SPRING STEELHEAD RUN UPDATE-MARCH 9TH

                                                      

 ( massive wild Muskegon buck steelhead- note the perfect fins- starting to see the larger males showing up)

SO!....we go from near zero F and freezing/blizzard conditions last week , to almost 70F yesterday- 10 day forecast- 50F-60F- sun, some rain.

HERE IS THE SKINNY-3/9:

* river flows in all rivers are on the rise with the big spring melt-off-snow /ice on reservoirs

*current river temps is 36F- WILL STAY COOL DUE TO ALL THE MELT OFF!...so it wont all explode, but the rising flows will bring in many more fish- winter really started in February and it was a very cold last couple of weeks- so think of this as a February thaw

* still looking for more steelhead to ascend every day- walleye numbers are still just picking up, so steelhead are right with them

* some darker males ( ones that have been in the system since December, are sperming and ready to go- some females are also digging gravel- especially on Rogue/P.M. etc...White also has fish on gravel

*The Muskegon is a massive drainage system- largest in Great Lakes, so we will have steelhead all March/April/May just like the past 20 years- no change

*Saw the first little black early stones yesterday- no sign of salmon sac fry yet

* Fish still holding in winter lies -spring-fed pools- higher flows will push them even deeper into 'guts and buckets'

* time to start fishing hex nymphs/leech/ buggers with copper flash as waters rise- also larger intruders with natural and flash)

(Funky Cold Medina)

MISC. NOTES

* STILL HAVE A FEW GOOD DATES LEFT FOR SPRING STEELHEAD- ESPECIALLY DURING THE WEEK

* AMOUNT OF 12-15 INCH TROUT ( AND LARGER 20'S) IN THE RIVER NOW BODES WELL FOR THE SPRING HATCHES OF EARLY BLACK STONEFLIES/GRAY DRAKES, WHICH ARE TRULY  'SUPER HATCHES" ON THE MUSKEGON

( 16 inch Gilchrist brown taken 3/7 on a #18 scud- fat as hell, so winter growth rates were excellent- can't wait for dry fly action!)

Cheers!- hope to see you this spring!

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Posted in: black stones , gray drake lodge , Great Lakes steelhead , michigan steelhead , muskegon steelhead , scuds , siphlonurus gray drakes

Deep winter Selective Michigan Tail water Trout- an Underestimated Passion

( Michigan trout are not just for opening day Hendricksons- scuds/midges/caddis are bread and butter all winter)

I love January on our Muskegon River tailwater- today's afternoon indy nymphing . Our Eagle Lake California strain rainbows are so beautiful and avid scud, midge and caddis larvae eating predators- fat footballs that fight like Big Delaware bows even in 34F water temps. These bows took my 'Super Scud': ‪#‎Hareline‬ UV Ice Dub Shrimp Pink,# Kiley's Scud Skin- a killer in winter with great pulsing movement. Our Michigan rivers are all spring creeks cut from a different mold- highly alkaline even though they have freestone and conifer acidic influences. Scuds are everywhere, extreme high protein intake and 'way' too underutilized and fished...cheers!- great weather for winter nymphing and trout are on the hunt!

( a fat healthy Eagle Lake strain Rainbow from yesterday, January /2016)

(If you are trophy "truttasaurus" hunting with streamer meat, February on the Muskegon and Manistee has seen us catch the largest resident and lake-run post spawn browns that are ferocious and hungry!)

(

( Fat Bastard!...a Muskegon brown that was floating belly up in February, looked dead!!!- was netted by anglers next to me- was choking on a bluegill that spilled over from the reservoir- we removed the gill, performed CPR, and it swam away- it was this close to snuffing it!- the aggressive gluttony browns will subject themselves to is amazing- that's why streamer guys love their gig!)

TACTICS FOR ICE COLD WINTER TAILWATERS

*Much to your surprise, winter trout can be as selectivity driven even when the waters are 34-36F- even though metabolisms are way down. The excellent supply of scuds/midges/caddis larvae/stonefly nymphs and annelids etc., keep them on the constant move and constant hunt.Keep moving until you find fish and dont go back to the 'Proverbial well: hot spots" too often-FISH ARE CONSTANTLY MOVING WITH THE FOOD SUPPLY!

