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Manistee River - September 25th, 2007
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED: 
72 °
FISHING: Excellent
SEPTEMBER 25, 2007
FINALLY! It absolutely POURED last night and brother, do we need that rain!
With cooler temperatures in the forecast beginning tomorrow, salmon will be flooding (yes, pun intended) the lower Manistee near Wellston, the Pere Marquette near Baldwin, and our own Boyne River a few miles north of us.
Streamer fishing on the Upper Manistee has been superb. The big browns are in full spawning colors, and this flush of cool water will make fishing even more spectacular than it is now.
If that’s possible!
Same for the Big Water below Mio. Bob Linseman, who owns the Au Sable Angler fly shop in Mio, told me a few minutes ago that water temps are in the low 60s down there.
“This rain will really get those big guys moving!” Bob said. Unfortunately, his stretch of the Au Sable closes on Sunday until the last Saturday in April, 2008!
Which is crazy, since that stretch between Mio and McKinley is designated as special-regulation trophy water. The hitch, though, is that it’s not “fly-only”—which would allow anglers to fish there year-round with release-only during the “closed” season.
Since the Manistee River from M72 to CCC Bridge was designated as fly-only a few years ago, we can still float or wade that stretch until the snow flies and the guides (both me and the rods’) freeze over!
So, if you still have a hankerin’ for some huge brown trout and beautiful brookies, the Au Sable longboat is rigged and ready to float!
Speaking of colder weather, Ghost, Abner, and Heart are currently curled up in their crates—inside the Durango—hoping that we’ll go hunting.
That was the plan until the weather stayed warm—nearly 70f overnight! Just the sort of conditions that could easily kill a dog.
I clearly remember what happened to Don Ingle’s lab, Socrates, several years ago. We weren’t in the field more than 10 minutes when Soc was hit with heat-stroke.
We used Don’s vest to carry that 90-pound dog out of the field, then stopped at Club 37 near Baldwin and I covered Don and Soc in the front seat of my truck with about 30 pounds of tiny ice cubes. It saved the dog’s life!
So, the plan is for us to head out early tomorrow morning for a little more “scouting.”
What a season it’s been so far. We’ve seen—or more appropriately HEARD--25 grouse and 23 woodcock. That averages out to 9 birds an HOUR! And we’ve been limited time-wise because after about the first hour it’s been too warm to risk hurting the dogs.
Heart turned 15 weeks old yesterday, and he’s having a blast romping with Ghost and, particularly, Abner. Heart and Abe race around inside my 750-square-foot enclosure, wrestling and running like crazy.
He’s also getting a feel for the woods because I take him out along the river on a 20-foot lead. He runs, then stops and looks back at me. The other day he learned how to “go swimming” in the river.
What a hoot! He tentatively put his feet in the river, then got braver and started splashing. He was a bit startled when he hit a deeper spot, but that little bugger jumped right back into it.
What a smile!
And you should have seen him light up when I stuck an opening-day grouse under his nose! Then, when the woodcock season opened last Saturday I set a couple of birds in the weeds and let him poke around on the lead.
When he found each woodcock I praised him as if no dog in the history of the world had ever done something that phenomenal. He absolutely went NUTS!
But now he knows what his purpose in life is all about! If he keeps progressing as rapidly as he has so far (we still have to learn whoa, however), he might get to actually hunt the last few days of the season.
Speaking of that, I still have a few days open, so check your schedule and come join the fun!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - August 22nd, 2007
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED: 
80 °
FISHING: Excellent
August 22, 2007
WHEW!!!!!!!!
Manistee River Heart—“Heart” for short—came into our lives August 13 and the world as we knew it has tilted several degrees off its axis!
He’s nine weeks old today, and what a handful! He learned his name and was (mostly) housebroken after just two days. Smart as a whip and wild as a newborn colt.
And the very BEST part is that Ghost hasn’t killed him. Seriously. We really didn’t know how our 10-year-old English setter would react to this upstart puppy. She was scared by a pack of large growly dogs when she was just a pup, and doesn’t interact well with most other dogs. Except males. Or when she’s hunting grouse and woodcock—which come before any irritating canine.
Which is why we decided upon a tiny male English setter pup.
Guess what! Ghost rolled him over and put the “fear of Ghost” into him about the second day here, and presto! He’s TOTALLY in awe of her, and she’s beginning to see the benefit of having a puppy to chase around the acreage.
The only downside is that between guide trips and taking care of the pup (plus making sure Ghost doesn’t feel left out) my time on the computer has suffered and I haven’t updated my fishing report lately.
So, the first thing I’m going to say before I digress again is that fishing on the Manistee and Au Sable Rivers has been excellent. Tricos, hoppers, ants, and beetles are performing their usual late-season magic.
Now, I’ll digress and tell you about my *#th high school reunion, which took place on the 11th, just before we got Heart from Classic Pointe Kennels south of Jackson, MI.
I hadn’t been to one in *# years, but Kate and I had a blast. Close to 100 of my 300+ classmates showed up, and the vast majority of them were old pals. You know how it goes in high school—some are close friends, some are “hey, howya doing?”, some are a nod and a smile, and some you never even put a name with the face.
We had a low-key deal at a private park, and Ghost got to mingle with everybody and be adored and worshiped—she just LOVES people, you see. And they, in turn, adore her.
