The Gray Drake mayfly hatch is here!...come experience this amazing big brownie dry fly nirvana -Also my favorite recipe!

 25 years ago we named our lodge and outfitters "Gray Drake Lodge" for a reason. The Muskegon River has one of the most dense and long lasting gray drake mayfly hatches on the planet! Only the Pere Marquette and other nearby rivers sourcing   from the same marl bog watershed have these hatches in such density. Baltic countries also have them. When we opened up our cedar lodge during the hatch in early June, the next morning the entire lodge turned gray from all the adult mayflies molting on the cedar panels and tree trunks from the previous night's hatch.

( insect images by bug master JG Miller)

( Morning and early evening spinner flights were gray blizzards last year)

( Freshly hatched gray drakes molt on the lodge and trees nearby. The Muskegon browns that take drakes can be ultra selective and have stunning colors brought on my heavy protein overloads from salmon/steelhead and sucker eggs and scuds in winter )

This spring 2020 (June when we open back up) we will be offering single/double  and small group Gray Drake Clinics. 
Our focus will be on dry fly and swinging emerging wet fly guide trips that incorporate school-like clinics on how to better understand the dynamics of this "mystery hatch", which the famous Dick Pobst once described it in an article in Fly Fisherman in the 90's. Many anglers are confused about the drakes and are usually baffled by their behavior, how the trout take them, what presentations are best and when to strike the hatch right! We will attempt to teach the the selectivity approach to mastering these hatches and a 20 inch brown on the dry fly reality!

These  larger mayflies bring up the big browns that are often elusive all year other than on the streamer. But the intricacies of the hatch and how selective browns feed on them is a cloaked mystery to many anglers.We have been studying these hatch details for two decades and would love to share them with you!

Last year (2019) we saw one of the heaviest gray drake hatches we have seen in over 15 years- it was a solid morning to dusk  spinner flight event that coated the water thick as sawdust with spinners. 2019 had a long cool and moist spring/early summer which favors the gray drake hatch cycle.

(A few fat butters from gray drake season )

The hatch cycle of Siphlonurus has been a mystery since you will never see an adult dun on the water. Thanks to the bug doctor:Johnny Miller of Catskill fame, who worked at the Gray Drake Lodge for many years, he uncovered the mystery. Honing the darkness middle of the night hours and shorelines/ swamps of the Muskegon's banks, he found the nymphs to swim like minnows and crawl up on shore in the middle of the night and hatch and fly off in the brush ( midnight till just before dawn). Johnny, as in the style of Caucci and Richards, photographed them hatching in his aquarium tanks- here are his images 

( nymph here crawling up on wet stick)

Besides the other local hallowed Pere Marquette river that has dense hatches, the Muskegon hatch is a 4 week long magnificent display of nature like no other! The Siphlonurus mayfly ( rapidus, alternatus, Quebencences ) is a true #10 sized mayfly that is perhaps one of the most elegant mayflies and has blizzard flights in both the A.M. and P.M.- most only think of dusk!

FLY PATTERNS

I have taken my gray drake patterns developed over the last two decades to new heights recently in my #browntroutatlanticsalmonnexus and #selectivity book fly patterns. Using new materials I've incorporated realism and imitative search patterns that target predator forager feeding profiles during the hatch period.  The larger selective brown's feeding can take on unique on preferences and key in intricate spinner patterns , sunken spinners and wet swinging articulated swimming  patterns. As the hatch thickens their selectivity rises and can take on "hair pulling" frustration. Our clinic trips will teach the intricacies of these patterns and how to present them.

MY FROSTY HEMINGWAY DRAKE RECIPE  (From my Nexus Book)

The realism and effectiveness of this pattern is truly remarkable! I have been perfecting gray drake patterns for over 25 years and this is beyond the best!

Thread: Light Grey

Hook: Daiichi Short Shank Dry wide-gape 1110

Tail/Body: Frosty Flies Realistic extended body Mayfly foam-Gray Drake -size Medium

https://frostyfly.com/

Thorax: Hareline Ice Dub UV Peacock

Wings: Organza Dun with Light Dun Hackle

(Here is Rich Felber's magnificent 28 inch beast of a brown taken 2019 on my Gang Bang double. Rich has been an awesome gray drake chaser for years

and is one of the fishy-ist dudes I know!- that was the biggest brown taken on the gray drake spinner fall last year!)

(Drake magic time)

A BROWN TROUT FISHERY HAS BEEN UNLEASHED

( Going a full year now with the TYPE III regs and safe to say, is working very well and the larger browns are now becoming a strong year-class)

With the new trophy 15 inch brown regulations now in place for two years and the amount of 13-17 inch browns and 20" er's we have taken on nymphs and streamers this past winter and during the early black stonefly hatch on dries, the trophy brown fishery is ready to explode on the Muskegon! 

