Michigan Trout - Fall/Winter 2021 by Michigan Trout Unlimited

rayling Fly ur G yo Fi r s

eds Ne

Servicing all of Michigan's Prime Trout Rivers The market has never been more competitive. It's time to enlist a quality agent to guide you to your own Home Waters.

Chad and Mandy Brown

Michelle Millikin

Sean McDonald

chad@homewaters.net (231) 499-8292

michelle@homewaters.net (734) 474-9487

sean@homewaters.net (231) 510-2072

Au Sable and North Central Rivers

Muskegon, P.M. and Western MI Rivers

Broker/Owners

Boardman and Manistee Rivers

REALTOR

#1 on The Au Sable in 2020

The river market continues to be red hot throughout northern Michigan. We are seeing some inventory but not enough to keep up with buyer demand. It led to some truly impressive sales prices. Buyers really need to make sure they have quality representation to ensure they get first opportunity at the best properties and put themselves in a position to win out against other buyers. Sellers have never been in a better position and an experienced, professional agent can make sure they are able to capitalize on the current situation. Either way, HomeWaters is proud to have the finest agents in the state for those seeking to buy or sell riverfront. We're celebrating 15 years as a brokerage dedicated to the sale of riverfront and recreational properties across northern Michigan. It's what we do and we can help you when the time comes. Have a terrific winter!!!

Muskegon River Log Home & Acreage $1,900,000

North Branch Home & Acreage $184,900

Over 1,800' and 57 acres below Croton Nearly 20 acres on the Au Sable's Dam with large storage buildings as well lower North Branch with Contact Sean over 600' of frontage Contact Michelle

Au Sable Holy Water Vacant Reduced! $169,900 Very rare high and dry privacy with 3 acres and 292' of frontage between Stephan and Wakeley Contact Chad

D L SO

Au Sauble Holy Water Estate $1,000,000 llikin

697 Hannah Ave, Suite B, Traverse City, MI 49686

www.homewaters.net

Log lodge withl50 acres eM el and 1,600' iofch frontage between M Stephan By and Wakeley Bridges

Nestled in the heart of the Manistee National Forest, the historic log cabins of North Rivers overlook a peaceful spring creek setting on the upper Little Manistee River. Over a quarter-mile of private riverbank offers exceptional traditional dry fly fishing for native brook, wild brown and resident rainbow trout. Centrally located in true Michigan river country, the nearby Pere Marquette, Manistee, Pine and Big Sable rivers are all just minutes away. So much water to explore! Fly fishing instruction and casting lessons for individual or group classes available upon appointment. NORTHRIVERSLODGE.COM 1853 W. Old M63, LUTHER, MI NORTHRIVERSLODGE@GMAIL.COM (231) 266-6014

Fall/Winter 2021 MICHIGAN TROUT MAGAZINE P.O. Box 442 Dewitt, Michigan 48820-8820 (517) 599-5238 bryanburroughs@michigantu.org

In the state where Trout Unlimited was founded, Michigan TU will work to ensure clean, healthy streams and rivers supporting thriving populations of wild trout and salmon for future generations to enjoy.

CONTENTS 5

Chairman’s Report by Tom Mundt

The Critical Role of Wood in Michigan Rivers: Taking Action on the Upper Manistee by Kristin Thomas, Michigan TU Aquatic Ecologist

The Last Mile by David Batchelor

10 Celebrating 50 Years of the TU Fly Fishing School by Michael Traugott 11

The River by Mark Karaba, The Fly Factor

Michigan TU Chapter Updates by Joe Barker

A Few Good Spots by Josh Greenberg, Gates Au Sable Lodge

Winter Streamer Fishing by Brian Kozminski, True North Trout

2021 Michigan Trout Unlimited Awards by Tom Mundt

Streamer Fishing: How to Decide What Flies to Fish by Capt. Chuck Hawkins, Hawkins Outfitters

EDITOR Joe Barker (586) 206-1414 jbarker@michigantu.org PUBLISHER/PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Ron Peckens Fisheye Internet Solutions & Hosting LLC (248) 909-2916 www.fisheyeinternet.com ADVERTISING Gregory Walz (231) 409-3345 advertising@michigantu.org MICHIGAN TROUT UNLIMITED Chairman: Tom Mundt Vice Chairman: Gabe Schneider Treasurer: Robb Smith Sr. Secretary: Mike Lagowski Executive Director: Dr. Bryan Burroughs Aquatic Biologist: Kristin Thomas Past Chairman: Gregory Walz NLC Representative: Gregory Walz Development: Jim Cantril Operations & Finance: Tom Mundt Education: Greg Potter Chapter Assistance: Open Communications: Ron Peckens Conservation: Al Woody MICHIGAN TROUT is the official publication of Michigan Trout Unlimited. Copyright 2021. Issues are mailed to all members of Trout Unlimited Chapters throughout Michigan. Send all editorial correspondence to the editor. Advertising rate card is available at the

22 Where Water Meets Road: Stream following address https://bit.ly/3kPLoCf Restoration and Restoring the Safety in Our Michigan Trout and Michigan Trout Unlimited Infrastructure reserves the right to accept or reject by Chad Kotke, TU Great Lakes Stream Restoration proposed advertisements at their sole Specialist discretion. 24

Michigan Trout Unlimited Supporters

Cover photo by Sam Bosworth.

www.michigantu.org

These events and projects were achieved through the efforts of hundreds of TU volunteers statewide who devoted nearly 26,000 hours of their time to: •

Execute over 300 membership and fundraising events (primarily via zoom).

•

Engage in over 120 conservation projects (albeit socially distanced).

•

Participate in over 60 youth, women, and veterans events.

Thanks to chapter leadership and volunteers for their creativity, hard work, and dedication to engaging members and keeping the coldwater conservation programs rolling. Our state is benefitting from a cadre of TU National staff executing initiatives across Michigan to improve fish passage by constructing new state-of-the-art bridges and culverts and enhancing fish habitat by installing riparian and in-stream enhancements such as rain gardens, tree plantings, and

other structures. We welcome the TU National team as their projects complement the work performed by our chapters and the Michigan TU professional staff, which protects the state’s 30,000 plus miles of coldwater rivers and streams. Turning to the current fiscal year, the planning and permitting work performed by Michigan TU Aquatic Ecologist Kristin Thomas last summer is paying dividends. With boots firmly on the ground, the Upper Manistee team has mapped the river’s flow, charted its topography, and installed the first round of in-stream habitat, including hinge-cut timber along several miles of banks. In addition, the project’s original $100,000 seed money has been leveraged to secure additional funding to install more woody debris in 2022, maybe via a helicopter drop – stay tuned. Kristin and her team of interns also assisted several chapters in executing fish population surveys and other in-stream geomorphology projects this past summer. The Michigan TU staff initiated the drawdown of a dam contributing significant thermo-pollution within a tributary of Big Creek near Luzerne, Michigan. We had hoped to execute its removal this year but permitting has stalled so that the dam removal will be completed in 2022. Executive Director Bryan Burroughs continues to address many legislative/policy issues ranging from largequantity water withdrawals and dam safety/removal studies to evaluating the Army Corps of Engineers plan to prevent Asian carp migration into the Great Lakes. He has also been advocating for legislation to protect game fish, trout, salmon, perch, and walleye from commercial exploitation, and I am pleased to report that this issue has been placed on the legislative back burner for now. In closing, Michigan’s coldwater fisheries result from the state’s abundant aquifers and groundwater, providing a consistent and stable flow of cold water that creates an environment for trout and salmonids to thrive. To protect these waters, Michigan TU needs your help by donating during our annual year-end appeal, which will be mailed to our members around Thanksgiving. The funds generated provide the financial resources our professional staff needs to engage in the ever-growing list of issues impacting Michigan’s precious coldwater resources. Please take time to review the materials when received and donate to Michigan TU. For those reading this article who are not TU members but appreciate our work, please donate by visiting our website, www.michigantu.org. In the meantime, enjoy this issue of Michigan Trout and get out and enjoy your favorite trout, salmon, or steelhead stream before the hard-water fishing season begins in earnest.

Fall/Winter 2021

Mainly working remotely, in 2021, our chapter and Michigan TU teams collectively raised nearly $570,000 from private and public foundations, state and federal agencies, corporations, members, and other sources. In terms of expenses, $480,000 was invested in conservation initiatives (68%), fundraising activities (14%), education programs (10%), with the remaining 8% covering advocacy and general operating costs. The net result, Michigan TU and the chapters combined generated a net income of approximately $90,000, with about 60% provided by the chapters. Congratulations to all for delivering such solid results in less than ideal times.

by Tom Mundt

It’s hard to believe that the summer trout season has come to an end, the fall salmon runs are well underway, and winter steelhead fishing is just around the corner… where did the year ago? Well, I am pleased to report that Michigan Trout Unlimited fiscal year 2021 has been quite productive. But, before I provide a few highlights, I thought you would like to hear what the chapters and Michigan TU teams accomplished during the 18-plus months of the Covid-19 nightmare.

MICHIGAN Trout

Photo credit: Kevin Feenstra

Chairman’s Report

Michigan Trout Unlimited

MICHIGAN Trout

The Critical Role of Wood in Michigan Rivers: Taking Action on the Upper Manistee

by Kristin Thomas, Michigan TU Aquatic Ecologist

Fall/Winter 2021

The role of wood in Michigan rivers is an often discussed and debated topic among anglers and scientists alike. One thing is sure; wood is critical to the morphological and biological health of Michigan rivers. The morphological importance is especially pronounced in the sandy, low-gradient streams found in the Lower Peninsula. There is consensus that rivers were filled with wood before we chopped down all the trees and cleared the rivers for log drives—much more than we see in streams today. Clearcutting and driving logs not only removed all the wood in our rivers but also removed the source of new wood, interrupting recruitment for years to come. In addition, humans have continued to remove wood from streams and riparian areas, furthering the interruption in recruitment. The result is many streams which would benefit from more wood and more consistent recruitment of new wood. Wood is critical in Michigan streams not only as habitat for fish and aquatic insects, but also to the morphology or shape of the river. The structure that wood provides in our slow, sandy streams is what creates diversity of habitat. As water flows into a downed tree, it is forced to change direction and speed. These changes in the flow of water create deep pockets, areas of hard substrate, and slow areas for deposits of sand and silt.

and overhead cover. One big tree—all this habitat diversity. When these low gradients, sand-bed rivers lose their wood, and they lose their diversity. Water velocity is slow and monotonous, sand settles out, depth becomes uniform, and diversity decreases. We don’t have the big floods of higher gradient systems to flush out sand and create new habitats. Without these flushing flows, Michigan streams have a hard time repairing themselves. This is the scenario observed in much of the Upper Manistee River between Yellow Trees and CCC Bridge, especially between Yellow Trees and Rogers Landing. Wide, shallow, sandy stretches of the river. Corner pools that are deep but have minimal structure or cover. Old CCC structures were no longer doing their intended job. Every project partner who floated this stretch agreed there was not one spot that had too much wood. An increase would be of benefit just about everywhere. And so, a project was formed: a multi-tiered approach to adding wood to the Upper Manistee River. One of the project’s goals is to use a variety of techniques – hinge cuts, single whole trees, and groups of whole trees – to see which techniques work best. Which provide biological and morphological diversity? Which maintain themselves over time and look natural through time? Which will translate well to other low gradient sandy Michigan systems? A project with

