July 1st 2022
Wow when did Michigan become so hot... With this huge heat wave and little to no rain the fishing has become tough but not impossible. We have been really watching the water temps for the last 3 weeks with a close eye due to water temps being around 68-70 degrees or higher everyday in most rivers on the west side of the state. Remember if water temps are hotter than 68 leave the trout alone and go chase bass, the trout aren't going anywhere trust me. Now if you are able to find cool enough water up north you better have your big bugs tied on and be ready to stay up past your bed time because its HEX time!!!!
The huge night time bugs are hot and heavy all across Michigan, so go find some cool water and get on them before they are gone. Rivers up north have still got some good bugs, while downstate things are getting a little long in the tooth.
Some of our favorite flies for the hex hatch are Ed Mccoy's All day Hex and the Boondoggle hex. Iso fishing has also been good. Ed's all day iso, and a dust bunny are a great combination as you wait for the bigger bugs.
Now for all my bass lovers out there, wow what a great June it has been for bass, from streamers to poppers the bass have been really happy with this change of warm weather. I have been getting clients on tons of small mouth with a mix of bigger ones to the net. A lot of our bass have came from early morning poppers till about 11am when they seem to shut off the top water and want something closer to the bottom be it a crawfish or some minnow pattern. When that sun gets high they have been getting deep and under or around cover in the shade, so with that I have had to get my clients to slow down and get the fly right in their face but it has seemed that once that fly is anywhere near their face they are all over it. So if you are headed out this weekend to chase bass, make sure you have a wide range of poppers in different sizes and colors along with having some bottom bouncing crawfish patterns in that 2-4 inch size range.
From everyone at the shop we hope you have a fun and safe 4th of July!
Like always good luck and be safe out there!
-Christian Gradowski