Bugs In The Air, Fish On The Prod.

This angler tries casting flies at sundown. Hex flies attract big trout.

It's time for the big brown trout to turn on after sundown. It happens this way almost every year once the Hex hatches begins.

The night turns hot and close, and silent daggers of heat lightning dance across the blackened sky. Everything is silent except the murmur of the river current tugging at your legs or gliding with a soft hiss under the riverboat.

If you are placed just right, and are tossing just the right fly, sometimes from out of nowhere comes the rapier-like strike of one of the river’s biggest brown trout. There are people who fish only after dark, and although I do fish during the day, there's something about casting a big streamer, large floating bass bug or even a more colorful streamer to these big fish. Some folks also enjoy working a hole or run with a four-inch Rapala or Rebel and fairly stout monofilament.

How you fish depends on the area, your temperament and why fish at night.

It's time for the big brown trout to turn on after sundown. It happens this way almost every year once the Hex hatches begins.

The night turns hot and close, and silent daggers of heat lightning dance across the blackened sky. Everything is silent except the murmur of the river current tugging at your legs or gliding with a soft hiss under the riverboat.

If you are placed just right, and are tossing just the right fly, sometimes from out of nowhere comes the rapier-like strike of one of the river’s biggest brown trout. There are people who fish only after dark, and although I do fish during the day, there's something about casting a big streamer, large floating bass bug or even a more colorful streamer to these big fish. Some folks also enjoy working a hole or run with a four-inch Rapala or Rebel and fairly stout monofilament.

What you use depends on your temperament, where you fish, and why you fish the midnight hours.

One of the most exciting methods is to use big streamers. Large Muddler Minnows, Buzzsaw and other big flies are cast quartering across and downstream, and ripping it through the water. You'd think this type of hard-and-fast streamer fishing would spook wary browns. Often, it's just the opposite. It can really turn them on.

Fishing in the dark or light of the moon is a pleasing time.

I've talked with several people who have stood under a full moon or a partial moon, made their cast, and began stripping line hard. They tell of large wakes that follow the streamer, and on occasion, those big trout will hit and nearly wrench the rod from your hands.

Four of us floated the AuSable River one evening, and one of the anglers hit a big fish. The take sounded like someone had thrown a big dog in the river, and the fish ripped off line, rolled on top several times, headed upstream and back down, and there was no controlling the fish. It slipped the fly after nearly 10 minutes of nonstop action.

This is no place for dainty rods and light tippets. Anglers who practice this method (it also works during the day) know just how much work it is. The constant casting, and rapid stripping of line, becomes very tiring but some people can do it all night. Not me! I want to enjoy fishing, and not have to wear myself out to do it.

I used to fish the Sturgeon River years ago when it held some good brown trout, and I liked a big, white, hairy deer-hair mouse. It stuck out like a big sore thumb on a dark night, and even I could see it. I'd cast across and downstream, mend the line to obtain the longest drag-free drift as possible, twitch it once or twice, and then cast again.

The neat thing about this method was the strikes were visible, and very few fish under four pounds were hooked. The largest that I recall was caught by the late George Yontz, who owned the old Hillside Cabins just north of Wolverine many years ago. His fish, if my memory holds true after all these years, weighed 13 1/2 pounds.

The Sturgeon River browns, back then, were either silvery fish that ran upstream from Burt Lake or the great golden-brown fish with big hooked jaws and a kype as big around as the smallest joint on your little finger. Some kypes were an inch to nearly two inches long.

One other method was practiced on these big fish. Casting a medium-sized Rapala or Rebel quartering across and downstream, and let it dive and wiggle on a tight line. Once the current carried the lure across stream until it hung directly below the angler on a tight line, the rod tip would be jiggled two or three times to give the lure a bit more action.

Night fishing can produce unexpected strike. Be ready for action.

Some walleyes were in the river at times, and it was easy to determine which fish was hitting the lure. A walleye would tap-tap-tap the lure as it swung in the current, and hit softly once it finished its drift. A big brown trout would hammer the lure hard, and a strike could come at the end of the drift or as soon as the lure hit the water. A few fish reminded me of an outfielder standing, glove on hand, catching a fly ball.

The trick, regardless of which method we used, was to wade down two or three stretches of river during ithe day to learn what was or was not wadable or had too much current. Wading the river helped prevent tripping over submerged logs and otherdebris. Such things could make a night fishing adventure far more interesting than most anglers need.

