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a long time ago, on a stream far, far away… |
This is not good for steelhead anglers in the midwest. I visited one of my favorite tributaries yesterday and there was ice forming along the banks in the fishy areas and ice completely locking up the flat stretches. I was able to fish most spots, but the big freeze might be coming. So much for fall steehead. It seems like the last two years the rivers froze up right after the kings died leaving a very short window for steelhead fishing in the tribs.
Fishing has always had the ability to bring people together from all sorts of places and backgrounds. Sometimes even reconnecting people from the past. Dane Jackson was more of an acquaintance in high school than a friend. We shared friends, but never really crossed paths in our free time. His name came up a couple years ago while Adam and I were fishing the Milwaukee River. Adam was telling me that he was as crazy as us about fishing and that he started a custom rod company in up-state New York. The Ithaca Rod Company was once a full service fly shop and guide service now still making fine custom fly rods and guiding, but focusing more on getting their products in the wholesale market. This last summer Dane was back in my hometown to help his dads company with a project. While in town he stopped in my families restaurant and we got to talking about fishing. He shared some info on where to fish out east when I made my trip to Connecticut that I feel attributed to my success. The Delaware River changed my perception of the state of New York to say the least. Now he’s giving me more reason to travel back that way. Lately, he has been putting in more time learning the fall/winter steelhead game on Lake Ontario’s tributaries and seems to be having some success. He also was telling me about a landlocked atlantic salmon run in central N.Y. that sounds like fun if you can time it right.
![IMG_0552[1]](https://trouterspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IMG_05521.jpg)
![IMG950526[1]](https://trouterspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IMG9505261.jpg)
![IMG950525[1]](https://trouterspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IMG9505251.jpg)
Most anglers I know don’t get as much time on the water as they would like. I’m fortunate enough to have a lady that understands my “problem” and allows me at least one day a week to get out for a day of fishing. The last four weeks I’ve fished for lake-run trout five times with zero to show other than a few steelhead smolt in Michigan. Yesterday, in Wisconsin my curse was broken by a coho that grabbed my orange steamer as I stripped it through the slack water at the end of my swing. It was my first big, red, hook-jawed coho. I’m guessing it was a good seven or eight pounds. It never made any long runs, but was strong until I got him in the shallows. After a few photos and a release I switched to an egg/indi setup, and a few drifts in my indicator shot about three feet down stream. When I set the hook I felt one throb and it was over.
After a while I moved back to the top of the run, and eventually I hooked a really strong brown trout. It may have felt stronger as a result of fishing my six weight rod, but it made the coho seem kind of lazy. Other anglers out there were having some success with mostly browns across the board. A couple of my friends have caught some steelhead in the last two weeks so I know there’s a few around. It just seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve tangled with a good steelhead and I’m getting anxious!
Last week some friends and I fished the Pere Marquette river in northwest Michigan. All of us have fished the river before and have come back for good reason. It’s designated wild and scenic and host healthy runs of wild steelhead. Not to mention it’s one of the best brown trout fisheries in the country. This is the FIRST river in North America to have brown trout introduced. As a result of the successful rate of natural reproduction in this FREE FLOWING RIVER since that time these fish haven’t change much since the arrival of their ancestors from the late 18oo’s. There are many trophy sized trout in the Pere Marquette for anglers who like to fish with large rodents or streamers. As much as I love brown trout, we made the trip for some fall steelhead. This river is not the easiest Lake Michigan tributary to fish. It’s basically a giant spring creek filled with log jams where fish can really hide well on a bright, sunny day. With some kings in the river still spawning we knew we could count on some fish feeding close behind them. So that’s where we tried to focus most of our effort. The day we arrived we had enough time for a short float and we decided to check out the lower river to swing some flies in the deep bends. While Andrew was waiting at the launch for Brett and I he waded in the first bend downstream and within ten casts hooked and landed a chromer. Our float was a bust, but we still had some confidence for the next day. The next day we floated the “fly only” water, and this time while we were shuttling the car Pete was already sending us pictures of beautiful browns. When we rowed up to Charlie and Pete at the first bend Pete was grinning like a school boy who just saw his first set of boobs. When we asked what was so funny he tells us about the 10 lb buck steelhead he just released. The rest of the day was slow. A few small browns, a couple steelhead smolt, and a missed tug for Andrew which was an adult steelhead that hit his fly TWICE! He pulled in the fly to check it out and it was fouled up around the leader. So the fly was swimming backwards and the fish still made two attempts. I went home two days before the rest of the guys, but left satisfied with getting to know this amazing river a little more. 
