OUR HALLOWED WATERS JOURNAL-PASSION FOR TROUT/STEELHEAD/SALMON

 

In case you haven't seen it yet, Laurie and I have been launching a cool new magazine concept.The new issue just came out Jan 15th- our second issue, and the accolades and subscripotions we atre recieveing have been truly amazing!- we hope you can come to this passion and journeyt for all things trout/steelhead /salmon fly fishing.

The winter issue has amazing pieces on winter spring creeks, cold weather steelheading, how to fish winter tailwaters and the snowbound early black stonefly hatch...plus 12 departmental columns on evry facet of the sport! 175 pages, 450 color images, 40 fly patterns and recipes and even my gourmey food and spirits column!

Hope you can join us on the passion and journey for what we all love!...to subscribe come to our website...https://hallowedwaters.com/

Hope to see you in a better and brighter 2021 at the Gray Drake!

Matt & Laurie

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Posted in: Cumberland Valley Limestone spring creeks , early black stones , gray , Great Lakes steelhead , hallowed waters journal , muskegon fly fishing , salmon , steelhead , trout , winter trout fishing on tail waters

Amazing Michigan weather....Everything is Bustin Loose- So many choices !

God what amazing weather..daytime highs in the upper 50's/low 60F...cloud cover- polar fleece in August!,,,these guys are loving it! The plethora offering of Michigan is amazing at this time of year and gets better by the day!

DRY FLY TROUT: Hatches are exploding at dusk on the Muskegon: tiny pseudo BWOS, midges, caddis a few steno Cahill's...saw two fall Isonychia that were eaten immediately by a husky brownie(sadleri)- swallows working hard last night. Water levels perfect and cooling down nicely on Muskegon and Manistee tailwaters!....the wild strain spring Gilchrist browns stocked are getting fat eating caddis, midges and water daphnia/scuds from the tailwater-couldn't be better!  HINT:...The trout are now in the shallowest flats and vegetation-where are the bugs are! - SAW SOME HOG BROWNS ROOTING THE SHALLOW VEGETAION RIGHT ON THE SHORELINES LAST NIGHT IN LESS THAN A FOOT OF WATER!...
Pere Marquette mousing/night Ptery time stone game still on...terrestrials and tricos daytime
White , Bigalow/Penoyer  creeks wild brookies starting to get fall spawning color and sipping terrestrials/tricos- caddis at dark. We have thousands of miles of blue ribbon tiny trout streams that nobody fishes!....NOW! is the time to fish them before the season closes. Fish are aggressive/a packing on the weight before the spawn. We tend to place to much attention on the bigger rivers- these small stream fish are starving for attention!

SUMMER SKAMANIA STEELHEAD/SALMON - yes!...better two months late than never, the summer runs are just making a big push on the St .Joe and Manistee...doesn't get better since everyone gave up on them!.cohos soon to come!
Big fat chrome kings are being taken in lower Pere Marquette by the crank thunder crew!..few have come into the Muskegon and are heading for deep poolville!...looking very healthy!

EVENTS/MEDIA

*ANN ARBOR TROUT UNLIMITED: I'll be their speaker on September 14th..hope to see you there!
*NOMAD ANGLERS, ROCHESTER PAINT CREEK SELECTIVITY CLINIC- SEPT 19TH-PAINT CREEK FLY FESTIVAL -SEPT 18.....Hope to see you there!..still spots available- call Nomad Anglers- Rochester Hills, Michigan

* FLY FISHERMAN MAGAZINE-My spring creek (PFP) predator foraging profile with some of my cool new /effective patterns  for those chalk stream trout bums will be on newsstands in September

GREG SENYO'S NEW/FIRST BOOK Release/Signing at Schultz Outfitters- don't miss it!-Sept 8th- I was honored that Greg asked me to do the forward!

..DOW ticker tape and the political circus  got you down? ...don't worry- go fish, get invigorated and be happy!...hope to see you - still have some good dates available!...cheers/na zdrowie!...
yours truly, 
Matt/Mieczyslaw

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , great lakes king salmon , michigan fly fishing , MICHIGAN SALMON , michigan steelhead , muskegon river , muskegon river hatches , steelhead , summer skamania steelhead

BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY-TALLADEGA NIGHTS........AND THREE STEELHEAD VIRGINS NO MORE!!!!!!