Imagine a large tree has fallen into a stream you love to fish. The area where the tree fell was wide, sandy, and shallow. Typically, you would pass right by, thinking no fish here. But what do you think when you come to fish and see the new tree? Perhaps you think about the new pocket of deep water that will form downstream of that tree as water flows quickly over the tree, churning and moving sand on the downstream side. Maybe you also see slow water upstream of the tree and think of a new spot for sand, or perhaps silt to settle out—new Hex habitat. You might also look at the tip of the tree and see a bubble line. Notice that water is being pushed to the middle of the stream. Maybe that increase in velocity will move some sand and uncover gravel. The concentration of flow might create more depth towards the middle of the stream as well. You may also think of big fish hiding under the new structure, eating insects that colonize the Upper Manistee River hinge cuts, crisscrossed in pools to create diverse cover and wood, and enjoying the shade, deep water, habitat.

www.michigantu.org

In the meantime, monitoring of the hinge cuts has begun. Assessment of each area where trees were cut has been conducted, which includes noting information about the bottom substrate, water depth, structure stability, substrate deposition, aquatic vegetation, and most importantly, taking photographs. Rapids assessments will be conducted for the next three years to track changes in the river and structures. We will be watching for positive changes expected in the form of habitat diversity and also looking out for any unexpected negative changes. The only way to improve upon our methods and the associated outcomes is to monitor with open minds. It is hoped a few of you will conduct some hook and line surveys in the treatment areas and let us know what you find. This work was identified and completed through the Upper Manistee Collaborative. Funding was provided by a Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Habitat Grant and through Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Funds granted by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

The Legacy of a River is an amazing gift… Please consider including Michigan Trout Unlimited in your estate plans, trust or will. The legacy you leave will help ensure Michigan’s cold waters and trout live on. Michigan TU has a helpful guide to planned giving options that can both benefit you as well as providing a legacy to coldwater protection. To view this brochure, visit www.michigantu.org/plannedgiving, or request a paper copy from Bryan Burroughs, Executive Director bryanburroughs@michigantu.org

Fall/Winter 2021

Hinge-cutting work was completed in August. In total, 135 trees were cut into the river between Yellow Trees and CCC Bridge. Many were red pines located in corner pools. These trees were cut to add habitat diversity for pools in the form of cover for fish, habitat for macroinvertebrates, and variety in the velocity and direction of flowing water. To maximize cover and secure trees in place, they were often crisscrossed on top of each other, both to create a tangled mess of branches for fish and bugs to live in and to secure them in place. There will

There were also several long, wide, shallow runs where trees were cut on alternating sides to push water towards the middle of the stream. These trees were angled to provide a location for sand and silt to deposit upstream, create small pockets of deep water downstream, and push water towards the middle of the river to develop a more consolidated channel. The objectives were to add physical habitat for fish and macroinvertebrates while creating a diversity of velocity and pockets of deep water and providing areas for fine substrate to deposit. The next phase in these areas is to add whole trees to the stream channel to diversify flow further and provide cover and habitat. These trees will be placed by a helicopter drop in the fall of 2022.

The various treatments are being implemented in phases. Phase one was to partially cut riparian trees to fall in the river for habitat, also known as hinge cuts. In most cases, the trees create cover and diversity of velocity in corner pools, providing places for big fish to hide and eat. In some cases, trees were cut to push water towards the middle of the river in wide shallow areas to mimic that big fallen tree we talked about earlier. Creating a place for big fish and bugs to live, the slow water upstream might become colonized with aquatic vegetation and create excellent shallow water habitat for juvenile fish. In all cases, the goal was an increase in habitat diversity. The hinge cutting technique was chosen for various reasons: the area is hard to access, and bringing trees in overland would be difficult, expensive, and disruptive. Other groups had been experimenting with hinge cuts with success. It is a “natural” method for adding wood mimicking the natural order of things; trees grow tall and old, water moves along the bank, and eventually, they fall in the stream.

be future work to build up the inside of these bends to narrow the stream and provide additional depth in some locations.

MICHIGAN Trout

a purpose greater than itself; improve the Upper Manistee but also work together as a team to determine in a broader context what works well for similar rivers. This means monitoring is a big piece of the project. The only way to see what happens after the wood is placed is to monitor depth, substrate, river shape, and macroinvertebrates to see how things change.

Michigan Trout Unlimited

MICHIGAN Trout

The Last Mile

by David Batchelor

Fall/Winter 2021

Evening was approaching as we drove through the young stands of trees and slash barrens that used to be beautiful stands of mature pines and hardwoods. One could feel the arid heat sap their body. The sand and gravel two-track gradually narrowed as we approached the small opening in the trees where we would park and begin our trek to the river. The trail was indiscernible to those who do not know the area or have not bushwhacked the wilds. So it was that my quest to fish the most remote stretches of the Mason Tract began. The journey started over 40 years ago when I was working in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources under the leadership of Howard Tanner, whose vision established the incredible Great Lakes salmon fishery. Several of us in the Biology Section fished the Betsie, Manistee, and Pere Marquette rivers for fall-run steelhead and salmon using spinners provided by Jim Bedford, who was a chemist at the state water quality laboratory. William “Bill” Turney, the deputy director of environmental protection, introduced me to the world of fly tying and fishing in 1974. He was a very accomplished fly tier and fisher in his own right, having taken 20-inch trout on a size 20 fly. The allure and challenges of tying flies and fly fishing were as frustrating as they were rewarding. I was hooked. Bill taught me the basics and gave me a vise and some materials to get started. His patience was admirable. I remember showing him my first Adams and him saying, “That’s a very nice spider.” The heavily-weighted flies I tied for steelhead and salmon were laughable and probably illegal. They left welts on my head and never hooked a fish. Years passed before learning how to cast and mend line to get an unweighted fly down to the steelhead and salmon with a natural drift or swing to entice a take. So it was that my fly fishing journey began—a trip without a path and destinations unknown. Years later, Bill, a mutual friend Jim Powers, and I would take a trip to Alaska. Their tutelage provided the opportunity to join the Upper Manistee River Association. Another fork in the road landed a young biologist doing limnological research on the Great Lakes in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water as a senior policy advisor for market-based environmental programs. You just never know where your experiences and friends will take you! I first fly fished the Mason Tract of the South Branch Au Sable River in the late 70s, and it was then I met Ann and Jack Schweigert. They had come to the “North Country” at a young age during the 1920s when Northern Michigan

was recovering from the exploitation of the mid-late 1800s lumbering era. Ann once said, “The area was just greening over after being cut off when we first saw it. The loggers were gone, and it was before paved roads and highways began to bring people in…what once had been the great north woods.” They said they had “seen the best days of the river” and pictures of large brook and brown trout they caught benchmarked the size of trout taken in the 1930s. In 1949, they established Jack’s Rod and Fly Shop in Roscommon. The season opener always began there. Each trip was mixed with a long-awaited renewal of our friendship as well as a return to the river. Stocking up on Ann’s flies, Jack’s hand-tied tapered leaders, and fly dope were as much a tradition as the opener itself. They taught me how to read the river, about the fish that live there, to “leave no tracks,” and what it is to be a fly fisherman. Jack’s poem “The Fisherman” holds as much wisdom now as then: It’s not the man that has a rod

That costs him quite a sum.

It’s not the man that’s all dressed up

Or looks like a bum.

It’s not the man that flips his bait

On any little spot.

It’s the man that has the grateful smile,

If they’re biting, or if not.

It’s not the man the mixes up

The fishing with his beer,

It’s not the man that’s loaded up

So he can’t think things clear

It’s not the man the walks right through

Your favorite fishing spot,

It’s the man that has a grateful smile,

If they’re biting, or if not.

It’s not the man with no respect

For anglers on the stream,

It’s not the man that throws in cans

www.michigantu.org

That makes things so unclean,

It’s not the man that hogs the fish

From morn to the setting sun,

It’s the man that smiles at a half-filled creel Because he “Fishes Just For Fun.”

The most precious gift a fly fisher can give another is to share their fishing spots on the river. They are places of peace, solitude, and beauty unspoiled by the lumberman’s ax, the intrusive sounds of human activity, or the presence of others. They are cathedrals of hundred-year-old white pines that stand as sentinels along the banks, aromatic cedar swamps, and thick spruce stands that cradle the river as it is nurtured by cold life-giving springs, and places of tangled logjams holding incredibly beautiful strong, yet fragile wild trout. They are sanctuaries where one can almost touch the stars, and the Milky Way literally wraps space and time around them. They are sacred secretive stretches of river that hold big fish and are only known by a few.

How many more years are left and how many new paths remain are unknown as age takes its toll. When your fishing friends are 20 to 30 years younger than you, it causes pause. One must be very grateful for the many excursions on the river, the beavers and the bears, the fish taken and those lost, and the friends made along the journey to the last mile.

Dan Atherton and I met several years ago at Daisy Bend, where we greeted each other, leaving the river well after others were gone. We shared many stories of the river and our encounters with fish that had come to net or escaped capture. It was Dan that asked me if I wanted to go where I had never been. As we followed the obscure path to the river, I remembered the only other time I had waded a stretch of river for the first time at night. It was not a good experience, and I vowed I would never do it again. Never say never! When the river appeared in front of us, it was like going back to the time when the North Country was still untouched. Huge white pines towered above one bank with tag alders hugging the other. The river was dark and deep, holding secrets of the past and the promises of things to come. The scent of pine resin and the river filled the air as we walked upstream on the pine needle covered path to where we entered the water across from a large logjam. Dan got in first and waded upstream a short distance to another logjam in the middle of the river, where we sat and waited for the inevitable drake hatch to occur. Dan grew up in Roscommon and has fished this water for over 25 years. The previous night he caught five fish at the logjam and lost one over 20 inches. He described the river upstream and down, telling me of the holes, bends, logjams, and hidden timber. We watched as a beaver swam

Newaygo fly and tackle @newaygo_fly_Tackle newaygoflyandtackle.com 8426 S. Mason Dr. Newaygo

Swing

in and visit, we look forward to meeting you.

We support Michigan small businesses

Fall/Winter 2021

For several years, I tried to learn what that part of the river was like and how to get there. I asked guides to wade the river with me—all with no luck. Josh Greenberg, the owner of Gates Au Sable Lodge, cautioned me not to go alone due to deep water, muck bogs, patches of clay, heavy timber, and the remoteness of the area. It seemed unreachable.

Fish began to rise as darkness fell upon the river. A very nice trout came up just below where we were sitting, and it was only proper that Dan make the first cast. Another fish was feeding downstream above the logjam, where we entered the river. I quietly waded into position and waited before casting a fly of Ann’s tied on Jack’s processed leader material. The first cast brought a beautiful wild brown trout to hand. So it was that my dream of one day wading and fishing the entire Mason Tract became a reality.