My Final Thoughts 

This 2020 spring, as we struggle to get back and re-open our services and everyone's lives to some semblance of normal with all the Covid pain and anxiety everyone has suffered, there is hopefully exciting things to come! For those that have been blessed with survival and my condolences to those that have lost loved ones ( I lost a cousin I played with in Poland as a boy, a strong, healthy, rugby playing Doctor to this terrible thing last week I am sad to say) I pray good things will be brewing despite our hardships.It has taught me, and hopefully all of us to appreciate the things in life we have taken for granted: family, loved ones and the simple things like having another day on this amazing planet to see and witness the wild natural beauty that has been created for us. It has been a very cold spring which is ideal for the gray drake hatches to endure for great lengths of time.and intensity. Last year's hatch was the strongest we have ever witnessed in my 25 years on the Muskegon. It became a day-long event from morning until dusk, which I have never seen and lasted a good solid 4 weeks. The gray drake hatch will be the telltale sign of great things to come when every brown in the river will be poking their heads up to eat drakes on the surface.

Please still stay safe, strong and positive!...this thing is not over yet and lets not be foolish and careless in our actions!

Cheers!,

Matthew Supinski

 Call or email us for more info!

COME JOIN US!

www,graydrake.com

msupin2583@aol.com

231-250-2846

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Posted in: Brown trout-Atlantic , dry fly , gray drake lodge , may fly hatches , michigan fly fishing , muskegon fly fishing , Muskegon hatches , Nexus book , siphlonurus gray drakes

Caddis and Isonychia hatches have been great!- the whole river is fishing very well/excellent conditions

With higher than normal flows (3,000cfs)-actually perfect flows and water releases for this time of year!... and cool water temps, the Muskegon has been fishing AWESOME!...caddis all day have the trout looking up, and Isonychias, Stenos and still have gray drakes at dusk, the browns and rainbows are fatter and healthy than I've seen in 20 years...

We have availability this week and next week, so come on out and enjoy it!...
For up to the minute posts from the river, view us on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter for "real time" river reports:
Facebook :Gray Drake/Trout Eagle page Matthew Supinski page/Selectivity TSS page
Instagram : Gray Drake Lodge page
Twitter @MattSupinski

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Posted in: Brown Trout-Atlantic Salmon Nexus , Eagle Lake Rainbows , gray drake lodge , isonychia , muskegon fly fishing , muskegon browns , Muskegon hatches , super caddis hatches

Still a few Drakes ...now big fat trout, bigger mayflies and perfect water conditions!

The gray drake hatch was the most massive and insane mayfly hatch we have witnessed in 25 years! ...its now just about done!...thank God! Never thought I would be wishing a mayfly hatch to go away!- when they were that thick it was tough to even fish for dinks!

Many 20 inch trout were caught during the insane 4 weeks of dense spinner falls that went on all day! The result is all the browns and rainbows are so fat, that 10 inch stockers will send you into their backng, since they are 10 inches long and 10 inches wide! The browns have been heavily fed and are buldging with very fat bellies.

Now, the Isonychias are on the water and creating more reasonable hatch matching equal ground since their numbers are sporadic but the trout seekng them....or throw big meaty streamers since the big browns will be seeking to fill a void in their stomachs!

Swing big Iso nymphs and soft hackles. Caddis , some olives, cahills are all in the mix. 

Our rivers have never looked this good in decades with plenty of water and cool temperatures. We have openings this weekend so get out and enjoy the Muskegon like we have never seen in late June...cool summer predicted to come also!

Rich Felber's massive brown on the gray drake spinner (largest ever caught on a dry on the MO) was just a sign of great things to come for the Muskegon with the new trophy brown type III Regulations and massive brown trout fingerling stockings

Give us a call and come out to enjoy a nice cool traditional Michigan summer!

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , isonychia , Matt Supinski Brown trout-Atlantic Nexus book , mayflies of Michigan , michigan fly fishing , muskegon browns , muskegon fly fishing , Muskegon hatches

Finally!!... cooler weather and the Tailwater trout have survived and are fat and healthy!

After chasing wild #groundzero Browns on local ice cold Michigan spring creeks last week during the heat waves with my clients and avoiding the bigger rivers and tailwaters , the cooler nights and rainfall has lowered the temps of tailwaters to cooler levels that you could get out at 5:30 am and fish at the crack of dawn for a half day and quit by 10 before waters warm up. I was amazed to see how fat and healthy our Eagle Lake California rainbows Michigan has adopted as their own have held up so far thru the worst heat wave and drought Michigan has seen. Thank you Charlie Atkinson for staying on top of Consumers Power and exposing their shifty doings on WOOD TV as far as their flow regime inconsistency and temperature / oxygen bubbler maintenance.

