LATEST FALL/WINTER UPDATE!...BIG IS THE WORD!

( look for this "cover girl", Jess Delorenzo , from PA  to be on the cover of the new issue of Fly Fisherman that will be out this week! Jess caught this beauty with me guiding her last December in the pool right in front of the lodge, and my "Icy Steel" (winter steelhead article feature) is in the issue...Congrats Jess!

Back from Iceland and another vision of Salmo utopia. But the Great Lakes are among the next best places on earth for all things trout, steelhead, and salmon....tough to beat all the options. Here is a update and breakdown of what is to come...NOW!, and fall/ winter!, ( see my latest post on Fall trout fishing on Facebook last few days)...fresh salmon in our pools on the Muskegon!, trout fishing has been fantastic-caddis and bwo hatches, and steelhead and coho are on the St. Joe.

PACIFIC SALMON-KINGS AND COHO

Father and Son - Gene and Justin Kelly from pool swinging kings with west coast patterns last year- pool fishing has started and will get better once cooler weather sets in

The prey/predator balance in Lake Michigan is now excellent and the king and coho salmon this year are running even larger than last year!!!!( last year was the biggest salmon I've ever witnessed on the Muskegon- fish at 30 lbs!) The pooled up fish in the system are very large, and as the rest of September and October unfolds, we will see fish sizes continue to grow with cooler weather and more water flows. We will start seeing coho skippers show up this year as result of recent plants. We specialized in pool fishing west coast style swinging comets and bosses California/Russian River style.

STEELHEAD

                            One fly dis all this damage!-Some awesome early fall steel taken by the Chris and Katie Coggins from Texas, Norm Price from NJ, and Paul Dolbec's massive beast that smashed the Hang time leech

Given that winter-run steelhead will predate on available bait fish schools, if the salmon are the tell-tale sign that things are getting big and bigger!, steelhead this fall should be trophy sized and aggressive on the swing take. Also the large sized salmon will infuse many eggs into the system for "match-the hatch"steelheading  ( for more on winter steelheading, see the new issue of FLY FISHERMAN MAGAZINE (Fall/Winter 2019-out Sept. 30th) for my client and amazing photographer/angler Jessica Delorenzo on the cover with her masive Muskegon steelhead taken with me on the swing in mid-December last year, I also have the feature article on winter steelhead entitled "Icy Steel")
The first steelhead will trickle in on the heels of the salmon egg barrage, and then prime swinging thru December, with deep nymphing/swing/chucking through the winter where the Muskegon is prime for deep cold winter steel!

ATLANTIC SALMON

                                            (this IGFA landlocked Atlantic salmon record 27lb female we caught 9 years ago still stands as the all-world record landlocked Atlantic my client Tom caught while I guided him in Michigan....they are stunning Grand Lake Stream fish from Maine Michigan/LSSU has been experimenting with since the 60's

I am expecting a much better year for our inland and Great Lakes Atlantic salmon since the massive hot to cold weather caused many salmon to stay out in the deep waters rather than transition ( Salmo salar has that capacity due to their migratory ocean regime life-style) The fact that we have the opportunity to catch world class Atlantic salmon in the Midwest heartland is an amazing thing!!!, considering the dollars one must spend to travel the world for them. We must thank the excellent work of Lake Superior State University and the Michigan. I still have a few dates left for these amazing and beautiful brown trout cousins( see my new book for more details  #browntroutatlanticsalmonnexus) Also my Atlantic salmon trips have the great potential for hooking large lake-run browns

TROUT FISHING-HATCHES. EGGING AND STREAMERS

(Autumn tiny Pseudo bwo's- a massive hatch in Michigan-JG Miller image)

Fall/winter is an amazing time for a trophy brown trout since they are migrating for the spawn and will eat ravenously after they are quickly done. Fall hatches are thick on the Muskegon of caddis and blue -winged olives, with white Cahills. Stripping giant articulated drunk/disorderlies and double D's, also matching the egg game is trophy brown trout time!...our tailwater fat rainbows are also active all fall and winter and foraging big time before winter comes and through the winter

Call or email us to reserve your much deserved time on the water!
cheers!...humbly yours!
Matt & Laurie Supinski

Posted in: gray drake lodge , Great Lakes atlantic salmon , great lakes king salmon , Great Lakes steelhead , Michigan brown trout , michigan fly fishing , muskegon fly fishing