Over the ensuing years, I’ve had the privilege to wade and fish almost the entire Mason Tract from Chase Bridge to Canoe Harbor, sometimes with friends, but many times alone at night during the Drake and Hex hatches or mousing. The journey that began decades earlier has taken me down dusty trails along miles of the South Branch, through majestic stands of pine, bogs, and dense cedar swamps. I had explored, waded, and fished all but about three-quarters of a mile of the most remote, difficult to access, and wild section of the Mason Tract.

The water level was a foot below normal, well below late summer levels, and it was still May. Winter had been mild, with snowfall three feet less than average according to some estimates. Abnormally high temperatures in the 80s and 90s with little rain had exposed the wiggler beds and raised the water temperature to a dangerously high level. This trend has been progressing over the last five to ten years, and some believe it may be affecting the spawning and survival of brook trout. One can debate the causes, but the weather patterns are definitely changing.

MICHIGAN Trout

upriver within ten feet of us to a slide where it went up the bank to get a mouthful of herbaceous plants and then swam downstream to give them to its young. It repeated this process many times and later reappeared to let us know we were invading its territory.

Michigan Trout Unlimited

MICHIGAN Trout

Celebrating 50 Years of the TU Fly Fishing School

by Michael Traugott

Fall/Winter 2021

Delaying an anniversary celebration is always difficult, but Covid-19 was responsible for the Trout Unlimited Fly Fishing School (TUFFS) waiting a year to celebrate its 50th. But this past June at Ranch Rudolf, we did. I’ve been an instructor for 47 of those years, and it was worth the wait. An officially sanctioned activity of the Michigan Council of TU, the volunteer instructors at TUFFS were recognized this year with the Art Neumann Award for their sustained efforts to support the Council’s mission across this period.

Over time, the school has developed a curriculum that combines a detailed and specific approach to casting as well as an introduction to entomology and fly selection and how to choose appropriate tackle for particular fishing situations. The students only need to bring waders to the school as loaner rods and reels are provided, along with a small selection of flies, leaders, tippet material, and essential tools. Each student receives a copy of a handbook that summarizes all this information that they can take home as a valuable resource.

TUFFS started in 1971 as a way to help TU members improve their casting skills. But it soon expanded its mission to include instruction for members of the general public and as a way to promote the conservation and preservation of coldwater resources that form the basis of many TU activities.

The instruction takes place in the classroom with practice on the lawn and in the stream. In the basic curriculum, Friday afternoon involves an introduction to the principles of casting and lawn practice. On Saturday morning, students pass through a sequence of in-stream demonstrations in groups. They cover dry fly, nymph, and streamer techniques, as well as a demonstration of insect life found in the typical trout stream. The casting demonstrations deploy “pink trout”—metal fish anchored in the stream in typical lies, with the instructor demonstrating fly presentations in those circumstances. In the afternoon, there is more practice and then an in-stream session to try wading and learn the difference between casting and fishing. Sunday morning has various activities involving student choice of casting and in-stream work, and graduation takes place after lunch. There are also evening activities that include fly tying sessions, videos, and presentations by instructors about different aspects of fly fishing, including conservation.

All of the TUFFS instructors are volunteers, and most have been with the school for decades. I participate because of the joy and satisfaction of seeing students learn and develop their casting skills. I can see it when their eyes light up as their practice cast lays out in a straight line instead of in a puddle or when they catch a trout on a fly they tied the night before. The students come as individuals, as couples, and sometimes as multigenerational families. Many of them are repeat students because they enjoy the experience and the setting as well as learn more about the sport. Occasionally, there has been a notable student like the ambassador from New Zealand, who comes from one of the fly fishing meccas of the world. Our approach to casting instruction is to explain the dynamics of line control, the way in which the fly line follows the tip of the rod, and how a tight loop improves accuracy. One goal is to have the students understand the mechanics of casting, so the line settles on the water in a straight line, and what might be the cause when it doesn’t so they can make an adjustment. TUFFS is held once a year on the “free fishing” weekend in Michigan. There is a full curriculum that runs from Friday at noon to Sunday afternoon. The emphasis is on casting instruction, the basic skill for successful fly fishing, and it is offered at three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Most of the participants are beginners; some have fished before—even with a fly rod—but would like to benefit from expert instruction on the basics of casting. The intermediate students have experience fly fishing but want to work on their specialty casts. The advanced students spend more time on the stream to learn the necessary skills for success in specific fishing situations. There are about 50 participants each year, occasionally more.

TUFFS runs based on continuous evaluation and improvement. A small group of instructors acts as an administrative committee that meets monthly for planning and logistics. We conduct a survey of participants after every school measuring satisfaction and soliciting suggestions for improvement. Those results are built into a careful review of the content and structure of the school. As one of the longestrunning fly fishing schools in America, we think we are well organized and structured but understand, for example, that the technology of tackle is continuously changing, and there are always new online resources that participants can consult. If we were to design a location to teach fly fishing, it wouldn’t look very different than Ranch Rudolf. Located in Northern Michigan, not far from Traverse City, the Boardman River runs through the property. There are extensive lawns and two ponds for practice casting. In addition to a dining room and bar for evening socializing, there are well-equipped rooms for presentations, including video projection. To learn more about the TU Fly Fishing School, go to www. TUFFS.org.

www.michigantu.org

MICHIGAN Trout

The River

When we get older, we can selectively recall pleasant experiences that make us feel good and even cause us to smile and possibly alter our mood for a brief moment. The older we get, the more movies we store in that place in our brain that allows us to recall them when we make time to be quiet and still. Lying in bed at night and struggling with sleep is when I find myself searching through the archives in my brain and trying to recall a peacefully soothing event from the past that relaxes me, eventually leading to sleep. These happy thoughts usually involve moving water; rivers and streams, and trout. I think of places I have been and fished, and occasionally fish I have caught or lost. But mostly, I think of the places themselves. Beautiful places. Quiet places. Most of these places would be in Northern Michigan, but there are many choices of places with flowing water and pleasant sights, sounds, and smells for me to reflect on. I have been fortunate to have been in more than my share of beautiful places in my fifty-plus years of fishing—the barren landscape of the subarctic in Northern Quebec and the brilliant spawning colors of the large brook trout; the endless wild and remoteness of Labrador; the mountain streams and rivers of West Virginia and Tennessee in the springtime; the Two Hearted and so many rivers of the U.P. of Michigan that offer an uncrowded and semi-wilderness experience. I think of the yellow warblers along the banks of Augusta Creek close to my home and the downstream swing of a wet fly on water too skinny for a back cast. The redbud, dogwoods, and laurel in the mountains of the South, and the most wonderful and perfect fly-fishing water of the famed Au Sable River here in Michigan. If I am able to totally lose myself in these pleasant recollections, I can smell the sweet ferns and cedar along the banks of a

Northern Michigan river. I can recall the close, interactive feeling of wet wading on a warm summer afternoon, to actually FEEL the water. Watching a delicate, dainty mayfly drift by on the surface, and the cedar waxwings perched above, waiting like me, for the anticipated flight of these life-sustaining insects in the coolness of the Northern evening. The total joy of a stretch of wild water to have to yourself and realize you can stop, sit on a log and just be there. Alone. And no one is coming behind you or above you on the river today. Just you and the joyous sounds of the yellow warblers flitting along the bank, the deep blue sky above, and all the time in the world to stop and just watch the river. And think about all that matters and push away from thoughts about all that does not matter, and think about the river and how alive it is. As alive as any bird or tree or plant, or myself. And I think these thoughts when sleep won’t come to me, and it is the most pleasant thoughts to have in the last waking moments before slumber finally comes. And one can only hope that our dreams are filled with such clean, free-flowing rivers of thought, as sleep eventually overtakes our anxious, sometimes worrisome, waking life.

Fall/Winter 2021

In the fall of one’s life, it is a time of pause and reflection—the fullness of a mostly used up allowance of time here on this rock and a lot less looking ahead. In the case of a life spent in the outdoors, it is like a constant flow of old movies—playing out in that ever-expanding theater of the mind.

by Mark Karaba,The Fly Factor

Michigan Trout Unlimited

MICHIGAN Trout

Michigan TU Chapter Updates

12 Fall/Winter 2021

Frank “Bob” Perrin/Lansing Chapter The Lansing area Frank “Bob” Perrin chapter has had a recent revival of chapter activities. This began with an effort by the former president Bob Ceru, who had a vision of the chapter becoming active in a local coldwater resource. With the guidance of Jim Bedford, an expert on coldwater fisheries within the state, a piece of water was identified. Jim recommended Prairie Creek, located just outside Ionia (shown in the photo above), and utilized an established relationship with a landowner. Thus, the Prairie Creek Project was born. In 2020, the chapter’s grant submission was selected by the Trout Unlimited Embrace-a-Stream program, which partnered with Orvis to help fund projects aimed at coldwater fisheries. The chapter was awarded $6,000 from EAS with a fundraising week in November 2020, which earned an additional $4,837. Project Chair Dan Oberst heads the project. Without his help and leadership, this project would not have been possible. As with most activities in early 2021, the beginning was difficult due to local health restrictions and an uncertain future. Despite these challenges, Dan and the chapter were able to begin in-person work in June. The project set out to improve over 1,000 feet of stream habitat, build and install 20 log habitat structures, cut over a mile of angler access trail, and plant trees as needed throughout the work area. An underlying goal for this project was chapter engagement and revitalization. The chapter has experienced a growth of active members who volunteered their time and efforts to bring the Prairie Creek Project to life. They are optimistic that 2022 will provide opportunities to continue work on the creek with new projects and assist other chapters with their knowledge and experience. Headwaters Chapter The last few months have been very productive for the Headwaters Chapter, thanks to their members that supported events this year. The chapter sent a team out to work on the cedars project on the Deward Tract of the Upper Manistee River. Less than a dozen trees did not survive, and quite a few were upgraded with larger cages as many trees had grown. Chapter teams also participated in the Au Sable River cleanup and conducted an annual macroinvertebrate survey with the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council. The chapter is getting closer to fully implementing its sustained giving program. The website is functional, and the chapter is working on the premiums from hats to shirts. It is a very good program to get more people involved with the chapter and provide some cool rewards for sustained support. The chapter is very close to starting its “barbless hook fly box” fundraising event, where 38 unique fly boxes have been

by Joe Barker

made from wood at the property where Trout Unlimited was created. Details will be available from the chapter’s Facebook page on the unique history offered by these boxes and the wood used to make them. The Headwaters Chapter recently held its annual Cast and Blast weekend camp and opener for the archery whitetail season. It had a few folks out to enjoy the weather in the northern section of the Pigeon River Country, and they were serenaded each night and morning by the elk herd that is still in rut. Mershon-Neumann Heritage Chapter Working in collaboration with the Rifle River Restoration Committee, the Mershon-Neumann Heritage Chapter placed onion bag dispensers at four popular landings along the Rifle River. The project, designed to encourage people using the river to remove trash, started July 1 and saw immediate results. Landowners and canoe liveries monitor and restock the boxes weekly with the bags, sponsored by Greenstone Farm Credit Services. The Women ‘n Waders event was held on September 11 at the Saginaw Bay Visitor’s Center for the fifth year. Each participant learned the basics to start fly fishing. David Humphries of Scientific Anglers and the DNR provided donations to assure each woman had a good start with the equipment needed to get out on the water. The Family Fly Fishing Fun Festival was held on September 12 at the Saginaw Field and Stream. Members of the Kalamazoo Valley Chapter, Coast Guard, Bay County Health Department, and Creative 360 helped the chapter educate and entertain more than 60 participants in casting, bug identification, yoga for anglers, fly and knot tying, crafts, water safety, and casting competitions. The chapter’s partnership with Creative 360 continues with “Yoga on the Fly” on Tuesday, December 7, from 6:00-7:30 pm at the Wirt Library in Bay City. Participants will learn yoga moves to reduce tension at the fly tying bench while tying a few simple flies. To join, register through the chapter’s Facebook page, www. facebook.com/mershon.tu. Victoria Hankins and Laurie Seibert attended the Friends Involved In Sportsfishing Heritage program. Michigan State University Saginaw County 4-H and the M.S.U. Extension Office present F.I.S.H. to teach hands-on ways to get youth excited about fishing and becoming good stewards of the water systems. This program has provided the chapter with resources and networking to expand its youth program considerably. Kalamazoo Valley Chapter After taking the year off in 2021, Michigan’s TU Youth and Conservation Camp will be returning in 2022. While some changes should be expected with Covid-19, the camp’s mission

www.michigantu.org remains the same: to provide a safe and fun environment for campers to learn the values of TU.

