1:03 PM
Matthew Supinski's Gray Drake/Selectivity/Nexus Blog
( we are seeing some of the largest' toad/hog ' browns in years on the Mighty Mo this spring!- the fat football 14-15 inch rainbows are stuffed and just starting to show up!)
P.S. the correct re-cap of the whole blog title in hindsight should read:
'We had an epic sub zero winter, an epic November snowfall- a very cold spring'- thus nature has adjusted and we are now seeing the results- WE CAN NO LONGER CONTROL THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS, MUCH TO OUR DISMAY!
Last night it really, really,.. finally sunk in. It was freezing out- frost warnings and temperatures down to the low 30's F.Cool and cold sunny crisp days are perfection for trout chasers/mayflies and all that smells a northwoods Pure Michigan spring. Water levels are on the slightly high to perfect side- you could not pray for better conditions if you were a trout bum/late steelhead chaser.
The other night was a much needed guide night out evening to catch the gray drake, sulphur and caddis hatch out with Jon , a great guide that works with us, that finally gave me the epiphany I must constantly be reminded of. It comes as an affirmation, a closure, a humbling witness of awe and the realization how small we are in comparison to the magnificence of God's universal creation of the natural world that forever baffles us in its whimsical, unpredictable ways.
Our lives are now in total control by ' the norm- the immediate gratification by technology, "trending now" and handheld electronic devices that robs and sucks the last ounce and breath of individual free spirit every human at birth was given( I must admit I have also been possessed by the electronic demon and must force myself to shut it off and put it away ). It is the ultimate "YIN/YANG" curse,... black/white, good/evil, intelligence/creativity or human stupidity and arrogance all boiled down into several bars of connecting to Verizon/AT&T with the touch of the fingertips and an endless, mindless, spiritless bliss that eventually as Stephen Hawking said, " will control us without morality, without thought intervention- thus we will become helpless sheep to Siri and the other voices of drones ready to creep slowly into our lives. ". ( Ayn Rand- Atlas Shrugged ) ....omg!...how my crazy writer's mind connects all of this baffles my poor wife..:)
Our new age thought process has gone mute- we now google and wikipedia everything in a frantic frenzy - especially the weather , which we now own and can predict constantly. When confronted with a possible thought provoking opportunity- a panacea millisecond of touching a glass screen erases all possibility of thought, thus destroying more rotting brain cells helplessly begging for exercise . If it doesn't fit a formula, and app .. or a calendar, that dictates the following utterances .. " what they are supposed to do and when'...."I heard someone say!"..."SO AND SO SAID".."A book I read , said" (sometimes sheets of printed paper can be dead knowledge; but 'tis better to read than obey a glass screen- and other utterances like ..."last year we had"...."this is when it normally should happen"...."I already planned my next year based on last year's previous last year'....blah, blah!...on and on....as we become creatures of addiction to the new droid wave of mindless homo sapiens, walking zombies with hand held devices.
But, ..much to many's chagrin, global climate change ( or is it just new weather patterns , or centuries old ones revisited?- no one knows for sure. Fact is that it is molding and shaping our natural world at such an exciting rate ( notice the word exciting, not 'alarming'), that we can only admire it in awe, appreciation and the fact that mother earth, nature and the laws of the natural world does what it does, whenever it wants.... human intervention being a" mere piss in the ocean", and she can give a flying crap what our cell phones, aps and artificial electronic intelligence, scientific propaganda ( most if not all scientific studies have a political angle or funding for a sole purpose and political platform) tells us to do as mindless sheep looking for 'an answer', closure..... perhaps there is none !.
I speak this way because I witnessed 'propaganda' - in its purest sense in Poland as a little boy under Communist dictatorship. There was one way to think:Lenin/Stalin style. Karl Marx actually was kinda hip and would abandon those goons also their current maniacal leader- Putin. Just like Hitler's Germany, any dissension, contrary belief - bingo!, you were ashes coming up a chimney - very sad.
Enough of the heavy- sorry!.
