"Size does matter!"...Selectivity/Nexus Blog (Pandemic Vol:II )

(This fat 18 inch "nerve-racking" surface feeding brownie gave me selectivity presentation fits for two consecutive days- CASE SOLVED AND CLOSED:yesterday afternoon 5:37 PM- who's next!) 

In my last birthday Facebook post I told you about the two frustrating hours I had in a place on the Muskegon last Friday called "the House of Pain". It's a "love/hate " relationship place I named and talk about in both my Selectivity and Nexus books. Its a mile long broad/spring creek-like section of flats on the river with lots of vegetation and shallow runs just like a giant Henry's Fork. Here the trout have plenty of mileage to be ultra-selective/reflective like they can be on the flats of the Delaware in the Catskills or Missouri .

Since  the early 90's when I first moved to Michigan, these flats have been a source of much anguish that have resulted in more perfect fly designs and improved  tail water dry fly techniques. ( my late friend Carl Richards spent almost every evening during the super complicated caddis hatches here of July through September stalking, photographing and scrolling notes and sketches on caddis hatches , which resulted into his master work  " Super Caddis Hatches"- Amato Books. During that processs, I once found him asleep in his car one morning totally covered in caddis sketches as I started my guide trip and banged on the window to see if he was still alive!-such was his passion-God bless his soul!) 

 ( The first of two nice brownies yesterday-a 14 incher  that reconfirmed text book presentation templates)

So to say I am one that will relish and love the frustrating refusals and conundrum of trout flipping you the bird!,, as they scoff at your dry fly is an understatement and demented confessional for the underlying reason why I wrote Selectivity!- if it was easy like bass fishing I probably would take up golf and  wouldn't  go to the ends of the earth to chase the last trutta swimming . 

So back to last Friday, the two hours of the hatch was heavy with hundreds of early black stone fly females ova-positing on the surface and swarms of bazillion clusters of black midges . The half dozen or so nice browns I scouted and stalked totally refused ( some of the refusals were slashing surface bursts at the last minute when I lifted to set the hook and nothing was there!)the hundred plus presentation of my CDC stone I threw at them ( all perfect drag free/long drifts and the same pattern that caught the 20 incher there a few days earlier. I also noticed midge clusters being gulped ( occasionally but far less frequently than the desired big stonefly meaty)  between larger stone fly confirmed " eats" while I sat and observed. 

The water I was fishing was at least 5 feet deep, moving fast past a large fallen tree sweeper which created a 15 yard long calm back eddy where the browns would take up their daily afternoon feeding stations- each was fish was spatial niche separated in perfect trutta dominance fashion ( niches are discussed in detail in my Nexus book) I anchored my jet as close as possible, since the faster water swept my fly line quickly from the placid water that the fish fed in. So to say I was kneeling in my jet/drift boat was accurate- no standing casting!, and long 10 minute pauses between casting sessions to give the fish a chance to feed in regular intervals

So!...Deja Vu crept in yesterday reminding me of Friday and quickly set in after a half hour of refusals as I watched stonefly after stone get gulped by the browns...something is really wrong here. I have a 18 foot leader, with 4 feet of 4x, the same deadly CDC stone I had that caught the 20 inch brown there- same set up!-wtf! My casts were perfect puddle casts with upstream mending giving my dry a long drag free float - as I'm pulling my gray hair out in frustration as I watched one adult after another get gulped and mine refused. THAT'S IT!..I'm going to change something. 

One of the biggest obstacles to " thinking outside the box" is being older and confident in what you are throwing and being a little advanced in the old " knows enough to be dangerous" category- knowledge is not always liberating my friends, especially if a 20 inch brown loved the same set up I was throwing. In my stodgy author stubbornness I saw nothing wrong with my flies or presentation until I took a serious look at them, with a pragmatic " Selectivity-step-by-step" unbiased approach. 

First thing was to look at conditions. It was pure blue sky sunshine like the day the big brown took the fly, but the water has dropped considerably with less CFS flow and cleared up substantially -check 1!. There were just as many naturals on the surface so hatch intensity was the same -check 2. Since I was using 4x in the heavier flows, I did the customary thing to do, drop down in size and went to 5x -check 3. And to triple insure that what I was doing had no 'unseen drag", I lengthened tippet from 4 feet to 7 feet-check 4. But checkpoint 5-that!,  was the age old template that never changes- fly size-check 5 was as the ultimate  " THAT'S A BINGO", as Col. Hans Landa ( Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Bastards) proclaimed enthusiastically.