MICHIGAN Trout

After years of ensuring the camp’s flawless operations codirectors, Alan Brooks (KVCTU) and Paul Meyer (Adams Chapter) will be stepping down this year as directors. Alan and Paul took over the Youth Camp in 2014 with no formalized schedule or budget. Since that time, Paul and Alan have incorporated new systems and processes that helped track equipment, budget, and logistics of the camp to streamline and maximize the efficiency of the personnel and resources involved in making it such a success. While their leadership as directors will be missed, their knowledge and skills will still be available to campers as they both plan to remain involved as camp counselors.

Campers will have an opportunity to test out the skills they learn on historic stretches of the nearby Au Sable River with the oversight of counselors. An evening river float trip with some of the Grayling area’s finest river captains is a cherry on top of the camp’s activities, leaving campers with knowledge and confidence as they grow as TU’s future leaders and conservationists. Camp dates are Sunday, June 19th through Thursday, June 23rd. With approximately 20 seats available, campers ranging in ages from 14-17 are encouraged to contact their local TU chapter if interested in enrolling. Additional information will be posted on the KVCTU.org and michigantu.org websites, with camper applications and other important dates. The camp is also looking to add camp counselors and medical personnel. If interested in sharing skills or a desire to teach coldwater conservation to our youth, please contact Jon Chizmadia at jon.chizmadia@kvctu.org or phone (269) 251-5368. Paul H. Young Chapter In September, the Paul Young Chapter reluctantly had to cancel its annual golf outing due to severe weather. The board of directors has already made plans to reschedule the event for March 24, 2022, and has decided to change the venue to Top Golf in Auburn Hills. The chapter feels the new location will be better suited for non-golfers and cannot be canceled due to weather. The chapter held its fall Wa Wa Sum Lodge weekend in late September. Member volunteers assisted the Anglers of the Au Sable with cedar plantings on the Upper Manistee River. The chapter continues to support this great effort with both donations and volunteer hours. Last spring, they were able to release several cedars from their cages. It was gratifying to have planted the trees, nurtured them, maintained the cages, and brought them to a self-sustaining state. Wayne Memorial High School has been added to the chapter’s

Challenge Chapter The Challenge Chapter was part of the Family-Friendly Fishing Events at the Johnson Nature Center throughout the summer. The chapter provided technical assistance and support to the families who bring their kids to learn the joys of fishing. The Nature Center has a large pond that is closed to fishing all year except for these days. Naturally, the fish cooperate, and everyone leaves happy. The chapter is looking forward to the 2022 fishing season, where it will continue the partnership with the Nature Center and support the Youth Fishing Program. If other chapters would like to participate, the number of days can be expanded in 2022. Please contact one of the board members on its website, www. challengechapter.org The chapter started 50 years ago with seven members. The chapter name “Challenge” was chosen on this premise: “… as a continual reminder or challenge to protect, preserve and restore coldwater fisheries for Michigan.” To that end, the chapter has been providing “Trout Angler Guides” that are dedicated to saving anglers time and provide valuable information as to popular streams. Current titles include Pigeon River Country, Au Sable Holy Waters (Burton’s Landing to Wakeley Bridge), Lower Au Sable Trophy Waters (McMaster’s Bridge to Oscoda), Pere Marquette River, Boardman and Jordan Rivers (soon to be updated), Manistee River, and the Steelheader’s Guide (five rivers). Each guide book includes a history of the area, specific directions to access sites within a tenth of a mile, stream depth, bottom, width, current flow, trout cover, detailed maps, and a schedule of crucial fly hatches. The guides can be found at local fly shops or the chapter’s website. Pere Marquette Chapter PMTU is working with the Conservation Resource Alliance

...continued on page 23

Fall/Winter 2021

The 2022 youth camp will be housed at the Michigan DNR’s Ralph A. McMullan Conference Center on North Higgins Lake Roscommon, Michigan. Campers will have the The Family Fly Fishing Fun Festival participated in the by the Mershon-Neumann Heritage opportunity to learn from counselors Chapter. with generations of experience both in and outside of Michigan. Campers Salmon in the Classroom program. will not only learn both fly and conventional fishing techniques but will also take the time to emphasize the importance of coldwater The chapter’s board of directors has decided to update their conservation and how to ensure the future of trout. In addition, chapter logo. The idea is to have something that works well on campers will learn lure making, fly tying, knots, advanced fly things like t-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, and stickers. casting techniques, and, most importantly, have some fun.

Michigan Trout Unlimited

MICHIGAN Trout

A Few Good Spots

by Josh Greenberg, Gates Au Sable Lodge

Fall/Winter 2021

This past summer, I found three new fishing spots hidden within the same river I’ve always fished. A winter midnight’s glass of brown water has reminded me of this.

bouncing off tannic grease. My youngest hyperventilated with excitement. I shipped water netting the thing well before it was ready to be netted.

I spent an unusual amount of time in these spots. Two of the spots became favorites because the pandemic had canceled all of my kids’ activities except fishing with dad, and these spots were right for the kids.

Spot #2: They Only Come Out at Night

None of these spots will be described as accurately as the trout fishing they entertained. Spot #1: The Pandemic Pool, or The Rainbow Well A vast, shallow riffle funnels into a long sweeping left bend with a back eddy for a pool-heart and a giant logjam at the tail-out as an exclamation point. The spring rainbows stage in this pool before shooting up into the riffle to spawn. I fished this pool both on foot with my oldest and by boat with my youngest son. This was during snowmelt and lockdown when just going fishing had a tinge of anarchy. It’s a good nymphing spot. No, it’s a great nymphing spot. At first, I fished the edge of the back eddy by tightline (me) or by indicator rig (kids). But then, on a sunny day when the black stones were everywhere, I saw, just upstream off the middle shelf, the flapping tail of a subsurface-feeding brown, and caught him sight casting a small, weighted streamer tied on a jig hook. God, that was cool. At the time, things were really locked down and unknown. At the fly shop, we were putting orders in a Yeti cooler for outdoor pickup. Things were weird. After work – which seemed somewhat illegal, at the time – I’d grab a kid and just go back to the pool, which I began to think of as the Rainbow Well. You can’t really see anything but nature around it. Nature was the only part of this new life that still resembled the old life. My youngest caught an enormous rainbow there. That fish hooked itself and just went careening through the air, repeatedly, like a drop of prismatic water

Along a marshy meadow, a covert, shallow muck flat above an enormous and well-fished pool fills up with big trout once the Hex flies have begun hatching. I’ve become something of a wading enthusiast. I love to wade fish. I love to fish by myself. I love to fish exactly how I want to fish. And I think that, at heart, fly fishing is a solitary pursuit, though I make certain allowances at times. One of the treasures awaiting the wading enthusiast is the little niches that boat anglers will pass up in favor of more obvious and supposedly greener meadows. I came to Spot #2 after a disastrous night on the South Branch with my friend Tanker. He caught everything, and I caught next to nothing, during a beautiful Hex spinner flight. Being frustrated after midnight is kind of a collegiate thing. But life is short. I left Tanker – somewhat rudely – on the South Branch and drove across the county to try a little spot I’d scouted out earlier that spring. As I write this, I don’t remember much from earlier that night on the South Branch other than emotion. But

www.michigantu.org

One night, we had use of a friend’s night vision goggles. Say what you want, but they were awesome! They cost $125 on Amazon, and we never used them in a truly unsporting fashion.

But what I’m about to describe is an absolute meltdown.

By the end of those four nights, we knew every fish in that spot, including the sucker that showed up near the end of each night to kiss at the accumulated bugs within the logjam. We caught most of the trout. Not all of them, but most of them. And at the end of those four nights, they were all back to rising. That last night my oldest hooked and lost a new and enormous fish from behind the jam. He managed, also, a bright, silver bullet rainbow that we’d not heard before. It was a beautiful midsummer Hex dream, except every fish – picked over and rising in a full moon – was caught on a repurposed brown drake spinner fished on 4x fluorocarbon; a sort of unmatching of the hatch that would make for a very weird Fly Fisherman article.

After my terrible evening on the South Branch, I failed to check my tippet. I cast over the big rising fish in Spot #2 and broke the fish off on the hookset. I then retied to the same tippet and hooked the same fish about a halfhour later…and broke it off again. Yes, it’s true. Total true confession. I lost my marbles. I then heard another fish upstream, and – with fresh tippet – made an absolutely stupid hurling javelin-throw of a cast far into the upstream shadow with all the anger and rage I had in my body powering that loop as far as I could… and that distant, unseen, noise repeated itself. I set the hook with vigor, to say the least, and fought the fish slowly to the net. It would be one of my biggest trout of the year. A beautiful hen brown. It was very late at night. I developed a tender fascination for that spot. At dusk, the trout would leave the deep hole downstream and swim up over a sand hump just downstream of the muck flat, their wakes, like clockwork, appearing at about 10:15 pm. There, presumably, they would fin in formation until the bugs began hatching. I never did much with spinners in there, just the late hatching Hex. They were great trout, each of them. They were unbothered fish, being as they were nearly in a side channel, and rising, as they did, with imperceptibility. The only bad thing that happened there was I ripped my waders.

After we finished fishing that last night, we heard a curse from the only other vehicle in the parking lot. I knew what it was: A man had locked his keys in his vehicle. We gave him a ride to…nowhere. It was two in the morning, and the tow truck couldn’t be reached for some reason, and AAA earned an “F” for usefulness. I decided to loan him my vehicle, and he drove two hours to his home so he could grab his other set of keys – and his seriously unhappy wife – to return to his secret trout spot to reclaim his car, return my truck and, to my delight, gift me a bottle of excellent whiskey, the sipping of which, on a cold February night, spawned this quick reverie; though the words of it, like that gifted whiskey, have suddenly run dry.

