High Water

The rain continues and the rivers rise. This past week's forecast of sunny days never came. Sunday's sunny afternoon was the only chance to watch trout spawn and catch some trout, but that was the only nice day to fly fish this week.
The Maple was so high and tannin colored that visibility was only a foot deep. The Sturgeon, Pigeon and Black rivers were surprisingly clear but that was before this weeks rain arrived. All rivers are high and fast. If you do venture out use caution.
Spawning larger trout were not feeding. The trout that did take my fly Sunday afternoon were all small. The temperatures of the rivers are about 48 F.  The high water, cool temperatures and rain should benefit the trout.
The first snow flurries that generally come with those cruel northwest storms are only weeks away. Lake Michigan will surely pound lingering Great Lakes freighters. The repaired break wall in Petoskey will get its first test against the high water. The gales of November are close.
It is difficult to predict weather. Your only reliable forecast is to look out your window, and that forecast is only good for ten minutes here in Michigan.
This October has yet to have any nice weather patterns. Time is running out for dry flies. It could be time to store the equipment for 2014 fly fishing season and roll out the snowblower....ugh!