B.C.'s DOUBLE-RED BANDER BUCK STEELHEAD IN YOUR GREAT LAKES WINTER WONDERLAND!......JANUARY'S CRIMSON KINGS!

(Matt's selective alpha buck!- waited to "0 dark hundred" to slam a sculpin- biggest buck of 2011/2012!)

The January's deep winter steelheading continues to roll on a wild ride! From last week's pre-snow storm mild winter, to my last three days of howling snow and bitter cold temps, the winter of 2012 is shaping up to be one of the finest I've seen in 20 years of Great Lakes winter steelhead....no shit!
Had the extreme pleasure of guiding Dr. Matt Zaccheo for a couple of days this week- this dude is a 'serious steelhead magnet"!....he could pluck out hog bucks out of a gold fish bowl!!... Armed with  Helios switch rod, he cracked untold big double red band bucks- his biggest was 39-40 inches as seen at the top. "This pool' ( which will go unnamed) was fished hard all Monday by several guides and boats since it was warm ( 40f) and a holiday. Matt hit a nice big 11-12 pound buck right off the crack of first light there in 33 F water, since air temps were around 18F. The buck came flying 2 feet in the air on first hook-up in 11 feet of water....amazing for that cold water temp. Matt loves red bucks, especially the bright deep red band strain of Michigan steelhead. He lived and went to medical school in Erie, PA, and fished Elk and those creeks hard. He thinks our Michigan fish have the most awesome coloration when compared with steelhead alley's......being a new Michigan transplant, he is totally addicted to our fishery! He spent three days with his Friend Todd from Pittsburgh  with me back in middle December and they both hit lots of big chrome hens, Matt wanted the big kyped red banders and boy did he get them this trip!

( Got a chance to get out with Laurie to get some awesome images of those gorgeous snow and ice covered trees and test out some new heads. Bumped a nice fish on the swing- the 600 grain Skagit froze solid, the fish was air born near the bank and 'gone"""- nice to know at 34 F WATER TEMP , a fish wanted Pantano's Hang Time leech!)

( Zaccheo was "out of control" hitting 4 big bucks in a day and a half- the bad nasty weather killed us yesterday! and we only got 6 hours in)

The first day when Matt cracked that nice buck in the a.m, I told him about 'the dusk bite". I knew where a few hog pens were but we are not touching them till 5:30 ish or so- dusk is at 6.

"Those really big selective /reflective alpha fish will lay there all day and watch all kinds of crap thrown at 'em...spawn bags, glo-bugs, you name it, they've seen it all', I said. "At dark, that is when they get on the hunt- they are looking for sculpins, dace, shiners- they ain't gonna hit an egg pattern!" At 6:05, couldn't see crap, Zaccheos rod went off and the water boiled. I took my sunglasses off and was blind!...so was Matt!!!. That big buck went into the backing twice and after a long battle - I had no idea how I got my net under that humongous pig- we landed it!....it crushed a Grim Reaper sculpin with a little sparse flash on the back- a small pattern which differs from the larger fall version. "HOW THE HELL DID THAT BUCK (around 18 on the boga) see that pattern in a deep 12 foot pool in the dark is beyond me", said Matt.That fish waited till all the knuckle heads- including us- were off the river- little did he know we lurked in silence rowing a jet sled! That is the beauty of these selective Steelhead in winter-our favorite time- it's a head game at this time of year- I LOVE IT!

( the grim reaper for selective winter alpha males)

( there has to be easier work - this winter steelhead guiding wasn't what my high school counselor told me to do....BRUTAL!)....NOT GREAT FOR ARTHRITIS!

Last week during the warm spell, I had the infamous Cahn Tran from Chicago who hit some nice chrome hens- he is becoming a steelhead addict needing a fix almost every month. Also had the pleasure of guiding Bob Moreland, a retired jumbo 747 pilot from IL. who flew his plane into Fremont airport and caught some nice steelhead- his first of 4 that day. Bob is an avid Atlantic salmon angler who owns a section of the Sandhill River in Labrador- he was impressed with our winter fish.