(Brandon with his first!)

( Ryan with his first!)

( Andy with his first!)

( Andy with his second!....and on and on!)

Winter steelhead guiding(it ain't spring till March 22) can be uncertain.Every day, just as professional athletes focus from game-to-game, you test your abilities to think like a fish,focus on water, pools, lies you select to work, given the conditions you are dealt with and work with the abilities of your clients. Just as a Major League Baseball slugger, a striker in soccer, a forward in hockey, or a high percentage field goal scorer in the NBA, you have 'hitting and scoring slumps' or droughts-OR- you are hot!- for whatever reason.Like Will Ferrill put it as Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights,"I'm on fire!"- lately my days on the river have been more like that!- minus me running around my boat almost naked with adult diapers on and a racing helmut!........lol.The river in winter could be very tough and unforgiving on a guide and clients, dishing -up goose eggs

So...........with that being said, I greeted my clients on Tuesday with the usual optimistic, positive outlook ready to approach the water. Brandon, Ryan and Andy were Dental School Students at the University Of Detroit- real nice bunch of guys and I could tell we were going to have a fun day , regardless of the outcome."SO, you guys ever catch a steelhead?", I asked. "Nope, we never caught one. We've seen pictures in books and magazines of them!", said Brandon. Brandon was from New Mexico and he fished the San Juan for trout. Ryan and Andy had little fishing experience fishing only for the past year.

So.........with that being said, a guide's mind starts to work- sometimes positively-sometimes not so positively!

First.........we are going to have to learn the technique of deep water Great Lakes nymphing- the cast the drift- the whole shabang!! Since I teach a more advanced style-similar to Polish/Czech nymphing along with a down-and-across swing at the end, that will be our first chore.

Second..........we'll have to learn how to detect a strike from a snag on the bottom.

Then ............we will have to learn how to hook and battle a fish on light 4-6 lb tippets, using the rod butt and tip to protect the light tippets and not brake off fish on hard runs. Plus learn how to rotate three rods in a boat.

Finally.........how to put a fish in the net, that is if you are lucky enough to hook one!!!!!!!

Sounds like quite the chore for three newbies in a 9-10 hour day. That is a lot to cram into a single session, but I looked at it as a challenge!

First the negatives. Water hit a all time winter low so far this year, 1460 cfs. Water clarity was ridiculously clear- you could see 12 feet down into pools. It was a sunny , bluebird day without a cloud in the sky.Water temp 35 F

The positives? We would be fishing at the warmest part of the day-10 till 7 pm. Sun will warm the water up for the 'big bite" better in low clear conditions. ALSO, WE HAD A FULL MOON FOR THE PAST THREE NIGHTS-ALL GOOD STUFF! In addition I had raw talent willing to learn........that is important. Sometimes skilled anglers are impossible to guide because they've seen and done it all!

WHAT HAPPENED ON TUESDAY WAS PURE MAGIC- ALMOST LIKE A FAIRY TALE!!!!!!

Brandon, Ryan an Andy picked up the technique in a half hour almost flawlessly! Perfect drifts, casts, concentration! This can come from only graduate school students that function day-to-day by listening and comprehend knowledge- this is an art form and skill most of us loose once we leave school or turn 30!

The hook-ups came and came- so did the landings! We were 100% in hook and land percentages.How many- dang/ a smart guide never"kisses and tells"- you never know what tomorrow will bring- often big GOOSE EGGES....OOOOO!

Congrats and Cheers Brandon, Ryan and Andy- YOU AIN'T STEELHEAD VIRGINS NO MORE!!!-in 17 years of guiding , I 've never seen this amount of raw talent, coordination and skill manifested in such a little time on the water!

ENJOY THE IMAGES- THEY TELL THE WHOLE STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Posted in: brown trout , dry fly , gray drake , guide sevice , i , matt supinski , michigan fly fishing , muskegon river , river reports , steelhead , trout eagle lodge and outfitters