Muskegon River Steelhead - 3/28/12

Al w/ a hard earned buck

Jake wasted no time on his first Steelhead!

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!

2/4/12 - Muskegon River trout trip

beautiful bow

Jay w/ a nice bow caught on his Sage esn 10' 4wt!

this fish was caught on a 8' 3wt; what a fight 

Jay on another fish streak landing this fine rainbow.

Fishing today was challenging but very rewarding and Jay stayed on task to make it happen.  While I would say that the overall "bite" was a bit slow for a typical winters fish, Jay was rewarded with some great action for his persistence.  Almost all the fish fell to the Muskegon river scud(#16-#18) and were taken with methodical and slow drifts.  Jay was fishing his new Sage ESN 10' 4wt.  If you haven't fished one of these I'll just say WOW!  The weather was incredible which added to the overall days experience.  Water levels continue to stay high but fish are still eating well in some of the slower edges.

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!

guided trout trip - 1/26/12

John's good cheer seems to always drive our fluvial friends crazy!

Josh...you can be my friend

A fly-fishermans version of antique bronze

"that's a good fish!"

variation on a theme

Fishing today was great despite high water levels.  After the water shot up to 3,000 cfs yesterday I had my worries but John and Josh, undaunted, managed to work the slow seams and present some flies that the trout could not, or should I say would not, refuse.  Fished some attractor nymphs but once again the Muskegon River scud(gammarus scud) #16-#18 put the majority of the hurt on the boys.  That along with John's "hair-trigger" that begged to be tripped.  Woe unto the unsuspecting trout that grabs his loaded scud!   John maybe the only person I know who can give a trout whirlings disease by mechanical means.  Actually , if you've seen John on my blog before it's because he often ends up with some nice fish.  What a great day to be out; saw some nice trout caught, had reasonable winter weather, made a new friend.  My apologies to those of you who missed it.

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

winter has arrived - 1/14/12

Snow can't stop this girl

Open your eyes, breathe in deep, take it all in

Heather had three fish in the net before I could get a fly wet!

just like a guy; trying to catch up

perfection! tell me there is no Creator...

what's that...scuds got your tongue

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!  

Muskegon River Trout - 12/11/11

Let the games begin; winter trout fishing getting good

Hit the river this afternoon for a slow-paced, down right relaxing fish.  Water was in great shape having dropped significantly in the past few days.  Water level was at 1,440 cfs and water temp was about 39 deg/f.  When water temps start to get in the 30's excellent winter trout fishing on the Mo is around the corner.  Seine samples revealed massive quantities of scud and good numbers of caddis larvae.  Fish hit a variety of patterns including: #16 AB gammarus scud, #18 caddis larvae, midge larvae.  This was the first day that I've seen good numbers of trout near or in wintering holes/runs.  Didn't catch any monsters but numbers were good and fish average size(length and girth) is up and looking good!  I have a few days of solid tying but will be back on the water shortly after; hopefully with  more good news.

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 

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