Winner: 2020

Spot #3: The Loaded Log Jam In the heart of where everyone fishes, there lies a jam that, oddly, no one was fishing for four consecutive nights… so we just kept fishing it. When I had the kids tugging on me to play the part of after school activity, childhood peer, parent, fishing buddy, educator…I just kept taking them to this spot because it was the first available spot we came to unoccupied. It’s not my spot. Hell, it might be your spot. But for four nights, it was our spot. This was right around the Fourth of July, and there wasn’t a rising trout that hadn’t been worked, and a bunch of them had already been caught, and if the four nights we had in this spot aren’t a lesson in the effectiveness of catch and release, I don’t know what is. It’s a big, old, historic, south-bank log jam. It’s the kind of spot where the water in an otherwise slow stretch of river is just ever so slightly funneled, and the trout rise all-around the log jam. We named them either by the rise or by what they looked like after we caught them. We had the backwater beast we called the King until the younger caught it. But the King looked so silly, with his pronounced underbite, we called him Doofus afterward, and when we heard him rising the next night, we said that’s Doofus and cast at the other ones. We had the roamer we called Shifty. We had the Fish-With-No-Lips that I couldn’t get the

Fall/Winter 2021

I see the moon over the marshy meadow. I feel the suck of the muck on my knees. I hear the sound of a big fish feeding alongside a single log in what I’d later learn was about eight inches of water.

hook in. We had Heron Spot – the nice brown with the scar that I know was also caught in April. And we had a few that we called a-holes.

MICHIGAN Trout

what happened post-South Branch, at Spot #2, I sense with liquid clarity, if only because I nearly quit fly-fishing because of it. But here goes.

Authentic Wilderness

John Gubbins

John Gubbins h job as biograph of Theodore Gor flyfishers....anyo great angling ta not only inform Gary Borger, Aut Nymphing, and

John Gubbins h Gordon's life, as person of many to me, a conser this book down Bert Darrow, Au Theodore Gordo

John Gubbins has taken all that Gordon has written by and a few gaps and reveals him a real human being...not only did about Gordon, he painstakingly tied the flies Gordon develo work. So does the book. Harry Peterson, President Emeritus, Western Colorado Univers

The American Fly Fishing Experience Theodore Gordon: His Lost Flies and Last Sentiments For Books and Inquiries: Amazon - Kindle and Paperback John Gubbins, 665 Tony's Lane, Ishpeming MI 49849 PH: 906-869-6679 ∙ profoundriver@gmail.com (paperba

Michigan Trout Unlimited Photo credit: Sam Bosworth

MICHIGAN Trout

Winter Streamer Fishing

by Brian Kozminski,True North Trout

Fall/Winter 2021

“How’s the fishing?” The lady on the bank genuinely inquired. “We got one in the net, had a few follows—decent day,” my buddy in the bow replied. “But we are just getting to the good water,” I retorted. “I would go get my drift boat out of the garage, but I only dry fly fish,” she said as she adjusted her position on the deck above the quick-flowing seam. “What did she just say?” Sam asked. “She only dry fly fishes. That eliminates like eight to nine months of the year on the river,” I pondered. It is an unusually warm early winter day on the river with guide Sam DeJonge of Wild Rise Outfitters. A pleasant air temperature of 47 degrees, we are toasty in fleece and the guides on my TFO Axiom II have not seen ice since last winter. Water temperature is 40 degrees, we are seeing intermittent clouds. We were hoping for a steel-wool, cloud-covered day, but the sun manages to brighten a few runs along the way. We will fish all winter as long as boat launches are accessible. Solid advice to always check the takeout before you put in; they might not get plowed or are a treacherous skating pond from snow melt and re-freeze. Don’t get me wrong. I get as excited as the next guy/ gal seeing that first bug pop in early spring and an eager trout slurps it under the surface. But the streamer game; it gets my heart pumping like nothing else. For most anglers who chase apex predators, it’s all about the MEAT. Why does it seem intimidating? What is the hesitation for an angler to take the next step and buy a 7-weight? Or even an 8 or 9? I would surmise, in most cases, it is more about hurling a six-inch wet tube sock through the air that may cause some trepidation, but that doesn’t need be the scenario. Let’s look at the basics. The hardware—line, rod, reel and flies— coupled with the application of river reading, where to place a tasty morsel for hungry trout, and how to retrieve your offering are the stuff books are written about. I will break it down for you in three stages: The Gear, The Flies. and The Water. The Gear Rod choice—One of the most important tools in the formula. One should choose a rod that can lift and deliver a larger fly to a sometimes tight or difficult location. Best rod weights from 6 to 10 depend really upon the river and

species you are chasing and the proficiency of the angler. Smaller streamers like Zonkers or Zoo Cougars can easily be propelled to likely soft seams with a good 6-weight. I really like the Axiom II or LK Legacy for the responsive roll casts often executed. Choose an 8-weight if you need to catapult Double Deceivers or Game Changers across the 50-yard line, often better matched with a fast action rod like the Axiom II-X. If you are into a mixed bag of bronze back and lake fishing, the Blue Ribbon series in 7-weight can toss your Lunch $ or a Bad Hair Day all day long. If you are looking in the budget fly rod category, the Pro II comes in under the competition and performs above its class. Proper pairing of line weight to the rod’s capabilities are paramount. We shall cover that next. Line Choice—We need to get the fly in front of the fish. Even if the fish has already eaten, placing a sculpin or crawfish pattern in front of a 24” brown forces the fish to react aggressively. Divide the river column into thirds: top third is one to two feet of depth, middle section three to five feet, and the bottom is six to eight feet of depth. We like to use Scientific Angler’s Sonar Titan for many Michigan rivers. The Hover Sink 2/4 can cover the top 2/3 of the river effectively with proper fly choice. Sonar Sink Intermediate 3/5/7 can get you in the deeper slots, and if you really want to get down, go Full Sink, but be wary of the all the woody debris—you may lose a Bangtail or two. Many are going to argue some flies can go deep if you use a full sink line, and that often works, but don’t double down with a full sink and a conehead Fishwhacker or you will go broke buying flies. Keep your leader short. Really short. Some anglers try to switch from their nine to eleven foot leader and can’t figure out why they are missing targets. I will tie a two-foot section of 30# shock tippet with a barrel swivel to two to three feet of 12#-15# fluorocarbon. Keep it under six feet long—you will amaze yourself with how well you can roll that heavier wet Grumpy Muppet under some overhanging brush when the heavy taper of your line gets your leader on point. The Reel—Don’t over-think this one, but DO NOT dismiss it either. Get a quality reel with decent arbor size. I prefer a large arbor for quicker line pick up and retrieve. I have witnessed more fish lost when an angler is fumbling around with a load of line at his feet. He can’t seem to get enough line on the reel to get the upper hand before a 24” brown takes his leader to log town and ‘POP!’ I have also witnessed fish charge the boat or go upstream and the slack in the line allows for the fly to ‘fall out’ on a poor hook set. Be sure you have a substantial drag that has quick initial startup.

www.michigantu.org Sealed drag is a bonus on the often sandy Michigan rivers. The newly designed BVK SD between $200 and $240 fits all these requirements—even for saltwater. The Flies

TFO’s very own Blane Chocklett revolutionized the streamer concept with his multiple-articulated Game Changer. Primarily a toothy Esox (pike) chaser in his guiding days, in his book “Game Changer: Tying Flies that Look & Swim Like the Real Thing,” Blane was out to mimic something that had more lifelike swimming motion. His patterns have begun a revolution in all aspects of the streamer world and we continue to see evolution as people hit the tying bench. The Water The River—Let’s talk about the water and how to fish it effectively. The top third of the water column can be searched with classic patterns such as the Muddler Minnow or Zonker but also the Zoo Cougar or Butt Monkey. If you add a sinking line, you can take some of these more buoyant flies to the next level. Most flies with a lot of deer hair or

Never overlook or underestimate the soft inside of a river bend. This is an easy thing to do, especially when the far bank holds a ton of wood and a sweeper that is the very definition of a trout condo. But trust me. That transition water where the sand fades into dark cobble is exactly where a large aggressive fish can disappear into the bottom and wait for a careless brook trout or crawdad to slip out of his comfort zone. These can be camouflaged as shelves or deep gradient slopes. Learn to read these tell-tale trout lies and you will amaze yourself in hook-up ratio. Get a guide that can show you some of these non-descript looking trout hideouts; the return will be worth your investment. Be sure to investigate a few spots like the front of a riffle zone or deep behind a downed tree that looks like frog water. Big trout, especially in winter months, will rest in dark murky water looking for a casual leech or crawfish to pass in front of their noses. There may be many likely looking holds that trout may inhabit, especially on our wood-laden Northern Michigan rivers. But the unlikely-looking hold still can hold a trout and a few less anglers have plied that water. Make a variety of retrieves. Imagine you are the baitfish that you just came face-to-face with a 22-foot dragon. Would you casually walk out of the room or turn on a dime and high tail it out of there? Make that fly dance and run like it is designed to swim. Sometimes the water temperature will dictate a very slow thump, thump retrieve. Trout will actively feed when water temperature is between 55 and 65 degrees, but post-spawn opportunistic trout need to get some weight back on for winter. Spawning season can be stressful on trout. Please leave them plenty of room to reproduce and secure future generations of trout to chase the other eleven months of the year. No matter what you perceive as a preferred fishing method, always leave room to expand your horizons. Whether dry flies are your thing, or maybe you prefer Euro nymphing, having the right gear, the right line, and the right water always make for a memorable experience. Get out and enjoy the journey.

Fall/Winter 2021

Fishing guide Russ Maddin brought us the Circus Peanut and recently updated with the Chromatic Peanut, easily one of my top five flies for rivers we fish. Kelly adapted this pattern with the Peanut Envy. His streamer patterns like the Sex Dungeon, Zoo Cougar, Silky Kitty, Knappy Sculpin, Double Madonna, Barely Legal, Bottoms Up, and the Woolly Sculpin have all opened our eyes to a wide variety of tying skills and methods of chasing trophy trout. Mike Schultz has brought us the Swinging D and the Swinging D 2.0, while Rich Strolis in his book “Catching Shadows: Tying Flies For the Toughest Fish And Strategies For Fishing Them,” popularized the Ice Pick, Hog Snare, and Headbanger Sculpin, which have put plenty of big fish in angler’s nets. Mike Schmidt with the “Anglers Choice Flies” website continually bangs out a couple dozen Cotton Candy Deceivers, Viking Midges, Red Rockets, and Meal Tickets for his far reaching fan base.

Going deep—a/k/a dredging—we need to be on the bottom: the Headbanger Sculpin, Tungsten Conehead Woolly Sculpin, or a Conehead Madonna will get down deep and dirty. I have often heard, “better to use the wrong fly at the proper depth, than the right fly at the wrong depth.” Basically, you gotta get the fly in the fish’s face. Banging streamers on the bank is a good call; you will get a reactive aggressive strike that simply is the fish exerting dominance over territory, which is why we will see flashes on our streamer and get short strikes or misses. But sometimes the fish can’t just stop on a dime when they charge.

