Fly Patterns for Michigan Hatches I remember way back (45 years ago) when I was learning to fly fish out west, the most intimidating facet of the sport was bugs. Pale Morning Duns, Blue Wing Olive, Green Drakes, I had no idea what these were or how to proceed in learning more. Fast forward 35 […]
Pine River Pine River The Pine River, near Cadillac, Michigan is a tributary of the Manisttee River. It joins the Manistee in Tippy Pond above Tippy dam. The rive is 53.5 miles long. Dominated by groundwater inflows, it is the coldest, fastest river in Lower Michigan. This groundwater keeps the Pine River temperatures […]
Hendrickson Hatch The Hendrickson Hatch is the first major mayfly hatch of significance. It usually arrives around opening day in Northern Michigan. Being a size 12 or 14 it is a big bug that hatches at the beginning of the season. Many times on the Ausable below Mio dam, or the Upper to Lower Manisttee […]
Red Bridge on the Manistee River will be closed this summer! The bridge on Coates Highway crossing the Manistee is slated for replacement this coming summer. Beginning on or about April 2nd and through August the road will be completely closed while they replace the approximately 200 foot long bridge. The project is slated for […]
Spring Steelhead in Michigan Spring steelhead fishing in Michigan is a different animal from fall steelhead fishing. The difference is due to several factors, water temperature, the urge to spawn, and available food supplies. Steelhead begin moving into our rivers in fall. Their motivation is available food and the urge to spawn. The salmon spawn […]
Costa Sunrise Silver Mirror For the last year or so I have been wearing Costa’s Sunrise Silver Mirror glasses. At first I was thinking I would only use this color lens for a hour in the morning and a hour in the evening. I assumed they would fit a niche time of day when the […]
Tying Flies with Beads Alaskan Trout and Steelhead anglers have known about fishing with beads for years. Bead fishing is an effective way to imitate fish eggs. Fishing with beads has really exploded here in the midwest over the past few years especially when targeting fall steelhead . While most anglers use beads by themselves […]
Chuck Hawkins and Russ Maddin featured in a new book, America’s Favorite Flies This is a new book, America’s Favorite Flies. It showcases 224 favorite flies from such notables as Yvon Chouinard, Lefty Kreh, Joan Wulff, Craig Mathew, Huey Lewis and others including Russ and I. All of the profits are given to two nonprofit organizations. […]
Atlantic Salmon in the AuSable River Atlantic Salmon Fishing in the AuSable River Atlantic salmon are one of the world’s most sought after and prized gamefish. Fly fishing for salmon is now a fantastic and exciting late summer/early fall angling option for Hawkins Outfitters on the Lower AuSable River. Let us help you pursue these […]
CCC Bridge I’m happy to announce after nearly super human efforts from Jim Anderson and Dave Boberg of UMRA and the very generous contributions from many of our clients the new boat launch near CCC Bridge on the Upper Manistee is nearly done. Way back in August I let you all know it was in […]