I t’s turned into a much tougher trout season on the Pere Marquette River this summer with numerous heavy rainstorms hitting the area each week. The river has been high and dirty. When the water comes up the trout get an easy meal ticket. So the fish have been eating well the last couple of months. For two weeks we were fishing streamers, when we should have been hitting fish on top with dry flies. The water however was just too high and dirty. It has finally started to come down and warm up, making fishing much better.
This is my favorite time to pursue trout with a dry fly. Not just any dry fly. Its terrestrial time, time to smack big foam flies on the banks, logs, and in the bubble lines. Throw a little twitch in the fly to make it come alive! With that, you have just turned into a dog days of summer fly angler on the Pere Marquette River. As the weather heats up along with the water, look for this style of fishing to get good. Keep an assortment of hoppers in different colors along with some damsels flies and a few ants in your box and don’t be afraid to run some heavier tippet, you can bring some real trophies up this time of year. It would be a shame to lose one, with light line. Jump it up to 3 or 4x when throwing those big flies.
With the Hex’s now over, it doesn’t mean it’s time to put the headlamps away. Nighttime fishing can still produce those bigger fish. This time of year skating giant deer hair flies that look like mice or a small bass popper or gurgler that imitates a frog desperately trying to get back to the bank can be very affective. These methods can get some monster Trout’s attention, along with yours when they hit it in the dark. Remember though you will need to keep the lights off, for this can spook the fish and make them weary of your presence. I prefer a red light when fishing this way.
Good luck and for a more up-to-date report check out outfittersnorth.com.
Jeff Hubbard