We also have plenty of leeches/chestnut lamprey and baby coho/steelhead smolt that add to the dinner features on most rivers that connect to the Great Lakes. Perhaps this is why our streamer game is so different. Most often, it is best to try to match the color of the natural surroundings— the bottom. Olive is a key color on the Manistee, but I have a good buddy who most often throws yellow, and his Instagram account will back his color choice. Kelly Galloup, who along with Bob Linsenman, pioneered much in our way of thinking for ‘how to fish’ and what to tie for streamer patterns. They actually co-wrote the book some 20 years ago “Modern Trout Streamers.” Most flies are versions of Kelly’s vast arsenal of witty-named feathered configurations.

This brings us to the middle column, two to five feet of depth, often targeted by floating anglers because you can tempt a fish up from the bottom or out of the woody cover without snagging up and losing eight-dollar flies. Intermediate sink or sink tip lines will allow you to get down, especially if you make a downstream roll cast and mend immediately after your fly hits the water. This allows the line to sink with the current and paving a path for your fly to follow in front of that very ominous looking logjam. Great flies for this depth are the Double Boogie Man, Sex Dungeon, Great Lakes Deceiver, and Circus Peanut to name a few.

MICHIGAN Trout

Fly choice—When you mention streamer to certain crowds Out West, they immediately think of cute flies like the Autumn Splendor and Woolly Bugger. Those flies certainly have a time and place, but most often we are using articulated flies to imitate bait. Sculpin, crawfish, darters/ dace, shiners/chubs and smaller trout—these are all on the menu for the fish who have achieved a certain size-class. Flash is good, not too much, not too little; often it’s the only thing that allows you to track your fly in the water. The old adage bright fly, bright day often applies, but don’t be afraid to go black. It can save the day.

classic bucktail streamers, like the Black Ghost, tend to stay in the one to three feet zone. Sometimes, I find these flies are very effective in early fall for pre-spawn brook trout and can be easily flung on your favorite 5-weight with an aggressive taper.

Michigan Trout Unlimited

MICHIGAN Trout

2021 Michigan Trout Unlimited Awards

by Tom Mundt

Fall/Winter 2021

During September, Michigan Trout Unlimited’s first inperson council meeting in over 18 months, we celebrated the contributions our members and chapters made to the protection of Michigan’s coldwater resources and presented awards for: • Chapter of the Year. This award is given annually to the chapter that best demonstrates membership engagement, financial growth and stability, and the protection of our coldwater resources. • Order of the Caddis. While technically an award, it’s more akin to being named to the Michigan TU “Hall of Fame.” • Art Neumann Award. This award is presented periodically to an individual or group for making outstanding contributions to Michigan TU’s mission and vision. This year’s award winners were selected from the nominations submitted to the Awards Committee, chaired by Jim Cantrill, council fundraising chair, Gabe Schneider, council vice-chair, John Zolan, president of the Ann Arbor Chapter, and Greg Walz, past council chair. I want to thank those who took the time to prepare and submit the nominations and the Awards Committee for sorting it all out. And the winners are: Chapter of the Year, Mason-Griffith Founders Chapter. While this past year may not have been conducive to in-person gatherings, this chapter accomplished a lot. Their team executed several key habitat improvements within the Upper Au Sable, including the placement of over 30 in-stream woody structures bringing the total to 65 installations over the past two years. They also collaborated with Michigan TU in a project allowing fish passage around the Grayling Fish Hatchery. This project along the East Branch of the Au Sable River includes a trail system to improve access to family and handicap-friendly fishing

areas. The chapter is also working closely with Michigan TU on the Upper Manistee River project. These initiatives are just a few of the contributions Mason-Griffith Founders has made to protect and restore the Upper Manistee and the birthplace of Trout Unlimited, the fabled Au Sable River. The Michigan TU Executive Committee sends a big congratulations to Chapter President Karen Harrison and her dedicated team for winning Chapter of the Year. The Michigan TU team also congratulates Karen for receiving the Michigan Environmental Council’s 2021 Petoskey Prize for her decades-long work protecting the Upper Manistee and Au Sable Rivers and keeping clean cold water flowing and healthy trout swimming. Order of The Caddis, Greg Walz. Greg, shown in the photo above accepting the award from Robb Smith, becomes the nineteenth person to be named to the “Order of the Caddis,” an honor he well deserves. I first met Greg at a council meeting at the RAM Center nearly a decade ago when he represented the Miller Van Winkle Chapter as president. Following his three-year tenure as MVW’s president, he served in 2015 and 2016 as the chapter’s treasurer/secretary and then secretary. In 2017, Greg became Michigan TU’s council vice-chair and then onto the chair position in 2018. Greg’s steady leadership style as a “we” guy and not a “me” guy calmly directed the organization through Covid-19 when it would have been easy to let the organization drift and become lethargic. Instead, Michigan TU held virtual meetings that promoted the extraordinary participation of its board members. Finally, Michigan TU thrived financially during Greg’s term from both increased individual donations and grant awards. Congratulations, Greg, on being named to the “Order of the Caddis.” Art Neumann Award. For the first time since its inception, we had two very qualified submissions for this prestigious award, which led

www.michigantu.org

Eli Stanesa earns the Art Neumann Award from his two decade’s tenure/leadership as the Vanguard Chapter’s conservation committee chair. Described as a softspoken gentleman, Eli has exhibited a deep passion and commitment to Michigan’s coldwater resources, particularly Paint Creek in Rochester, Michigan, where he has led the Paint Creek Habitat Restoration Project since its inception in 2016. Using an assessment report prepared by Michigan TU’s Aquatic Ecologist Kristin Thomas, Eli took the lead for Paint Creek restoration securing local city and park permits and DNR/EGLE and landowner approval. During 2018 and 2019, he hired and worked with habitat consultants to plan and install many in-stream woody structures to create trout habitat. Eli secured a TU National Embrace-A-Stream grant

The fly fishing school’s success directly results from the dedication of the volunteer leaders and instructors who take time from their daily lives to plan and execute this three-day event. I want to point out that all the school’s instructors are TU members, experienced anglers, expert fly casters, and well-versed in the art of fly tying and insect identification. The instructors also go through rigorous training and testing before joining the school’s staff. Some are professional fishing guides as well. The current roster of volunteer leaders/instructors includes: Bob Baughman

Vance McCabe

Patrick J. Gossman

Mike Slater

Perry Piccard

Madeline Drake

John Cleveland

Dave McCullough

George Killat

Robb Smith

Cole Publiski

Glen Eberly

Jim Craig

Denny McLean

Ed Kulnis

Scott R. Smith

Doug Ruesink

Jim Gibbs

John Dallas

Mike Mouradian

Dave Leonhard

Mike Traugott

Tony Schneider

Jane Piccard

Steve DeQuoy If you know any of these fine folks, please thank them for their dedication to teaching future generations of fly anglers. Congratulations to the Michigan TU Fly Fishing School’s All-Volunteer Team for 50 Years of Excellence and 50 more years of success.

Fall/Winter 2021

the committee to award both nominees. The winners are TU Life Member and Vanguard Chapter’s Eli Stanesa and the all-volunteer staff of the Michigan TU Fly Fishing School.

Eli Stanesa (right), with his wife, receiving the Art Neumann Award from Tom Mundt

The All-Volunteer Staff of the Michigan TU Fly Fishing School was an easy choice to receive the Art Neumann Award because they just celebrated their 50th year of introducing aspiring anglers to the art of fly fishing. Our school is not only one of the nation’s finest but most likely one of the longest-running of its kind in the country. Since its inception in 1971, this program has been staffed by a dedicated team of volunteers (with a couple of staff members serving for more than 40 years) who convene each year in early June to teach novice and advanced anglers fly casting and tying skills, fishing knots, stream etiquette, aquatic insect identification, and how to read the water. Over its 50-year history, several thousand students have attended the school, with many returning multiple times to improve their skills and renew relationships with other student anglers and the school’s volunteer staff.

MICHIGAN Trout

that funded additional restoration work that is currently underway. He also led many other chapter conservation initiatives and has been a true ambassador for TU through his work with other conservation organizations and government agencies. Congratulations, Eli, and keep up the great work.

Michigan Trout Unlimited

MICHIGAN Trout

Streamer Fishing:

How to Decide What Flies to Fish

by Capt. Chuck Hawkins, Hawkins Outfitters

Fall/Winter 2021

Years ago, at the beginning of a couple of weeks of fishing in Patagonia, the head guide asked me if all of my party’s anglers were from Michigan. I replied yes. He said outstanding because you guys know how to throw streamers. That method produces the biggest fish! A big reason that Michigan anglers are so good with streamers is necessity. A large portion of our waters are so log strewn that fishing with nymphs isn’t practical. We strip streamers instead. In 1999, Kelly Galloup and Bob Linsenman published the book “Modern Streamer Tactics for Trophy Trout.” It upped the game for the average angler. While guides have always known that streamers produce bigger trout on average, most anglers were still throwing black woolly buggers. Most of the time on floating lines! The book made fast action rods and sinking or sink tip lines more of the norm. The growth in streamer fishing in the last twenty years has fueled an explosion in streamer patterns. Galloup’s Zoo Cougar, Maddin’s Circus Peanut, my Nutcracker, and many other innovative patterns have been created. Some of the trends that I’ve noticed are ever-increasing sizes, much more lifelike movement, and synthetics. All of these great new streamers are making selection more complicated. While the big fly, big fish scenario has some validity, it’s more important to match the available food sources’ size than to just go big. Bryan Burroughs, executive director of Michigan Trout Unlimited, told me years ago that when shocking rivers, he noticed that most trout food fishes were three to three-and-a-half inches long. I always have a good number of patterns in that size range.

year. If I’m on a river in spring that had a salmon run the previous fall, I will cast an alevin or smelt pattern. There are huge numbers of these little morsels available, and the trout gorge on them. Another hatch matching type event is when the lampreys pop out of the mud. When I start seeing lampreys on trout, several different leech type patterns get put to work. In spring, I utilize sculpin patterns with a black or dark head because the male sculpins change to that color when spawning. Also, in waters that get planted, resident fish take advantage of that food source, and you should too! I’ve always believed that if you get to a piece of water that you’ve never been to and have little or no information about, the food sources match the bottom color. Many of the prey species like sculpins use camouflage as their first line of defense against predators. Also, matching water color can be effective if it’s off-color. Also, you should consider your desired result. Are you a swing for the fences angler and willing to go fishless in pursuit of trophies? If so, access to a proper boat is going to help you cover water. It is also much easier to fish a sinking line from a boat. If you are wading, it is more difficult because the line sinks while you’re stripping. A stripping basket can help you out with that problem. You can also swing streamers in some sections of our rivers

When you get to the river and string up your rod, what streamer do you start with? Depending on what river and what stretch you’re on, you could be imitating sculpins, gobies, darters, shiners, lamprey, or a bunch of other things. Start with color. Is the sky bright or cloudy? The old bright day, bright fly theory has some merit, though I often, if I have two anglers, begin with one light and one dark pattern. I also generally have one sculpin/goby pattern and one baitfish fly. I also use my history on that water. For instance, the Upper Manistee River on a cloudy day requires at least one fly to be olive and white, generally a Nutcracker. I have different leading color preferences on other rivers. The next consideration is location at that time of

Chuck Hawkins’s Southern Charm.

www.michigantu.org

MICHIGAN Trout

with success. That way you aren’t retrieving the line. If you just want to catch something, generally smaller flies will produce more looks and bites. Remember, a fish that attacks a streamer is making an aggressive move. If that attack is at something large, it takes that much more aggression. The other component in streamer fishing is your retrieve—how are you animating the fly? I often guide anglers who strip the line with a consistent cadence. That’s not what happens in nature. Both gobies and sculpins can only swim short distances with bursts of speed. So your retrieve should be short and jerky with inconsistent pauses. Some patterns perform very well when stripped very quickly—Russ Maddin’s Flash Monkey, for instance.

