No Bugs?, Siphlonurus sunken Impressions- lethal wet swinging when no spinners fall

(my Gray Drake Super Submersible- lethal swinging when nothing is happening!- great for all banded-bodied/segmented mayflies/drakes)

How many nights or mornings ( drakes BTW spinner fall at both times) have you driven to the stream or walked down from your cabin/lodge saying... " tonight/this morning will be the one!- the hatch /spinner fall will happen and I will get my 20 inch brown for sure!..And?, the weather turned crap; too much wind, too hot or too cold, started to rain etc. With climate change's ups-and-downs  it's always something and nothing happened, or worst yet bugs came out but didn't fall- sucks right?- here is the solution.

Once the gray/green/brown drakes start to hatch and emerge will easily last for a few weeks (siphlonurus drakes on my Muskegon and Pere Marquette, East and West Coast  waters along with other Baltic/Scandinavian country hatches) and up to 4-6 weeks on cool damp springs. the selective trout get quite imprinted to barred and banded mayfly adults, spinners and the nymphs. Unlike other drakes that emerge from the surface, Gray Drakes swim to shore during dusk and thru the night to hatch on damp wooded debris and grass along the shorelines, only to come back to the rivers surface at dusk and dawn to spin/mate and lay eggs. That is when the football splash-like surface explosions occur. Drakes couple in the air and drop quickly to the surface and often leave airborne several times, thus they can be tough to grab for a trout until fully spent which sums up their robust rises.

( Early morning fat truttasaurus spinner sipper while others were still sleeping from going to bed late and fish-less, chasing the midnight spinner fall that often yields tough returns)

But many nights there are tons of "bug karma/sex synergy" of mating swarms in the air but no coupling occurs due to cold air coming in quickly, too hot and sunny etc.- its a real tough one to hit it just right! Hunting this hatch for 30 years I've come to at least 80% accuracy in my predicting this "prime-time" to be on the water, but that 20% inaccuracy is getting bigger, again with the uncertain weather patterns and water conditions of climate change that even has the bugs confused as much as us.

When the hatches are thick for weeks like on the Muskegon. the surface will be carpeted in drakes like sawdust clumps and often make imitations useless. The bigger selective trout imprint to this food form and also target the shorelines where they emerge. Also due to the density of this hatch, many spinners sink and get water logged. They become very appealing due to their sheer numbers.

When nothing is happening on the surface, my "Super Submersible" pattern will bring rod-jolting strikes in the middle of the day since it imitates the migrating nymph and sunk spinner, plus soft- hackle swingers will love to swing these.

 I use a long Thomas & Thomas 12ft /3 in./3 weight-Contact model, which lets you feel the fly and swing in an unparalleled manner through technology that didn't exist years ago, coupled with my Abel. 

Good luck! 
Matt Supinski

FLY RECIPE
Hook: Daiichi 1260
Thread: Uni-Black-3/0
Tail and Body: Nice thick Hareline Gadwell Duck feather nicely barred, planted with tail and center of feather situated flat on hook as you Palmer the black thread around the feather in a uniformed banded distance covering length and circumference around hook
Thorax: Hareline UV Peacock Ice Dub
Wing: Pearl Krystal Flash
Hackle: Hungarian Partridge
Bead: Black Tungsten 

Get more in-depth with this subject and more in my books!

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , Matt Supinski Brown Trout-Atlantic Salmon Nexus book , may fly hatches , mayflies of Michigan , muskegon river fly fishing , Selectivity book , siphlonurus gray drakes

The Early Black Stonefly Hatch-more tricky than you would think!

Early spring is all about loving those warm afternoons on a trout stream and looking for surface rising activity. As steelhead and rainbows are pounding gravel and procreating,  the greatest of all finicky predators: Salmo trutta/ browns, are on a new mission after the fall and winter spawn to eat every black stone they can! On our Michigan rivers winter can be brutal on the trout. The early black stone flies are literally the true"manna from heaven", as the ova-positing females fall from the sky to the water like fluttering black ashes. As the sun warms the afternoon- the greedy browns lie in wait!