Anyway, she got rubbed and petted several thousand times, and enjoyed herself as much as I did seeing folks with whom I literally grew up, and played football with, and dated, and…well, ahem!
OK, OK. Here’s the fishing report I promised.
Tricos have been abundant on the Au Sable in the early mornings, with peak spinner falls between 10 and 11 am. We even had a very few Tricos on the Manistee yesterday (August 21) when I was doing a “Rookie School” for Cathy Harder and her 13-year-old son, Max.
And, I’m very grateful to say, Max used one of my Trico spinner patterns to land his first-ever trout on a fly. I sent that fly home with him as a souvenir, along with a petrified shark tooth from Manasota Key down in Florida.
The Tricos are mostly gone now, and the daytime fishing revolves around hoppers, ants and beetles.
Night fishing has been excellent on the White Flies—Ephron lukon—down below Mio, and with mice and sculpin patterns near the log jams and deeper holes.
Steve Slikkers, a surgeon from Traverse City, scored a fat 15-inch brown on the Manistee last week on a “Chernobyl Hopper,” and Rex Farver came up from Fort Wayne to battle gale-force winds and boat a 14-inch brown.
Lots of rises when I was guiding Col. Derek Grossman and Lt. Chris Randall of the Michigan National Guard, as well as when Scott Risner floated the Au Sable with me earlier in the month.
Line management—as is common with first-time “floaters”—was the major issue when it came to actually hooking the dozens of fish we raised. Either too much slack riding the currents, or “ripping their lips off” resulted in many fish NOT coming into the boat.
Steve Slikkers hadn’t wet a line for two full years before his wife, Holly, bought this float trip as a father’s day gift. “I sure needed this day on the water,” Steve said. “My life has been consumed with babies and operations.”
He’s a surgeon at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, and does “hernias and breast cancer, mostly,” he said. “Landing this beautiful brown trout has made my whole day! Heck, my whole YEAR!”
Steve and his father-in-law are going to chase grouse and woodcock with me and Ghost and Abner (Rex’ adopted four-year-old setter) in October, and he and Holly and the kids probably will spend time with me in Florida during their expected stay at A Beach Retreat on Casey Key.
Speaking of Rex, he came up for the weekend the day after I guided Steve, and Rex immediately fell in love with Heart. “I could take this little guy home with me,” he said several times. “HARRUMPH!!!” Said Kate. I just smiled.
“He’s a nice dog,” Rex repeated several times. “He’ll be a good one.” Apparently, Ghost is beginning to think so, too. After that initial “rollover” she’s been exceptionally good (except for a couple of curled lips).
Heart has responded with utmost respect, and when in doubt rolls over on his back in absolute surrender. Ghost, I’m extremely happy to report, has been in return kind, cordial, and engagingly playful.
OK, OK, more fishing stuff:
Let’s see. The Upper Manistee River Association annual meeting is Saturday evening, and we’re hoping to raise a few bucks for river restoration and habitat improvement. I donated a float trip, and—since I’m the auctioneer—I plan to make “somebody” ante up BIG for the day on the water.
Yes, you CAN e-me with a bid for the float trip any time from now until 2pm Saturday! Minimum $200.
I’ve got several more trips in the next week, and Heart is becoming more and more manageable every day, so I promise to get back to more regular postings!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - July 13th, 2007
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED: 
70 °
FISHING: Great
JULY 13, 2007
MICHIGAN
To say that the weather here has been “a bit unsettled’ is to understate the situation greatly!
Wind. Clouds. Rain. Sunshine (while it’s raining!). High of 88 degrees. Highs of 62 degrees. Lows of 40 degrees.
And that’s in less than a week!
The fishing, however, has been pretty wonderful. Sadly, the “catching” part has left a bit to be desired. But, newbies to the sport and newbies to the art of floating these rivers need a bit of “indoctrination time.”
At least Jack Hise and Jim Flamming had perfect weather for their half-day float with me last week. We did the Manistee between M-72 and CCC Bridge, and the guys raised dozens of fish.
A few smallish brooks and browns came to the boat, and some larger brooks and browns were hooked and lost. And a TON of brooks and browns rose to the offerings but were not impaled.
Actually, it was pretty much like their trip with me last summer. Lots of rises, but not many in hand. This year was supposed to be a night-time Hex trip, but Jack’s move from Michigan to Tennessee bollixed up the schedule, so he and Jim decided to wait until the FAOL
Fish-In.
NEXT year, guys!
The following day, my old compatriot, Jack Helder, drove up from Lansing for a short weekend of fishing and high-cholesterol food.
He arrived at 11 in the morning, and after lolling around The Lodge (better known as Blue Lakes Junction) for a few hours, we drove south to fish the Manistee between M-72 and CCC Bridge. It was mid-day. And sunny. And hot. And neither of us was particularly burned up by the idea of catching a mess of fish.
After about an hour of prospecting some of the finest “Big Fish” water in America, I had one fish on and a powerful thirst. I hadn’t been sitting in Jim Powers’ screened-in porch drinking ice-cold beer for 15 minutes when Jim looked over my shoulder and yelled for Jack to join us.
We talked about the river some, and discussed the vagaries of fish. Then I told Jim to follow us back to Deward. “I’m making gumbo,” I told him. “Shrimp, smoked andouille sausage, oysters, and all of the other good stuff that makes gumbo so great.”
“I’ll be right behind you!” he said, grabbing his hat and his truck keys.
