Fishing Report – Dec 9 2014

Groundhog day….but I love it!!!!

The fishing has been good to great as of late. The recent high water made it tough for a few days, but it did move fish up river and shuffle the deck a bit. Float fishing has been the best and giving up the most hook ups. But flyfishing has provided action for those looking to work harder for their fish.

The fish are in transition mode right now, moving into their wintering holes for sure.

Looking for a last minute Christmas idea?? We offer gift certificates for any amount.

Lets go winter steelheading!
Please give us a call (231-250-9745) or Email Jon if you would like to get more info.

Winter has arrived!!

A few chilly days this week are changing things on the river for sure. The bite the last two days has been a bit tougher due to the fast moving fronts, but we are still getting into some really nice chrome fish.

The mint fresh fall run fish can be hard to handle from time to time. If they cant get away by flying, many have sought out deep lumber to seek their freedom. Ride the lightning!

Float fishing with eggs and covering a bunch of water, looking for the dumb fish has been my best bet this week. The fish are spread out from top to bottom. This is helping spread out the fishing pressure as well.

Due to cancelation I do have this Sunday November 16 open if anyone is looking for a last minute trip

Summer like weather…wind..lack of rain and massive amounts of leaves in the river are making the bite a little tough, especially in the afternoons.

We are still getting into plenty of fish, numbers are more traditional this year, if you remember last year you will remember how easy it was..there seemed to be fish under every rock on the river. We were spoiled for sure.

We have been float fishing daily with egg patterns rigged on light lines, covering water is the key. There are still some kings spawning, these are key areas to fish as the steelhead will be looking for an easy meal.

Due to a recent cancelation I have this Saturday November 1 open.

Also booking trips for December steelhead..perfect for avoiding the crowds.

After one of the most dismal fall salmon runs in my 23 years of guiding we have been chasing steelhead since October 8. Was I happy to see the change in seasons….estatic to say the least, as guiding for steelhead is my passion.

The steelhead numbers are not huge, but there are enough to play with, with increasing numbers daily. Fish seem well distributed through the river system, with faster riffles and runs holding the most fish. Fishing near spawning salmon will also produce steelhead and trout.

Float fishing with egg patterns has been my favorite method, as it allows you to cover so much water and get the biters quickly.

I still have October 21,27,28 open as well as Nov. 28 if you are looking to get on the water.

The less than average salmon season continues, In my 22 year career as a fishing guide, this is hands down the toughest year on record. There are fish in all west michigan rivers, but not huge numbers. Be prepared to work for them. The good news is that the weather as of late has been perfect for just being outdoors.

The lower sections are still seeing slow trickles of kings as well as a steelhead here and there. Covering water and making the best of the day are keys.

Steelhead season is just about here and are worth chasing any day from here on out.

Slow….is the word that best describes the salmon run right now.

The fishing has been slow at best this year so far. There are a few spots in every section that are fishing ok. But those spots are changing daily for the most part.

Last weekends weather events should have sent the migration into high gear….but that was not the case. The good news is that every day we are getting more fish and things should start filling in soon. We saw a year like this not long ago, with the bulk of the kings showing up after Sept. 20th.

Covering lots of water and looking into every spot is the best bet right now.

Back to the river!!

My big water season ended last week and I ran a few trips on the Pere Marquette, floating from Rainbow rapids to Custer in a matter of 3 days…thats a ton of water…the fish numbers are very thin. But the lower in the system we got, the more fish we saw. Hopefully this weeks cooler temps and rain get a good surge of fish coming.

Have fun on the river and please respect the resource. Look for reports to be much more consistent now for the fall.

If you are looking for a fall steelhead trip, let me know asap. Open dates are going fast.

Wow…its been a month since I posted…

The smallmouth fishing on the muskegon is going well, especially early and during the week. Weekends have been over run with traffic and the fish seem to notice. Sub surface throwing streamers can bring out the odd nice trout as well. Look for topwater fishing to get better as the water warms this week.

As we roll into August my calender is filling up with charters on the big lake, I do still have openigs if you are looking to get into some Great Lakes Salmon and Trout.

Fall dates are filling up, if you are thinking of setting a date with me on the river for Salmon of Steelhead its time to make the call, November is almost full.

Sorry for the lapse in reports.

The truth is that as the steelhead season ended I was super busy buying a new boat for my Ludington charter fishing business. Then had to get it ready to put in the water, go through the inspection process and a couple weeks of getting everything set up.

I did manage to fish a few days and ran some trips on both the PM and Muskegon as well as a few charters. The river fishing has been great this year. The hatches have been heavy and consistent. The Muskegon river is giving up big trout and some big smallmouth bass.

If a full day trip does not fit your schedule, we are running half day trips for only $275 1-2 anglers with drinks and snacks provided.

Happy Trout opener!!

The Muskegon has fished well this past week, although water clarity has played a role. Water temps have offset the effects of the high dirty water. Steelhead are available in good numbers in the runs and popular spawning areas..Look for the fishing to be great for another few weeks as the long cold winter pushed the peak back a few weeks.

I still have openings May 5-8 and depending on the fish numbers May 12-?

Pictured (April 26) is a great friend and client Greg with one of the most impressive steelhead I have seen in a long time!!! Although the fish only weighed 16 pounds it had the body of a fish much larger. (Had this fish been caught fresh from the lake it would have pushed over 20 lbs, I have seen untold thousands of fish in my 22 yr guiding career but not many were this impressive.

Nice job Greg!!!!! Great “Kicker” fish to top off 3 awesome days of fishing.