WELCOME 2011...........AND LET IT SNOW!!!

( the deep crimson cheeks of winter males are glowing this time of year!)

( our favorite time of year- winter!- Tony Gates of radio fame with a nice hen from last winter)

( Winter steelheaders box- fun stuff)

( Loch Leven wild strain Letort Spring brown on the Grim Reaper sculpin)

( Vince Marinaro's meadow in the Letort)

( lake-run brown time is here!)

Hope all had a great and happy holiday season! Sorry for the long delay in posting, but our family went back to the east coast to visit our families and I got a chance to fish the Letort Spring Run on New Years eve and day. That has been a tradition for as long as I could remember. It is a magnificent limestone spring creek in Pennsylvania's Cumberland valley with perhaps the most intelligent and skittish wild brown trout in the world! I did manage a nice 16 incher on my Grim Reaper sculpin after many hours and miles of walking the cow pasture spring. These are original descendants of the Loch Leven Scottish and German browns brought here in the late 1800's( watch for my You Tube video at my "flyfishingmichigan" You Tube channel to be out in the next week on the limestone spring creeks)

As for now , we are getting much needed snow pack( we are up to a whopping 6 inches), and the river has bounced up very nicely to 1,870 cfs-this is normal or slightly below normal but is higher than we have seen since perhaps spring( we are also getting the Hardy Dam draw down of water effective Jan 1). This will bring in much desired fresh chrome steelhead and lake- run browns which really get going around January and February on the Muskegon.

Winter is our favorite time of year to steelhead and lake-run fish.............solitude and beautiful winter scenery!

Check out or winter steelheading specials and our culinary winter weekend getaways at our graydrake.com web site.

We are now booking prime dates for spring steelhead....don't wait if you have dates in mind!- we'ld love to see you this spring !

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Posted in: Big spring PA , gray drake , lake-run brown trout , Letort Spring Run , Loch Leven Brown Scotland , michigan steelhead , muskegon steelhead , trout eagle lodge and outfitters , winter steelhead fly fishing

EVENING SOIREE...PART DEUX.....LE FAT BASTARD!!

(Monseuires- Le Fat Bastard!!!!!!!!!!)

( This river is just not about steelhead and salmon- it's about trout....BABY-------YEAH!..........Austin?)

In an ongoing attempt to decompress from a day of steelhead guiding and boat traffic, I am allowed to fish one hour at 5.pm. The black stone fly hatches have been tremendous as I originally stated in my earlier blogs. Each soir, In a pool (only Todd and a select others) will know, there are "big fat bastards" rising to the black stones. BUT........THEY ARE VERY....VERY SELECTIVE TROUT!

One must approach with caution, sit and smoke a cigar, sip a micro-brew and wait for a multi- feeder- every one to two minutes!

This is the essence of fly fishing.the wait ....the desire ...the yearning and the conquistador!!!!!!!!!

"Fat bastard" was his name........a brown trout of 17 inches. His mouth was choked with black stone egg layers . His head was tiny, his girth "massive' and she was the ultimate poster child for Mc Donalds and Wendy's!!!!!!!

Fat is awesome, ....healthy in the trout world-kinda Reubenesque in the two legger world..........lol-keep in mind these last years stockers averaged an inch a month growth rate due to the new caddis July, August and September Fishery!!!

But , come Wednesday, I'm puttin those dudes on a size #26 midge diet.

Only seen growth rates on trout in a short period of time on the Big Spring, in the 'heyday' in the 80's in PA.- or on Loch Leven Scottish Browns.

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Posted in: Austin Powers Spy who shagged me-fat bastard , Big spring PA , Loch Leven Brown Scotland , muskegon river , muskegon trout steelhead , trout eagle lodge and outfitters