Photo of the Day: Chucking Meat on the Upper Manistee

Written by: Chuck Hawkins, Hawkins Outfitters

The reward for throwing heavy flies all day on the Manistee is the chance to land a brown trout like this.
Photo by Chuck Hawkins

Katie Ferner, the Fishing Manager at Orvis Royal Oak, headed north last week, in search of some fall fun. Wanting to avoid the crowds fishing for steelhead and salmon, we opted to float the Upper Manistee and look for big trout. Chucking streamers and a 250-grain sinking-tip line on an H2 7-weight, Katie drilled the fly tight to cover time after time. Small to medium brook and brown trout harassed her flies on and off all day, with most of the action on ginger and yellow flies. The best fish was taken on a yellow Nutcracker towards the end of the float.