Please carry a very functioning digital thermometer and take temps at all sides of the tailwaters. Yesterday I found a significant cooler water difference between which side of the river I was on , and dissolved oxygen levels just by moving 20 feet- and different from USGS Gages that are set up in the wrong place- a series of new temperature monitoring is coming at the end of July by trout unlimited to our tailwaters - bravo!!!.

Now that Consumers are experimenting with the mixing bottom and top spill blubber flows, I think they are finding their groove and what is working- the trout seem to love it!. I pumped a throat and the rainbows were filled with caddis and midge larvae and were fat and happy . If you fish , do it very early and fight fish fast and keep them in the water, or holding up near it for 2 seconds, and only using Ketchum release to slide down to your barbless hook for fast release .
Tricos, midges, ants, soft hackles and caddis are getting ready to start- the rocks are covered with caddis larvae, and the best trout fishing on the MO is August and September to come!!!!

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Posted in: brown trout , Eagle Lake Rainbows , gray drake lodge , michigan fly fishing , muskegon browns , Muskegon hatches , muskegon river fly fishing

Hatches Busting Loose !!!!

(Stunning brown on the drake spinner fall last night)

Eveything is busting loose!!!...Stunning 20 inch brown that fell to a gray drake spinner last night...sulphers, BWO''s, caddis large pteronarcyc stones, stenos....Iso's soon to come with golden stones. Great time to get young ones into fly fishing with all the stocked browns and rainbows around...lots of action- big selective browns for the seasoned angler
NOTE:FYI- I AM DOING PRIVATE GRAY DRAKE/ AND ALL HATCH MATCHING MINI-CLINICS FOR ONE OR TWO ANGLERS-CALL EMAIL FOR INFO DATES AVAILIABLE....CHEERS!

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Posted in: Brown Atlantic Nexus , gray drake lodge , matt supinski , muskegon fly fishing , Muskegon hatches , Muskegon trout , siphlonurus gray drakes

Drakes on a roll, with cooler wet weather!

( Tommy Visser with a hog of a brown on the Muskegon yesterday)

After the crazy heat wave, our weather is back to a cooler normal.Water flows and temps are prefect! The Gray Drake hatch has been on fire- am and pm, and last couple of nights have been thick with bugs. Sulphers, steno cahills, bwo's and caddis also heavy in the mix. The next two weeks will see big browns and rainbows on the surface, and nymphing in certain areas where you know who?
NOTES: We still have some good openings and if you want to really learn about the intricacies of our trout and hatches, you cant' just do it by bying a boat and having cool equipment- knowledge is acquired, mentored and fine tuned from guides that spend a lifetime studying the prey predator relationships-WORD !

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , michigan fly fishing , muskegon browns , muskegon fly fishing , Muskegon hatches , Muskegon trout , siphlonurus gray drakes

Trout maddness has begun on the Muskegon!!!!- 2018 spring hatches are soon here!

The spring hatches of Gray Drakes and sulphers are ready to begin! We are obsessed about our trout, and we treat what we do as a passion- our approach, our creative fly patterns etc., it's not just another job/ money gig as some others look at their service. Our blogs and Facebook pages show the hard core results.We also specialize in getting young adults and children into the sport- so vital for our future!

 With the amount of big browns I have been posting thus far this spring, May and June will be epic!- ...imagine catching 18-20 inch fat plump browns and rainbows on a 4 weight on a gray drake spinner or sulpher emerger- all going to happen soon!- make sure you are there to expierinece it!- we still have some good openings and with the good water flows and tempertaures, we are very excited about what is to come in the next 6 weeks!...call or email us for openings! ...cheers!, Matt Supinski

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , isonychia , mayflies of Michigan , muskegon fly fishing , Muskegon hatches , siphlonurus gray drakes , sulphers

Its finally spring!- spring steelhead run going strong-May will be outstanding!

What a brutal spring!...or I should say winter. We are finally getting warmer weather, warmer water temps and fresh chrome steelhead entering the river after a brutal cold Mrach and April. Stoneflies are hatching again now that water is back in 40F, and river levels are high ,clear and perfect!!!!
May is going to be an outstnading month for fresh steelhead, hatches and big browns!!!!
We are running 6 weeks behind schedule for spring- (baby salmon just hatched yesterday- norammly hatch in Early March- so if you are planning coming out in May, your timing is perfect!!!!
PS....still have a few great dates in May to hit spring steels, hatches and browns on the dry and streamer!

