I always enjoy fishing with Phil and today was no exception, we had exceptional hatch tonight and was able to net some very nice browns. While we were on the river Phil received a call that he has a new grandchild. Congratulations Phil
Don
I had a business meeting tonight in Newaygo and was off the water; driving through downtown sounded like rain hitting the glass….lots of drakes! Big hatches the last few night when we keep temperatures up. Gave a quick call to Don on the water and he confirmed it was “sick”! Lots of copulation and great surface feeding. I will have to be creative on my day trip tomorrow with the full tummies. Mid-morning spinner falls will occur with cool evening so look for great dry fly action during the mornings for the next week or so; give us a call if you are interested in hitting the river- Fred, Don, and myself have some good dates left for June…don’t miss out!
I will be celebrating my 10 wonderful years of marriage this weekend with my wife in Chicago; I will back to the river and blog Monday.
Tight lines,
Steve
Chilly boat ride this morning @ 32 degrees- amazing how cold that seems when we get used to 70’s! Scott Misaad and Brian Vandomelen (sorry for the spelling!) joined me to strip streamers and maybe catch a morning spinner fall. Well the bugs really never materialized today but no matter- the streamer fishing kept the guys on their toes. Both gentleman landed very respectable trout and a few smallies to boot. Look for things on the surface to really heat up as stable weather moves in next week. Drakes, tan caddis, and sally’s make up the near future.
Tight lines,
Steve
Dave and Dan joined me on the Muskegon river for a day of fly fishing for trout. There was a good hatch this morning, but very few trout feeding on the surface, so we spent the day fishing streamers. Nice steelhead Dan.
Don
Per Steve’s post of today, the day did start out cold—both in temperature and the bite. Ben and his guest Tim threw white, olive, and yellow streamers—all to no avail. The only fly the trout wanted at all was the “Trick-or-Treat” fly Steve mentioned. Whether it’s a crayfish or sculpin imitation, who knows? It’s a great fly and on a tough bite day like today; it at least put fish in the net. Ben, who last Spring who brought an eight pound brown into my boat, had another shot at a very good brown. In fact, he had two shots: on consecutive casts, Ben hooked the same trout and had him on long enough for us to get a good glimpse of him. I said, 15-20 inches. Ben shot back: “At least 25!” Even went so far as to describe the hooked jaw on his fish-zilla. Whatever, the brown’s size, Ben will be talking to himself for some time over not closing the deal on that fish! Nonetheless, we had a great time: a pretty, but cool day, with zilch fishing pressure on the river. Beautiful! Plus, the special bonus was the chance to witness sturgeon spawning. We saw four; Steve and his party saw six, with one 6-8 feet long. Amazing! Pictured are a couple of the trout we netted—one a rainbow and the other a brown.
Tom
Bill and Ida Joined me for a much deserved day on the Mo’. After a chilly start streamer fishing picked up. Oddly no fish were interested in anything that would take some ambition to eat. A small (at least by my standards) fly called the “trick-or-treat” (contact Bob @ the Ausable Angler…see our destination page for ordering this great fly) provide us with very good action. Bill even managed to catch the only brook trout I have ever caught on the Mo’. Ida is pictured with a very nice brown!
Have a safe holiday weekend!
Steve
It was a little chilly first thing this morning on the Muskegon fishing with Steve, nothing like a nice small mouth bass to worm things up.
Don
Today, Herb joined me for a streamer stripping trip. With snow flurries to the North and the wind whipping from some place cold, the day started frigid enough for us to pop on the beanie caps! No matter, once the guide figured out how to manage the boat with his new bow-mounted trolling motor and how to cope with the wind, we were in business. This was the day, too, on which I would break out my new Sage 9 foot, 6 wt. Z-Axis rods loaded with Scientific Anglers’ 250 grain Intermediate Sink Tip lines. Recommended by River Quest guide Don Graham, I can’t thank him enough for the recommendation. What a sweet casting combination this is! Clients new to streamer fishing will have no trouble casting respectable distances with this set-up. Very forgiving, slick shooting, and light to the hand—a total pleasure!
As the day passed, the sun popped out and the fishing warmed up. Herb missed sticking a large trout when he struck just a tad too quickly, only to redeem himself with smaller trout and smallmouth bass. When the wind would lay down at all, small trout rose to surprisingly good numbers of caddis. The cold put off the suckers from getting back to their spawning chores, though some trout were roaming behind the gravel bars, along with some steelhead that haven’t yet checked the calendar. As the temperature rose, we had many more chased flies and takes (most of which we seemed determined to miss!). One beautiful brown trout, though, decided my streamer looked especially tasty and was rewarded with a boat ride to the shore, where we took some photos of this fat, spectacularly colored trout. The fish measured 18,” surely not the largest brown in the Muskegon, but no doubt one of the most handsome. Pictured along with the trout is Herb with a typically sized Muskegon smallie. In short, a fun time filled with the promise of more action in the weeks ahead.
Tom
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It’s streamer time on the Muskegon, so today River Quest guide Don Graham and I took advantage of a cool but beautiful day to probe for big trout. Although yours truly managed to hook lesser fish, leave it to Captain Graham to bring the special fish of the day, if not season, to net. My photos simply don’t do this brown trout justice, Broad shouldered, perfectly proportioned, extraordinarily well conditioned, and just plain fat, the resident male brown trout bent Don’s 8 weight rod to the point that, after a protracted fight that seemed to go on and on, both of us began questioning what in the heck he had hooked. Don called it, though, saying that the way the fish stayed deep, refusing to come to the surface, and pretty much having its way all the while, the fish had to be a big brown. And, indeed, it was. Golden with iredescent blue/purple highlights and those huge red spots, it was a trophy, river brown trout. We both were so thrilled that we not only totally blew measuring the fish, but we forgot to weigh him as well! Who says guides don’t get jacked over big fish! No guide jive here: the brown surely was in the 6-7 lb. class. In short, he was one amazing specimen, which now swims free! Congrats, Don! Here’s hoping our clients can track down more like this one in the weeks ahead.
Trout fishing is now the primary focus for us on the Mo’; steelhead numbers are fishable up stream though it will soon be over. Caddis, March Browns, and a few Grey Drakes can be seen throughout the warmer daylight hours. Streamer fishing today was productive with pre-spawn smallies and small trout. Suckers are spawning-look for the big browns to key in on the new caviar soon!
Tight lines,
Steve
