Manistee River Trout Fishing Report

July 25, 2020

This week we dodged a bit of a bullet and most of the heavy tropical rain missed us. The Upper Manistee river is running pretty clear and the lower stretches have a nice stain to them.  All in all the river is in great shape.

The water was up a bit with a nice tannin stain, and Brown Trout were on the prowl. We fished small/medium sized streamers and had very good action throughout the day. The cool down and high water had fish eager to chase the fly. Streamers in black and olive received most of the attention. Being the first boat down the river the fish could be anywhere, inside bends and the structure in the middle of the river held several sizable fish. As we get closer to fall expect the streamer activity to increase.

Terrestrials!

Towards the middle/end of the week the water has cooled down to the 67 degree range, levels have dropped and water has cleared. Hoppers, beetles and ants are the name of the game now. Also wet and dry Michigan Skunks will produce. Remember that animating your fly, either wet or dry, will bring you more success.

We have very few openings this week but plenty next week. Weather is looking good overall. Come on out and fish!

We still have some prime time openings for both Iso’s and Hex, which should be here soon, so give Cherie a call at 231-228-7135 and get up for some of the best fishing that Michigan has to offer.

Tight Lines,

David Tropf

The recent executive order from Gov. Whitmer allows us to guide anglers as long as we maintain social distancing. That means, according to Conservation Officers we can generally take one angler in drift boats and two anglers in our power boats. The exception is that we can have a party of two from the same household in our drift boats.  Hawkins Outfitters is abiding to these rules while many other guides are not. It’s your decision whether you want to or not but be aware that there are penalties.