Hot, muggy nights were usually the best. The mosquitoes would be on the prowl, and any exposed skin would provide a meal. Now an angler could hang a ThermoCell insect repellent on a nearby tree branch, and most of the mosquitoes would go elsewhere.

But hooking a six-pound or larger brown trout after dark is just about as much fun as a fisherman can have while wearing waders. There were a few very special nights where two or three big fish were landed, but most people considered hooking one big fish a rare treat.

Put them back, and try for the same fish again next year. Those big ones aren't very good to eat, and deserve to be caught more than once. Fooling the fish, and enjoying the battle, is what brings us back year after year.

Title: Bugs In The Air, Fish On The Prod.

Tags: ((Dave, Richey, Michigan, outdoors, river, fishing, after, dark, flies, lures, no, lights, big, browns))
the area, and why you fish after midnight.How you fish depends on temperament,

One of the most exciting methods is to use big streamers. Large Muddler Minnows, Buzzsaw and other hefty flies are cast quartering across and downstream, and literally ripped through the water. You'd think this type of hard-and-fast streamer fishing would spook a wary brown trout. Often, it's just the opposite. It often turns them on.

I've talked with several people who have stood under a full moon or a partial moon, made their cast, and began stripping line hard. They tell of large wakes that follow the streamer, and on occasion, those big trout will hit and nearly wrench the rod from your hands.

Four of us floated the AuSable River one evening, and one of the anglers hit a big fish. The take sounded like someone had thrown a big dog in the river, and the fish ripped off line, rolled on top several times, headed upstream and back down, and there was no controlling the fish. It slipped the fly after nearly 10 minutes of nonstop action.

This is no place for dainty rods and light tippets. Anglers who practice this method (it also works during the day) know just how much work it is. The constant casting, and rapid stripping of line, becomes very tiring but some people can do it all night. Not me!

I used to fish the Sturgeon River years ago when it held some good brown trout, and I liked a big, white, hairy deer-hair mouse. It stuck out like a big sore thumb on a dark night, and even I could see it. I'd cast across and downstream, mend the line to obtain the longest drag-free drift as possible, twitch it once or twice, and then cast again.

The neat thing about this method was the strikes were visible, and very few fish under four pounds were hooked. The largest that I recall was caught by the late George Yontz, who owned the old Hillside Cabins just north of Wolverine many years ago. His fish, if my memory holds true after all these years, weighed 13 1/2 pounds.

The Sturgeon River browns, back then, were either silvery fish that ran upstream from Burt Lake or the great golden-brown fish with big hooked jaws and a kype as big around as the smallest joint on your little finger. Some kypes were an inch to nearly two inches long.

One other method was practiced on these big fish. Casting a medium-sized Rapala or Rebel quartering across and downstream, and let it dive and wiggle on a tight line. Once the current carried the lure across stream until it hung directly below the angler on a tight line, the rod tip would be jiggled two or three times to give the lure a bit more action.

Some walleyes were in the river at times, and it was easy to determine which fish was hitting the lure. A walleye would tap-tap-tap the lure as it swung in the current, and hit softly once it finished its drift. A big brown trout would hammer the lure hard, and a strike could come at the end of the drift or as soon as the lure hit the water. A few fish reminded me of an outfielder standing, glove on hand, catching a fly ball.

The trick, regardless of which method we used, was to wade down two or three stretches of river during ithe day to learn what was or was not wadable or had too much current. Wading the river helped prevent tripping over submerged logs and otherdebris. Such things could make a night fishing adventure far more interesting than most anglers need.

Hot, muggy nights were usually the best. The mosquitoes would be on the prowl, and any exposed skin would provide a meal. Now an angler could hang a ThermoCell insect repellent on a nearby tree branch, and most of the mosquitoes would go elsewhere.

But hooking a six-pound or larger brown trout after dark is just about as much fun as a fisherman can have while wearing waders. There were a few very special nights where two or three big fish were landed, but most people considered hooking one big fish a rare treat.

Put them back, and try for the same fish again next year. Those big ones aren't very good to eat, and deserve to be caught more than once. Fooling the fish, and enjoying the battle, is what brings us back year after year.

Title: Bugs In The Air, Fish On The Prod.

Tags: ((Dave, Richey, Michigan, outdoors, river, fishing, after, dark, flies, lures, no, lights, big, browns))

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors