6-30-04 - Another evening wasted chasing Perch on the fly!

6-30-04 - One last chance at Perch on the Fly!

Waters Fished: Lake Michigan (out my front door and a 1/2 block walk, AKA. "Home")
Fish Caught: 0
Outing Date: 6-30-04
Weather: Just another beautiful day - wind from the south
Air Temp: upper 70's
Water Temp: didn't take it
Water Level: normal
Water Color: clear blue , visibility 5' or so.
Fish Species: Perch, Rainbow Trout
Pattern Fished: Whitlock's Hare Sculpin, some random nymph
Pattern Color: gray and white. Nymph was tan/brown
Fishing Quality: DEAD

So I got out of work late, but we're still in those real long summer days, and with my goal of beating 130 days fishin' for 2004, well, every day helps! Not to mention at the time Perch season closed in less than 5 hours!

I got on over to the lakefront..visibility is improving, slowly. Unlike my prior trips, there wasn't any remarkable numbers of baitfish present. I wasted an hour or two trying, desperately, to get a lunker perch but that never happened. The evening was filled with TONS of follows by the now numerous dinker perch in the 7-8" class. I even had some hits I could barely see, but never felt so much as a tap. Despite the 8wt. being superior for casting the heavy flies, it kills all the sensitivity I'd get when using a 6wt and 4lb tippet.

The other noticeable thing is that the small rainbows are still present but weren't actively feeding when I was out. But what really struck me was the pods of fish ranging from 12-16" that were cruising. These were either PERCH on the move or Rainbows! Then again, I'm not sure but it looked like there was some young Salmon running around too.

Based on their shape and speed, I'm guessing they were roaming trout or salmon traveling in a pack. Despite getting casts that would sink right into the middle of the school I never got a hookup...MANY LOOKS and MANY FOLLOWS but not a single bite. I may have to go out with some different, more traditional trout offerings and see if my guess is right...maybe there'll be some nice trout pics coming from the lake soon ;)

  MP