( The one on the right was the new lethal killer, the left was the old one one I clung to, and rightfully so by the brown I caught on it)

Looking at both flies , to the untrained eye they look pretty much the same.  But obviously they weren't to the eye of these extremely selective Muskegon browns that were were refusing the one on the left for hours.In my Selectivity book I talk about the "4 SYSTEMS GO" approach to a selective/reflective view of a dry from below the surface. The laws of refraction enter into the first law, as the trout saw the bulky wings triangular and horizontal, rather than the true look of vertical drumming wings on the right. The left stone was on a true #12 wide-gap dry fly hook, with a very thick clump of dark dun CDC that were stiff and tent-like in from below silhouette ( what the browns were seeing). So I changed to the one on the right ( go smaller fly template of traditional selectivity laws) It was on a Daiichi 1270 curved hook -#16, and used light dun "spiked and sparser" CDC. The thought was that the light dun would transmit the vertical wing fluttering better that a a flat darker splayed v-shaped wing profile like a caddis for instance . Using Lochsa ( Loon) CDC fly floatant to spike the wings up even more, the rest ladies and gentlemen is now a glorious selectivity history and lesson learned. 

3RD CAST! ...a nice fat 14 incher slammed it !...( one of the ones that was giving me the finger for over 3 hours. Landed it!...5 th cast later, the fat 18 incher slammed it and went ballistic in the frozen waters. 

(This!, is the PERFECT TIE)

Day over. I won. Life is good. Victory is sweet. Never give up. "always expand your mind". Ignorance = same as too much knowledge and being stodgy can be your biggest detriments  

CASE CLOSED

Matt Supinski

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Posted in: Brown Trout-Atlantic Salmon Nexus , dry fly , early black stones , gray drake lodge , Matt Supinski Brown Trout-Atlantic Salmon Nexus book , michigan fly fishing , Michigan hatches , selective trout

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

Selectivity-Trout- Freestone Clinic- East Coast Next Weekend!

Hope to see my east coast friends next weekend in Connecticut at Housatonic River Outfitters!
click on link and RSVP to them!...Had a great weekend turnout at Mad River in Ohio and hope to see more trout addicts that want to up their trout game and fly patterns!
http://www.dryflies.com/new-events-1/2017/5/20/selectivity-clinic-with-matt-supinski

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Posted in: brown and rainbow trout , classic american fly fishing , dry fly , freestone , selective trout , Selectivity book , selectivity dvd

DELAWARE RIVER CLUB SELECTIVITY CLINIC-FEW SPOTS LEFT!

                    I have three spots left for you to join us for an in-depth Selectivity tailwater trout weekend . It is next weekend , Labor Day weekend in the lovely Catskills, which should be cool by then ( NOTE: Due to the request of many that have plans the first Labor Day weekend, we most likely be adding another weekend clinic the following weekend- Sept. 10/11th ) . Should see fall hatches like Isonychia/Heptagenia hebe ( the larger modeled wing sulpher etc.) 
If you are a beginner, or advanced tailwater/freestone lover who is trying to figure out the extreme selective behavior these wild browns and rainbows love to exhibit, here is a great learning and sharing opportunity that 'will up your game' and allow you to crack the code that always baffles even the most expert of all fly anglers.  Here is the link to Delaware River Club for more information- call them and reserve your attendance for what promises to be a great event!

http://thedelawareriverclub.com/events/

My goal for the intimate setting are many, but mainly to make you come away with an extreme in-depth understanding of how a seasoned tailwater trout guide, which I have been for over 20 years on my current lodge home waters of the Muskegon, thinks and commands the approach on these finicky/fussy complex waters and why guides are so effective in getting you on large rising/nymphing/streamer trout when the average Joe/Jane angler struggle on their outings to figure out their secrets. Tailwaters are brutally complex and so are its trout behavior, hatches and daily fluctuations. 

 Having fished the Delaware system from the early 80's since I grew up in NY, and I  fish the Delaware/Beaverkill/ Neversink often since we have a summer home in the Catskills.

