Big Trout

How, where, and when to find these monster Trout!

Fishing for Toads

 

Fly fishing for Big Trout, Pigs, Lunkers or as I call it “Hunting Hogs”  is a rewarding pursuit. Michigan’s Manistee, Pere Marquette, and AuSable Rivers nurture, hold and occasionally give up trout that are between twenty and thirty inches long and weighing between 3 and 8 pounds. I’m talking about resident brown trout not lake runs in water sometimes as small as the flies-only water of the Manistee River. Fly fishing for mature Manistee River Trout is my passion, below I’ll share some of our techniques with you.

To consistently catch the biggest trout in any given stretch of the Manistee River (or any of the other quality trout streams) fly fishing, an angler must do/have the following going for him or her

Quality fish are all over the major well known trout streams in Northern Lower Michigan. I’m not going to tell you where I catch the most large fish but I will give you a few pointers on what to look for. Trout need cover to both survive predators and make it through the winter. Large populations of big fish also require a stable food supply of larger food items like big mayflies, crayfish, forage, bait, and bottom fish like sculpins. Large doses of protein rich eggs from salmon and steelhead will also create heavy fish.

Big fish that I catch fly fishing on the Manistee River are usually caught at prime times during the day and during the year. Big Brown trout require the dedicated fly fisherman to be on the water when the trout want to eat. For the most part brown trout fly fishing on the Manistee is a low light pursuit. While I’ve caught alpha fish in the sunlight of midday, the vast majority have come at low or no light times of the day. Look for cloudy, rainy days or hatches and spinner falls during low light hours. That is when big pigs are on the hunt for prey.

BIG TROUT CAUGHT ON MICHIGAN RIVERS

There is some truth to the old line-big fish-big flies Just a couple of days ago Mike Connors of Traverse City caught and Landed a 19.5 inch brown trout with me fly fishing the Manistee River above CCC Bridge. Mike got the bruiser on a size 14 Mahogany pattern. That isn’t typical, more commonly big fish are caught on brown drakes, hexes and streamers, big meals, big fish. I’m a firm believer in fishing anytime the demands in the rest of you life allow you the time but if your goal is to take pictures of hogs you need to be on the water when big chow is available to increase your odds.

It goes without saying that it takes a proper presentation to fool an older fish. Dry fly drifts that are dragging won’t do it. Streamers fished parallel to the current won’t entice many hits. Drag free drifts on the proper sized leader/ tippet combos are necessary as are across the stream streamer presentations with retrieves that elicit vicious takes. Vary your retrieve from long, slow pulls to jerk/strip to short, aggressive twitches. If you are with another angler do what they are doing if they are hitting fish or something different if they aren’t.

When the plan all comes together and the trophy is on the line, I hope you are prepared for the fight and the net. Most anglers that have the desire to hunt hogs already know how to fight big fish, just treat it like a steelhead hook-up. Steer the fish with a low rod, keeping it away from structure and current that will increase the odds of a break off. Most of the time you are using leaders and tippet heavy enough to reduce your concern about breaking the line. I use 18 pound test fluorocarbon for a three foot streamer leader. Brown Drakes and hexes require 2 to 4x tippet. More than strong enough to land these monsters.

Finally and most importantly, bring a net that’s big enough to get the job done. For more reading about how to catch Big Trout consider reading Bernie Taylor's Big Trout.

Good luck,

Hawk

P. S. 2006 is shaping up to be one the best trout seasons I’ve ever seen. On the Manistee, Pere Marquette, and AuSable River the fly fishing for trout has been fantastic. The recent mild winters have reduced winter kill and allowed trout to eat all of the off season. This translates to more, longer, and heavier fish. We are finding 20 plus inch fish in places that haven’t produced toads in the past. That leads me and my guides to believe that there are more large fish and that they are being pushed out of the prime lies that they historically occupy. Give me a call if you want to see some of Michigan's best trout fishing. 231-228-7135,email or web.