IT'S ALL STARTING TO HAPPEN...AND LOVE THE SNOW!

( the "Norwegian prince with a big buck steelhead last night in the snow)

Winter finally came with a vengeance and we love it!....lots of water now and for the spring.
You can't beat the antsy, pent up aggression by the steelhead right now. They are late afternoon to dusk selective beasts and looking at nature unfolding in a dark world of  holding holes and biological drift. Water flows are 2260 cfs- perfect!
Chinook sac fry are emerging along with little black stones. Hex nymphs leaving their burrows, caddis molting and dace and shiners are scurrying the shorelines despite the 33F water temps.Resident and remnant lake-run browns and rainbows crushing all the new food opportunities.

 

( Little blacks starting to crawl the snowy banks )

 

 

( Big alpha bucks wait for last light before they make their move and hammer your fly!- better start carrying these critters in your fly box)

 

Soon water temps will warm and fish will hit the gravel. Before they do you have a shot at a real trophy!. Life is short...fish harder!

 

We still have some prime dates for steelheading and everyone is waiting to see what the weather does since it was so wacky last year. This year is 'back to normal"...if there is a normal anymore!

Cheers!

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Posted in: black stones , gray drake lodge , lake-run brown trout , michigan fly fishing , michigan steelhead , muskegon steelhead , newaygo stream chinook salmon sac fry , trout and eagle

A MIXED BAG FOR MAY.....UP- AND- DOWN STEELHEAD, UP-AND DOWN WEATHER,BROWNS CHASING BABY SALMON!....AND 'BACKYARD IN NOWHERE' DVD

( JEANNIE FROM TUSCALUSA,AL- SHE WAS THE WEEK'S STEELHEAD QUEEN-YOU GO SISTER!)

( ANTON JURA FROM SLOVAKIA WITH HIS FIRST MICHIGAN STEELHEAD SUNDAY- A GORGEOUS BUCK!)

( I WAS PLAYING WITH T-14 TIPS WITH CLIENT TOM TERRY'S NEW MAGIC WAND- Z-AXIS SAGE 8134-4 550 RIO SKAGIT- WITHOUT DOUBT THE FINEST SPEY ROD I'VE CASTED WHEN THIS DROP BACK BUCK EXPLODED ON A SENYO'S 'EASY COME-EASY GO EGG SUCKING LEECH-CRUSHED THE FLY ON THE SURFACE IN SHALLOW WATER!)

THE ROLLER COASTER CONTINUES. HOTTEST MARCH ON RECORD, COLDEST FREEZER BURN APRIL, DRY/WET.....WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON! WE LOST OR APPLE CROP, CHERRY CROP...WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE....WE BETTER START PRAY'IN HARD MAN!

( SENYO'S "EASY COME- EASY GO LEECH- LETHAL ON FRESH FISH AND DROP-BACKS AT THIS TIME)

( MATT'S "SWITCH HITTER" SAC/PARR- IT IMITATES CHINOOK PARR, NEWLY EMERGING STEELHEAD FRY - BROWNS ANNIHLATE IT!)

ANY WAYS HERE IS THE SKINNY. JUST WHEN WE THINK THE STEELHEAD ARE DRIED UP, WE GET A FRESH SPURT. THE INSANELY COLD NIGHTS-20'SF AND COLD DAYS KEEP BRINGING IN FRESH STRAGGLERS. SO IF YOU SWING FLIES ON A SKAGIT HEAD WITH ABOUT 10 FEET OF T-14, YOU'LL PICK UP AGGRESSIVE /ACTIVE CHROME COMING UP, AND DROP-BACKS GOING DOWN. THE TAKES ARE VIOLENT AND THE FISH COME UP TO THE TOP FOR YOUR WHITE LEECHES IN SHALLOW WATER!

NYMPHING IS DONE WITH OTTER EGGS( PEGGED WITH MICRO RED BEADS), MY STEELHEAD SOFT HACKLE AND MICRO TINY CHINOOK FRY.

( MY STEELHEAD SOFT HACKLE)

( IN MY NEW BOOK "SELECTIVITY", I AM INTRODUCING J:SON SWEDEN'S REALISTIC MAYFLIES WHICH ARE EASILY TIED BY BUYING THE KITS FROM HARLINE DUBBIN THROUGH YOUR FLY SHOP- FISH MOVE GREAT DISTANCES TO TAKE THESE REALISTIC PATTERNS)

IF YOU WANT TO HIT NICE BROWNIES, MY SAC/PARR CHINOOK STREAMERS WILL DO THE JOB TO THOSE RAVAGING CARNIVOROUS GARBAGE FEEDERS.
 WATER AT A GOOD DEPTH- 2,105 CFS....WATER TEMP 51F.