*Concentrate on slower sucker water back eddies/vegetation areas and inside/outside river bends- shallow spots that deliver bio drift and have upwelling currents and spring seeps.

* Indy or Euro nymphing very slowly and scraping the bottom are the key-winter "holes" are not always the deepest spots- they are the periphery/edges

*Though your hands are cold, keep switching tandem patterns as often as possible- have a Mr. Heater with you for the hands and a little bourbon/cognac

(Zago's meat wagon)

* Big Meaty Game Changers, D&D's , Double D's work well but keep them moving slow and crippled- swing/jerk-drift/strip/lift/stumble your streamers-ESPECIALLY WHEN WATER TEMPS ARE IN MIDDLE 30'F- southern tailwaters are much warmer-White/Holsten- let them rip fast and furious due to higher metabolisms and fast moving bait fish

Good Luck- enjoy winter!

*

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Posted in: caddis , gray drake lodge , michigan fly fishing , midges , muskegon river fly fishing , muskegon river hatches , scuds , streamer fishing , winter trout fishing on tail waters

FULL WOLF MOON, EL NINO THAW = IDEAL FRESH RUN STEEL /TROUT CONDITIONS

                                                    ( January's "wolf howling" full moon)
If any of you have read my 'Steelhead Dreams' and 'Selectivity' books, you know the importance I place on full moon cycles for fresh migrating winter steelhead and lake-run browns. Also it "jumps up" the biological drift a notch and puts resident trout on the a/a bite.

Couple this with a winter thaw from a sub/near zero Fahrenheit period and things start moving and coming alive.

The moon deals with the fish's pineal gland and the lessening of melatonin  secretions, thus promoting' around the clock migration'- aggressive/active feeding responses by resident trout. The thaw gives a slight bump in river flows from snow melt and sunny days. Thus fresh chrome steelhead and holdover darker fish start moving up the system in a sort of "winter awakening" period.

(Gene Kelly/Boston and the Steelhead Princess- Grace Smith/OH both with  three nights into a 'howlin wolf' full moon from years past-  even though sub zero conditions , the fresh chrome  fish were ignoring temps when the hormonal/endocrine system dominates behavior). 

So, if you are in the hunt for a trophy 'pre-spawn' winter steelhead leviathan, now is the time to get out. Your best bet will be to focus on biological drift items: stone fly nymphs and  larvae, burrow leaving hexagenia wigglers, small bait fish/sculpin leeches etc.- and the proverbial egg patterns. If you are a swinger , focus on the duller natural motifs with some bling/flash used as suggestive colors along with the pinks and fuchsia reds .

BIOLOGICAL DRIFT/TROUT AND THE WOLF MOON

The daylight hours are already on the positive increase side. Her , coupled with a full moon and thaw greatly increases the bio drift of stones, midges, scuds- which all in tune spark the trout's feeding from a dark window of semi- passive dormant behavior as a general rule' life survival strategy' rule. My records indicate wiggling black and olive stones to start downstream migrations with this moon cycle. Midge activity will be in full phase along with strong scud activity along the shorelines.

( Winter scud eater on the Muskegon for my lucky client)

It could be possible that our Polar Vortex was very short lived this winter- watching a Bundesliga Soccer match from Germany it was 40F there today- very unusual for Germany at this time and global warming -like!

cheers!- we are taking 2016 spring booking and will be on the water all winter with these 'balmy conditions'.

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , michigan fly fishing , michigan steelhead , muskegon fly fishing , Muskegon hatches , Muskegon River steelhead , scuds , tail waters

Cool Issue...

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Posted in: Big spring PA , Cumberland Valley Limestone spring creeks , gray drake lodge , midge pupae , midges , nelson's spring creek , pa spring creeks , scuds , Wisconsin spring creeks

MICHIGAN TAILWATERS NEW SUPER HATCH...MIDGING

Ever since the FERC relicensing for stable flows on the Muskegon, Big Manistee and AuSable occurred back in the early 90's the diptera/simulium midge populations have steadily been building- THIS SUMMER THEY ARE EXPLODING TO EPIC PROPORTIONS! At dusk below Croton and Tippy dams the midges are so thick you will need a mesh mask to breath...thick is an understatement! The trout still key in on the continuing to grow in  abundance cinnamon and little green caddis hatches, tiny Pseudo olives, steno cahills etc., but once the midges are on the water at dusk, they chow down on them by the thousands nightly. Midge pupae and emergers will take good trout up to 18 inches all day before the caddis afternoon/dusk hatches.