JUST A FEW AGENDA ITEMS

* IN DEPTH LOOK AT SELECTIVITY AND ITS APPLICATION TO THE COMPLEX TAILWATER/FREESTONERS OF THE CATSKILLS WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON THE DELAWARE SYSTEM

* READING WATER/APPROACH/PRESENTING LONG FINE 18 FOOT LEADERS

* TROUT (PFP) PREDATOR FORAGING PROFILES OF TAILWATER TROUT

* MASKING AND SUPER MAYFLY, CADDIS,MIDGES AND STONE FLY HATCHES - MY NEW 'TENKARA STYLE' ( BUT USING 9/10/11 FOOT 2-5 WEIGHT RODS WITH REELS) HIGH STICK STATUE OF LIBERTY LIVING CADDIS TECHNIQUE WHICH IS DEADLY ANYWHERE YOU FIND SUPER CADDIS HATCHES- IT WILL INCREASE YOUR EFFECTIVENESS BY 80%

* ON-STREAM 'BOOTS-IN WATER' INSTRUCTION OF SPECIALTY CASTS- SINGLE SPEY CASTING, NYMPHING TAILWATERS, STREAMER SUCCESS

* TYING SUPER SELECTIVITY FLY PATTERNS (BRING YOUR TYING KITS
* VIDEO WORK OF TROUT FEEDING BEHAVIOR

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!!

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Posted in: Big Delaware , Catskill fly fishing , Delaware river club , matt supinski , selective trout , Selectivity book , WEST BRANCH DELAWARE

Selectivity Book Comments/Review

I was VERY honored to receive the comments below Saturday from one of the  biologists I have a high degree of respect for- Gary Whelan: Project Manager/Research for the Michigan DNR. 

Gary , who is a fly fisher and has traveled extensively and knows progressive fisheries management like no other, was the former Director of Hatcheries for Michigan and was instrumental in developing the FERC "run -of - river " flows for the Muskegon/Manistee/Au Sable during their unprecedented re-licensing. 

He predicted that The Muskegon's food supply and salmonid natural reproduction of salmon/steelhead, and incredible growth rates of trout will occur as a result of the increase in bio food mass from stable flows/ bubbler oxygen/ temperature controls, which enhances the benthic and migratory ecosystem environment. 

Any time I get comments form biologists,  they are the most important barometer and index for me to judge that my vision and work was 'dead on' the subject and not just my hypothesis/rambling/theories and emotional anthropomorphism ( which was often brought to my attention from my beloved editor J. Nichols ), which has often been my critics best case for rebuttal,  since I love this subject matter and live it passionately  ...Thanks Gary!!! 

" Matt,

I wanted to let you know that I am reading your book right now that I was able to get through interlibrary loan.  It is both factual and very well done with outstanding photos.  It is my opinion that you got the biology correct which many fishing books just miss.  You should be very proud of this piece of prose and I intend to add a copy to my personal library.

Super work.  Hope all else is well and that fishing is still going well up there.

Take best of care,

Gary-6/19/16 "

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , matt supinski , selective steelhead. selective atlantic salmon , selective trout , Selectivity book , selectivity dvd

Boyne Mountain Resort/Outfitters Selectivity Clinic with Matt Supinski in Michigan's Winter Wonderland!

(http://www.boyneoutfitters.com/

In Michigan's magnificent winter wonderland, there could not be a better place to be in February than the world class Boyne Mountain Resort and Boyne Outfitters, in the heart of the Nordic highlands of the Great Lakes and Hemingway country! World class skiing and winter sports, a European style spa, luxurious resort lodging reminiscent of Switzerland and Colorado, epicurean gourmet cuisine and spirits, and yes!, fly fishing!

Northern Michigan is surrounded by some of the most beautiful wild trout, steelhead and salmon rivers east of the Mississippi . Even though it is winter, come inside and indulge your fly angling mind with a thought provoking journey and clinic into the mind of trout, salmon and steelhead behavior, tactics and 'cracking the code' for success!, all brought to you by proprietor Ethan Winchester of Boyne Outfitters and special guest Matthew Supinski.