( Commodore Bob with his best hen of the day)

(Cahn Tran with a brace of nice hen steels)

Winter Steelhead Tactics: As I said , its a head game of persistence and patience- also timing of day is'huge". Look at winter runs and pools, but fish are moving around now that daylight photoperiod is really kicking their hormonal spawning development into full gear. Lots of alpha territorial behavior going on now. Water temp-34-36 F. Level- 1,780 CFS.....perfect for fussy steelhead! Believe it or not, Cahn hit a large spawned out hen already!....spring is coming fast!..that's way too early for me
WINTER AND SPRING STEELHEADING........ With all the fish in the river winter steelheading will continue to be impressive, seems the worse weather days have the best bites. We still have "A FEW CHOICE DATES", for spring and would love to have you fish with us! If you want "real trophies"- February and early March , before the "gravel rippers ascend", is when you want to target big alpha steelhead. Here is Mr. Gene Kelly from Boston last Valentine's weekend- his first steelhead ever!

 Given the fall and winter run we have already experienced, spring will come early and should be amazing....that ain't just Michigan guide talk....the pictures tell it all!
                                                            WHAT'S BEEN COOKING AT CHEZ MATEO'S
                                                                       DOCKSIDE CULINARY EMPORIUM?

                                                                                                 

( IT HAS BEEN A MONTH FOR STEWS/RAGUS....HOT EUROPEAN BOILING POTS ON THE GRILL WARM UP THE DAY- HERE IS CAHN WITH AN ALPINO ITALIAN CHICKEN RAGU OVER EGG NOODLES AND VEGETABLES IN A THICK TOMATO DILL STOCK WITH VEGGIES)

( Matt Zaccheo had a "delish " lunch of classic Perigord French Beef Burgundy- a bottle of red wine stock simmered the beef for 4 hours in the slow cooker and warmed up pot side on the river.....carrots, mushrooms, and an asparagus risotto......."a killer dish for winter" on a cold day!)

Read more »

Posted in: aggressive steelhead and Atlantic salmon behavior , babine steelhead , French comfort food , gray drake lodge , Great Lakes steelhead , Muskegon River steelhead , steelhead alley , trout and eagle

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A RIVER IS ACTUALLY "TOO FERTILE!"............SOUP TO NUTS MAN!

( Todd hit a nice brownie on a caddis pupae the night before before the 'soup to nuts " hatch)

Last night on the Muskegon was a true eye opener- an almost surreal exhibition by the power of nature and its ability to tame even the most astute fly angler that knows the hatches, tout behavior and "what they think!" is going on.
Todd and I decided to catch the dusk hatch of caddis which are second brood style starting up around now and will last thru October.

( the heat is pushing the bug activity to o'dark hundred!)

Yes the little green caddis, (Cheum. Spec.), the next brood of Hydro Cinnamon's, the Macronema Zebra caddis and whatever mayflies are ending/starting etc.
 WOW!!!!!!!!!!....................we were practically shell shocked when dusk came and the river and its bugs went absolutely "insane"! Seriously, in all my years (hate to admit it but now 23 years fishing the Muskegon hatches), I've never seen the water turn to "mulligatawny soup to nuts".

( hexes and white flies taken by the dam street lights)

( a perfect wiggle hex/iso/white fly/Poto imitation)

 After a nice grilled dinner of Angus T-bones, with balsamic mushrooms and roasted new potatoes and onions in olive oil and fresh rosemary, we were seeing a few big trout working the caddis pupae at dark/dusk. The few rises of good "bulging backs and tails" turned into dozens upon dozens of rising rings. It got too dark to see your 6x, and size 18/20 imitations and the scary part happened when we turned our big spotlights on the water. That was both depressing and and amazing ! It looked like someone sprinkled saw-dust on the water of bugs................it went from nothing to unfishable in ten minutes!!! There literally was a hundred bugs in a one foot square area.........."by george baffling mind you my mates!"

( the bows are fatter than ever- my client got a nice 19 inch fat rainbow on a scud by the dam on his bamboo rod made by Mac- The Vogelmeister")

When I sifted the surface, here is what we found:
Diptera; midges -cream and black by the bajillions-black flies mostly- cranflies
Caddis; geens, cinnamons, spent pupae ,adults, micro caddis by the bajillions, zebra caddis
MayFlies: YES HEX SPINNERS! they were all over- my assumption is they are coming from Croton Pond and spinner falling over the dam or thru the turbines, also tons of white fly spinners( Ephron Leukon- size 12#, blue winged olive, Isonychias, yes even a few late gray drake spinners.