Midges love the detritus from the pond/reservoir releases as food- plus decaying fecal matter from zebra mussels fuels their food chain with the vegetation- just like scuds which are becoming a stable food source for Muskegon trout year round just like on all other tailwater/spring creek environments. Your same midge/bwo/scud boxes you use for spring creeks (20-28#) work great on the Muskegon- 7x a must!

Yeah...all the kool/bad ass buzz is about throwing big streamers !...but if you want a real true fly fishing challenge at the highest and most pure level...midging is the real deal- ask the San Juan/spring creek boys . Fooling a large trout on a size #22 you tied is beyond cool!.... not a Michigan tradition yet except for maybe the purists on the Au Sable. But if you want to catch big selective/reflective trout year round- mostly summer and dead of winter when trout rise on the Mo and Big Man even on the coldest snowiest days...MIDGING IS THE NEW SUPER GLORY HATCH!...GET YOU OPTICIAN TO GIVE YOU A CHECK UP AND BIFOCALS AND GO HAVE FUN!...its contagious...NEXT WEEK- MIDGE PATTERNS FOR MICHIGAN TAILWATERS

( my biggest spring creek/tailwater trout yet -28 in.-came on my WMD ( weapon of midge destruction) #24 midge pupae in Wisconsin Driftless area-big fish love midges cause nobody is tormenting them with midges- big streamers they see all the time and yawn-except at night in the A/A kill artist phase- there they are lethal- Tommy Lynch knows!

( the same midge /scud boxes you use on spring creeks work well all year on Michigan tailwaters- late summer/fall-cream and tan are the colors- black is winter)

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Posted in: Big Manistee , gray darke lodge , midge pupae , midges , muskegon fly fishing , Muskegon hatches , scuds , Selectivity book , Wisconsin spring creeks

FRESH STEELHEAD/TROUT #'s IN THE RIVER ARE IMPRESSIVE!- MORE EVENTS AND BOOK SIGNINGS

( sorry for the 'hog shot'- I am probably more guilty for starting this crap!..:(.Mia culpa!( but  for client Steve, that was an enormous hen- a stone's throw down from the Gray Drake! ,first hour of our journey this early week!.. but Steve, a total newbie to steelheading and fly fishing caught this massive hen- 16 lbs on the Boga-Ice Man...fish are running very large this year with a good alewife year class from two years ago )

So sad about that tragic pile up on the Ohio Turnpike..we sometimes don't understand how devastating this winter has been...  when things are out of our control. Had clients coming from the east this week that turned around because of that nasty north Ohio storm. This winter with the book signings and tours I was on the east coast four times and I ran into the worst weather- once I was closed in on I-94 going to Chicago in early February going to Chicago Fly Fishing Outfitters- blizzard and squalls- thank God I called 911 and the troopers came and escorted me off with chains! 

Anyways...sorry for the weather drama, but looks like the worst is finally over. Despite the river temps being so low, the river is flowing wide open in the upper stretch by the lodge above Newaygo- by the M-37 bridge this morning it turned to slush after minus 6 below last night. His friend , Al, a true trout bum got his first steelhead about twenty minutes later.....on Ice Man minnows, Hex's and small string leeches/Steely Iceman blue/ copper UV flash...allocapnia/Tainy stones have not hatched yet due to the very cold water temps. 

Here is Al, trout bum with his first steelhead..nice buck...back lighting of low sun did not show the double red band steelhead traits. 

( more detail on a smaller red bander)

Anyways, the good numbers and size of the fish bodes well for a great spring run that will last well into June with all the ice on the Great Lakes. They have been draining Hardy reservoir down to nothing to allow for the snow melt off. But the good thing so far there is no significant warm up which would cause flooding and warmer days and very cold nights in the forecast-PERFECT!

