9:25 AM
Matthew Supinski's Gray Drake/Selectivity/Nexus Blog
(stenonema ithyica,canadese-cahill-J.Miller image)
Morning water temp this morning-66.1 F-yesterday's high was 67.7F- fyi.
Another transformation day for the Muskegon. Did an evening float from the dam down with my client Sigurd from Richmond VA. and his son and grandson Rob and Robbie from Hampshire England. Knowing it was the Sat. tubazoo onslaught, I suggested we stay well above them by starting around 4:00 .I was seriously dreading launching at the dam - petrified to be honest .I felt like putting blinders on my English guests so they wouldn't have to visualize what we saw last week..................overturned styro-coolers of beer, every word being shouted being an "M EFIN" lovely barrage by my brethren tube aficionados.
I nearly shit myself when we got there! Yeah there were cars parked ....BUT.....it was as quiet as a church- you could hear a pin drop- it was like a Monday summer morning.I was shocked to put it mildly.
Oh by the way -ain't gonna wet wade anymore. The new temps give you a little rush after standing in the water for a while.I also saw an interesting sight. About 20 tubers were standing on the bank about 100 yards or so down from the dam shivering in their bathing suites. One women screamed"I'm going back to the car".She was "coooo"(lol)
Sig caught a few nice rainbows indy fishing with midge and caddis larvae.Rob and Robbie swung wets and caught a few more. Nothing of any size, but the planters were very feisty with the new water regime and bellies were "plump"-often not seen at this time of year .Had a good rain and some lightning. About 8:00p.m., saw a considerable emergence of white steno cahills- usually not seen in those numbers this time of year till early Sept. Two good sized fish were working the still born emerges at the bottom of Carmichael-very shy and couldn't touch them.From Pine down , it was like floating a remote river. Never saw a tuber- it was quiet and calm and my English clients couldn't believe how gorgeous the river was and "nobody on it'( in my mind I was saying you should have seen the fiasco last week!) We saw wading anglers and one fly fisher in a jet(don't know your name-but you're a real nice guy and dedicated angler!)
Once again, thank you Sheriff Mike Mercer and staff, CO Ginn and all the weekend sting operators.
You have truely transformed the river in one week- and the the river, the trout and all that use it resposibly with admiration for its beauty and quality- thank you immensely!
Note: Mondrella- nice post. Name is Matt- no need for Mr. and my pocket book is fine..Don't have a problem with the biologists credibility as people .I think they are all really nice guys. Have a problem with the way their data was constructed specifically tailor made to bring back a quick dispatching of culling 10 inch trout. A more thorough and un-biased study with man-hours on the water( by THEM and their staff) and pulling many different data bases- anglers /scientisits/yes- guides, would be more conclusive and assuring. The water can be enjoyed by all.......harvesters, catch and release.- let everyone enjoy and feel important.I 'm proposing a slot limit harvest to maximize trophy brown trout(see our summer newsletter)
Oh btw....... caught a 14 inch brown with a sore scar on the left side of his mouth. Had a samll spinner treble hook in it's mouth which I carfully removed. He still had time to hit my caddis pupae.Have caught the same fish three times now in the last two and a half weeks.Lactic acid has not effected him. By using barbless hooks religiously, you can hold the trout up an inch off the water and turn your hemos for a quick release. Hate to break it to you, but the fish I see floating downstream are often from worm anglers squeezing a trout trying to get the barbed/snelled hook out cause the fish is not of the"big ten inch" class to make the igloo.OR...to make you feel better, those dreaded fly guys holding fish out of water for long periods of time fumbling with a camera. Camera rule...fish out of water three seconds- that's it!
Thanks for reading my blog. Remember...........opinions are like assholes....everyone's got one!
