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John Johnson's Fishing
Reports
July 4,6:30 – 9:30 pm
Tibbawassee River above Midland
The water temperature was
74, level low, and visibility 2.5 feet. The
weather was clear warm and there was no wind – a
perfect day to fish from a canoe. I fished with a
#6 foam popper for an hour and caught 3 fish
between 10 and 14 inches. The fish were caught in
water about 12 inches deep with rocky bottoms. I
switched to a #2 foam popper and started to see
some deeper 3 foot deep pools. I caught 13, 14
and 16 inch fish near submerged logs in the middle
of the river. At 8:30 is switched to a #2
deerhair frog. I caught a 15 inch and two
additional smaller fish in shallow rocky runs .
With the low water it was impossible to fish the
banks since the water was only a few inches deep.
By fishing the middle of the river in 12 t o18
inches of water it was possible to put the fly
near the feeding fish.
July 3, 7:30-9:30 pm
Tibbawassee River near Midland
The water temperature was
74, level slightly high, and visibility 2 feet.
The river was in great shape. The water was
relatively clear and high enough that the numerous
log jams and overhanging trees provided excellent
cover. I caught three fish between 10 and 14
inches on a damsel fly surface pattern that my
friend Richard Pilatzke from last years national
FFF conference had given me to try. The big white
wings were easy to see and by giving it small
twitches it seem to work. At 9:00 I switched to a
#2 chartreuse matuka and quickly caught three fish
between 13 and 16 inches. Not a bad evening but
the larger 17 to 19 inch fish that I have caught
in this section of river where not hitting.
July 1,7:30 – 9:40 pm,
Chippewa River above Midland
The water temperature was 76oF,
level was normal, and visibility 1 .5 feet. I
used a #2 Chartreuse Matuka streamer to catch 6
fish between 10 and 14 inches and two that were
smaller. I used a # 2 foam popper to catch 3
additional medium bass. I fished several small log
jams that in the past had been productive for
larger fish in the past without success.
June 30, 6:00-10:00 am, Pine
river Above Midland
The water temperature was 72oF,
level normal, and visibility 1.5 feet. After
several days of rains the Pine at last was down to
near normal levels. With the normal levels it was
possible to fish many of the river bank sections
with depths at least 12 inches. I fished a a # 4
sparkle grub and caught five smallmouth between 10
and 14 inches. My friend Gus that went with me
caught one 14 inch fish on a matuka and three
other smaller ones. He did well considering he
had not fly fished before. The pools that usually
produced 16 to 18 inch fish were not productive.
June 26, 5:00 – 10:00 pm
Titabbawassee River below Midland
The water temperature was
74, level slightly high, and visibility 2.5 feet.
After some success with this section of the river
earlier in the year I was looking forward to
trying it again. I fished the first hour with a
Fenstra streamer pattern and picked up three 10-13
inch smallmouth. I changed to a #2 foam popper
and started catching fish immediately. The water
was rather wide, sandy, and shallow so it was
logical that I would be catching small (about 15
less than 14 inch) fish. The river narrowed and
became deeper with some rocks. I dropped my
popper at the mouth of a very scenic small stream
with big overhanging maple trees. A big fish
nailed the fly and after a hard thirty foot run
jumped three feet out of the water. It was a
large light olive fish that had likely spent some
time over the sand bottom. I reeled up the slack
and played the fish from the reel as he made
several more runs and impressive jumps. I was
about to pull him to the canoe when he got off. I
at last landed a 15 incher in very similar habitat
( 2 foot depth and heavy shade). I hooked another
big fish that also got off during one of its big
jumps. I checked the hook and it was ok. I
continued to fish with the popper and at last
landed one of the big smallmouth- a dark 18 incher.
The hook fell out when I brought him in the
canoe. He was lightly hooked in the outer part of
his mouth. This fish had been eating crayfish
since I found an orange crayfish claw on the
bottom of the canoe. At 10:00 I changed back to
the Fenstra streamer and soon hooked a decent 16
inch fish. Considering that I had lost two big
smallmouth this morning it still turned out to be
an excellent morning. It was even more special
since I saw an eagle fly over and land in a tree
about the time that I lost the first fish at the
mouth of the small stream. It watched me without
concern as I fished below his perch on a dead
limb.
June 24, 5:00 – 10:00 pm
Titabbawassee River above Midland
The water temperature was
72, level low, and visibility 2.5 feet. With the
good success in the morning I was looking forward
to taking Eric and Cindy Center on an evening
trip. The fishing was rather sporadic for most of
the evening and we were not able to hook any large
fish until about 9:00 . They used several of
their favorite patterns and some of my favorite
patterns such as poppers and sparkle grubs that
usually work with large smallmouth without
success. At 9:00 Peter was using a # 10 skunk
pattern with visible white wings when a fish hit
the fly within a few inches of the bank in about
18 inches of water. It turned out to be a nice 17
inch smallmouth. Cindy caught a 14 incher on a
sparkle grub late in the evening. Not a bad
evening but with their excellent casting skills I
hoped they would catch more than 6 or 8 medium 10
to 14 inch fish and the one large 17 inch one.
June 24, 6:15 -11:00 am
Titabbawassee River above Midland
The water temperature was
72, level low, and visibility 2.5 feet. The
rivers are at last starting to clear up for the
first time in a month. I took my friends Peter
and Anita for a float trip in my raft. Peter was
able to catch about six smallmouth in the 10 to 14
inch range. Anita with her limited casting skills
caught a few 10 to 12 inchers. I fished for maybe
an hour total and caught three smallmouth between
17 and 18.5 inches on a foam popper. I was
disappointed that Peter was not able to catch one
of the large smallmouth that we knew were
present.
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