The browns and rainbows have all been cookie -cutter fat footballs in the 14-16 range and have been caught with the steelhead.They chowed down heavily on the salmon eggs and have been eating midges and scuds all winter- now the early black stoneflies and Chinook sac fry will nourish them until the steelhead start spawning. Did a quick stomach pump and they were loaded with midges/brownish/cream and black-size# 24 ish,  1 dace , scuds and sowbugs, and two black stones, several tiny green caddis larvae. Due to the Muskegon's alkalinity the scud and sow bug populations are very impressive and looking at the water you would not think that of an oligotrophic freestoner

.

Dates:Due to all the scheduling cancellations/changes from all the nasty winter weather we still have good dates available for the spring so email us or give us a jingle.

EVENTS/SEMINARS/BOOK SIGNINGS

SELECTIVITY CLINICS: I will be doing these in all four seasons- custom made for individuals or for two fly anglers Selectivity Clinics on the water.Check the top of our web site for more information

MARCH 15 TH- Looking forward to seeing all my Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and friends and clients at Orvis Cleveland starting noon. It will be a very fun day as I do book signings on my two new books -'Selectivity ' and "Steelhead Dreams-12 Year Anniversary', I will be doing a cool power point presentation on the Selectivity Concepts- Fishing Fussy Trout, Steelhead and Atlantic salmon around the world and on all types of rivers- tail waters, spring creeks and large freestoners from North America, Europe, New Zealand, to Patagonia.

I will also be playing video clips from the newly edited 'Selectivity-Trout'-DVD. It was filmed on the Delaware, PA Limestone Spring Creeks, Michigan rivers, WI/MN Driftless area spring creeks and Montana.

Rumpf Fly Fishing Wholesalers will be distributing the product .

To make the event more special, we are very proud to have Great Lakes Brewing Co. - award winning Micro Brewers from Cleveland giving a beer tasting "FREE" to those that come by. Noted fly fishing guide, poster child and knowledgeable fly shop manager- Jimmy Lampros, will be happy to show you the new Orvis products for 2014 and get you ready for spring. The new award winning Sonic zippered waders, the amazing new fly tying upgrades Orvis has made is probably the best in decades. Also we will have a gorgeous 'live mount' replica Summer Strain Skamania Steelhead that went 20 lbs last summer and was taken by client Chris Bamford on the dry line with a surface scudo bivisble on the St.Joe. Mounting fish doesn't mean killing them and live mounts are the only proper conservation way to go.

MARCH 22- STREAMSIDE ORVIS- TRAVERSE CITY, MI- Seminars and book signings

APRIL- Besides steelhead guiding my book and presentation commitments stil roll on. I  sincerely enjoy presentations , speaking and  teaching and try to make them very exciting and different from the average slide show. 

I am really looking forward to being one of the headline presenters at the Virginia Fly Fishing and Wine Festival- second weekend. I will be doing programs and two special Advanced Spring Creek Tactics clinics on the water along with a presentation of ,"Spring Creeks of the World and Selectivity"- Mossy, Beaver and Buffalo spring creeks are close by the festival. 

Will also be speaking twice in the Detroit area the at the Clinton Valley TU in Detroit, Speaking at the Metro Area Michigan Steelheaders . And finally will close out the famous Mike Schultz Outfitters- BAR FLIES, in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, tying Selective Trout and Steelhead flies at the brewery.

Hope to see you on the water!...give us a call or email!...gotta get going to Cleveland- Cheers!- Na Zdrowie

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , Great Lakes steelhead , michigan fly fishing , muskegon fly fishing , scuds , Selectivity book , selectivity dvd , steelhead dreams , trout and eagle , virginia fly and wine festival

New Year-New Look-New Book !

 

 

Happy New Year!- hope all had a great holiday season!

