By: Russ Maddin
(231) 633-6464
For dry fly anglers, June is the holy month. With drakes and the mighty hex, the largest of all mayflies, on the menu at certain stretches of the river, it’s time for the six and seven weight rods and the 3x to 0x to tippet nothing less: It’s irresponsible fishing practice. These bugs are big in size, #10 to #4 in many cases. Thin tippets will only spin up your leaders since these hatches occur at night. There is no light to navigate the fish away from the real estate; you’ll be glad you had a rope on.
Many rivers from the Pere Marquette to the Jordan and all points in between, will be inundated this month with these potent hatches. Hatches that bring grandpa’s fish out of the logjam (yes, the one he’s had wars with over the years). A walk back to camp with a few beers, a bent hook, mosquito bites and waders full of water. At low light, these bugs hatch, so be careful and know your put-ins and takeouts. Use basic wading sense and carry and extra light. It pays to tell someone where you may be fishing or at least what river you’re concentrating your search efforts on in the case you’re not back the next day.
Look for carp and bass on the flats of Lake Michigan’s endless miles of shoreline from east to west or grand traverse bays north to the wilderness state park. This fishing is a lot of fun and still enables one to fish the fish the potent evening hatches. A couple of clousers and a few buggers are all you need to hook the carp and bass. Lots of stuff going on this month, so get out and enjoy.
Russ Maddin