Rain, Rain, Please Come

The dry April was not good for the rivers or the fauna & flora for that matter. The month of May has been dry also, causing the river levels to drop too fast and the weather is unseasonably Hot. How does this affect the fly fishing? Will we get early bug hatches? Will water temperatures climb to 68 F? If so trout will begin to look up to surface feeding on hatches. The month of May fish behavior will be like June. 
We need rain. The forecast is a developing low over the Great Lakes basin. This phenomenon can bring several days of rain to the area. The rain will be a cooler air mass slamming into a warm front. In Northern Michigan we don't get tornados like the southern plains, but we do get a massive amount of rain.  Hopefully the immense surface of Lake Michigan will not defuse the thunder storms coming from the north west and we can return to a normal fly fishing season. 
A lot is riding on this next week. The rain will make cooler rivers with higher water levels. It will take us into the late May & June hatches in great shape. This weekend might very well be washed out, but it will set up for a great start to the dry fly season. Be patient, nature has its way of adjusting itself to the demands of those living things that depend on her.  
This gave me a very big trout season last year with Brook Trout in the 14-15 inch range, and Brown Trout near 24 inches in day light hours on a dry fly. All in very small rivers. The best season for size in 20 years. 
Over the years I have found that mid-May is the start for dry flies. If the rain comes the knowledge will be applicable. If not we'll be guessing!   
Let there be rain!

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