Oh, my. Did we ever feast! I must confess to making a rather LARGE gumbo. In fact, Jack took some home to his wife, MJ, and there was plenty left for Kate to have a meal when she got back from her five-day “Girls Gone Wild” vacation with two high school girl-pals. It was their antiquing-flea marketing version of a high school reunion. No, I dare NOT tell you WHICH year high school reunion!
They had a blast, and vowed to get together somewhere every other year. It was great to see Kate relax after everything she’s been through these past four years!
Then the weather turned bad Sunday night and stayed poor Monday and Tuesday. Kate was back editing manuscripts, and I did busy-work on the computer.
By Wednesday, when I met Jared Isaccson and Kevin Riggs for an anticipated full day float on the Manistee, things had mostly calmed down. There were times, though, when wind gusts started blowing the Longboat back upstream.
This was only the fourth time these Duke med-school friends had ever been fly fishing. Gotta blame the guide for not asking about experience levels. We SHOULD have spent the time wading Deward, where I could have taught them the nuances of casting, wading, and fishing a trout stream.
Instead, we spent a lot of time picking flies out of trees, re-tying tippets, and untangling fly lines.
We did not, however, unhook any of the 20-or-so fish that rose to the flies they did put onto the water. Oh, and we turned the trip into a half-day float when it became obvious that at the present rate of travel we’d end up on the water nearly 11 hours.
Fortunately, I was able to get Jim Powers (still stuffed from gumbo) to help me retrieve my truck and trailer to enable the shortened float.
The following day found me on the Au Sable with Richard Owen and his wife, Donna Sue.
Richard’s in the area to do a “Cast & Blast” article for Sporting Clays Magazine, for which he writes the back-page column every issue. It’s a unique aspect. I guided him on the “Cast” portion, and he’s guiding ME on the “Blast” part.
See, despite years of skeet shooting, and guiding grouse and woodcock hunters, I’ve never shot a round of sporting clays. And, since there’s a jim-dandy clays course twenty miles from here—in Lewiston—the logistics worked out beautifully.
Actually, our day started out extremely promising. We had trico spinners on the water and plenty of feeding fish. Donna hooked a smallish brook trout pretty quickly, but then the fish just would not swallow an artificial fly until much later when she boated a beautiful, fat, 8-inch brookie.
Richard, meanwhile, had several hookups out of more than a dozen rises, but couldn’t manage to put one in the boat.
“This fishing is just too technical for us, Donna,” he said as we were unloading the riverboat at the Wakeley Bridge landing. Yeah? Well let’s just see how “technically” I fare on the sporting clays course come Sunday!
I’ll let you know.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - July 3rd, 2007
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED: 
73 °
FISHING: Excellent
July 3, 2007
MICHIGAN
Lots of great news to report!
First, Judge Dennis Murphy ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in the Kolke Creek litigation. That means WE WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Murphy’s ruling blocks Merit Energy from pumping 1.5 million gallons PER DAY of “treated” water from the Manistee River watershed into the Au Sable River watershed.
Instead, the contaminated water (it’s laced with benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) will be treated on site at the Hayes 22 Central Production Facility, or in an infiltration pond on a 40 acre parcel that Merit quietly bought nearby.
Ironically, even while Merit bought that property after claiming it wasn’t feasible, the company spent $400,000 constructing a pipeline that now is useless! Serves the arrogant SOB’s right!
The next important date in this case is July 11. That’s when Murphy will rule on whether or not the plaintiffs can recover all or part of their $262,000 in legal fees from Merit and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (who were co-defendants).
I’ll keep you appraised as developments unfold.
Now, as for the fishing!
Kate and I actually managed to sneak out for a couple hours of fishing yesterday afternoon.
We’ve both been swamped with work, and this was the first time in the two weeks since I got back from Florida that we’ve been able to wet a line.
She immediately missed a fish with a beetle pattern, but “cracked the code” pretty much the same time I did. The fish wanted yellow stoneflies!
She ended up releasing a half-dozen fish and raised more than a dozen others. “Wow, it’s great being back on the water,” she yelled.
I was slowly working my way upstream at the time, and had just released a beautiful 10-inch brook trout that ate a #18 gray caddis.
After several refusals, I tried a gray stonefly and had more refusals. When I went to the yellow stone size 16, BINGO! Four more brookies and three browns. Plus probably a dozen refusals.
I figured that wasn’t a bad tally for less than two hours, and went in search of Kate to make sure she was onto the yellow stones (we failed to bring our hand-held radios, which we normally carry for just such circumstances).
As I was heading downstream on the bank, I met Ted Gibson and his young son, Grant. They asked about the river, hatches, ease of wading, and I finally said, “let’s go find Kate. She’s a good angler, and it’s possible she worked over this stretch pretty hard.”
Kate hadn’t covered very much water, but was ready to head back to Blue Lakes Junction (our house on the river) for some home made chili I’d whipped up on Sunday.
I gave Ted and Grant a brief history of Deward as we walked back to the parking area, then Kate snipped off her yellow stone and said, “if you don’t have any of these, better take this.”
I did likewise, and dug another out of my caddis/stonefly box.
Later last night the phone rang.
“Tony, this is Ted Gibson. My son and I met you earlier? Well, I just wanted to tell you that I caught a fish on my FIRST CAST with that stonefly you gave me. Grant caught several fish, too.
