack deep in the swamp before turning back and finding the creek. We didn’t find any fish, but it is still way too early for rising fish up here, and the cold spring is delaying the rise by a few more weeks.

Luckily we did some thinking outside the river and decided to hit a small local trout lake. We were the only ones fishing the lake despite the fact it was Opening Day. Michigan is dotted by little trout lakes that receive little to no fishing pressure. They mostly get hit by campers, cottagers and old duffers trolling cowbell’s. Most of the trout escape unharmed, and ignored by the Michigan fly fishing community in general.

Still life with oars

This is a shame because they offer some really good fishing. While the stream bite is struggling to get going there is a healthy midge hatch on these lakes that is well observed by the trout. We started catching stockers as soon as we launched (snooze) but the longer we fished the more we observed big whorls in the middle of the lake. I fished one of John Sheets' red quills with a black soft-hackle I tie, on a dropper. It was dynamite.

the hot fly

The key it seemed was to watch for steady activity and row toward it, but drift the final feet to within casting distance. Too much commotion would put the fish down. We missed a few fish at first. We were drifting into what looked like a pod of stockers. I was slowly retrieving my two fly rig when the dry dipped under the water. I respectable fish rolled on the surface then spent more than five minutes towing the boat in circles. It wasn’t huge, about 14 or 15 inches, but it was fat and very strong. My glass rod did a great job of protecting my light tippet.

one strong little fish

We got out again in the middle of the week. I raced to meet Alex after work. I didn’t have any gear with me. I landed a 14 and then a 16 inch trout, both fat and healthy and very strong. It was very exciting fishing, watching for pods of activity, rowing as quietly as possible so as not to put the fish down, then hoping against hope that you guessed the right direction the fish was going. Alex calls it carp fishing for trout.

After my second fish I handed the rod to Alex and got on the oars. It wasn’t his best day. He broke off three fish in a row. The bite was at its peak with fish rolling all around the boat. Some were big, doing these big dolphin rolls- first the snout, then the dorsal fin, then the tail slowly rolling out of the surface before sinking slowly back in.  Then it started to rain.

Alex with my big fish of the week

Mind you I had no rain gear and so I rowed for shore. The sky opened up, pouring several buckets of water on our heads, soaking me to the skin, the cold wind fighting every oar stroke. We reached shore and pulled up the boat. Alex stepped out and reached for his keys. The rain stopped. We waited. Nothing. Then small whorls appeared here and there on the surface, followed by bigger ones. We exchanged one glance and Alex pushed the boat back into the lake.

My coffee is gone and it’s time to go to work. Let’s get after it.

another beautiful lake fish

another reason to fish a lake

soft hackle strikes again

You can book a trip with Alex on his website- Northern Michigan Fly Fishing- http://www.northernmichiganflyfishing.com/