A FEW CADDIS STARTED AND SAW SOME EPEORUS QUILL GORDONS....FISH NOT GOING CRAZY  ON TOP YET DUE TO THE CHINOOK FRY AND SUCKERS STARTING TO SPAWN....BUT WHEN THE DRY FLY ACTION STARTS IN LATE MAY/JUNE, IT WILL BE HOT AND HEAVY DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF BIG BROWNS AND BOWS WE HAVE THIS YEAR.

( TIME TO START TYING TEMPLE DOG WILLIE GUNNS FOR YOUR ATLANTIC SALMON TRIPS- THE WONDERFUL TUBES OF ROBERT WHITE- SCOTTISH GILLIE, ALONG WITH ARNI BALDURSON'S ICELAND CREATIONS THAT WILL BE FEATURED IN SELECTIVITY)

THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR WHERE YOU HAVE IT ALL....ENJOY!,,...BE PATIENT AND WORK HARD FOR YOUR FISH ...THEY ARE THERE....EVEN THE FISH ARE CONFUSED WITH THE WEATHER! TIME TO START PLANNING FOR THE MAYFLIES AND DRY FLY ACTION !

AND FINALLY THERE IS THE NEW DVD, "BACKYARD IN NOWHERE"

Peter Christensen and Mikkel Poppelhoj are from Denmark and the stars of the great action packed fly fishing western DVD. Peter and Mikkel, have contributed their work with Artic Chars for my Selectivity Book and they just did an amazing trout DVD filmed in New Zealand this winter.

Enjoy!....it ain't for the squeamish, prudish and faint hearted and not for young ears !- amazing aggressive /active footage of river monster pike- sort of a cross reality show of Hillbilly hand fishin, Moon shiners, Swamp People and River Monsters...wild stuff!

 Told Peter and Mikkel I'ld put the word out. The videography and music are great if you don't like the red neck trash.It's not for everyone, but it is very unique...eh!

 http://vimeo.com/30128464

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Posted in: Backyard in Nowhere DVD , caddis , gray drake , Great Lakes steelhead , newaygo stream chinook salmon sac fry , Quill gordon , Skagit swinging , trout and eagle , WILD TROUT GRAY DRAKES

BIG BROWNS, LEAPING CHROME STEELHEAD....AND THE RUN IS OVER?

(Cahn Tran from Chicago with a fat Muskegon brown from yesterday)

So sorry for the long delay- been a busy spring. It has been a bizarre April and March to say the least- weather up and down- water levels up and down...carzy!
 Anyways, there are still chrome steelhead coming in, the water level is at 2,238 cfs -49F and more rain coming which we need.

(Bob from Rhode Island with his first steelhead yesterday)

 The good news is the large brown trout running around on the Muskegon eating steelhead and sucker eggs and crashing Chinook salmon fry/parr. Today Larry Marsiello and Alan from New York City and I watched several large browns target the the salmon fry near shore with a ferocious appetite. Black stones are waning but still saw two fish targeting egg layers yesterday.

( Cahn Tran from Chicago with yesterday's chrome leaper!)

 Once the hatches start we are going to have amazing dry fly fishing!
 Streamer fishing has been up and down since the browns are so well fed and fat from the zillions of salmon fry.

( Alan Miller from New York city with his first steelhead)

 The run ain't over.,..you just have to work harder and be more patient. We will still get another push of fish if history has any bearing on the nature of things. There is a ton of water in Muskegon Lake that these late running steels get caught up in. Also the cold nights are keeping water temps down.

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , may fly hatches , monster brown trout , newaygo stream chinook salmon sac fry , trout and eagle

ENGLISH WASPS, OKIE'S AND MAD WEATHER!

I have seriously never seen more Lin-sane weather!
 Had the pleasure of guiding Jon Ryland, U.K. Medical Director for Britain's Abbott Labs Pharmaceutical Co. on the weekend, and a couple of good ole Oklahoma boys and their lovely lady friend Didi on Monday.....and it was cold and nasty!..........single digit nights and and 20's during the day.
Now its tropical 60's....mother nature had gone mad my friends!
Good news is there are a ton of fish in the Muskegon an the water temps are staying at 36 F - SO NO GRAVEL DIGGING( small isolated patches) YET LIKE ON OTHER RIVERS THANKS TO THE ICE ON THE RESERVOIRS!....WATER FLOW 2,800 CFS.
Jon from the U.K. is a massive London Wasps rugby supporter and had his hat on ....he caught his first steelheads- chrome females and red bucks, and became a steelhead addict.The subject was Rugby and soccer and we had a good time talking about the English Chalk streams of Hampshire.
Sherb, from OK., caught his first fly rod steelhead on a two hander and was hooked for life
There are outstanding numbers of fresh chrome steelhead in the river due to the full moon cycle and rising water- chinook salmon fry are everywhere,,,,hint....hint....!
We still have a few choice dates available for the spring run and look forward to seeing you!

