They're back!!!...the Savage Summer Skamania Steelhead-Tarpon of the Great Lakes

All I can say, is that these savage beasts are back!!!!!Could be a massive year for them since last year's drought and heat wave left a ton of  steelhead in the lake that didn't return. With rivers running full and a very cool spring ( bit of a heat wave now, but breaking by tomorrow to normal temps), this could be an amazing year!

We have dates available. Check out our blog archives from July/August/September and facebook pages from past summers for all the excitement...hope to see you! We constantly update our facebook/Instagram posts from the river!

                                                      The amazing salt water/slamon/steel guru-Chis Bamford, with one of the largest summer run beasts we have seen-20 plus club!)- taken on a Procopious Mysis

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , Great Lakes summer steelhead , michigan steelhead , selective steelhead. selective atlantic salmon , st.joe skamania , steelhead dreams , summer skamania steelhead

They are back!!!!-Summer Steelhead Great Lakes style!!!-Join in on the Skamania mania

( Dr. Matt Zaccheo with a massive summer run St. Joe beasty mykiss )

It's been 23 years now that I've been chasing , guiding  and have a insatiable passion for Great Lakes summer Skamania Steelhead. And I'm so fortunate that I still sake with excitement when I see these magnificent Washington State transplants form the Washougal river- they are truly the most beautiful steelhead on this planet-bar none! Nowhere do steelhead get to be this large-(mid teens-20lb range) other than B.C., and fight with such a venomous power and aerial acrobatics as our Indiana/St .Joseph strain summer steelhead. They take swinging flies on two handers, sight nymphing and YES!, we occasionally get them to take foam beetles/terrestrials in the meniscus!

                                        ( Indiana spring creeks, the St. Jospeh and Big Manistee rivers get the largest runs of summer steels, and I'm very familiar with them all)

                                     ( Christina from New Jersey with her fisrt summer run)
 So if you are a steelheader that has experienced the cold blistering lake-effect snow and wind chills, you must have a run in with steelhead with shorts and sandals with they amazing beasts- the sheer aggression to the fly these fish have when fresh run is startling!

                                                ( Good client and friend, Gene Kelly from Boston , that had a spectacular day last summer 2017- it was an excellent run of very, very large steels, since Chinook populations are smaller, but everything is running bigger due to less competition for bait fish )

                                          ( Saltwater GT master, Chris Bamford, with a beast of a mykiss, on my Mykiss/mysis shrimp)

Ill be doing the Skamania steelhead tributaries with my Stealthcraft perfectly suited for all types of waters during late June, and all of July , August and into early September.

The fish that have been showing up at the piers this year are following the trend of large and well-fed which bods well for the summer. Indiana/Michigan stocks close to million summer steelhead smolts in three states, and they are alpha steelhead on steriods. 

                            ( Good client and summer fanatic Jeb from Virginia )

You can stay at the Inn/Resort at Harbor Shores right on Silver Beach, St. Joseph Michigan- one hour and 45 minute drive from Chicago.

                 link: https://www.innatharborshores.com/index.php

I highly recommend this resort and have done some hotel consulting there.They have a PGA (Senior open) golf course, outstanding outdoor dining/ restaurants, luxury rooms and spas, stunning sandy beaches ....lots of my clients bring their wife's and families since there is so much to do there. I'm fishing very close to there- plus a casino down the road- Four Winds New Buffalo....tons of fun for everybody- plus the outlet malls and Chicago are very close-by.

I still have a few prime openings in July and August...none of that cold/freezing weather stuff here- this is tropical steelheading!!!..Hope to see you this summer- email or call us for more info.....cheers!...more pics of beetles for Skamania/swinging

( Beetlegeuse !!!)

Cheers!,,,hope to see you this summer!!!

Matt

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Posted in: Big Manistee , gray drake lodge , Great Lakes summer steelhead , Indiana Skamania , Skagit swinging , st.joe skamania , summer skamania steelhead

Could be the best/and biggest sized summer steelhead run since 1999!

All I could say is it has been an epic run so far this July!!!..lots of 3-4 year old fish missed running last summer due to the heat and droughts, thus they skipped a year and are coming back supersized, according to freind and biologist Brian Breidert. at Indiana DNR...going to see 20 lbers at the weir and ladders counts- I saw two the other day well over that size-mykiss U-boats!!!!- August will be epic with the cool temps- still have some openings!

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , Great Lakes summer steelhead , michigan steelhead , skamania steelhead , st.joe skamania , summer skamania steelhead

They're Back!!!-Fresh Chrome Skams

ALL I CAN SAY!!!!