( little greens are just getting ready to pupate-they are coming and in droves!)John Miller insect images@

 THIS WAS SIMPLY MAD!
SO...............how do you put any reason to this caotic madness for the hatch matcher.
 Here is the dope! Given the fact that there are still soft shell crayfish around, tons of dace and shiners, small steelhead fry- PLUS- this insane amount of insect life, the browns and rainbows got TONS of food and are very selective- almost impossible!
 My best success has been early in the evening before the bug onslaught hits at dark and on caddis pupae TWITCHING AND DEAD DRIFTING!. If the water turns to"soup to nuts ' it is over.
 The bubbler is on and dropping the water temps at night( if you notice the USGS graph you can see the spikes). The fish are extremely fat and broad shouldered with all the food.
 They are not just up by the dam to Pine St. I talked to Rod Geers this morning who lives below Cottonwood flats and he caught a nice 17 inch brown on a spinner at dawn right by his glass house.
 So are the fish spread around- YES!- has the heat effected them -NO!- does the fishing get easier as the summer progresses- YES!...............WHY?
 soft shell crayfish will be gone, so will hexes, white flies, midges, black flies.
 What will remain is caddis and flying ants and the fish will tune into the all day emergence and egg laying like clock work! Even this tough hatch to fish becomes easy if you've read Richards and Pobsts books on caddis and have the right fly, tippet and technique. The Muskegon trout really pack on the pounds during late July and August from the fat pistachio nut caddis pupae.
 That is my story and I'm sticking to it! 
Besides , it has been that way for 23 years- BUT!.................never in this fertile intensity!
 For the trout, that is a good thing. For the 'Joe' fly dude, it makes it very, very interesting!

( Good Client and B.C. speymaster Doc Flaherty from Chicago sent me this picture of the beautifiul rainbows he got last week on the Babine during the salmon fly hatch- GORGEOUS FISH!)

 This is the time that separates the casual hatch matcher from the seasoned pro......I love it!

Read more »

Posted in: babine steelhead , brown trout , caddis , Eagle Lake Rainbows , gray drake lodge , hexagenia limbata , michigan fly fishing , midges , muskegon river , trout eagle lodge and outfitters , white fly

FINALLY...........HOPE AND CHANGE!!!!!!!!

( I showed Dr. Ian my "T-REX", and that amazing brilliant English chap went crazy!!!- these are his "Thunderschtyk wanna bees" for early kings!)

( Chi-town Dr. Jack with a faithful Muskegon May warrior that took a swinging Senyo's "SUPER RUBBER-LEGGED ICE MAN- featured in the next issue of FLY FISHERMAN)

( Dr. Jack with a 25 lber on the Babine last fall with the Moi candy cane)

( a new and improved Babine Candy Cane I tied today for Jack when he returns in Sept. & Oct. to B.C.- they worked for me on the Big B back in the 80's- they are still hot now!- it is perfect and a little more laborious to do them Intruder style- string leech- HULL STYLE-KUDOS TO HULL!!!- which we have now replaced shoe lace string from your favorite shoe master with Power - pro and Dacron-trivia ?- what is the material used for the fl. red tags that originated this historic west coast fly?)- river starts with a "D"

Really, I can't believe I'm using those words- but- I think the disastrous 12 weeks of heat/drought and downright"shit" conditions could be over. Chasing the non- exsistent summer steelhead, and non- exsistent caddis hatches on the Muskegon has taken a brutal toll on this guide!

BUT..........IT WILL FINALLY END? We have a great cold front coming which has already dumped rain and the temps for the daytime highs on Friday will be in the 60's !!!!!- yahoo.

SO, think big flies for the summer runs that are still there in the lake and will come with the cohos and our beloved kings with a vengeance once the rivers cool off. The past three nights on the Muskegon , I actually had an hour of fishable caddis hatch- sparse as it was- just befor dark..........and the Gray Drake lights this morning were coated with blue-winged-olives.

I'm chill'in /wait'in for that" hope and change"- Barak O'man, those words can never be more prefect for what we are wish'in for! It's kinda scary when you are watching the weather channel and radar on your Blackberry hoping Hurricane Earl will make a visit to Michigan and Indiana!

"Be careful what you wish for!!!

Read more »

Posted in: babine steelhead , caddis , hurricane Earl , muskegon salmon , muskegon trout steelhead , st.joe skamania , summer steelhead , trout eagle lodge and outfittersB.C.

