C'mon Lance

[Gunrod]

with the details and pics of your trout excursion. Let's see 'em.:)

[Lance]

Well here's the story then! After a 400 mile 7+ hr trip north that should have only taken 6 I made it to Grayling, FINALLY!!!! It was looking like it was going to be one of THOSE trips at the start but luck got a little better as I got THE last campsite near the guys I know up there. 10 more minutes and I would have been looking for a new campground. I got set-up and headed for town to get a license and check out the the schedule of events for the Trout Bum BBQ the next day (local fund raiser for the Ausable watershed). It was already looking like it would be too late to fish by the time I got back to camp and got my gear so I stopped by the Manistee to check out the bugs. After 15 minutes of watching brn drakes and Isonychia's bounce around a real nice fish started feeding out in the open. A nice fish and me without my flies :rolleyes: At this point I headed back to camp and walked to the river to be greeted by a blanket hatch/and spinner fall of drakes. I figured well this will burn out quickly so I sat and watched, and watched. They just kept coming so I boogied and got my stuff on and hit the river just after dark and the bugs stopped. Despite a late start on a marginal peice of water I managed to catch one brown and located another very nice fish that was feeding very sporadically. Didn't hook him but it gave me a good feeling that I was finding good fish without too much effort!
After day one life settled down and got in order. Saturday was spent avoiding the Saturday crowds on the river buy visiting the local fly shops and hanging out at the Fly Factory troutbum gathering. No fishing today but later found we had another blanket bug night had I fished! :rolleyes:
The next three nights are summed up like this:
Sunday was pretty crowded but lots of drakes in the air, missed nice fish but landed to 14" browns and a couple smaller guys all on mayflies. No HEX flies yet.... fished till 1:30 AM
Monday night was a lot less crowded missed a couple nice fish early. Switched to a mouse fly and landed my first mouse fish at 1:00. A nice solid 16" brown.(pic will follow later) My buddy also lost a really nice fish on a mouse but the knot gave out. A very warm day but still no hex. fished till 2:45 AM.
Tuesday night was a lot more crowded and I kind of got stuck in a spot that I wasn't really excited about but had potential. Another REALLY warm day the spinner fall got even later(10 PM), got some nice fish feeding and finally hooked onto a beast that was much stronger than 16" the night before. Unfortunately after a few minutes of fighting him I had a brain fart and decided to figure out how strong he really was and forgot I hooked him on a sz #12 rusty spinner and not hex and the hook popped loose. Damn! about 10 minutes after dark FINALLY HEX! There weren't alot of them but enough to keep some fish interested. Located two more REALLY nice fish that I missed and had some good action on some backwater landing one and missing three more. Got off the water at 4:00 AM.

I was VERY pleased with the week. We were able to locate nice fish feeding every night despite no hex till the end. If I could have only fished ONE MORE NIGHT the HEX were THERE!!!! :)

[Steve]

Wow that really sounds exciting. Can't wait for the pictures.

[Ohio Sportsman]

I've always wanted to take a trip like that, I have fly fished before but only for gills and bass. I bet it was neat just being out there, it just goes to show how diversed angling is and all the opportunities that are availible no matter the species. Sounds like a great trip Lance, I bet it was soothing to the soul. :)

[Lance]

It's the place where I go when I can relax enough to forget what day it is!

[Gunrod]

it just goes to show how diversed angling is and all the opportunities that are availible

That diversed part makes fishing exciting for everyone but also expensive.:D

Sounds like a great trip Lance. I too can't wait for photos. And my vacation. Less than two weeks to go.

Thanks for sharing. I needed that. ;) It's been weeks since I last fished.