The first cases of 'Selectivity' are making their way into the fly shops and if it's too cold outside to fish, hope you can enjoy this new read. We are also finalizing our winter/spring bookings for steelhead trips so we look forward to seeing you in 2014. Can't wait to get back on the river for steelhead once this "hopefully last" arctic onslaught hits again early this week. Check out our web site for a good deal ' winter prime time half day steelhead special '

 

Had a great time seeing family on the east coast, did an inaugural book signing at  the Yellow Breeches Fly Shop- place dear to our hearts, since Laurie and I got married there on the Limestone spring creeks at the Allenberry Resort- while we lived and worked in Washington DC. Here I had the great honor to fish the spring creeks with some of the greats- Vince Marinaro/ Ed Shenk and so many other limestone regulars. Had the great opportunity to meet Trish Manney- Sales/Marketing director for Stackpole books located down the road in Mechanicsburg PA. Also got to fish the Big Spring with Jay Nichols- my editor, who labored with me for years to produce Selectivity. Jay is a remarkable editor/publisher/ for Stackpole and his Headwater Books, that made the book what it is today- and is an amazing photographer to boot!. I caught a real nice wild 20 "Big Spring Rainbow and a nice brookie. But I swore to Jay that I wont post his excellent images since he has a piece in Fly Fisherman in the next few months on the Big Spring- look for it!

( Ed Shenk- the Letort Sculpin master- middle lower )

http://graydrakelodgeandoutfitters.blogspot.com/2013/10/selectivity-book-release.html

 

 

I fished my sculpins on the hallowed Letort Spring Run in a deluge on Sunday, worked Vince's Meadow and had two nice wild brownies give me several chases but no closers- lookers  and peckers !..very s/r fish that have learned to avoid an Intruder wire dropper hook!- without doubt the most evasive brownies you can fish for !-not everybody's cup of tea

( Sculpin hunting)

( lower Letort Brownie )

I beg to differ with the honorable  legend -Frank "Pheasant Tail" Sawyer, that all BWO nymphs swim with their legs tucked in !..so he said legs are not important on a PT nymph. This is partially correct, but in the swimming spurts I have watched of Baetis nymphs in aquaria, they stick their legs out when they drift/tuck in when they push. To a selective /reflective trout, this can be a huge discerning attribute for acceptance. In Selectivity, we leave nothing to chance!..:)

( J:SON Sweden fusion ties I did- imparting the synthetics of J:SON with natural materials for #18 bwo Baetis- The best way to use the materials is focus the realistic synthetics where they have the most impact- wings/legs/ cases etc. and then fuse the tried and true natural materials)

( my cresstacia #16- a scud/sow/bwo nymph all in one- deadly on spring creeks and tail waters)

 

NOTES/ITINERARY /MEDIA: 

 

If you get FLY FISHERMAN magazine , I have an article in the current issue-' Checkmate Steelhead'- Matching the Hatch '.

 

 

 

My book signing/program schedule so far is as follows- hope to see my Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/Clients and "in the flesh" friends if you can make it!- social media is fantastic , but a warm hand shake cannot be matched !

 

Fly Masters Indianapolis- Jan 4th (cancelled due to weather- moved to Feb 22nd)-----Jan 11th- International Angler ,Pittsburgh PA------Jan 13th- Penns Woods Trout Unlimited TU---- Jan 15th Yellow Breeches Fly Shop- Fly Tying- 2:pm-that evening - Cumberland Valley TU, PA Fly Fishing Museum, Allenberry Resort- Boiling Springs PA -7 PM-------Jan 18th-Great Lakes Fly Fishing, Rockford, MI-------Jan 22nd, Housatonic  River Outfitters- Cornwall Bridge, CT------Jan 24th/25th- Somerset Fly Fishing Show, NJ-------Feb 1st- Chicago Fly Fishing Outfitters--------Feb 5th, Schultz Outfitters- Ypsilanti MI------Feb 8th, Nomad Anglers- Lansing MI--------Feb 13th, Little Forks Outfitters- Midland , MI--------Feb 15th, Northern Angler- Traverse City,MI-------April 8th- Clinton Valley/Detroit Area TU'S--------April 11th/12th/13th Virginia Fly Fishing and Wine Festival-Waynesboro, VA

 

CHEERS...NA ZDROWIE- AND TO GOOD HEALTH AND HAPPINESS !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted in: Blue winged olives , Fly fisherman Magazine , gray drake lodge , Great Lakes steelhead , michigan steelhead , Muskegon River steelhead , scuds , sculpins , Selectivity book , steelhead dreams

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