THE STEELHEAD SCOURGE OF B.C.'S BABINE IS BACK!!!

( one of Doc Flah's 20 lbers from the Babine taken on my electric candy cane string leech)

( a buck and a hen by the Doc from the Mo , Wed. and Thurs.)

YES......back by popular demand, it was Dr. John Flajherty (Flah!) from Chicago, whose known conquest of 20 lbers from B.C.'S Babine is legendary!

Had a couple of great days with the Doc. He hit some nice steels, caught some nice fat trout stripping streamers and we got to play with his new Meiser two-hander- 13-1/2 ft-7/8 with a 525 grain Skagit.John was testing it out for his multiple yearly trips to the big""Bab".

Water was really low Thursday, but should come up with all the rain this weekend.Caddis and a few Quills and March Browns make up the surface melange.

"Strip baby-strip!"- or as Sarah Palin put it"drill baby drill" but that's with streamers, not on the golden pole....lol(actually that's o.k. too if you want !)

Morels coming- this funghi head has been stumped thus far.

OH YEAH....I HAVE SOME SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS COMING UP- HOPE TO SEE YOU IF YOU CAN ATTEND!

Orvis Royal Oak-Detroit- May 8th- 11 A.M

Hex Shop- Grand Rapids- May 20th 4-6 PM

Orvis Cleveland-May 22nd

Check out Doc Flah's Jumpin buck Blogger video below!

Read more »

Posted in: B.C. , babine steelhead , michigan steelhead , morels , muskegon trout steelhead , Orvis Helios , Sarah Palin

STEELHEAD WAYNE-IAC DOES IT AGAIN........"SHOW ME" STATE MAN DOES THE GRAND MUSKEGON SLAM!

Wayne did it again...he wanted a chrome hen after nothing but bucks( poor guy- I can't buy a buck or a hen when I go fishing on my day off!!)

Nymphing a tough, snaggy gut of a run - known to hold big, pregnant hens sniffing the gravel above, Wayne pulled it off!

Congrats brother- you have become a "steelhead-aholic"-AND WE AIN'T GRAVEL RAKING-NOW THAT'S COOL STUFF FOR FLY GUYS!

BUT,TONTO SAY" gravel rakers cometh- stringers cometh- CLOROX bottles cometh- triple limits cometh-team Igloo cometh-long boats and yellow shafts come- white man loose mind when see chrome in skinny water!-motors no friend of animal life- peace tranquility no more.

Welcome to spring madness!!!!!!!! - it's fun- there are lots of fish - chill out and have a great day full of chrome, smiles, memories- But.KEEP THE STRINGERS HOME-PLEASE?

Read more »

Posted in: babine steelhead , dead steelhead , michigan fly fishing , Michigan native american indian tribes , muskegon steelhead , spring steelhead , stringers , Tonto , trout eagle lodge and outfitters

MARCH MADNESS AND THE BIG DAWGS!,,,,,,,,DOCTOR JOHNNY BAGS THE BIG ALPHA BUCK STEELHEAD!

( Dr. John with the hog)

( The girth on this thing was massive and I could barely get it in the net basket as it's tail stuck out )

( the broken new net handle from LOKI )

Every year I get asked when is the best time of year to bag the steelhead trophy of a lifetime. I always say"March".All of the 15-20 lb plus( and you can count them pretty much on one hand in 17 years) bright red male buck steelhead have for the most part come in March. These are pre-spawn, heavy girth ed, double red band, Babine, B.C. looking fish that put up incredible battles in very cold water. They are extremely aggressive in the deep dark guts of the pools they inhabit in 34 degree F water.BUT........they are very elusive, cautious and can be the equally opposite of aggressive takers.......can be!

It was another bluebird, bright sunny day Thursday.Water was"vodka clear(actually Vodka is a little more stained then the Muskegon right now), when I guided the "STEELHEAD DOCTOR"-Dr. John Murphy. John in his 17 years of guiding for steelhead with me has probably caught more and very large steelhead than any other fly angler in the Great Lakes! That is a bold statement, but the hundreds of digital and slide images I have of John and his wife Shawn is living proof to his prowess.