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , Great Lakes summer steelhead , michigan steelhead , skamania steelhead , St , st.joe skamania , summer skamania steelhead

The summer Skamania steelhead Gig is starting !

                                   Gonna be a big year! Many fish didnt run last summer due to extremely warm temperatures and droughts/floods . The few fish that have showed up at the weirs in 2017 are enormous, if they forgoed a run year and kept feeding. Still have openings for summer run guide trips- hope to see you!- the pictures tell the story!- see you this summer!

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , Great Lakes summer steelhead , Indiana Skamania , skamania steelhead , st.joe skamania , summer skamania steelhead , swinging flies

THE GREAT LAKES CRYSTAL BALL 2016- PART II- STEELHEAD

OVERVIEW
   The only thing steelheaders have to fear is their own fears themselves ... paranoia, greed, immediate gratification and an over expectation attitude behavior fueling it. Let's face it, these fish have been loved to death. And,  have seen an amazing two decade "wild" fluctuation in catch ratios. From the insane double digit days of "steelhead alley", to insane sizes of over-fed steelhead on alewives in the 199/2000 cusp, to days of slim pickings on Erie tribs, diminishing sizes everywhere due to lack of forage base, exotic predators and overfishing- oh!, dont forget the see-saw ride of global climate change and freezing over of all the Great Lakes into one giant iceberg (2015)- to the hottest lake temperatures ever recorded this summer will bestow. 

The steelhead's worst enemy is politics( state /province and federal agencies trying to please too many at the victim of the fish themselves) and modern google/apple technology, that has created insatiable, immediate gratification 'monsters' out of all steelheaders- not to mention the death knell of the 'numbers game'. 'Too much information too fast and NOW", has taken the charm, mystique, 'fish of a thousand casts' romance out of the true old glory days of McMillan/Combs/Waller etc., when each steelhead was earned and admired- not insisted upon! Guides/outfitters/lodges, trying to make a living  thru all this mess are also to blame ( me included!). Fast acting social media/blogs/real time/steelhead sites etc.,  take that romantic mystery hunt out of the search for the elusive chrome wanderer. 
Enough of the pulpit! - thank you for indulging me, but I think you know my gist of it. Everyone just relax, enjoy being on the river, forget about the numbers- like the old days when you caught "one" steelhead was a BIG DEAL!

PROGNOSIS-LOOKING GOOD!

The fluctuating and constantly changing forage base of the Great Lakes is only favoring the eventual dominance of steelhead as the apex predator. The downturn of the alewives that kings are 'so hardwired to' ( yes steelhead will gorge on them if they are there!), but their preference for multi-foraging appetites allows them the comfort of  a slow attacking scavenging trout that will eat almost anything. Gobies, perch, cisco, smelt, shiners, sculpins, mysis shrimp, sticklebacks are all on the 'up-and up" and filling the steelhead bellies nicely

BIG NEWS-NO CHUMMING ALLOWED IN MICHIGAN WATERS- designated trout/salmon/steelhead rivers

If Michigan's (liberal angling policies) drove you away in search of much better steelhead management waters like the Salmon River in NY, you need not fear any longer. For anglers that were disgusted to see anglers/guides pull up to pools and toss gallons of salmon eggs to turn on an artificial/self indulging fake bite, that will be no more. Effective 'NOW", there is no more chumming, and steelhead will now be able and must chase a fly, nymph, egg, egg sack, intruder, spinner, plug, to have its aggressive needs sparked. That was a big move and all are now on an equal playing field and must earn and enjoy each fish in a classic old school way- just say'in!

WINTER RUN STEEL

Given the size of some of the salmon being caught in the big lake this summer, their side-by side predators- winter steelhead, should show some amazing growth rates and sizes- also given the fact that they are multi- foraging beasts- it should be an amazing fall run which we shall soon see .

Also, given the massive increase in native and exotic shrimp, Hexagenia  hatches, emerald shiner/perch and sculpin populations , these will give the fish extra poundage.

SUMMER STEELHEAD

The verdict isn't really concluded and out yet on the summer run of 2016-  but it has been brutally disappointing. Yes I have managed to find fish, but nothing like years past. The big problem is/was the hellish heat wave of 2016, coupled with epic droughts, than a flood. We only had 'ONE'- lake thermal cold conversion all summer-(second one is going on now and seeing the second wave of fresh migration. The month of September( trending now!) might be epic- stay tuned!

BOTTOM LINE

(The fall runs of 2010/2011 were the best we have seen in 20 years- both on the cusp of hot summers/low water levels, warm autumn weather and a "sleeper bumper crop of alweives' we are now just seeing in 2016 in some lake areas.( this image October 20th, 2010- water levels were bloody low and warm- chumming was illegal that year btw)

Going strictly by my 20 years of keeping accurate records/temps/catch rates /migration timing etc., I'm predicting an amazing fall for several reasons( ain't guide talk :).

