For those of you that want to understand the new hatch regime for trout, I came up with this handy chart UPDATED THRU 2013 for the new local fly shop...enjoy!
MUSKEGON RIVER HATCH CYCLE-2013
BY MATT
SUPINSKI-GRAY DRAKE/TROUT AND EAGLE LODGE
www.graydrake.com
231-652-2868
jgmiller@ Siphlonurus-Gray Drake
The Muskegon
is a very intricate and complex/ fertile eutrophic aquatic insect system. It’s
predominant gravel/rock/vegetation is ideal for 90% of the bug life except for
the burrowing mayflies which are on the rise. It’s trout can be very selective/reflective
since the number of hatches and at times densities can be very prolific and
year round. Having guided for 20 years on these waters , the hatches are changing
and getting more diverse yearly with the changes from the zebra mussels, cool
water bubbler and a gradual increase in vegetation which favors clinging
mayflies. The zebra mussels are on the decline in a significant way and the
water has the traditional peat/tea stain of Michigan rivers emanating from pine
and cedar bogs. The water is quite unusual from other freestone rivers in that
it is somewhat more on the alkaline side which favors massive mayfly, stonefly
and caddis growth- also midges, scuds and sow bugs. Caddis thrive in great
numbers from the plankton loads of the reservoirs and are the staple food
source which give the river’s browns and rainbows amazing growth rates in
addition to massive bait fish, steelhead, sucker and salmon fry and eggs. I
personally am a hatch matching dry fly trout fanatic!, and love the river’s
very technical presentations and long ,fine leaders.
JPIERSON@
JAN/FEB/MARCH/APRIL
MIDGES/SCUDS
No matter how cold
the winter gets, Simulium and chironomid midges hatch as black body midges with
grizzly hackle dries stir up winter
trout to surface feed near the springs by Pine St. and high overlook- trout are
heavily focused on them. The larvas are brass, black and red in color and
average between a size 20 and 24. A Black buzzer midge-black body/ silver
tinsel, or a brassie with a hares ear thorax and Pearl flash wing case are
deadly when nymphed with a scud or tiny green caddis larva. Scuds are pale gray
and green and average around a size 18-make sure you have a bronze shell back
blood vein on your imitations. The scuds scurry around on warm afternoons along
with the midges and dry fly imitations must be fished with 7x tippet .
EARLY BLACK STONEFLIES
Allocapnia and Taeniopteryx
little black stones will start migrating in the biological drift towards the
shorelines by middle February. These little wiggling black stones are very
obvious to steelhead fishermen on warm
sunny days-besides being targeted by the steelhead. They crawl upon the banks,
mate and come back as ova positing females on warm sunny afternoons in March
and April- in colder springs they'll extend to the early part of May. A CDC dun
winged adult with black body and palmered
grizzly hackle for
the head, and Oliver Edwards style Black stones are the ticket for success.
Black
stones…Supinski@
May/June
trio…supinski@
MAY/JUNE
This is the prime mayfly
emergence timeframe with good caddis where the trout, after having been gorged
on salmonid fry and eggs -- in addition to sucker spawn, are now ready to feed
heavily on the surface. Water temperatures in the 50s and 60s are ideal for
most of the mayflies. There are no Hendrickson mayflies on the Muskegon
tailwater but exist on the Bigalow, Tamarack and Little Muskegon.
EARLY QUILLS
The Leptophlebia cupida- black quills, and Epeorus pleuralis- Quill
Gordon, are grayish black body segmented size 10-12 mayflies and appear around
May 10th and last for two weeks maximum. They are not a big Hatch by
no means and tend to be found from Carmichael flats down to below Henning park
-look for them on the warmer afternoons into early evening as they spin and get
above the water- trout will target them !
SULPHERS
The Muskegon’s sulpher
Hatch can be pretty significant and starts around the third week in May and
continues through June. Ephemerella Invaria -a size 16 yellow-green body and
light dun wings are usually favored by the trout as emergers, with the rusty
spinner happening at dark or early mornings on very hot days. The smaller Ephemerella
dorotheas-size 18/20, are not a very big Hatch on this River and usually emerge
the first and second week in June.
STENONEMA
This mayfly family
has a huge presence on the Muskegon. Stenonema Ithaca/ canadense- the Light
Cahill, hatches in June and it will continue well into September. They are a
size 14 all-white mayfly and they are easily picked off by the trout and
swallows as well. The Stenonema vicarium and fuscum, the American March Brown
and Grey Fox, looks like a giant sulfur with mottled wings and hatches about the same time with this sulphers being
a true size 12. Cottonwood flats and downstream sees the most significant
numbers.
DRAKES/HEX
Without doubt the
Siphlonurus gray drakes can have massive spinner flights at dark and sometimes
during cloudy cold days and are a true size 10 or 12. They crawl upon the banks
and shoreline vegetation to emerge in the brackish water and the spinner
flights occur over the riffles prior to dusk. Colder rain filled spring weather
tend to have the best hatches. They start normally around the third week in May
and have been known to go all the way into the third week of July on the cooler
summers. The larger trout will target the double and triple mating
patterns-tied on a small streamer hook. The Ephemera simulans- the Brown Drake,
is gaining in numbers by the years, but is not a consistent Hatch and not
enough density.
The Hexaginia Hatch
was almost nonexistent when I first started guiding on the River. It is now
starting to make a stronghold along the tall silted banks in the upper and
lower River and also by the dam where the spinners come out of Croton pond.
Croton and Hardy reservoirs and Bigalow creek have massive hex hatches as does
the lower river.
