Manistee River Trout Report

June 12, 2024 – Trout Report

The Upper Manistee is in great shape for this time of year. Cool, wet weather has the river full, with a light stain, and water temps are much colder than the last few years.

Brown drakes were a tough go this year, with seemingly light emergences and short spinner falls. The cool weather has brought some good Iso activity and fish are looking up. Running a high riding dun and an emerger off the back has been productive the past week. There have been a few spinners around in the evening, so make sure to bring those along with you as well.

Looking at the forecast, I would expect Hex to start with this next big warmup. We do have a very few Hex dates open and they should be going by the weekend or early next week.

Give us a call ASAP to get on the books!

Tight lines,
Matt Barthels

Didymo Reminder

On another note some of you may have heard about the Didymo, or rock snot, issue in the Upper Manistee. Around the CCC Bridge and Sharon area it is extremely prevalent, completely covering the bottom in certain sections. It also is free floating and looks like chucks of wet paper towels floating down streams. Everyone needs to be diligent after fishing and clean their gear. If you are floating, power wash your boat and trailer and have a separate anchor rope when floating the Upper Man. To cleans boots and waders many companies suggest the following:

The best thing to do when dealing with Didymo is to dry gear thoroughly between drainages – even after cleaning with the recommended washing instructions, invasives can still live until they are dry. With that being said, folks can follow the ’10 for 10′ rule, where their gear is saturated with a 10% concentration of dish soap, and left to stay saturated for at least 10 minutes (Bleach is another method that is commonly suggested for sanitizing for invasives, but we DO NOT recommend bleach on gear. Same goes for very hot water, for the same duration – around 140 degrees – again, we DO NOT recommend that for gear).

For boots, it’s extremely important to remove all deposits of mud and algae – a stiff-bristled brush is best to make sure that stitching is clean and clear, as well as soles and any traction devices (like studs or aluminum bars). Aluminum bars can be removed, cleaned and dried, as invasives could potentially live for longer in the microscopic spaces between the sole and the aluminum bar, since that’s a tricky area to completely dry without removal. Felt is difficult to clean, but drying is the best method – felt boots can take days to dry completely, though, all the way through (that’s why I would never suggest to allow a felt boot that has been in a drainage with didymo go to a different drainage).

Please take the time to follow these suggestions and help mitigate the spread of this invasive species.