Fishing Report - May 22

Posted on 21 May 2024
By The Drift Team

Fishing Forecast for May 15th

We hope you had a chance to get on the water this past weekend, it was a welcome early taste of summer with some great fishing! Our staff fished for (and caught) everything from trout to carp to pike to walleye to gar! May offers more species opportunities than almost any other time of year, check out this week's forecast for our thoughts on what you should be planning for!

Make sure to check out the "Hot Flies" section below to set yourself up for success!

Trout Forecast

Trout fishing is looking up (literally)! Some of our most fun insect hatches of the year are happening now or starting in the next few days, including brown drakes, green drakes, and grey foxes! These are some of our largest mayfly species, getting the attention of big fish. Natural nymph patterns continue to produce well to - hare's ears, pheasant tails, and other standard nymphs are always a good starting point.

Be sure to keep on top of temperatures as with the recent hot weather some rivers have been pushing the 20 degree Celsius threshold for safe trout fishing in the afternoons. Mornings are gernally fine however and temperatures will be cooling down coming into the weekend. The Grand River tailwater (Fergus/Elora) is still flowing nice and cold, so no issues fishing it.

Pike Forecast

Pike fishing continues to be very good. With warmer weather fish have moved into medium depth weedbeds, target water anywhere from 10-20', even early weeds that may be small still will hold fish. If your lake is more open with limited weeds, look for shallow bays and target the mouths of those bays where those fish will be transitioning from shallow to deeper water.

Carp Forecast

Water is getting warm enough that carp are now moving into shallower water on many lakes and river mouths. This is the perfect time of year to put on the waders and sight fish these hard fighting fish!

The Great Lakes offer tremendous carp opportunities, offering the chance at fish over 30lbs sight fished in just a couple feet of water! Look for warmer water areas like protected bays and river mouths where these fish will come in to eat. Small leech and crayfish patterns are perfect, try to get close to feeding fish and delicately present the fly close to them, then hold on!

	Stimulator (trout) Starting now, we'll start to see stoneflies on many rivers. These can range anywhere from 16's all the way to size 4's. They are a bug that hatches steadily for the next few weeks, don't be scared to cast one any time you're out!
	Quill Perdigon (Trout) This general purpose nymph is natural and not too flashy, making it a perfect option in clear water!
	Flex Hex Nymph (Carp) Hexagenia mayflies are common in many of our lakes and rivers, they burrow in soft bottom environments where carp love to feed. Drop this one near a feeding carp and hang on!
	Pike Kit Get set for incredible spring pike fishing with these sets of some of our favourite pike flies!