Trillium

Still not quite summer, May is the near-nuff month that gets the whole ball rollin‘ in a good and proper direction. It's a time of spicy tension - the water's still cold, the winds can be face-burning raw and it can rain like the blue devil. But fly fishing for trout has a long, proud heritage in Michigan and a little discomfort won’' stop many of us from climbing out of the sack ultra-early for a shot at a snappy little trout.

Still May, before the promised warmth of June, large colonies of trillium and trout lily's blossom in the woods. Trillium are my favorite early season flower and their wonderful white carpet spread across the forest floor is one of our most beautiful and pleasing spring scenes. It's when the yellow trout lily's bloom that our trout begin to come out of their winter-mode and start "looking up" for bugs. It's no wonder; the warming weather and water temperatures bring a serious succession of caddis, mayflies and stoneflies to the surface - often with overlapping hatches.

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This is classic dry fly time in Michigan and the time many of us have waited for all year

Around this time the Canada goose hens will be sitting on their nests. You'll see them while you are fishing and they sit quietly and they'll let you get darn close. That is until the eggs hatch. Then watch out! But use those fuzzy goslings as a "season marker" and you'll know that trout season is in full swing and the caddis, mayfly and stonefly hatches are at their peak. Have fun out there! And don't step on the Trillium. - WES:::