We were totally enjoying the weather and I felt like I was in Florida after guiding the past few weeks in spitting snow, wind and ice-up.John, a recently retired chief surgeon at Beaumont Hospital in Detroit, had recently started up his private physicians consulting company and has not gottin out to fish for winter steels-his passion- yet in 2010. John has caught fish in minus 4 degree weather( that's F.- NOT WIND CHILL!) He has caught large steelhead in flood-stage water, low clear water, tertiary water. Damn it!- if there was a steelhead in a toilet bowl in the Florida keys, John would find it and catch it- he has got a nose like a dog for steelhead. In all equivalents, he is the "STEELHEAD BOB YORK"of the Great Lakes!

After landing a nice dark male buck steelhead around three P.M.- which went ballistic in battle, the water was pushing 36.8 degrees F. The dusk bite was sure to come.

I saved the best and last big buck pool for the end of the day. "Johnny, I haven't seen those big buck males of March now for two years. For a long time from the late 90's we hit them every spring", I said , as we sat and soaked up the sun and I changed flies. "I REMEMBER THE BIG 20LB PLUS BUCK I HIT IN EARLY MARCH THAT WAS ON THE FRONT COVER OF FLY FISHERMAN MAGAZINE-ALSO THE 20LB PLUS ONE HIT BY M.DZIENNY IN 2002".These are memorable fish and battles a guide never forgets-BUT lately, they have been few and far between.

John was using the Orvis Helios 11 foot /7 wght. switch rod with the Abel Super 8 Steelhead model. 3x Orvis Mirage Flouro. I've been testing various flouros all winter in 3x(6lb) to see which holds up best on big fish with kypes and teeth. Varivas, Maxima, Rio Flouro-flex all had different qualities. The diameter difference and strength between 2x and 3x is very significant -especially in steelheading in very low, clear waters.

I put on the new "Super Ice Man Rainbow Blue Minnow"( a Gregg Senyo tie that will be featured for sale later this summer to coincide with one of my magazine features.This fly stuck the massive lake - run brown we hit last Friday. With the Senyo's Lazer fibers(available from Hareline Products), Gregg has found a way to mix MWM (motion without movement, translucency and vibration- all in one fly!).

After about a dozen drifts thru a bucket/gut of a pool that produced the Dzienny fish in 2002, the Helios WAS SLAMMED WITH VIOLENT HEAD SHAKES!.Johnny stuck hard, but not too hard having 3x flouro. The fished sulked and head shaked in the pool."I Don't know what that is- it is head shaking but I don't think it's a steel", John Said."It must be a big brown or a hog walleye"."NOPE, Johnny, I Shot back. It is acting like the prelude to a major battle with a big alpha buck steelhead that hasen't woke-up its metabolism yet.or doesn't want to leave the pool just yet - the fish struck at happy hour- 5:06 P.M." Once the fish came up out of ten feet of water it went berserk and thrashed the surface and tail-walked 20 yards into John's backing and went 70 yards down the whole pool on one run".

IT was a fierce battle lasting 15 minutes and the Helios and 3x mirage held up perfectly. I stiffer rod would have broken that fish off.And thanks to John's ability to land hog steelhead it all came together. I just got a new LOKI net handle and when I went to hoist the fish up to land it , the aluminum handle snapped in two!!!!

Both John and I were spent and exhausted!. It was a dawg fight to the finish( I got the battle on my new Nikon Digital d700 HD 14. mega pix video and will do a YOU tube in the next few days.

CONGRATS DR.J FOR RESTORING THE EARLY MARCH STREAK OF BIG ALPHA BUCKS!

In an important note to all my team Igloo"club and string em up brethren"-PLEASE- when you encounter these perfect genetic specimens..PLEASE let them go!!!! They are God's ultimate creation of genetic perfection- aggressive to take the fly and have the "strike instinct" firmly implanted in them . Their soul purpose is to fertilize as many females as they can and pass on the behavioral code of the strike aggression response. If we cull these "Striking and taking machines" out of the gene pool, we are cheating our own sporting opportunities. Besides, the smaller 2-5 pound chromers are better for your grill and don't have the impact on the gene pool and the creation for multi- spawning run alpha fish which we desperately need more of !I beseech to please let these guys go!

ENJOY THE IMAGES!!

Read more »

Posted in: Abel , babine steelhead , gray drake lodge , michigan fly fishing , michigan steelhead , muskegon trout steelhead , Orvis Helios , steelhead genetics , trout and eagle