We are lucky to have a lot of information available to us. The book mentioned above, “Modern Streamer Tactics for Trophy Trout,” plus the updated second volume, has great information about streamer fishing. A new book by Kevin Feenstra, “Matching Baitfish,” does a remarkable job outlining the various prey fish available to resident and migratory trout. I highly recommend both these books; they will make you a better angler.

Fall/Winter 2021

The pandemic has caused most of the pros in the business to do some online fly tying classes to keep their customers engaged. Get involved with as many of those as you can. You’ll learn new patterns and how and where to fish them. Finally, I can tell you from personal experience, don’t let yourself get into a rut. Try new patterns, retrieve different ways, and hit new water. Good Luck!

For the Love of Trout by George A. Griffith, Founder of Trout Unlimited Trade Edition $18.00 Collector’s Edition Leather Bound Signed & Numbered $75.00 “The Philosophy of Trout Unlimited” By Art Neumann - $15.00 Only Available w/ Book Purchase Please add $6.00 Postage per each Item To Order send a check Payable To: MICHIGAN TROUT UNLIMITED C/O Tom Quail, 2575 Orbit Drive, Lake Orion, MI 48360-1967 or order online @ www.michigantu.org/fortheloveoftrout

Northern Michigan’s Premier Fly Fishing Outfitter

FULL SERVICE FLY SHOP & GUIDE SERVICE Located at Boyne Mountain Resort

Our Waters

boyneoutfitters.com | 231.549.6064 1 Boyne Mountain Road | Boyne Falls, Michigan

Michigan Trout Unlimited

MICHIGAN Trout

Where Water Meets Road:

Stream Restoration and Restoring the Safety in Our Infrastructure

by Chad Kotke,TU Great Lakes Stream Restoration Specialist

Fall/Winter 2021

In my youth, my dad would set me down with my rod at a large plunge pool created at a road crossing as he went on his way for some peace and quiet. This was very rewarding and memorable to have a fishing pond all to myself, and I could show my dad what a great fisherman I was. While these large deep pools hold many memories, they also indicate an impending hazard to our trout streams and lives. Over the last 20+ years of studying river system mechanics, I’ve come to realize something pretty simple. As I drive down a hill towards the river and onto the floodplain, that road is often raised off the floodplain. This rise is entirely blocking the floodplain and often large sections of the stream channel. These roads are damming our riverine systems. These “unregulated dams” are usually built to less strict standards than actual dams and, therefore, have a much higher failure rate. Think of how many roads have washed out verse the handful of dams we’ve had fail throughout the state. In the Houghton County Father’s Day Flood in 2018 (shown in the photo above), over 100 crossings were washed out from a single event, and many others were left severally damaged and had to be addressed. These road failures have led to completely buried trout streams, bridge losses, homes destroyed, and in some cases, loss of human life. Connected floodplains are just as important to stream health as the stream channel itself. Therefore, we should look at the streams we fish and the floodplains the fish and fish food depend on for nutrients and habitat. When the stream overtops and flows onto the floodplain, sediment and nutrients settle and feed the floodplain communities. Fish and insects also use this time to seek refuge in slower moving water and feed on the ample bugs and worms found on the floodplain. As the floodwater begins to recede, the water currents reverse and flow back toward the main channel. These currents bring nutrients, bugs, and woody debris back into the river channel to create an amazing trout habitat and provide a food buffet. Think of all those huge fish we’ve caught after a significant rain event subsides. Over the years, many of us have noticed that rainstorms have become more intense, with larger volumes of water falling over a shorter period. I have responded to flood emergencies or answered numerous questions regarding these catastrophic events within the last 5-10 years. One of the commonalities of these catastrophic events is poor road-stream crossings. Poor stream crossings lack suitable internal habitat for most aquatic life. They are constricted to the point that organisms cannot swim through during low-flow conditions due to excessive velocities. While this may not seem significant, many

undersized crossings impact aquatic life and could be listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act but often are left off because they are too numerous. Trout Unlimited has been working with many organizations around Michigan to restore stream and floodplain function by installing larger structures that span the bankfull flow, the point at which a river overflows its banks. These “bankfull structures” are typically installed two feet below the current stream bottom to reconstruct a natural stream channel. The constructed stream utilizes the same sediment sizes measured upstream to provide a continuous stream habitat of food and hold organisms upstream to downstream of the road crossing. These structures also perform closer to the natural riverine system during smaller flood events. They also tend to allow significant floods to pass without the risk of failure, although the risk is not entirely reduced. A clear-span bridge from one valley wall to the other is the only way to reduce risk from significant flood events to near zero. These are the ideal crossings for the complete health of a riverine system, but for obvious monetary or engineering constraints, they are rarely feasible. Bankfull structures provide a substantial increase in overall safety to our infrastructure and restore habitat functionality for our rivers, which have been lacking for decades or even centuries. These are exciting and reassuring times to be a trout fisherman and river scientist that we could not have imagined even 20 years ago.

A temporary bridge with bankfull floodplain constructed under crossing. Note the rise in the road that continues to block a larger part of the floodplain.

www.michigantu.org continued from page 13

PMTU and TU hosted a volunteer workday on November 4 on McDuffee Creek, a Pere Marquette tributary, and planted 2,500 live tree stakes to restore the riparian area. A spring planting volunteer workday is also planned.

• • • • • •

MANISTEE RIVER

Au Sable “Holy Waters” Au Sable “Trophy Waters” Steelheader’s Guide Boardman/Jordan Rivers Pere Marquette River Pigeon River Country

Manistee River Guide GET YOURS TODAY!**

NGE CHA LE

TROUT Unlimited

T The LA

EVIS

N AY! EASO RS TOD 021R S• ORDER YOU 2 R O ED F EW COVE ! • All

R IELD Info EST F

A Fisherman’s Guide

Also Available:

Coaster Brook Trout

18” x 13” Print Signed & numbered by artist, writer & naturalist

James Prosek

**Ask participating Fly Shops for our Guide Book or order from: www.challengechapter.org

Schrems West Michigan Chapter The Schrems Chapter has continued conservation projects on four watersheds.  The chapter is nearing the end of a three-year temperature study on the Muskegon River, planning to collect this year’s data to review possible river improvements to increase and stabilize trout habitat. Throughout 2021, Schrems has partnered with the Muskegon River Watershed Assembly, most recently being a funding partner for a dam removal on Kinney Creek.  Moving forward, the chapter anticipates more project partnerships between the two groups with the same goal of improving the Muskegon River watershed. The chapter helped organize two river cleanups this year. The Buck Creek cleanup was a success, with over a hundred volunteers lending a hand to clear trash and debris from this urban coldwater resource.  Partnering with many community groups, this annual cleanup has served as an excellent roadmap to plan for other cleanups, such as this year’s White River cleanup.  The plan is to make the White River cleanup an annual event with the possibility of adding a spring cleanup for the White. With many local, state, and conservation organizations involved, the chapter is encouraged to continue working on this watershed and look at future projects to help the White. Schrems has been rewarded an Embrace-a-Stream grant for the Coldwater River.  Current plans for this funding are to go towards more temperature loggers to work on an updated stream temperature study. Also, work on Prairie Creek continues with temperature and mayfly loggers collecting data.  Partnering with the Lansing Perrin Chapter and landowners, plans for a river cleanup on Prairie Creek are in process. Community outreach projects will always be a primary focus of Schrems, and the chapter is currently planning the next Women and the Water event for 2022.  The chapter supported Camp Newaygo and the Fly Girls this past summer with a great event for girls fly fishing on the Muskegon River and plan to again next year.

TRAVERSE CITY’S NORTHERN ANGLER FLY SHOP Proudly supporting cold water sheries and outttting those who enjoy them. SAVE 10% WITH CODE “TU2021”

THENORTHERNANGLER.COM SOME RESTRICTIONS APPLY, EXPIRES 12/31/21

Fall/Winter 2021

Finally, PMTU received a permit for a “Jac Ford Extravaganza Raffle.” Details and the opportunity to purchase tickets will be posted on the PMTU Facebook page and pmtu.org. This one-ofa-kind, all-inclusive raffle honors the legacy and commitment of Jac—a past PMTU President, a TU life member since the early 70s, a three-time president of the Mershon Chapter, and 2013 recipient of TU National’s “Distinguished Service Award.”  Along with guiding services, the winner will receive a signed copy of Jac’s new book, “The View from the Middle Seat,” available at canglers. com.

Available for these Michigan Rivers:

The Classic Trout Water of The

The chapter received funding commitments for two additional stream monitors, generously donated by the 1884 Fly Shop and a private individual. These monitors will be strategically placed, adding to monitors at M-37 and Bowman bridges. The monitors provide real-time, online temperature and flow information to ensure anglers can check if temps are too warm to trout fish.

Trout Angler Guides

MICHIGAN Trout

The chapter has joined the Lake County Adopt-a-Road program, adopting 72nd St. and Peacock Rd. (more commonly known as the roads to Green Cottage). Signs acknowledging this are placed along the route. Volunteer meetups will happen twice a year.

WADE...DON’T WANDER! ER PT

(www.rivercare.org) and the U.S. Forest Service to finalize permitting for the erosion protection project in the lower fliesonly section known as “The Cove.” A Natural Rivers permit has been granted with Section 7 Wild and Scenic clearance, and construction will follow. This project is 100% funded by individual donations to PMTU.org and the TU Embrace-a-Stream program.

CHA L

Chapter Updates...