 One would think that the trout are easy game at this early in the dry fly game-WRONG!,One would think that.since they haven't been rising all winter except for the random black midge or two, they would be easy targets. But this is one of the most difficult hatches to figure out. I learned a new respect and perspective yesterday while self-quarantining in my backyard- the Muskegon River!

                      (I spent nearly an hour and half stalking this elusive beast yesterday- it succumbed to my CDC black stone)

HATCH BIO

Early Black stones ( Allocapnia/Taeniopteryx ) are extremely prevalent in most trout streams around the world. They are extremely abundant in Michigan's trout streams which are subterranean ground flows that run more on the Alkaline side and have a good mix of gravel, rock, sand/silt and vegetation, with lots of wooded debris for these detritus eating mandibular shredders. February thru May: depending on where you are and water temperatures, will see their peak emergence. The manner on which this hatch behaves which is dictated by weather conditions and temperatures , make it extremely difficult to predict and time. But when you do?, its dry fly Nirvana! 

( CDC wings best imitate the fluttering wings on the surface)

 EMERGENCE

The nymphs start to stir when water temps hit 36F,  and start their classic " wiggling" downstream with the bio drift on warm sunny afternoons. They will float helplessly for miles in the frigid waters and are total targets for the trout, where they become gluttons and eat them until their bellies are distended .          ( here are three Muskegon "fat belly bulging,footballs", that were chomping on the surface)                                                 

The best way to start fishing the hatch if you are a dirty nympher, is Euro or strike indy fishing with long drifts and occasional "twitching" of your offerings. Where you can use two flies, having your flies separated (one on the bottom, one higher up in mid-strata) so you are covering all depths

                                       ( A JSON Sweden and my wiggle nymph do the trick, also black tape Edward's stone- box above)

The nymphs eventually wiggle to the shore and crawl up on the banks and go into the woods or emerge from water - 50/50 hatch where some like water or shore. You will often see "the walk of the Penguins" as black stone nymphs walk on snow like they are headed with some destiny-odd! Their mating takes place all  over and their coupling always baffles me ( very secretive) and how they get it done is a miracle by itself ( often I see them in the town I live in on a warm sunny afternoon at the  gas station, miles away from the river on windy days)

When we actually observe " the hatch", it is the afternoon flight of airborne ova- positing mating females coming back to lay eggs, along with those ones that are actually emerging from the water simultaneously . Their "ash-like" falls are very dainty, and come from the sky like light gray snowflakes. They float for great distances due to icy water temps if hatched from water, or egg laying. Herein lies the hatch complexity!

THE HATCH SKINNY-DRY FLY MENISCUS NOTES FOR THIS TRICKY ORDEAL

  ( The key to look for surface feeding big browns is identifying the early spring habitat that holds these fish- here it is!)

What I learned yesterday on my Facebook post was very affirming on all the observations I have made over the three decades I've chased this hatch. As a dry fly fanatic, here are my notes and observations so you will be better prepared

* Feeding habitat- Due to the usually very cold spring water temps( yesterday water was 37F, and not the classic "45-55" ideal surface feeding range) trout don't have the metabolic luxury to hold in midstream in faster flows. Through the winter they find log jams close to shore-where the stone nymphs crawl up on and in deep /slow pools as food banks.The image I posted is where to find these fish and the risers. It is in the back eddies/slack water where the fallen female stones accumulate in the counterclockwise back flows, and it is here where you will find the ultra selective/reflective browns at a "picky" grazing table. Her they can cruise these back eddies in metabolic comfort, usually sunning themselves ( yes sun!, for brown trout that abhor sun, now it means water warmth an mobility. (Preston Marson on my Facebook said " could use a little cloud cover-wrong Preston!, you want the sun!) Also since browns are very skittish critters, the log jam provides a security blanket if shocked by an avian predator or shocked by you hooking it! The bubble line brings the steady flow and bio drift. 

