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Jmd123 | April 17th, 2016, 3:34 am | |
Oscoda, MI Posts: 2611 | Finally caught something on a fly rod today! Our weather was glorious, mid-sixties and sunny, light winds, perfect day for a hike out to the bass ponds at Clark's Marsh. Not only did I have it all to myself but the ever-larger-and-fatter bluegill were hitting pretty good! An all-black Woolly Bugger, purple WB with grizzly hackle, and a KBF were the flies of the day. Besides the decent fishing, I saw three butterflies, two painted turtles, a water snake, a kingfisher, a couple of pairs of wood ducks, and heard three species of frogs calling (wood frogs, spring peepers, and northern leopard frogs). Skunk cabbage is in full bloom and I found a scarlet cup fungus to boot. Spring is here! Trout fishing will be within a few days. We have some nice, sunny, stable weather to get the trout streams warmed up and get some bugs in the air! Jonathon | |
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere... | ||
Partsman | April 17th, 2016, 8:00 pm | |
bancroft michigan Posts: 420 | Its been a long time coming, this spring has been brutal! I have a rod I built over the winter that Iam really looking forward to fishing, and I have been tying some flies on the new vise mrs. Rogers bought me. The weather looks good here in Mi. for a least the next week. | |
Oldredbarn | April 17th, 2016, 11:10 pm | |
Novi, MI Posts: 2608 | Jonathon, Nice couple of gills there...Skunk cabbage...Nothing hardly fore tells spring than these... Went out early Sat morning on an ornithology class field trip...We got drumming Ruffed Grouse, and watched as a Snipe put on a great display with that winnowing sound they produce as they dive. As my car was driving down the road we had a Barred Owl fly over the car...Had to get up at 4:00am to get myself out the door and down the road to where I needed to meet the rest of the class. Rough list for the 2nd part of the field trip: C Goose, Mute Swan, Wood Duck, Mallard, Ring-necked duck, Bufflehead, Ruddy duck, Wild Turkey (actually got to see one fly...Also watched a male trying to impress the girls), Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, T Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Sandhill Crane, Killdeer, M Dove, Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, n Flicker, Blue Jay, Crow, Tree Swallows, B-C Chickadee, Nuthatch, E Bluebird, Robin, Brown Thrasher, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, N Cardinal, Red-winged BB, Eastern Towhee, Brown-headed Cowbird, Goldfinch...We kicked ass!!! Spring has indeed sprung! Just last Saturday we were at Pte Mouillee fighting cold and wind and white-out conditions, and yesterday in the 70's! Spence | |
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively "Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood | ||
Jmd123 | April 18th, 2016, 1:06 am | |
Oscoda, MI Posts: 2611 | Spence, a great horned owl was hooting from a red pine tree in my neighbor's backyard a couple of hours ago as I was tying flies (yes, started that finally as well, KBFs for Reid Lake tomorrow!). I stepped out on my back deck and he was nearly right above me, letting out deep hoots every few minutes or so. Also, saw a pair of hooded mergansers on the lake behind my house (now teeming with frogs, can hear them from any open window), and kicked up a blue-winged teal at the Marsh yesterday. Waiting to hear the white-throated sparrows singing (the song of the north country from my youth) and to see the white-crowned sparrows passing through. I forgot to mention something broke off my fly at the Marsh yesterday, by brute force...went back later and saw some great big swirls, like a 20"+ bass was moving around out there...back later in the week! Jonathon | |
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere... | ||
Oldredbarn | April 18th, 2016, 9:21 am | |
Novi, MI Posts: 2608 | I forgot to mention something broke off my fly at the Marsh yesterday, by brute force...went back later and saw some great big swirls, like a 20"+ bass was moving around out there...back later in the week! Me thinks it's time to try a small frog pattern, or maybe a variation of Gartside's Gurgler...:) I forgot to mention the pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers. We found their nesting holes in an old dead tree. Our "guide" knows what she's doing...This class is taught by a woman who use to be the ornithologist for the city of Ann Arbor. It's actually co-taught with another woman who is a raptor rehabilitator. Since I brought up your old stomping grounds, there were Loons and a Red-necked Grebe in Barton Pond. Spence | |
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively "Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood | ||
Jmd123 | April 18th, 2016, 2:07 pm | |
Oscoda, MI Posts: 2611 | I have some "froggy poppers", foam or cork-bodied things that I tied and painted when I first moved up here and discovered these waters. Took the box with me but did not deploy any, next time I will, especially as so many frogs are calling out there right now! That sounds like a great class, Spence. I have never seen a redhead in MI, but I have in Missouri. I saw a couple of loons on Sylvan Glen Lake over Easter weekend in Troy, see them every year at this time. But no fish were biting then, what you see above are my first of the year on a fly rod. Today I will be hitting Reid Lake in search of perchies and rainbows! Jonathon | |
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere... | ||
Title | Replies | Last Reply |
Giant stonefly nymph In the Photography Board by Jmd123 | 0 | |
Re: Hike in the Clearwater Mountains in the Alaska Range (Day 3 of 4) In Site Updates by Troutnut | 1 | Jul 31, 2013 by Jmd123 |
Re: Spring is FINALLY here! (1 more) In the Photography Board by Jmd123 | 2 | Apr 17, 2013 by PaulRoberts |
Re: Spring has FINALLY arrived in the "backyard" (5 more) In the Photography Board by Jmd123 | 1 | Apr 11, 2011 by Jmd123 |
Re: Clark's Marsh, flooded (2 more) In the Photography Board by Jmd123 | 2 | May 23, 2020 by Martinlf |
Re: Baetis doesn't look like a BWO!! In Female Baetis Mayfly Dun by Adirman | 10 | Sep 12, 2010 by Martinlf |
Wet a fly line (3-weight) today! In General Discussion by Jmd123 | 0 | |
Re: PA Trout Season In General Discussion by Wbranch | 5 | May 9, 2020 by 87North |
Re: Attention Webmasters and Bloggers In General Discussion by Troutnut | 1 | Nov 20, 2006 by Pramster |