1.Looking back at epic fall runs like the ones in 2010/2011, they had hot summers/ low water autumns with only a trickle of water. Lake temperatures were warm. The warmer temps leaves the " window of run' migration opportunity opened longer into December. A very cold quick winter arrival will take longer to build up due to warm water levels.

2. Warmer water will keep steelhead out deeper with more foraging opportunities- cold waters spread the bait out and thus the fish hunt harder and less fruitful

3. Better size and abundance of salmon mean less targeting of steelhead by charters- this year charters have done well on salmon concentrated on forage based schools of prey.

BUT!!!...in the end, we shall see!- least I can do is give you my prognosis - still much, much, much better than last year!- get out and enjoy a day on the river and  learn to become better and more caring steelheaders- it's more fun that way! ( for more reading- lots more info here- just say'in)

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , Great Lakes steelhead , Great Lakes summer steelhead , michigan steelhead , Muskegon River steelhead , Selectivity book , steelhead dreams , summer skamania steelhead , winter steelhead fly fishing

MAGIC CARPET RIDE IS HERE! FINALLY!

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( JOE SKAMANIA STEELHEAD PERFECTION )

THIS SAYS IT ALL!!!!,,,4-6 INCHES OF RAIN LAST WEEK IN ST.JOSEPH RIVER VALLEY AFTER EPIC DROUGHT/HEAT WAVE , FULL MOON CYCLE SWITCHED ON, BRIEF LAKE TURNOVER ========== FRESH SUMMER STEEL CHROME AND COHO SILVERS SWIMMING HARD UP RIVER AS WE SPEAK!

                                              ( CHROME SILVER JOE COHO SALMON)

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Posted in: coho salmon , gray darke lodge , great lakes salmon , Great Lakes summer steelhead , St Joe Coho , st.joe skamania , summer skamania steelhead

SUMMER STEELHEAD EXTRA TERRESTRIAL FUN

Yep!...summer Skamania steelhead take the darndest things!- think of them as big chrome rainbows bored to tears. Driven by genetics in a 'fish out of water" scenario, its amazing what they become preoccupied with. Besides, twenty miles out in Lake Michigan on the off shore wind thermoclines, they are eating on the surface in 800 feet of water- sipping wasps, beetles, bees , corixa bugs...too cool for school!

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Posted in: dry fly steelhead , gray drake lodge , Great Lakes summer steelhead , summer skamania steelhead

HEAT WAVE OVER...AND THEY ARE COMING-!

Heat wave of 2016 hopefully over!...it wasn't "that hot"!, ( I remember three summers ago taking son Peter to Northwestern Univ., along the gorgeous Lake Michigan shorelines for a summer  select soccer camp and my car thermometer read 113 F on the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago- we are now moaning about a few 90 F DAYS!-NEWS FLASH!- TIS THE HEART OF SUMMER EH?...have we become a society of whinny wimps?...hmmm!) But, just say'in,  we have been spoiled by two epically cold summers with lots of rainfall....anyways, everyone got a ton of rain this past weekend, and the summer run Skamania steelhead are waiting for a soon to happen Nor'easterly to stage a new push...holding in 55-70 feet of water stacked like sardines between South Haven and Mich. City...more to come soon.Some fresh chrome are already making their presence if you know where to look for them
( BTW:skammy mysis shrimp pattern recipe coming tomorrow - just got off the river and chill'in)...Na Zdrowie!- August will be an epic month!

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Posted in: gray drake lodge , Great Lakes summer steelhead , Indiana Skamania , mykiss shrimp , skamania steelhead , st.joe skamania , summer skamania steelhead

GOING TO BE A GREAT SUMMER STEELHEAD RUN!...COME AND JOIN US

Gonna be a great summer Skamania steelhead run...just started!... fish way bigger than last year, and many more to come...treat yourself to these amazing fish that are the most aggressive and opportunistic the Great Lakes steelhead experience has to offer!...Matt still has a few openings and yes the complete fly fishing experience....swinging, sight nymphing shrimp/scuds and even dry fly beetles on the surface!, all are the ticket- dry lines/unleaded/traditional/single and two handers- no chuck-and-lead duck here!. If winter /spring steelheading are your only barometers for "steelheading", this will change the way you think about them forever!

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Posted in: dry fly steelhead , gray drake lodge , Great Lakes summer steelhead , Michigan Fly Girls , muskegon fly fishing , summer skamania steelhead