Muskegon River Gray Drakes

Seeking Mr. Big and the Gray Drake Spinner Fall.

Tonight was the night.. overcast skies all day, hot and humid.. Waiting for the bugs to fall.
Earlier in the evening we had a good number of Sulpher spinners coming down with a few smaller Trout starting to rise.

A half hour later I started to see a few Gray Drake spinners starting to fall.. Then a few minutes later... Along came Mr. Big; a gorgeous, hook jawed trophy Brown Trout... The rest is history. Here's a great photo of Andy and his beautiful Muskegon River Brown Trout landed on a Gray Drake spinner dry fly!

Muskegon River Trout Fishing

Wow! What a change in weather! Warmer temperatures forecasted and the fishing has been very good! Muskegon River Trout and Streamer fishing has been great with the huge amounts on Sucker and Steelhead fry. Fry patterns have been the flavor of the month. Both Rainbows and Browns have been feeding heavily on fry. Trout have also keyed up on Caddis emergers and or fry depending on the weather.

Steelhead Fry & Sucker Spawn

During the day- Large Streamers and fry patterns near the bank. Shaded pockets hold the fish! Sink-tip fly lines have been the key. Nymphing with sucker spawn patterns and small nymphs has also been producing numbers of Muskegon River Trout. Dry flies & Drake spinners in the evenings. Some of the best hatches occur as the sun drops below the tree line with low light.

May & June are the the time for Dry fly fishing with the Gray Drake Spinners. (Gray Drakes are a mid-sized may fly with smoke clear wings, a thin variegated body, and a white ring around the eyes.) Most spinner falls occur just be for dark. Drakes also always spinner fall on a riffle or fast current. Muskegon's most overlooked hatch, typically found in the middle to lower sections of the river. Thornapple - Henning Park.

Gray Drake Spinner - May - July Trout Evening Hatch Fishing (Gray Drake Spinner -Gray Drake) River perfect level-2450-cfs- 60 degree water temp.

Muskegon River Trout - There are lots of suckers spawning and encouraging the bigger browns and rainbows to feed on nymphs behind sucker redds. Excellent numbers of Gray Drakes seen in the last couple of days, mostly during the afternoon period. Many of stocked Trout targeting dry fly Caddis with an occasional big fish on the surface. As water temperatures increase, larger Trout will come up. Sulpher emergence is soon to come. Streamer stripping with salmon fry patterns has been working well for larger Trout - We need warmer water to get the big boys to chase streamers.