Muskegon River Steelhead - 4/7/12

David w/ a hard hitting, healthy drop-back

Charlie w/ big smiles and a great fish

Today was a great one.  Fishing pressure was unbelievably low, skies clear, and fish in the mood to eat.  Spent most of the day searching for drop-backs, fishing deeper/faster runs.  To top it off Charlie and David were close to 100% for steelhead!  One of those days that really makes you appreciate the amazing fishery that the Muskegon is.

Jay Allen, Guide

Muskegon River Steelhead - 4/5/12

David and son Ryan w/ an awesome buck!

 

another nice one on a fry pattern in the dark water

   Spent today on the water w/ father and son team David and Ryan.  While it was a bit nippy this morning the day turned out to be a great one.  A few fish in the boat helped heat things up as well.  It was great to see a father and son enjoy a day out on the water having fun.  They make a pretty good team.  Great job guys!

Jay Allen,  Guide

Muskegon River Steelhead - 4/3/12

after an epic battle Frank boated this Muskegon River leviathan

memorable

Hope for us all...Frank still loves being on the water after all the fishing he's done

Muskegon River Steelhead - 3/28/12

Al w/ a hard earned buck

Jake wasted no time on his first Steelhead!

Muskegon River Steelhead - 3/27/12

Tom w/ a real Hog!

A well placed fly brought Mike this nice fish

 

 

 

Muskegon River Steelhead - 3/17/12

Mike w/ an early morning chromer

Never takes John too long to settle the score

re-tooled mid afternoon for some nice trout(had to rest the arms)

coming to get ya!

guided trout trip - 1/30/12

Milan w/ a stout brown trout

strike confirmed

Milan w/ his first Steelhead; nice work

Today was Milan's first day of winter nymph/trout fishing and what a day it was.  After getting the basics down he was fast into fish.  Working on the nuances of nymph fishing throughout the day paid off as he continued to get better.  He even thought it might be a good idea to throw in a nice steelhead to complete a Muskegon River sampler!

Muskegon River trout update - 1/18/12

Do big browns still have an appetite when it's cold?

This stomach pump answers that question

Steelhead love scuds

What's the next trout gonna look like? The question that drives us

I'm dreaming of a fishy Christmas - 12/27/11

Hudson w/ a hefty dusk steelhead

scud eating brownie

Noah w/ a fine fat rainbow

late season rainbows never get old!

surprise eagle lake rainbow holdover!  

Amidst all of the Christmas festivities I did manage to get out for a couple of fishing spurts around the holiday.  Hudson, Noah, and I got out for a couple hours one day and while the fishing was mediocre we did manage some nice trout.  The weather was nice and it was a great time in the boat with my boys.  Water levels are starting to hit some form of regularity and the water is in great shape!  Hope all had a reflective Christmas and look forward to a fishy New Year!

Muskegon River - 12/18/11

Gavin w/ a nice bow

Released to fight again

He didn't quit smiling like this the rest of the day

Hello lady!

Muskegon River Trout - 12/14/11

This buck ate a small copper bugger

Fished late this afternoon for a quick fish planning on only fishing for trout.  Water levels were at about 2,200 cfs when we got on the water and then dropped to about 1,700 cfs late in the afternoon.  Water temps were still just below 40 deg/f.  Didn't take any samples but did see a smattering of midge on the waters surface.  Trout fishing was a bit slower but still not bad considering the water movement.  Fished a couple runs for steelhead after fishing for trout and caught the fish pictured above on a small copper bugger(body and tail 1.5 inches altogether).  Took us around the bend; not giving up easily.  Scuds and various other nymphs drumming up the trout.  Still hoping for the midge to kick it up a notch and get some sippers on top!  

11/2 and 11/3 pics

Ron with a spunky, bright, fish

good friends Ron and Chuck enjoying the afternoon together

we quit counting the leaps on this one

family fun

Yes, 10yr olds can catch fall steelhead!