Now, back to our evening in a warm late May's gentle rain. As we slowly drifted down the river after a brief thunderstorm( no cell phones), we witnessed more steelhead coming up river and dropping back then we have seen all spring!- we both stubbornly/begrudgingly mumbled, knowing that a guide's life and bookings basks on traditional cycles of the "run"- we looked in awe as there were chrome hens flashing everywhere. ...reality check!- it was May 24th, and the amazing resilient Muskegon always shines in late May- but not this shining!
Cinnamon caddis where everywhere, gray drake spinners everywhere, micro caddis, a few American March Browns- on and on.
But what was amazingly impressive was the thick Ephemerella Invaria sulphur hatch- it was one of the best we have ever seen!. In a 6 mile float downriver we saw one boat. Is our river/rivers of the magnificent western Michigan sandy spring and tailwater river /small stream ecosystem underutilized at its prime?....at its perfection?- I believe so! Than at times, it is louder and worse than the Indy 500 "DURING WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE"- prime gravel time!
The biodiversity of food sources for the trout, steelhead, salmon parr was a plethora and embarrassment of riches that evening. Of all the tailwaters I have fished- most scoured by TVA hydro peaking, some blown by snow melt in the rockies, drinking water reservoirs that are either run dry or flooded, of which some ( thank God the Delaware does not!) slash their currents away at the benthic community of invertebrates, especially mayflies, stoneflies etc. But often they leave good detritus for tricos , plankton from reservoirs for caddis- and midges always prevail!. The Muskegon is actually 'too rich' of an ecosystem- not to mention crayfish and crustacean .
So right now here is the smorgasbord on the Muskegon like can never be imagined : the caviar ova protein buzz: 'ass candy' as Montana guides call it- steelhead and sucker eggs: sulphur, Quill Gordon, American March Brown, gray drake nymphs and spinners, BWO's, caddis galore: both macro and micro caddis, midges, salmon and steelhead fry/parr, scuds, crayfish, baitfish over reservoir- zillions of 5 inch stocked trout that make a week's meal for a large brown and baitfish that pour out of the reservoir on a spill - I think that is plenty enough food for a trout on a head turns notice- way too fertile of a watershed! Selectivity is at work here at its finest!
When I did my interview for the Internet podcast two weeks ago:
http://www.askaboutflyfishing.com/
and they asked me what I was doing in Michigan, I couldn't stop talking about all the endless trout species, Pacific and Atlantic salmon and steelhead opportunities we have and we constantly take for granted over the years- it's seriously mind boggling in scope!
STEELHEAD
Yes, there are fresh steelhead coming and exiting as dropbacks on the Muskegon system and all northern western Michigan river systems. When you hook them , they 'explode airborne ', due to the perfect mid 50F water temps- amazing aerial battles not found in the bitter cold water temps of March/April. They are also feeding heavily and targeting all the same food sources/baitfish trout are. If you love to nymph, swing and yes 'DRY FLY' them- now is the time you can! I anticipate them to continue until at least the third week in June like last year.
HATCHES
( what the gray drake/sulphur/caddis 'super hatch 'blizzard looks like every night in the cold sunsets)
We are just at the start of the sulphers, caddis, gray drakes, bwo's, cahill stenos...Isonychia yet to come in mid June. By my nymphal samples, we could have an epic gray drake /isonychia hatch well into early July. Due to the amount of food sources , some epic hatches can go unnoticed by some fish on some sections of river - also sporadic feeding due to the fish's bloated stomachs from all the food sources in the river. Be patient and scout out your trophy slowly and wait for a steady feeding rhythm- even it is as long as 4- 5 minute intervals.
BAIT FISH/MEAT SLINGING
Salmon and freshly hatched steelhead fry and parr are everywhere! For streamer meat pullers, bigger the better with Tommy's Drunk/Disorderly..Double D'S..Root Beers' by Justin and Ice man parr doing the trick. Be warned the fish are fat and S/R satiated...lots of long slow follows- repeat and rest !
SCHOOLS/CLINICS
SPECIAL NOT:We are featuring our Gray Drake Selectivity Master Clinics the first two weekends in June- see our web site. We have reduced the price as a package incentive to include a free night's lodging- price for whole weekend; meals, two guide trips, two nights lodging a great deal at $ 475.00 from Friday night until Sunday!
That is the skinny on what is happening!- hope to see you!
www,graydrake.com
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