I t’s Hopper Time! The Pere Marquette is lush with giant green ferns and grasses this time of year. This makes a perfect recipe for terrestrial fishing. Grasshoppers become abundant as the temperatures warm and one small breeze can sweep them into the stream and get brown trout looking up for a mid-afternoon snack. Hopper fishing is a great way to experience the Pere Marquette on a beautiful summer day. I like to pick a nice long stretch. I let the drift boat take us down slowly, and we hit the banks and twitch those rubber leg patterns, with hopes of a giant slurp from a wild Pere Marquette brown trout. Early mornings can fish well too, with thousands of trico’s hatching at first light. These small may flies will entice trout to eat anything that is presented in their feeding lane. We know how hard a trico can be to see and tie on. If you see a fish rise on them try a cricket pattern, little easier to see and fish and in the early morning hours not only for you but the trout too.
Towards the end of August if the conditions are right with a little rain and wind. The kings of the river will start their annual run upstream from Lake Michigan to spawn. If your timing is right these are the best kings, they hit hard and fight extremely hard. I tell clients that they are still in Big Lake mode. Try stripping big streamers on a sink -tip or even pitching big lures for one of the hardest hits you will ever encounter in our rivers. These methods work extremely well in low light conditions, early morning, and evening. Unfortunately sometimes when we start seeing salmon in the river this time of year it only means one thing, and that’s summer is coming to an end and fall is right around the corner. So make sure you get outside and enjoy everything this great state has to offer. For a more up-to-date fishing reports check out our website at outfittersnorth.com.