“I can’t thank you enough!”
Well, Ted, plenty of other anglers have done the same for me during the 35 years I’ve been fly fishing. What goes around comes around!
Oh, yes. ANOTHER important item.
DNR field people are seeing a LOT of grouse broods! Looks like this season is going to be really, really good.
I've already started booking trips for October, so if you're interested in some fantastic grouse and woodcock gunning, don't delay getting with me!
FLORIDA
I got an e-mail with a bunch of photos from Kevin Cooke yesterday. He and Stacy were out on Monday and Kevin hooked a tarpon in the 150-class on a fly. Stacy also hooked up using a live crab.
“The darn line was wrapped around the handle of my reel, though, and he broke off almost immediately,” Kevin said.
“Lots of other boats started showing up about that time, so we went inside Lemon Bay and jumped a pod of baby poons. I got one that was about 10 pounds, and had shots at a bunch more.
“Night snook has been terrific, too. Probably the best it’s been all season.”
Kevin’s got a lot of “end-of-the-season” specials going on at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters. Click on the LINKS dropdown at the top of my web site to access the shop’s site and check out the deals.
Till next time…
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - June 30th, 2007
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
76 °
FISHING: Excellent
JUNE 30, 2007
MICHIGAN
Hex Season 2007 is mostly history, folks. There still are bugs to hatch on the upper stretches of the Manistee above CR612, but otherwise it’s finished.
Seems like the hatch came on time, but the bugs simply blew out of their burrows within a matter of days. Usually, we’re still staying out ‘till the wee hours through the July 4 fireworks. Not this year!
The GOOD news is that ‘hoppers, beetles, and ants will serve just fine. Just ask Detroit Free Press outdoors editor Eric Sharp. He had one heckuva floating with me last Thursday.
I think he finished up 14 fish boated out of 42 rises. That, on a day when the ONLY insects we saw were about a dozen Hex just after lunchtime!
Yep. Middle of the day. Of course, it WAS overcast at the time.
Strangely enough, NONE of those bugs were consumed by trout. Birds got every one.
But after raising and hooking quite a few fish on hoppers, we started seeing a few riseforms.
“Gotta be taking nymphs, “ said.
“Yeah,” Eric replied. “Because I sure don’t see anything floating on the surface.”
“Hey, I’ve got a fly that might work,” I said. “Gimme that tippet.”
What I tied on is a pattern I developed several years ago that incorporates three CDC feathers sandwiched between wood duck flank fibers and mottled marabou.
False cast a few times and it floats like a dry. Let it sink into the film and it looks like an emerger. Either way, it’s one DEADLY Hex pattern. Tomorrow I’ll tie a fresh one and post it in the Photo Gallery, along with the recipe in the New Patterns dropdown.
Eric was so impressed with it that he asked if I would e-him the recipe that night so he could tie a few up. Which I did.
And, his request came as no surprise, since he boated an 11-inch brookie, two 10-inch brookies, and a 9-inch brookie. Those might not sound like impressive fish, but brother in these parts an 11-inch brookie is darned respectable!
The next day, I floated Don Switzer down the same stretch of water with mostly the same results—only by half. Don boated seven of 21 rises, and the best was just before making “port”—a fat 10-inch brookie.
It took us FOREVER to release that fish. It twisted and turned and got all catywampus in the net until I finally managed to snip the net fibers and get him free.
I kept telling him, “just settle down—we both want the same thing.” But NO, he had to wiggle and squirm. Oh, well, we got a couple of quick photos for Don, and Mr. Brookie went home to his hidey-hole!
The wind was brutal today after a morning sprinkle. Calm as Midnight Mass at Mt. Carmel right now. Hmmm. Maybe I can coax Kate into going fishing for an hour or two tomorrow. Goodness it’s been FOREVER since either one of US has wet a line!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - June 24th, 2007
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED: 
84 °
FISHING: Excellent
June 24, 2007
MICHIGAN
GEEEZZZZZO! I left Florida with the temps in the 80s, and now I’m in Michigan with the temps in the 80s and forecast to hit 90!
The good-news part of that, however, is that the Hex Hatch on the Manistee River is PHENOMENAL this year. Duns and spentwings are all over the place between M72 and CCC Bridge.
And, ya know what? HUGE browns and very respectable brook trout are rising to the occasion.
MANY fish more than 20 inches long (the best any of my clients ever did was a 30-inch monster a couple seasons ago) are being caught each night. And the strange part is that the hatch/spinner fall is happening between 9:30 and 11pm!
Normally, we’re out until midnight or one-ish-am and I don’t get home until nearly 3am. THIS, I like. If it’s a function of global warming, global cooling, or just plain freak conditions, I’m NOT complaining. Not about this, anyway!
Daytime fishing also is excellent this time of year. Lots of Isonychia, Baetis, caddis, ants, beetles and—TA DAH!!!—grasshoppers have started flitting around.
I took 80-year-old Jim Turner out Friday afternoon for a bit of fishing, a bit of sightseeing, and a bit of reminiscing on the Au Sable.
He hadn’t been fishing at all for two years, and it was maaaaany years since he’d been on the Au Sable.
“I wondered how much it had change over the years,” he said. I guess his son and daughter had heard him ask that rhetorical question, because a couple of months ago they bought a gift certificate for him.
“It’s beautiful,” he said. “More cabins than back then, but it’s a beautiful day and a beautiful river.”