( what the critics are saying about 'Selectivity')

http://midcurrent.com/books/a-review-matt-supinskis-selectivity/

Join Matt Supinski for a day of selectivity - understanding and fine-tuning your angling techniques to varying salmonid behaviors.  The morning session will be an in-house clinic discussing Matt's theory of selectivity, how it applies to your angling environment, and how to change your angling to meet the needs of the fish.  The afternoon session will be fly tying session focusing on some of Matt's tried-&-true fly patterns for Great Lakes trout, salmon and steelhead.  Following the afternoon session, Matt will be available in Boyne Outfitters for a meet & greet, as well as signing his book, Selectivity, available at Boyne Outfitters

• DATE: Saturday, February 13th
• SELECTIVITY SESSION [Morning]: 9a-12p
• FLY TYING SESSION [Afternoon]: 1-3p
• MEET & GREET / BOOK SIGNING: 4-5p
• COST:  FREE!  However, class size is limited and an RSVP is required.  Each session is separate, so RSVP to one or the other, or both!  Please call 231.549.6064 to reserve your spot!
• EXPERIENCE LEVEL:  All levels are invited to attend the Selectivity session.  Intermediate fly tying skill is recommended for the tying session.
• REQUIRED:  Selectivity Session...a willingness to learn!  Fly Tying Session...vice, tools, materials.  Suggested materials list available upon request.

Matt Supinski is a renowned fly fishing author/ guide/photographer/consultant, culinary trained chef, food and spirits connoisseur and world adventurist specializing in progressive techniques in the pursuit of trout, salmon, and steelhead in the Great Lakes region and beyond.  For nearly 50 years, Matt has dedicated his life to understanding the behavior of salmonid species and has developed his "selectivity" theory based on his experiences around the world and most notably in the Great Lakes, where he was born and raised in Niagara Falls and also in Europe.  Matt's passion and knowledge for steelhead and Atlantic salmon on the fly is unmatched, studying closely the ‘life survival predator strategies’ and how the fish feed and behave to all the stimuli anglers must encompass and focus on when in pursuit . In 2010 he guided Tom Aufiero to an IFGA record for landlocked Atlantic salmon right here in Michigan! He has been a regional editor for FLY FISHERMAN magazine for close to two decades, columnist for many publications and has written hundreds of articles, 5 books, DVD’s and guest TV appearances. His books and DVD will be for sale and Matt will be glad to autograph them for you. Matt and his wife, Laurie,operate Gray Drake Lodge & Outfitters on the banks of the Muskegon , along with outfitting destination excursions .

                                                                           

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Posted in: Boyne Mountain Resort , Boyne Outfitters , Great Lakes atlantic salmon , Great Lakes steelhead , matt supinski , michigan fly fishing , Michigan hatches , selective trout , Selectivity book , selectivity dvd

MIDGE MANIFESTO PARADISE ON THE MUSKEGON/MANISTEE TAILWATERS!_ and ecosystem thoughts

(our Eagle Rainbows from California are truly gorgeous fish- they  normally average 10-14 inches on the midge hatch at this time of year and will kick your three/four weight's butt to its limit since this strain are such hard fighters!- they have cutthroat blood in them- note the orange slits by the mouth!- these two little footballs were from the midge hatch yesterday- note the WMD midge in the lower image)

If you are a true ole' fashioned 'trout bum', the mention of trout sipping minutiae dries...a.k.a tailwater/spring creek style will goosebumps up your spine and a cheshire cat grin!

( rainy/drizzle days are perfect for midge hatches- watch the swallows work the air to what seems like nothing up there-those are midges they are working- note the red dots forming from Gilchrist wild strains)

( here note the Wild Rose Wisconsin strain- both strains stocked in Muskegon...more Loch Leven Scottish in origin and larger brown spotting- both gorgeous truttas!)

 The Big Muskegon and Manistee are continuing to become  true eastern and western tailwater in the summer: midges, caddis, bwos, cahill's, ants, scuds- just like the San Juan. With the very cool/cold week water temperatures and flows have become ideal and the hatches really took off!

Yes!..I'm very aware that we are in the land of BIG AND BIGGER!...Hex, mousing, streamers- I love them all!. But being an east/west coast minutiae freak, what is going on now and for the next two months will blow your mind!...and you'll never want to see another steelhead and salmon!- not really!,... but dry fly trout taking size #20's...long 6x tippets, three/four weights is an epic experience! - especially if you watch every trout suck your fly in right in front of you.