Craaaaaazy! - Fishing pics from the past few days

Andy w/ a hefty brownie

Steve with cold forged steel!

sometimes I have to wet a line

There is a story to this steel horse

good friend thoroughly enjoying the day

10/19/11 - Muskegon River Steelhead

"This was supposed to be a salmon trip, oh well"

If the fishing today mirrored the weather conditions, things would have been much different.  But alas, as lungs expelled thick clouds of smoke and icy water fell from the sky, Brian found his happy place.  Clouds rolled back, blue skies rolled in, and a smile was found gracing his visage more than should be expected on this dreary day.  I kept trying to locate a fish that would bring him back to the realm of mortals but to no avail,  he was undaunted.  Brian went 100% for fall steelhead(not on just a couple), something I may not see again for a while.  Hail to the victors!

Brian with another cartwheeling acrobat 

4/15/11 - Muskegon River Steelhead

Brian w/ a reel scalding buck!

Not quite what you would call the ideal day to catch your first steelhead, but Brian Pulled it off. With the wind blowing as hard as it was it made it very difficult to detect strikes and we had many that got noticed just a bit too late. After lunch we regrouped and Brian, undaunted by the gale forces, was able to push thru and land two very nice steelies. As we pulled up anchor for the day he still had a bit of an adrenaline buzz. Perfect ending.

look what the wind blew in

Muskegon River guide trip 3/7 - Steelhead and Trout combo

Dennis with one of his first steelhead ever, not bad!

The more people request these combo trips in the winter the more I like them.  They just make sense.  Fish both low light periods for steelhead(when they are most active) and fish for trout the rest of the time.  It amazes me how many people plug away for steelhead all day long and miss the great trout fishing that is right in front of them.  I picked up Dennis Goertzen at the Gray Drake at about 9:00 am  and headed out to the river.  This was his first time fly-fishing(he said it was on the bucket list) and the trip was given to him from his wife for Christmas.  Nice gift!  Being his first time he said he would like to do whatever made sense.  We had talked about steelheading so we decided to go for both.  Started with a quick tutorial on casting a steelhead rig and proceeded to move into the run suspected of holding a few steelhead.  A half and hour later Dennis had five fish that were hooked and two that were landed.  One of which was a 9 lb buck with magnificent color.  After things cooled off the sun was getting higher in the sky so we decided to start retooling for trout.  Dennis picked up the basic mechanics of casting with the lighter trout rod and he was soon into his first trout.  The wind was very reasonable and the sunlight we had was a welcome warmth, a truly beautiful winter day.  Took a couple seine samples near Pine Street boat ramp and in a word it was SCUDTASTIC.  As my buddy Kirk said the other day "scuds are like popcorn to the trout".  Continued to fishing for trout until about 3:00 pm and then started making our way down the river to hit a few steelhead runs to finish the day.  Dennis hooked two more steelhead and landed one to finish the day.  Three steelhead and a dozen or so nice trout...not too bad for his first time out!

another beautifully colored  fish

Muskegon River guided trip 3/6 - Steelhead/Trout combo

Jim with a hog

John with his first steehead...not bad!

It was very brisk to start the morning and blue skies looked as if they were going to stay.  Low, clear water as well let us know we had our work cut out.  Jim Geise had booked a trip to treat his good fishing buddy John Bebow and wanted to fish for both trout and steelhead.  When he asked to fish for trout as well he didn't mean catching a couple trout by accident while steelhead fishing.  Jim made the right call.  Started fishing for steelies right off while the light was low but no takers.  As soon as the sun got high we switched over to trout and things warmed up quickly.  The Muskegon River scud went to work and by the time we decided to switch back to steelheading they had boated well over 30 nice trout...but who's counting.

Another shot of John's steelhead

One of many nice trout 

solid, colorful bow

Jim with a quality rainbow

Made our way down from Pine Street boat launch and finished up the day with a steelhead each!  Couldn't get much sweeter.  Well, maybe it could.  When Jim had booked the trip he told me that John had never caught a steelhead he would love it if he could.  John's fish was the last one of the day.  All of this on top of a couple of fly nuts that were fun to be around, truly enjoy being on the river, and would have had a great time if we had only caught chubs.  The way fly-fishing is supposed to be.

heavy winter brown