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , michigan fly fishing , muskegon browns , Muskegon hatches , muskegon river fly fishing , muskegon steelhead

FEBRUARY IS TROPHY STEELHEAD TIME...PLUS BIG BROWNS ON THE POST SPAWN MEAT HUNT

( February beauties in a thaw )

                                          If  I had to pick one or two months of the year that are really special on the Muskegon, it would be the February/March period.

Early March double red- bander

The steelhead are in the curious/ aggressive territorial dominance pre spawn mode, and the browns are on the perpetual carnivore meat hunt after spawing.
With a mid-winter thaw after a brutal December and early January of sub-zero temperatures, grouse are moving in the woods, and the fish are also on the move.
 Stoneflies are moving, midges are hatching and hex nymphs are leaving their burrows.

The biological drift is alive and stirring things up!- truly the best time for a trophy steelhead or brown!

                           (chrome Valentine's Day female)

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Posted in: black stones , gray drake lodge , midges , muskegon browns , Muskegon hatches , Muskegon River steelhead , streamer fishing

Siplonururs Gray Drakes are finally here in big #'s !

                           ( After a week long heat wave, we now have perfect cool ,wet weather setting up for the massive Gray Drake hatches-J.G.Miller nighttime emergence image in a swamp along the Muskegon-'The Phantom Hatch')

Did you know that the most dense Siphlonurus hatches in the world occur on the Rogue, Muskegon,  Pere Marquette and Little Manistee rivers in Michigan? ( according to several international entomologists that have visited us). The prime wet damp cool weather Michigan is noted for is upon us all week and the hatches will have blizzard potential. Note: they will fall early due to cooler temps.- mid 60's F high- 40F at night.

Our micro-ecosystem of Michigan is very similar to the Baltic sea coastlines of sandy soils, dense forest of conifers, birch and hardwoods, tannic colored but alkaline rivers of extreme Mayfly ephemeroptera populations. Countries like Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Latvia, Estonia ,Lithuania , Russia etc. all have Siphlonurus and Siphlopecton in mass quantity. 

When I lived on my Dad's farm in  Poland as a little boy, the wild browns/sea run browns and Atlantic salmon that resided  as parr and adults and migrated the waters of the Wieprza river we were on, all took advantage of the immense hatches of these gray and cream banded mayflies I now clearly recall . REMEMBER;YOU WILL NEVER SEE A DUN- ( any comments?) They use the wet, root filled woody debris shorelines /cedar swamps and backwaters to crawl up on land at night to hatch. Even though the spinners deposit eggs  laid in the gravel riffles, their nymphal migration will start early in late winter towards the sandy /detritus back eddy shorelines for emergence. Our rivers embody that structure.

( A typical Michigan/Sandy Soil/woody spring creek in my backyard haunts- this one right down the road from our lodge. Typical of what you would find in the Baltic corridor ecosystem- ideal Siphlonurus habitat )

( a gorgeous 20" trutta that took a drake on the Muskegon)

Cheers!- get out and enjoy the next 4-6 weeks of hatches.

Na zdrowie and cheers!

Matt

The trees and lodge this morning- 5/21/- covered with last nights emergence- they typically emerge 2 A.M till dawn)

( freshly hatched morning wall spinners- when we opened the doors of the lodge back in 1995 one morning the enetire lodge turned gray from the mayfly spinners on it,  thus we named it the Gray Drake )

( What spinner flights can look like on cool evenings and mornings- they are gray blizzards!- here on the Muskegon several years back during identical conditions)

( browns up to 20 inches will focus on the prolific and mass quantities of the

siphlonurus- this one took a spinner on an early cold morning spinner fall)

( My latest gray drake spinner imitation- deadly for very fussy spinner eaters)

( But take notice: the sheer volume of spinners on the water will have many sink below and have trout totally focused on submerged patterns- here is a cool /simple sunken spinner imitation that works well)

EVENT REMINDER- JUNE 3RD/4TH- GRAND RAPIDS, MI : To learn more about Michigan hatches and fussy trout  tactics and cool new fly patterns , my two day 'Selectivity -Trout/Michigan school/clinic', with Nomad Anglers on the Rogue River in Rockford and at their shop in Grand Rapids, is the perfect in-depth setting to up your trout game- click on link below and RSVP-see you there!

https://www.nomadanglers.com/indexphp/blog/trout-selectivity-clinic-matt-supinski/

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , mayflies of Michigan , Michigan hatches , Muskegon hatches , muskegon river fly fishing , nomad anglers , rogue river , selective trout , Selectivity book , siphlonurus gray drakes , siphlopecton