Sulpher and shuck..supinski@
Hydropsyche pupae..jgmiller@
Tiny green caddis larvae jgmiller@
MSUPINSI@
jgmiller@
ISONYCHIA
The lead-winged coachman- bicolor and sadleri are
the new super Hatch and start around the first week in June and emerge
sporadically until September- the late fall Hatch is becoming stronger each
year. These meaty bodies wiggle and swim through the water like fast-moving
minnows- a down across swinging approach is highly targeted by the trout with these
large mayflies which emerge with the gray drakes. The large spinner flights
will usually be very high up in the air above the gray drakes. On the Muskegon
they hatch from the water and do not crawl up on the land
BLUE WINGED OLIVES
The spring sees the
Drunella and Baetis olives- #14-18, and the numbers of flies varies from year
to year. The larger Drunella starts about the middle of May, and the Baetis
will be more prominent in June. When they are on the water they are targeted
due to the slow emergence speed.
CADDIS
Hydropsyche bifida-
the cinnamon caddis-size 16, start around the second week in May and will have
significant afternoons spinner egg laying flights. The tiny brachycentridae black
caddis can be very heavy and make it impossible for you to breathe from the
mid-May through June at dusk. These tiny size 20 black caddis will lay tiny
little green eggs on your waders and oars of your drift boat and the trout
stomachs will be packed with them.
CRANE FLIES/MIDGES
Though midges Hatch
year round, the yellow Crane flies-size 16, Hatch along with the sulfurs and
are often confused as such. The midges still Hatch every day but the trout
target the larger mayflies.
PTERONARCYS STONES
The giant black stoneflies can be seen sporadically hatching
on June evenings but are not a major Hatch. Fishing large stoneflies after dark
is effective on all Michigan rivers since it is a meaty piece of food like the Hellgrammites.
GOLDEN STONES
This Isoperla hatch
has really been gaining momentum over the years and significant numbers are
occurring from mid-June through the summer months- they are late night and
early morning mating and emerging stones. They are true size 14 and they are
best imitated with amber yellow stonefly nymph patterns
JULY/AUGUST /SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
TRICORYTHODES
The trico hatch
really exploded last summer on early mornings from the dam down to Henning park
and the trout targeted them in a big way since the night time release of the
bottom draw bubbler had the most significant impact at first light. They are true
size #24 – fish double patterns for the lazy and well fed Muskegon trout.
BLUE WINGED OLIVES
Summer and well into
November sees the massive hatches of Pseudocleon tiny bwo’s- size 24-26.They
are evening emergers and spinners and stack up by the thousands in the
backwater reverse current Eddys of the deep silted pools along the River. Trout
will sit there and sip them all evening. 7X Tippet is important- the spinners
are a dark rusty color and the trout get very educated to them- especially in
August and September.
STENONEMAS
As mentioned the light Cahill's will emerge throughout the
summer and as the trout feed to the tiny blue-winged-olives in the lower river
and the caddis upper, when the Cahill's emerge, they switch over to them
immediately.
CADDIS
The Muskegon is known
for its world renowned caddis hatches that peak from mid July through early October.-
particularly in the upper two miles below the dam where the highest plankton
load is. July sees the tiny green caddis-Cheumatopsyche speciosa-size 18-20,
and August through October sees the 50/50 mix of the cinnamon Hydropsyche and
tiny greens- each night they show a significant preference for one or the
other. You start off by using 6X Tippet but by later in the summer you'll be
down to 7X to be successful. Egg laying adults also climb to the bottom to lay
eggs and the pupae will be on the water at the same time -- a quad wing
spinners occur at dusk and are heavily fed on.
Early mornings from
Thornapple down sees the giant zebra caddis, Macrostemum zebratum, emerging throughout July. October
also sees the Giant Autumn sedge-Limnephilidae, the explosive rises you
occasionally see are not salmon porpoising in the pools but big trout hammering
the sedges.The October hatches of Hydropsyche can be significant and trout will
move from feeding behind salmon for their eggs to taking caddis in the afternoons
and evenings-always bring a five weight when salmon fishing. Late evenings in
September and October sees the ultra
fast flying and mating white miller caddis –nectopsyche albida-longhorn
sedge, show up just at dark and the larger trout will switch from the cinnamon
and green caddis to focus on these little meaty size 14 diving caddis which can
bring up some the biggest trout in the River.
FLYING BROWN ANTS
By the middle of
August through mid-September, the massive mating flights of the Brown flying ants
occur in the hot afternoons- size 16 through 22. The Trout will go berserk for
them and will favor the ants over the caddis. But the caddis always prevails in
the end at dark.
MISC. INSECTS
Callibaetis occurs
where there is slow flat pools and backwater sloughs along the river but aren’t
significant The white Ephoron hatch occurs on Hardy and Croton ponds by the
millions but not on the main Muskegon trout water-the lower river has some
significant Ephorons but it is well out of the trout water.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
visserg@
BLUE WINGS AND MIDGES
Some of the most
significant tiny #24 bwo’s emerge in the late afternoons till the first snow
flies and the black Simulium #22 midges start around mid December- the trout
will target both rigorously.
NOTE: ALL SPRING AND SUMMER WE ARE
OFFERING A SPECIAL ‘HATCH MATCHERS ‘ LATE AFTERNOON TO DUSK SPECIAL IF YOU WANT
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FINICKY TROUT OF THE MUSKEGON…….
SEE OUR WEB SITE….www.graydrake.com
(brown on Octobert caddis)
See you on the water!...I will be posting
on my blog/Facebook/Twitter
11:25 AM
gray drake lodge
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