*Weather is the most important factor- Wind is the enemy here. On warm spring afternoons winds are bound to kick up and female stones that hate wind as much as Trump with this comb-over and hairspray :)- blows them away from their landing strips-the river!
Time your river adventures on the warmest and wind-free parts of the afternoon.If you have wind, find places on the river where there is a bluff and trees like I did yesterday- the stones were dropping like dark ash on my spot so thick, while around one windy bend downstream it was virtually empty of bugs. Also depending on wind, usually one side of the river will have the bio drift of female stones, and the other side of flow void of them.Also the early blacks are often confused for dark caddis and big bwo's.

*Feeding Intervals/ Masking Hatch/Presentation

So yesterday, I posted that I scouted that nice brown for over an hour before I finally caught it- correct!, here is why. The surface feeding to these ova-positers is in long slow flat/slack water. There were hundreds of bugs on the water and yet  no rising going on- I WAS BAFFLED!. I knew the water had to hold browns but yet nothing ( common early black stone scenario) Here is what was going on:

# First and foremost, a brown trout/is not a cuddly "warm up to anything" type creature. It moves slowly, pragmatically and deliberate until all systems are "GO" ( Read about all that in my Selectivity and Nexus Books) Also since they are slowly trying to awaken their metabolism in the frigid waters, sometimes they are not warmed up  yet ( like if your honey is warmed up yet  in foreplay! :)) and ready to start feeding on the surface. Plus the water surface is still strange and foreign territory to them after all winter  dredging bottom ( the water I caught my fish was at least 5 feet deep) That surface orientation will only get stronger as the season and hatches progress. than the chosen modem/(predator foraging profile-PFP) for browns will be the surface. ( again, all this is in Selectivity and Nexus)
# A massive factor was river traffic- the Muskegon yesterday was a ZOO with jet boast, drift boats, Moon rovers, jet ski's - freak show!- I was waiting for Elvis to appear! Everyone was driving 100 miles an hour looking for steelhead as I stalked the back eddies like an old gray bearded heron in search of rising trout. Every boat put some  "footprint wake/noise vibration" that every brown trout from youth to adult can detect , especially in the flat still waters where they hunt these prey. Once the boat traffic and noise subsided( around 5 PM) and the winds died down to almost nothing-BINGO!, there came the first two risers in a spot I've been starring at forever, and I was ready to pack it up and ready to call it failure! ( couple noise/vibration and sun!- not good combos, but the sun helped get the metabolism going!)
# A smaller 10 inch brown started feeding first. I had to make at least two dozen presentations over it before it took- THANK GOD!, I wasn't skunked. Then Mrs. Big made her presence The first few rises were barley dimples, like a chub, then I saw a big tail and back and that quickly got my attention. It was taking wiggling stone nymphs under the surface, and simultaneously taking adults on top The rises came  in very long intervals- 5-8 minutes, if not longer,It was the slow metabolism and water temp that was causing the fish to move, digest and rise slowly. Also their was a tiny black "masking hatch ' of midges going on, and I saw that fish rise several times to a spec on the surface( midge). I made at least 30 plus casts and drifts to that fish, until BAHM!, she took it and ripped me into my Abel reel drag and backing. I lifted anchor and drifted with the fish or I would have broken it off- she dove right into the current fast.  After she jumped totally airborne upon hooking, the net came out and she was one of the finest Selectivity games I ever played- and loved it!
# Presentation-Even though they will be taking a good number of in the "upper"  meniscus nymphs wiggling below , stay with your big fluffy CDC dry- they will eventually succumb to its meaty nature! I tried a dry /dropper, but I was confusing this selective bastard  and just causing drag by the two fly rig.
Use 18 foot leaders with 5-7 feet of 4x tippet( no lighter!), since you have a crack at a 20 incher on this hatch. Throw big "puddle casts" high and letting them fall in a pile to let the backwater tricky counter clockwise currents unravel your leader ( I learned this from Marinaro on the Letort back in my youth) Let your drift/ floats go for long distances, stack mending as the fish will do complex and complex rises due to having plenty of time and no current for the most part.