After repeatedly changing patterns, I finally “cracked the code.” The fish wanted Isonychia emergers. Jim thereafter boated a couple of brookies, and a brown, and missed two very respectable rises from obviously large fish. He didn’t much care, though.
“This was wonderful,” he said. “I don’t need to fish the whole time. I like looking at the sights. In fact, I’m reeling up now. So you can just move along.”
Hope to see you again, Jim. Guys like you know how to appreciate a fine day and a fine trout stream!
Speaking of “appreciation,” I stopped on the way home to look at the newborn puppies at Classic Pointe Kennels in Jonesville, MI. I have second pick on the four males, and two of them really looked great.
They were just 6 days old when I stopped in last Wednesday—didn’t even have their eyes open and won’t be ready to leave the litter until August 14.
Two of the males were wiggly and aggressive, even at that tender age. One is orange-ticked, the other is a tricolor with black patches over both eyes, and a white “heart” in the middle of his forehead.
The breeder, John Griffith, tells me the guy with first choice is partial to orange-ticked English setters. If we DO end up with the tricolor, I think we’ll name him Manistee River Heart. “Heart,” for short. Just like my 10-year-old, Manistee River “Ghost.”
Speaking of Ghost, we’re really keeping our fingers crossed that she’ll accept the puppy. I’ve spoiled her rotten during the four years she’s been an “only dog.” My fault. Yep. Guilty as charged.
But, ya know what? I spoil ALL my dogs. I’m a firm believer that animals (people, too!) respond a whole lot better to love than they do to fear!
FLORIDA
When last I wrote, Austin Adduci was getting ready for his first real taste of night snook fishing.
Brother, he didn’t get just a TASTE—he got the whole banquet!
It was one of those nights when the fish ate early, eagerly, and often. You know—one of those times when the guide looks up at the stars and silently says, “Thank YOU.”
Yeah, one of those nights.
It wasn’t a 50-fish night, mind you. But the action was mostly non-stop and the snook were all 20-ish-inches and full of fight. The pattern I named “Petrella’s Glass Minnow” (see the Photo Gallery and New Patterns dropdowns if you want to tie some) was the “fly du jure.”
Four hours after flushing the motor and washing down the Hewes Redfisher 18, I was up-and-at-em for tarpon with Will Hayes, his new son-in-law, Tad Godwin, and his father, Wyn Godwin.
We went looking for tarpon, and found them. But gol-dang-it those buggers would NOT open their mouths and suck down a fly!
Will admittedly is a novice fly-flinger, and didn’t really spend much time actually fishing. He mostly wanted Tad and Wyn to fish. Which they did. Nonstop.
Both are good fly casters, and it just didn’t seem fair that those tarpon wouldn’t eat. In fact, the ONLY thing we caught that day was one snook. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that it was the first snook Wyn had ever caught “so I can scratch that species off my list,” he said.
They saw dozens of tarpon and had equally numerous really good shots. It just wasn’t in the cards.
And, from what “Admiral” Parker told me an hour ago, that trend hasn’t changed.
“We’re seeing some fish, but it’s been hard getting them to eat,” he said. “Either that or some *&@#*%# runs his boat through the pod an puts them down!”
I regret to say that we’ve had more than the usual amount of Idiot Anglers—or should I say “Idiot Boat Drivers” this season. I think I’ll write an article about proper fishing techniques in the Gulf of Mexico—which are radically different from the techniques used for walleye in Minnesota or stripers and blues in New England.
Anyway, the “spawning moon” is this Saturday. That’ll send a lot of tarpon back to wherever they came here from, and Tarpon Mania will wind down until NEXT May.
Hope to see you then, if not during the winter months to chase tailing redfish, snook under the lights, spotted sea trout on the grass flats, pompano and bluefish in the passes, Spanish mackerel, Little Tunny, and King mackerel just off the beach!
In the meantime, c’mon up to Michigan—or go visit Capt. John in West Yellowstone—for some casting lessons, relaxing floats down gorgeous trout streams, and maybe even a few whoppers you can tell even bigger “whoppers” about!
I also still have a few days open in October and early November for grouse and woodcock gunners. We averaged 6.5 points/flushes per hour last season, and I expect it’ll be at least that good this Fall.
See you soon!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - September 21st, 2006
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
60 °
FISHING: Excellent
September 21, 2006
It certainly took long enough, but the brown trout and brookies FINALLY have started keying in on artificial hopper patterns, along with black ants, red ants (regular and winged), and beetles.
Most all of my guide buddies, and other anglers I respect, were scratching their heads in puzzlement the same way I was. Normally, the end of July starts the Hopper Hatch. This year it was the beginning of September.
In any event, the fish are pouncing upon them with great glee these days. My guiding is pretty evenly divided between angling and upland gunning at this time of year, but fellows like John Jepkema—who boated that fat 18-incher—are having a wonderful time flicking flies.
James Scharfenberg, of suburban Chicago, floated the Manistee with me last week and raised a bunch of fish. Some of them had pretty decent size, too. Next time, we’ll work on actually boating them.
Jim Clink and his brother, Jerry, fell madly in love with the upper Manistee a few days ago during their “Let’s Learn Fly Fishing” day on the river with me.
