Michigan Trout Unlimited
MICHIGAN Trout
Lunker Stream Trout in the Daylight
14
by Jim Bedford
Summer 2022
When most anglers think about catching lunker streamresident browns in Michigan, they immediately conjure up a humid night in late June on a good-sized stream with a good population of Hexagenia mayflies. Other burrowing mayflies, like the brown drake, can also fill the bill. If you would rather catch 20-inch brown trout in the daylight, don’t despair. These ultra wary trout also can be lured out of cover during the day. It does help if there is cloud cover and the stream level is up some with good color or what I like to describe as just the right amount of mystery. Our storied large trout streams like the Manistee, Au Sable, Pere Marquette, and Pine Rivers are famous for producing large brown trout, especially when the big mayflies are hatching. But you may find it surprising that many small streams grow trout that reach or exceed the magical 20-inch mark. In my 55+ years of hardcore Michigan trout fishing, I have entered over 600 20-plusinch brown trout in my logbook, but I have never caught one in any of the rivers mentioned above. It would seem that small streams and creeks would be the home only to small to mediumsized brown trout. However, this is definitely not the case. Trout can grow just as large in nutrient-rich creeks as in large rivers if they have enough cover. Food from the bank augments the aquatic insects and other invertebrates produced in the stream.
trout in a hole, but they generally prefer to be under a log or logjam, an undercut bank, or overhanging vegetation. Because predatory birds like herons and kingfishers are the trout’s main enemies, they try not to be visible from above. Of course, they will expose themselves when feeding, but most of the time, you are better off casting to areas where you couldn’t see the trout if it was present. To be successful in catching large trout in small streams, you must be sneaky. Not ever betraying your presence to the trout is the most important key to consistently catching them. This is best accomplished by quietly wading in an upstream direction. The fish are always facing the flow and can see in all directions except directly behind. If you fish downstream, you quickly alert the trout visually, and any sound you make wading is transmitted further with the current. Some sand or silt will join your wake in preceding you in a downstream direction in most
While cover and food are essential to the survival and growth of all trout, good overhead protection is especially important to trout in smaller streams. A solid roof over their head is almost always preferred over water depth, probably because most of the time, the runs and holes in clear creeks are not deep enough to hide the browns and brookies. Author admires a trophy creek brown. A riffled surface will help hide a