Here is to a 20 inch brown on the dry this spring!

                                                           ( 20' on a dry CDC black stone)

END

Stay safe and healthy, read more in these times where we have more of it than ever., also pray for everyone! I'll try to update these informative posts and start podcasting and videos more often as I venture to self-quarantine on the river!

Meantime, my books #Selectivity and #Nexus are waiting for you!- they have this content and so many more juicy stories. If they have been sitting on your shelves, dust them off and dig in- it will be worth it- confidently ! Cheers!, Na Zdrowie! 

MS

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Posted in: Brown Trout-Atlantic Salmon Nexus , early black stones , gray drake lodge , Matthew Supinski new books , Michigan brown trout , muskegon river fly fishing , Selectivity book

Black Stone game on!!!

It's early black stonefly time! (Tainy's and Allocaps) Bio-drift has started on warm sunny afternoons and the exotic predators are chowing down!!. The double red banded buck steelhead are chomping nymphs along with resident browns and bows ( bellies are loaded!)....

Hareline Dubbin Marcos Vergara has all the best materials you need, including JSON SWEDEN realistic materials. If you want a double whammy slam-dunk presentation ( give the water temps a few degrees warm-up to swing with confidence later), nymph a stonefly and a micro egg ( eggs are steelhead kryptoite anytime of year),

so...especially after brutal arctic weather like we just had up until last night and everyone needs a cabin fever hook-up!...or the streamer bite is on for buck steels and resident Truttasaurus brownies ( one buck steel pictured here slammed a #14 stone nymph on 5x and a 5 weight while indicator trout nymphing)...dont forget to jazz-up your stones and make them wiggle and dance! #selectivity #earlyblackstonefly #orvis #abelreels #harelinedubbin #graydrakelodge #browntroutatlanticsalmonnexus #stealthcraftboats

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Posted in: black stones , gray drake lodge , Great Lakes steelhead , michigan fly fishing , muskegon river fly fishing

It's starting!

Despite the up-and-down weather , it's looking real good. The weak fall run due to Arctic weather is going to really pay-off this spring with larger well-fed steelhead starting to mount the spring run. Valentines day is the "flip the switch" time.
We still have a few slots available for our Muskegon three month long steelhead run (March-April-May) . Our river has the longest run of spring steelhead due to a perfect combination of reservoir/groundwater influences which gives us steelhead all the way to Memorial Day ( it was one of the truly remarkable things I had to fathom when I started here. Other states /lakes like Erie/Ontario etc. get a very short window)

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , Great Lakes steelhead , michigan steelhead , muskegon river fly fishing , Muskegon River steelhead , steelhead dreams

BEEN A GREAT FALL OF STEELHEADING SO FAR-ONE MASSIVE BEAST!!- JUST STARTING

                                           ( Master steelheader Chris Desmond from Chicago, with one of two absolute beasts of mint chrome fall steelhead I've seen in 24 years of guiding ( hitting upper teens/20 lbs/38-39 inches, massive girth)
It has been an excellent and early start to our fall steelheading winter Michigan strain steelhead runs of the Muskegon 2019/2020. With the best  high water levels I've seen in decades, and a massive size (20-30 lbers) of spawning wild Chinook salmon fish unleashing a barrage of eggs into the river system, streelhead have been responding to the pheremonal lure of all the egg caviar and are on the poaching hunt for eggs. They are also slamming a well presented intruder on the two handed swing.

The steelhead run starts to peak in November and December on the Muskegon, with a hopeful bunch of large lake-run browns also to follow. That is when swinging flies really gets into its prime element....see you this fall and winter!

    ( Roy from CT yesterday 10/21 with one of the most beautiful female fall steelhead I've seen!, look at those gorgeous colors!)