Both of them picked up The Quiet Sport pretty quickly, but Jerry was really enthralled and is firmly hooked. He’s going to spend as much time as possible tossing rubber crickets at bluegill around Bowling Green until the snow blankets all cornfields and turns the ponds into skating rinks.
My old buddy Jack Helder—who’s always looking for an excuse to spend a night or two here at Blue Lakes Junction—brought Chris McCarus up last week for a short float. Chris works with the Public Broadcasting station in Lansing, and somehow Jack got him interested in A) fly fishing and B) Au Sable longboats.
So, we spent three hours on the Holy Water Sept. 11 and Chris got a wonderful introduction to fly fishing. We’ll also work on HIS fish-landing skills next time.
Chris also got an earful about the potentially devastating hydrocarbon pollution that presently threatens the Manistee and Au Sable rivers (see the Articles dropdown on this web site for the story I wrote that appeared in the July 2006 issue of Fly Fisherman magazine). He was so shocked by what he read in my article that he came back up this Tuesday and attended part of Wednesday’s Circuit Court testimony.
Merit Energy is blocked at the moment from piping more than a million gallons of “treated” water PER DAY into Kolke Creek, which feeds into Lynn Lake, which feeds the headwaters of the Au Sable River.
The court proceedings on Tuesday and Wednesday merely scratched the surface of testimony/objections/testimony. More court dates are being discussed by all of the lawyers involved. I’ll keep you posted.
UPLAND GUNNING
Nine grouse and 11 woodcock were pointed by Ghost and Ben (who’s 13 years old now!) in less than two hours on opening day Sept. 15. See the Featured Article on this site to read the piece Eric Sharp wrote for the Detroit Free Press. Ghost pointed one grouse and four woodcock on Sunday morning, and three grouse and one woodcock today. Woodcock season doesn’t open until the 23rd, so they have been getting a friendly wave and salute as they fly off. But Kate and I will be dining tonight on one of the one grouse Ghost pointed this morning.
It was an absolutely spectacular Fall day in Michigan with leaves beginning to change color and a bite in the morning air.
FLORIDA
The red tide outbreak appears to be over. But Kevin Cooke, shop manager at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters, tells me the water is turbid because they’ve been getting about five inches of rainfall every afternoon!
Terra Ciea Bay has been fishing well, however. So has Charlotte Harbor. I’m really glad to hear that, since I already have several trips booked during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Kate and I are leaving Michigan November 19, and plan to arrive in Venice the 21st. Then—TA DAH!!!!!!—I take delivery of a 2007 Hewes Redfisher 18 on the 22nd.
To tell the complete truth, I’m going to miss my Hewes Bayfisher 16. It’s been—and remains—a wonderful boat. Very comfortable in the chop, and easy to pole on the flats. But the folks at Ingman Marine made me The Godfather deal. You know, “the offer you can’t refuse.”
So, I’ll be running a new boat when y’all head South to fish with me this Winter. It’s quite a bit larger than the Bayfisher, with a Yami 115 four-stroke so we’ll be quicker and quieter getting to those tailing redfish in December and January!
If cruising the flats or chasing night snook (look for my article on that in the issue of Fly Fisherman magazine that hits the newsstands December 6) turns you on, get with me ASAP. My days (and nights) are rapidly filling up!
MONTANA
If you’re going, don’t wait too long. There already have been forecast for the northern Rockies that contain the “S”-word! So give Capt. John a call pretty quick.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - August 26th, 2006
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
75 °
FISHING: Excellent
August 26, 2006
MICHIGAN
It’s FINALLY hopper time! At least, as far as the brown trout and brookies are concerned. Up until now, they’ve been ignoring these tasty morsels.
Actually, this has been an unusual summer all around.
First, we had a screwy Hex season in late June when air temps were dropping to 35 degrees at the Magic Hour (dusk) and ruining the spinner falls.
Then July was the hottest on record and water temps zoomed to the high 60s and even the lower 70s, which made fishing difficult if not downright impossible.
And through it all, those grasshoppers were getting fatter and fatter but the trout wouldn’t look at an artificial even during the hot days of early and mid August.
But NOW, the game’s afoot, Watson!
Just ask John Jekema, who drove his camper and hauled his lake boat all the way from Craig, CO, to fish for salmon and trout in his home state of Michigan.
We floated the Manistee below M72 last Thursday, and he had a field day raising and hooking fish on various parachute hopper patterns. Finally, a few bends above Yellowtrees Landing, John pitched his fly into a streamside logjam and was rewarded with an enormous swirl.
Fortunately, the opposite bank was pretty shallow, so I shoved the boat over, set the anchor chain, and hopped out with the landing net. John played the fish perfectly, and in just a couple of minutes I had it in the net.
After a few quick photos, we released that very fat, hook-jawed male back into the water. This brown trout measured 18 inches, but it’s girth and bulk was such that it really should have measured out around 21 inches.
“That’s the biggest brown trout I ever caught,” John said. I gave him the fly he’d used to catch it, and promised to send info on a taxidermist I know who does excellent reproduction mounts from photos. “I’ll be back next year,” John said, “along with my son.”
The previous day, Marta Ogle also had a “homecoming” of sorts. She and her new husband, Don (both were widowed and just got married a year ago), came up to the Manistee where Marta had fished with her Dad many years ago.
She and Don live just north of Cincinnati, and decided to make the trip north at Marta’s insistence that Don “simply had to see how beautiful it is in northern Michigan.” Since they were staying at Whispering Pines on the Manistee at County Road 612, and Don’s not a fly angler, we launched my Au Sable longboat there at the campground and floated to Long’s Canoe Livery.