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Posted in: black stones , gray drake lodge , Great Lakes steelhead , London Wasps , Muskegon River steelhead , newaygo stream chinook salmon sac fry

FEBRUARY MADNESS ON STERIODS!.......GREAT LAKES WINTER STEELHEADING AT ITS FINEST CONTINUES!

(Mark from PA. with his 'TOAD" buck- he came to Michigan to get a pig like this!-Mark is a big boy and could barely hold this well-fed beast!)

So sorry for the long delay in posting a blog. I have been tied up with 14 hour days and sleepless nights with my book  editing deadline for "Selectivity", at my office at the "Stream'....it is a real cool place in Newaygo most people wouldn't know exists.....check it out and join -up if you want to work in a high-tech environment right next to the Muskegon....http://www.newaygostream.com/

(Mike above and Jamie below with nice hen steelhead)

  ANYWAYS,............. finally got to guide for the whole past week and the steelheading,- bar none!- has been the best Great Lakes stuff I have witnessed in as long as I can remember!. Our Lake Michigan steelhead rivers are producing some of the finest fly fishing in the western hemisphere and I'm proud to be a part of it- so are my clients!, who have come from all over to become believers!Our lake is chuck-full of pelagic baitfish- alewives, sculpins, stickle-backs, gobies, emerald shiners etc., and the steelhead still have a hungry predatious appetite when they come into the rivers. It is amazing how some days you would catch all chroem hens- the other days all bright crimson red bucks!- two different personalities ata this time of year!.
 Monday started out with Jamie Suderman and his dad Doug who hit a half dozen large chrome hen steelhead on naturals- sculpin/hex/leech imitations. Doug never fly fished for steelhead and got a gorgeous chrome hen...he was blown away! Jamie smoked'em hard, with some great aerial battles despite the 35 F WATER TEMPS.

 Tuesday thru Friday, I had Mark Sturdevant from Pennsylvannia and Dr. Mike Saylor from Maryland, two hard core Lake Erie/Ontario seasoned fly guys and they came to catch our trophy steels- which they did!...they couldn't believe the size and girths of our Michigan Winter strain steelhead.....they were believers to say the least!. All of their fish came on sexy hex's-sculpin imitations, and Mark's 40 inch 'pig male' came on my new and improved Chinook sac fry Ice man minnow.Monday in the tropical weather, saw some black stone fly nymphs wiggling to shore and good green/gray scud activity in the shallows which the trout must be relishing.
 Friday, while shoveling the boat off with snow, I saw several tiny newly hatched chinook salmon fry in the shallows which just hatched.....they are pissing off those big alpha hierarchical dominant males and hens in the guts of the pools in a big way!....arm jolting strikes on the swing/chuck presentations with two-handed switch rods and clear intermediate Rio Aqualux lines.

TACTICS/CONDITIONS: With 35 F water temps, fish still are holding in Primary winter lies, but ever so slowly creeping near fast gravel areas and starting to active very aaggressive/active to natural imitations. The last 20 steelhead have been on all natural motifs- not one on an egg pattern! Water level 2,000 CFS-perefct. But the bite comes when you should expect it - mid afternoon and may come after a hundred casts thru the pools/runs.

(And the "one and only -Gator Man- from Florida who says'Puckersey' to make them gators pucker-up and show there smile!!- one crazy gator wrastlin' dude!- his first fly rod caught steelhead!)

( Josh the Cancun steelie stud!)

Had a great time with the Sherwin Mystery gang in February. Josh Schultz, the big real estate tycoon from Cancun, Mexico and his co-hort in crime - the "Gator Man" from Florida hit some nice steelhead in the warmer weather before winter showed up Friday.....we badly needed this foot of snow!
 Still have a few prime dates left for spring and hope to see ya'll!
 Cheers!

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Posted in: black stones , gray drake lodge , Great Lakes steelhead , hexagenia limbata nymps , newaygo stream chinook salmon sac fry , scuds , sculpins , trout and eagle