NOTE: check out my client from last December as the true cover girl on this issue of Fly Fisherman Magazine, with her Muskegon steelhead, the very adorable and talented photographer: Jesssica DeLorenzo from PA, with a beast of a Muskegon December steelhead, also my very concise article on getting to know winter steelhead, called "Icy Steel"

( coming next: Lake-Run Browns and fall Great Lakes Atlantic Salmon!)

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Posted in: Brown trout-Atlantic Nexus book , gray darke lodge , hatch , matching the egg , michigan steelhead , muskegon river fly fishing , Muskegon River steelhead , spey fishing , steelhead dreams , swinging flies

Gray Drake Hatch Private Trophy Brown Trout Classes with Matt

SPRING IS HERE! WANT A TROPHY LEVIATHAN 20 PLUS BROWN ON THE DRY FLY? I WILL BE DOING MY PERSONALIZED GRAY DRAKE HATCH MATCHING CLASSES AGAIN THIS YEAR FOR INDIVIDUALS AND SMALL GROUPS. IN-DEPTH HATCH MATCHING TACTICS/FLIES ETC. AND STALKING GIANT TROPHY GULPING BROWNS. WITH OUR NEW TYPE III TROPHY BROWN REGS STARTING APRIL 1, THE MUSKEGON'S BROWNS ARE JUST GOING TO GET BIGGER AND MORE OF THEM! I TARGET THE MORNING AND EVENING SPINNER FALLS, AND FISH SUNKEN PATTERNS AND WIGGLE NYMPHS BY DAY- UNEXPLORED TERRITORY FOR BIG MAYFLY HATCHES.

( For the complete manifesto on everything and anything for passionate brown trout trutta chasers, check out my new Nexus book- it will rethink your passionate relationship with the most loved of all "civilization's founding trout"-check out the you tube trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl9NOLjHSuQ&t=30s

I AM DOING INDIVIDUALS, DUOS, SMALL GROUPS, YOUNG ANGLERS/PARENTS JUST STARTING AND TEACHING THEM THE INTRICATE DETAILS OF THE EVENING AND MORNING GRAY DRAKE HATCH PROGRESSION. WITH NEXUS BOOK INSPIRED FLY PATTERNS AND NEW INSIGHTS HOW BIG TROPHY BROWNS FEED TO THIS HATCH AND TO SULPHERS, ISONYCHIAS, CADDIS ETC. MY PASSION FOR MAYFLIES AND BROWN TROUT IS WHAT STARTED THE GRAY DRAKE !

CALL OR EMAIL ME AT THE LODGE FOR MORE INFO AND DATES FROM MAY THRU JUNE

www,graydrake.com

matt@graydrake.com

msupin2583@aol.com

231-250-2846

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Posted in: Brown Trout-Atlantic Salmon Nexus , gray drake lodge , mayflies of Michigan , Michigan brown trout , muskegon river fly fishing , siphlonorus gray drakes

Temps going to 60F this week!- Alleluia!-done with the winter from hell!

After dealing with below zero F temps/ice and snow storms/blizzards and wind gusts up to 60 mph for the past week, it finally changes this week as temps are approaching 60F -AMEN!
Time to get out and enjoy spring steelheading( 80% of the 18/19 run is yet to come), and big browns!
 NOTE: Our great brown trout fishery finally gets the trophy regulations it deserves. Starting April 1 we go to a Type III designation of 15 inches for brown trout from Croton Dam to Lake Michigan. With 100,000 Wild Rose/Gilchrist/Sturgeon River strain browns stocked in the Muskegon 2018 at 6-7 inches/and fingerling, the trophy brown trout fishery will become epic!. 
Also still have a few openings left for this spring's steelheading, but they are going fast!

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , Great Lakes steelhead , Michigan brown trout , michigan steelhead , muskegon browns , muskegon river fly fishing , Muskegon River steelhead