Michigan Trout Unlimited

MICHIGAN Trout

Michigan Trout Unlimited is taking this opportunity to thank all of its generous donors. During fiscal year 2021 (10-1-2020 to 9-30-2021), your gifts have made this year tremendously successful and allowed us to continue our mission to protect and conserve coldwater resources in the state of Michigan. In these times that test our resolve, it is important to know that Michigan Trout Unlimited has the best interests of our environment as our number one priority! Thank you once again for your tremendous support! AQUIFER CLUB

24 Fall/Winter 2021

Don Albrecht Wayne Andersen Steven Arnoczky Richard Audi Richard Augustine Thomas Baird Richard Barch Thomas Black Rob Bowden Jim Cantrill Karson Carpenter Clarence Constantakis David Cozad Dan Cronin Doug Crusey John Dallas Bill & Linda Demmer Neil Dorsey Glen Eberly Paul Finkle Damion Frasier John Frey Carl Galeana Mark Gurney Peter & Virginia Gustafson Karen Harrison Lynn Hoover Blake & Mary Krueger Ed Kulnis Jeffery Lowe Kirk Martin John McCarthy Paul Mesack Hank Milius Tom & Joanne Mundt John & Lani Ochs Larry Oman

James Peterson Jeremy Piper Paul & Carol Rose Nathaniel Rowe Richard Saslow David Scott Bill Shelden Jake Shinners John Sickler Stephan Slavik David Smith Robb Smith Morrison Stevens David Sturtz Jeff Towner Dawn Van Hoek TRIBUTARY CLUB Michael Allett Edwin Anderson Richard Beamish John Bebow Chris Benich Kenneth Bloem James Bos James Bosak Michael Brooks Lawrence Butts Kevin Carpenter Danny Covell William Curry David Cornelius C Andrew Edwards John Eichel Stephen & Jean Ewing Roger Fechner Ross Field Bernard Finn Jon Griffin Daniel Hayes

Carl & Vicky Hueter Leon P Martuch Robert Burmeister Scott Hummon Mason Griffith Edward Burnham Daniel Ibele Founders Lynn Burry James Johnson Mershon-Neumann Jeffrey Camp David Joswick Heritage James Campbell Roger Konyndyk Paul H. Young Richard Carlisle James Kure Pine River Area Joe Carnacchio Robert Laarman Vanguard Jerome Celmer John LaMacchia Richard Chamberlin Jeffrey Littmann FOUNDATIONS David Coleman Joseph Maggini Brian Considine William Main Charles S Mott Tim Cordier Bonnie Marsh MEC Dan Cronin Keith McCormick KNB Family Fund Elizabeth Crosby Scott McLean Kroger Cares David Curnell Paul Miller Amazon Smile Scott Davis Michael Monahan The Cheney Family John Davis Michael Montgomery Charitable Fund Alan DeBoer Brian Pape Bill Deephouse Scott Patchin INDIVIDUAL Mark Delaney John Paul DONORS Douglas DeVries Ralph Pernice Richard Dew Robert Richards Christopher Adamo Robert Dewit Jerry Rucker Peggy Alexander Dennis Douglas Jay Shachter Jackie & Brent Allison Thomas Dunn V Carl Shaner Alan Amendt William Eardley IV Sherman Shultz Jim Anderson James Egan Robert Sparks Richard Anderson Charles Ellis Joseph Swantek William Anderson Ron Erickson Paul Tulgetske Gene Arntsen Caswell Evans Bruce Williams Richard Baker A Thomas Evans Roger Williams David Batchelor Frederick Eyer William Wojcieszek James Batzer Gary Fedus Tod Wyn A David Baumhart III Richard Fitzgerald Bill Beck Robert Flickinger CHAPTER Joseph Beck Joe Foley CONTRIBUTORS Jim Bedford John Fuerstnau David Benton T Eduardo Garcia Ann Arbor Adam Bickel Ray Gaynor Charles A Fellows Lindsay Boegner Douglas Geiger Clinton Valley Joseph Bruce Gerald Geik Fred Waara Donald Burkley Richard Gigandet

www.michigantu.org Don Bailey Paige Thorpe Lauren Mantay Dan Worden Pat & Luana Haney Patrick & Keri Barney Michael & Karen Walls Kim Harper Max LaValley

Michael Keyes Patricia Squires Randall Kunz Ronald Hamilton Bryan Burroughs Michael Lashbrook Bryan Burroughs David Cozad IN HONOR Scott & Warren MacNeill Thomas Yeoman Neil Dorsey Ryan Noel Michael Ochs & Tricia Edwards Michael Walton

Fall/Winter 2021

Frederic “Rick” Morley II Brad & Rhonda J Beyer Carol Jerome Thomas Nichols Garth LaPlante Tammy Bernier Lon & Stacey Woock Jade & Linnie Nichols Michael LeBlanc David & Jean Marx Donna Berg Emily Holty Connie Metiva Bill & Jill Hundt

Nelson Levings Willard Rood Donald Wing Jim Lewis Aaron Rubel William Witt Len Lofstrom Adam Ruetz Roger Woodstock Lee Lutes Carl Ruetz Al Woody Tim Luxon Steven Ryan Mark Wrona Mark Mahacek George Safranek George Wummel Kenneth Marek Peter Sandretto Rudy Ziehl Rebecca Marnocha Neil Satovsky Martha Zimmermann Thomas Marsh William Savage Orvis Store – Royal John Marx Donald Sawyer Oak William Massey Michael Schirmer David Mayotte Robert Schlatterbeck IN MEMORIAM Christopher Mazur Rex Schlaybaugh, Jr Leonard Mazur John Schmittroth Emanuel John Halley McDonald Stanley Schroeder Kamon Vivian Mattson Barbara McGath Robert Schultz Michael McGraw Michael Scott Lora Fedeson John McKenzie Mark Shantz Kathleen Schmidt Gregory McMorrow George Shaw Allen Pienkowski Kathryn Meier John Shea Walter (Andy) Kurt Menapace John Sheagren Anderson Peter Meyer Thomas Shope John Anderson Robert Moore Scott Short Becky Jo Paul Dean Motl Michael Sipkoski Carey Rapin Thomas Mudd John Slattery Gary & Marian Collins Patrick Murphy Stephan Slavik Ann Hardesty David Neal Bruce Smith Tyne Hyslop Robert Nikolas Michael Smith Tony & Linda Greg Nowak Starland Smith Finnerty Gary Nummikoski Irene Stark Marilyn Anderson Richard Olt Frank Starr B.N Anderson Christopher Palmer William Steere Robert & Pauline Dan Papiernik Paul Steketee Buchner Mike Partlo Leland Todd Bradley Rubin Stephen Pazdziorko Perry Truitt Debra Anderson Ed Pentecost Cindy Turner Richard Perry Gregory Umstead William F. Miller John Person Samuel VanBoven Big Creek Lodge Carol Phillips Kathy Vander Kolk Kenneth Pierce Steven Vander Wall Douglas Platt Louis VanLiere Doug Smartt Nicholas Posak Antonio Vasquez Laura Minton William Posak James Vogt Tom Reiter Matthew Priebe Ryan Waddington Bryan Burroughs Nial Raaen Randy Walker Tad Randolph Greg Walz William Harber Kurt Ranka Chuck Washnock Rick Reid Roger Webster Michele Hendrick David Richmond Thomas Wells Mark Ritchie John Westerheide John Kowal Timothy Robenalt David & Kasia Wible Donn Collins Albert Roberts Larry Willey Ed Roden Edward Williams Dale Hernden Philip Rodgers James Wilson Dave Hernden

MICHIGAN Trout

Robert Gillenwater Kenneth Goff Dave Green Derek Grossman Ronald Guettler Richard Haan James Haeck Thomas Hager Nicholas Hanson Hugh Harness Douglas Harris Paul Hefka Timothy Henry Brian Herbert Mark Heying Craig Hitchcock Ralph Hommel Dan Hornaday James Houck James Hummel David Hunter Albert Hurd Brian Hutek Roy Hybl Darrell Jackson Joe & Judi Jarecki Mark Jarvie Tom Jobson Brian Johnson Peter Jones Philip Jones Jon Jorgensen Gregg Kabacinski Daniel Kaczmarek Chay Kasinski John Keenan Dan Keifer Eric Keilen David Kelsey Robert Kendall George & Linda Killat William Killoran Peter King Jerome Kisscorni Jeffrey Kless Thomas Knape Bob Kren Pieter Kriel Brian Kudej Curtis Kuilema James Kurbel Donald Kursik Robert Lathrop Steven Leginski

Michigan Trout Unlimited

MICHIGAN Trout

Michigan United Conservation Clubs and National Wildlife Federation recently released a report and video on the impacts that our climate is having on fish and wildlife species.

Changing Seasons features the observations of conservationists, hunters, and anglers and real-world recommendations from biologists and conservation organizations on both policy solutions and how hunters and anglers can mitigate the impacts of climate change on fish and wildlife.

Fall/Winter 2021

Michigan, like other upper Midwest states, has a rich history of outdoor recreation. Whether it is gathering with friends and family annually at deer camp, spending hours alone on a quiet trout stream in search of the right fly combination, or hiking a trail in the woods with binoculars looking for a songbird you’ve never seen. This tradition has helped the state establish one of the most robust outdoor recreation economies in the nation, with hunters and anglers contributing more than $11.2 billion annually to the state economy, according to a Michigan United Conservation Clubs economic report. This economic driver and pursuit of recreation are at risk with increasing temperatures, and we need hunters and anglers to be at the table to address this problem head-on. Trout streams are warming, tick populations are exploding, habitat is regressing, and waterfowl migration patterns are changing.

These impacts are happening, and actions need to be taken. Will YOU be at the table? Read the full report at mucc.org/policy-research. Watch the video at greatlakesconservation.com/climate-change/

6 days/7 nights of guided fi fis shing, great food and private Naknek riverfront cabin in Bristol Bay, featuring all 5 species of Pacifi fic c Salmon, Arctic Char, Grayling and the Best Trophy Rainbow fi fis shing in Alaska for only $3995.

www.naknekrivercamp.com

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Petoskey, MI PERMIT No. 110

Michigan Trout Unlimited P.O. Box 442 Dewitt, Michigan 48820-8820 TIME DATED MATERIAL

The View

From the

MIDDLE SEAT

New Book

Available Now!

“This book is full of techniques and tips that will improve anyone’s game.” —Kelly Galloup

Lessons Learned From a Lifetime of Guiding

JAC FORD

$34.95 ISBN 978-0-578-95224-6 8.5”w x 11”h 296 pages Hardcover with dust jacket

CountryAnglers.com Half-Page Ad.indd 1

You can opt out of receiving “MICHIGAN Trout” as a hard copy. Instead,9/30/2021 you’ll11:34:29 getAM an e-mail notification of the newsletter’s posting on our website, with a direct link to the newsletter, the day of its posting. The online version will be in color, and you can forward the notification to non-members, too. The rationale for this move? Green. Both environmental and financial. Every paper subscription costs Michigan TU about $4 per member annually in printing and mailing costs. We have about 7600 TU members in the state. Just think about the money we could save, and devote to cold-water conservation. We need your help! If you are so inclined, please scan the QR code to the right and Opt-Out of receiving a paper copy of “MICHIGAN Trout.”

Michigan Trout - Fall/Winter 2021

Articles inside

Streamer Fishing: How to Decide What Flies to Fish

2021 Michigan Trout Unlimited Awards

Michigan TU Chapter Updates

Chairman’s Report

The Critical Role of Wood in Michigan Rivers Taking Action on the Upper Manistee

Winter Streamer Fishing

A Few Good Spots

The Last Mile

Celebrating 50 Years of the TU Fly Fishing School

The River