As the landscape slowly gives way to Spring, signs of changes of the new season can be spotted all over. April in Michigan is a transitional month of sorts bringing many changes as each day is checked off the calendar. Warmer days find you putting away your winter gear and breaking out the spring and summer tools you will soon be needing. The warming weather this time of year comes with a punch usually in the form of rain and sometimes strong storms. With these warm rains, changes begin to bloom across the countryside. The greens of the first grass in the yard or the wheat fields of the country back roads. Budding trees and the ferns, leeks, and mushrooms below them reaching for the strong sunlight that is quickly advancing north this time of the year.
April is a time for changes in many of Michigan’s rivers as well. Heavy rains create swollen rivers that are forever changing. Gravels once again exposed and covered, holes cleaned and washed out of sand, and debris collected and deposited to its newest location. Rivers of every size can’t escape the power of a heavy flow. The steelhead use the higher water to finish up their business and make the journey back to the big lakes. With water temps steadily on the rise, the tools and techniques of a fly angler in Michigan also transform. Fish have to work harder and burn more calories with the increase of flows. As water temps warm, larger trout are willing to give chase for a big meal. A streamer stripped deep through a hole or run often will provide that much anticipated gold flash as a big brown takes a swing at your fly. Stripping streamers offer excellent opportunities for a trophy brown trout on a fly rod. Streamers are larger fly patterns meant to represent leeches, sculpins, or smaller fish such as salmon fry or even trout. Added with a sinking line, streamers of all sized can be worked through the water much like a spinner or rapala. By fast stripping and a little pop with the rod, you can entice any brown trout or steelhead to explode on your dancing streamer.
April is a time for changes in many of Michigan’s rivers as well. Heavy rains create swollen rivers that are forever changing. Gravels once again exposed and covered, holes cleaned and washed out of sand, and debris collected and deposited to its newest location. Rivers of every size can’t escape the power of a heavy flow. The steelhead use the higher water to finish up their business and make the journey back to the big lakes. With water temps steadily on the rise, the tools and techniques of a fly angler in Michigan also transform. Fish have to work harder and burn more calories with the increase of flows. As water temps warm, larger trout are willing to give chase for a big meal. A streamer stripped deep through a hole or run often will provide that much anticipated gold flash as a big brown takes a swing at your fly. Stripping streamers offer excellent opportunities for a trophy brown trout on a fly rod. Streamers are larger fly patterns meant to represent leeches, sculpins, or smaller fish such as salmon fry or even trout. Added with a sinking line, streamers of all sized can be worked through the water much like a spinner or rapala. By fast stripping and a little pop with the rod, you can entice any brown trout or steelhead to explode on your dancing streamer.
A good setup for streamer fishing is having a 9 or 9 and a half foot rod in weights ranging from 6 to 8. With the heavier rod you can throw a heavier sink tip line helping you to place you fly deeper in the water where the big fish are waiting. Sinking lines come in all sizes and sink rates. Choosing the right line to match the type of river you are fishing helps from grabbing bottom or riding too shallow. There are a multitude of different streamers to try as well. Small, medium, large, gigantic, light, dark, or flashy, all of them will catch fish when fished with the right attitude. If you like fast action and a challenge, give streamer fishing a try with a fly rod. The more work you put into your fishing, the more satisfying the reward comes when a 20 inch fish comes to the net! For more information about guided fly fishing trips, fly patterns, or upcoming fishing clinics check out www.flyfishingmichiganrivers.com or visit us on Facebook.
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