That stretch of the Manistee isn’t fly-only, but it has some extremely trouty spots. Marta was pretty rusty after a long absence from the fly rod, but she raised quite a few fish and also landed a nice brook and brown on hoppers.
Oh, yes. I’ve gotta report that Jack Hise finally started landing some of the many fish he raised on the second day that we floated. He and Mike Flannagan, you might recall, had consistently lost or missed dozens of fish when we floated the Au Sable below Mio last week during the FAOL Michigan Fish-In.
The next day, on the Manistee below M72, Jack and Jim Flamming continued the “streak” for about two hours. Then they both started bringing browns and brookies to the boat. WHEW! Talk about the guide feeling relieved!
They were so impressed with that stretch of river—which I personally believe is the best “big-fish” water anywhere in the United States—that’s they’ve already booked a night next June during the Hex hatch.
I had been telling them about the incredible opportunities to hook several brown trout upwards of 25 or 26 inches during the Hex, and after seeing the water, they were drooling to try. See ya in June, fellas!
Surprisingly enough—or maybe not, considering the weather
we’ve had this summer—there aren’t any salmon in the lower Manistee River below Tippy Dam, nor are there any in the Pere Marquette River.
We usually have excellent Chinook fishing in the rivers by now. I understand the salmon are on the move in Lake Michigan, however, so it shouldn’t be too long before they start showing up in the rivers.
FLORIDA
Kevin Cooke, shop manager at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters in Nokomis, just north of Venice, tells me the fishing has been very good lately.
There have been red tide episodes around Sanibel, and a mass of sea leeches were killed and washed ashore (ugggh!) at Anna Maria Island, but it’s been very spotty.
Baby tarpon action has been decent at times, and the snook and redfish have been kind to anglers in the early morning hours.
MONTANA
Everything’s at its peak right now. So, if you have a hankering to head West, get with Capt. John and he’ll run you down the Madison River until your arm falls off from casting!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - August 26th, 2006
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
75 °
FISHING: Excellent
August 26, 2006
MICHIGAN
It’s FINALLY hopper time! At least, as far as the brown trout and brookies are concerned. Up until now, they’ve been ignoring these tasty morsels.
Actually, this has been an unusual summer all around.
First, we had a screwy Hex season in late June when air temps were dropping to 35 degrees at the Magic Hour (dusk) and ruining the spinner falls.
Then July was the hottest on record and water temps zoomed to the high 60s and even the lower 70s, which made fishing difficult if not downright impossible.
And through it all, those grasshoppers were getting fatter and fatter but the trout wouldn’t look at an artificial even during the hot days of early and mid August.
But NOW, the game’s afoot, Watson!
Just ask John Jekema, who drove his camper and hauled his lake boat all the way from Craig, CO, to fish for salmon and trout in his home state of Michigan.
We floated the Manistee below M72 last Thursday, and he had a field day raising and hooking fish on various parachute hopper patterns. Finally, a few bends above Yellowtrees Landing, John pitched his fly into a streamside logjam and was rewarded with an enormous swirl.
Fortunately, the opposite bank was pretty shallow, so I shoved the boat over, set the anchor chain, and hopped out with the landing net. John played the fish perfectly, and in just a couple of minutes I had it in the net.
After a few quick photos, we released that very fat, hook-jawed male back into the water. This brown trout measured 18 inches, but it’s girth and bulk was such that it really should have measured out around 21 inches.
“That’s the biggest brown trout I ever caught,” John said. I gave him the fly he’d used to catch it, and promised to send info on a taxidermist I know who does excellent reproduction mounts from photos. “I’ll be back next year,” John said, “along with my son.”
The previous day, Marta Ogle also had a “homecoming” of sorts. She and her new husband, Don (both were widowed and just got married a year ago), came up to the Manistee where Marta had fished with her Dad many years ago.
She and Don live just north of Cincinnati, and decided to make the trip north at Marta’s insistence that Don “simply had to see how beautiful it is in northern Michigan.” Since they were staying at Whispering Pines on the Manistee at County Road 612, and Don’s not a fly angler, we launched my Au Sable longboat there at the campground and floated to Long’s Canoe Livery.
That stretch of the Manistee isn’t fly-only, but it has some extremely trouty spots. Marta was pretty rusty after a long absence from the fly rod, but she raised quite a few fish and also landed a nice brook and brown on hoppers.
Oh, yes. I’ve gotta report that Jack Hise finally started landing some of the many fish he raised on the second day that we floated. He and Mike Flannagan, you might recall, had consistently lost or missed dozens of fish when we floated the Au Sable below Mio last week during the FAOL Michigan Fish-In.
The next day, on the Manistee below M72, Jack and Jim Flamming continued the “streak” for about two hours. Then they both started bringing browns and brookies to the boat. WHEW! Talk about the guide feeling relieved!
They were so impressed with that stretch of river—which I personally believe is the best “big-fish” water anywhere in the United States—that’s they’ve already booked a night next June during the Hex hatch.
I had been telling them about the incredible opportunities to hook several brown trout upwards of 25 or 26 inches during the Hex, and after seeing the water, they were drooling to try. See ya in June, fellas!
