April Action Can Be Hot
Ice-out trolling dominates my fishing activities during the first half of April. Some of the season’s largest salmon, togue and brook trout are caught using fly rods to troll sewn smelt and streamer flies within a few feet of the surface shortly after the ice goes out. Timing is important, and conditions change from year to year, so I keep a close eye on some prime lakes and let clients know exactly when to come.
Often by mid-April, smelt run and sucker spawn fly fishing gets underway. We can also have some mid-day midge hatches on some local trout ponds that can provide great early-season dry fly action, especially on warm, overcast afternoons.
I also do some sea-run brook trout fishing in April.