Our spring stocked Wild Rose, Gilchrist browns and Eagle Lake rainbows ar betting fat and pushing the 10-13 inch range- holdover surface feeders are 14-18 inches- some leviathan 20 inch browns will focus on larger caddis/mayflies at dusk, preferring to hunt crayfish along the shore. 
This morning  we stopped fishing after 20 trout landed in an hour and half window. Water temps have plunged with a week of 'global cooling'- 50's-60's,  into surface temperatures ideal for dry fly trout ( NOTE: unfortunately the USGS temperature gauges are installed at the 'worst spots' on the Muskegon and Manistee- by the top spill dams operating from warmed up ponds currently operating now. The water temps actually cool as you get farther downstream with all the thousands of springs, cool night- especially on the Muskegon , thus cooling the water- although the bubbler operations are providing "ideal" comfort (dissolved oxygen being as important or if not more important than temperature ) for the fish regardless of actual Fahrenheit temps- mid 60's are ideal for total surface orientation for the fish!- Bob nymphed a riffle that we hammered the trout on dries the other day and only took one trout- meanwhile we hooked several dozen on dries- total surface orientation at this time of year due to low clear waters)

( non- obvious)

(Obvious-note cold water loving/alkaline watercress along shoreline-image taken at 5 F in January )

( despite the obvious springs we see, there are thousands of tiny rivulets that are between 47-51F for miles and miles throughout the entire tailwaters we take for granted- here are some I took yesterday after examining shoreline rocks for caddis larvae- which BTW! are still loaded in larvae stage and ready to pop any day- they as all things lately are running way behind in maturation- these are all a function of "plus or minus heating and cooling days", which or 'global cooling' winters put a major damper on the "norm"- Wish we had a college/university hydro or fisheries biologist student looking for  master's degree thesis material studying thermal refuge/trout migration/prey ditribution and biological drift models on our tailwaters- we would finally have some "unbiased and realistic data to manage our resources!- Mark Guzniczak? )

MIDGE TACTICS/METHODS

( beauty of midging is that it can be done year round- 365- deep January Muskegon bow surface feeding in air temps in the teensF )

I am aware that size #20 flies scare most anglers. Also hook penetration and hooking confidence is lacking due to smaller gapes in hooks. The first most important thing you should do is have regular eye exams and bi-focals so you can see - sounds basic , but you would not believe the difference in vision you will have especially if you are older.

HOOKS- Daiichi has speciality midges hooks with a very wide gape in tiny sizes. I always bend my hook gape outwards in the vice to increase hook ups immensely- here is a size #24 bwo minutiae with one of the Daiichi speciality hooks

LEADERS- I use 18 foot leaders with 5-8 feet of 6-7x tippets for supper long dead drifts and easy manipulation of the fly. Some are saying, how the hell do you turn that over?...EASY, they will cast like 9 foot leaders. If you buy your leaders , buy a 12 foot /4x, take the butt loop section ( .023-.021) off an old leader and just blood know a 3 foot section extension of the butt- thiu making your leader top heavy which allows you to cast any length.- so 3 feet of old butt nailed to the new 12 footer, than add your 5 feet of 6/7x.

TECHNIQUE- Midges act slightly like caddis as dries- they skitter, twitch, dead drift. Impart very, very subtle twitches and than long dead drifts to your dries.

 ( not all trout are on the smaller side when midging- this 27 inch brown from Wisconsin's Driftless spring creeks was caught midging on a hot June day on a #22 WMD-weapons of midge destruction pupae)

MORE INFO

The internet is loaded with midge information and patterns. My Selectivity book and DVD has tons of midge information and patterns /techniques. If you could find this old article I wrote as a very young man in the early 90's on midging in American Angler, there is a ton of information in it

Also next month  in Fly Fisherman magazine ( September) I have an article coming out on spring creek/tailwaters forage feeding profiles-midges included and two new midge patterns.

The next two months will have epic dry fly fishing on our tailwaters- come out and experience the magic. Yes salmon and steelhead are fun....but once you get hooked on minutiae dry fly fishing for trout, you will become an endless minutiae  junkie- trust me!

ALSO...in my Paint Creek Selectivity Clinic in two weeks Ill be covering midging in greater detail- The beauty of Michigan trouting is we have it all!

  

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , masking hatch , michigan fly fishing , midge pupae , midges , muskegon fly fishing , Muskegon hatches , selective trout , Selectivity book , selectivity dvd