Surprisingly enough—or maybe not, considering the weather
we’ve had this summer—there aren’t any salmon in the lower Manistee River below Tippy Dam, nor are there any in the Pere Marquette River.
We usually have excellent Chinook fishing in the rivers by now. I understand the salmon are on the move in Lake Michigan, however, so it shouldn’t be too long before they start showing up in the rivers.
FLORIDA
Kevin Cooke, shop manager at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters in Nokomis, just north of Venice, tells me the fishing has been very good lately.
There have been red tide episodes around Sanibel, and a mass of sea leeches were killed and washed ashore (ugggh!) at Anna Maria Island, but it’s been very spotty.
Baby tarpon action has been decent at times, and the snook and redfish have been kind to anglers in the early morning hours.
MONTANA
Everything’s at its peak right now. So, if you have a hankering to head West, get with Capt. John and he’ll run you down the Madison River until your arm falls off from casting!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
photos
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Manistee River - August 17th, 2006
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
80 °
FISHING: Good
August 17, 2006
OVERVIEW
It’s been exactly a month since my mom’s heart attack, and it still seems mighty strange to think I’ll never talk with her again! But, in a way, it already seems like a very long time since I was down in Ohio making all of the arrangements and getting her apartment cleaned out.
I suppose that’s because I’ve been staying so busy guiding and running Ghost every day since I’ve been back. Which is a good thing!
Ghost found a new “Honeyhole” for woodcock on yesterday’s scouting mission. Five points in less than 30 minutes. And it’s a brand new spot that we’ve never hunted. To make it even better, the covert is pretty close to my house!
She’s running hard and minding my commands really well. As Kate just mentioned, “let’s hope it stays that way once she starts getting feathers in her mouth.”
Speaking of which, our second shoot-to-retrieve hunt test is going to take place Saturday morning at Montney Farm, 6380 Cornwell Ave., just a few miles from Jay’s Sporting Goods in Clare. She’ll taste some feathers then, for sure.
Rex Farver sent me a beautiful Browning Citori 28ga two weeks ago. It’s about 15 years old, and never has been fired! I had hoped to try it out on skeet last Sunday, but the Grayling Gun Club was hosting a Registered Trap Shoot, so both skeet ranges were closed!
The Citori has fixed chokes that at modified and improved cylinder. I normally shoot skeet and cylinder in my Beretta for grouse and woodcock because the cover is so thick up here, so I wanted to see how these tubes work for me. To be on the safe side, I’ll shoot the Beretta Saturday. Ghost would never forgive me if I missed.
MICHIGAN
Fishing has been average to pretty good. MC (Mary Claire) Garges popped a 4X tippet on one Manistee River brownie that was in the 20-inch class last week. Middle of the day, using a greenish Manistee Special (no, you cannot have the pattern—this one really IS Special!) in a spot that rarely gets fished.
Rex pointed out this dandy little hide when we fished together one day last summer, and I can see why a couple of hogs live there—99 percent of the anglers would simply float by because it looks inaccessible. But there is a way in, Watson! And the rewards definitely justify the means.
Anyway, MC dropped the fly in there after I’d done some careful maneuvering, and she was immediately rewarded with a huge swirl. She set the hook, but held on a bit too tight and that bruiser parted the fluorocarbon like it was a spider web.
She and dad, Jim, had a great day and raised plenty of fish. Same for John Shiller and son Kurt. We floated the Manistee from CR612 down to Long’s Canoe Livery and had a strange day.
John’s got a cabin on Manistee Lake, about six miles west of the river, so he wants to learn the upper Manistee. It was raining on and off, with the threat of thunderstorms, but Kurt was flying home to Dallas the next day, so we didn’t have a choice on postponing the trip.
That stretch of river has sanded in quite a lot. In fact, we all had to get out and walk the longboat over the sand in several spots. Fortunately, we all were wearing waders as protection from the rain. But there still are plenty of places that hold nice trout—as Kurt found out.
This was the first time they’d fished from an Au Sable longboat, though, and line-management was an issue that Kurt couldn’t quite master. So, the many rises went unfulfilled, so to speak.
Yesterday, I took Jack Hise, of Evert, MI, and Mike Flannagan, of Canton, OH, down below Mio on the Au Sable. We were hoping to hit E. leukon, but the temperature started dropping in the evening and I only saw one white dun on the water.
Jack hooked several fish using a size 16 yellow stonefly that I tie, but the hook kept pulling loose and we never did bring any to the boat. Maybe today. I’m taking Jack out again. This time with Carla Anderson, and we’re heading to the Manistee.
And, yes, we WILL be pitching The Manistee Special. And NO, I still won’t reveal the pattern. You’d never believe me, anyway!
FLORIDA
Kevin Cooke tells me the fishing has been very good in recent weeks despite splotchy patches of red tide popping up here and there.
The area around Sanibel got hit hardest by the red tide, but seems to have mostly recovered. Upper Charlotte Harbor is fishing very well. Same for Terra Ciea Bay up around Anna Maria Island and Bradenton. Lots of fish of every description are being boated.
The really good news is that Sarasota Bay has come back after being hammered by last year’s 11-month siege from red tide.
MONTANA
Capt. John reports the Madison is fishing very well. “No really big fish,” he said, “but lots of fish about 14 inches. We get a 20-incher now and then.”
Just remember to take some warm clothing, and plan on doing the “Montana Strip.” Night have been down to 25 degrees!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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