Pere Marquette Steelhead

Posted on November 18, 2010 by a_rosati18

Just got back from fishing for steelhead on the Pere Marquette River in western Michigan with my dad and a family friend. The conditions there were not in our favor, but thanks to our knowledgeable guides we still managed to put some fish in the net. The P.M. is a free-flowing, wild and scenic, blue-ribbon, beautiful, sandy bottom river with logjams and very deep pools throughout roughly 90 miles of steelhead water. Although the P.M. will see some nomad hatchery fish make their way upstream, the rivers pristine condition supports a high rate of natural reproduction, therefore there is no need for stocking. The fish are mostly WILD! Aside from the almost year round steelhead opportunity on the P.M. it is one fine brown trout fishery rivaling Michigans famed Au Sable. The P.M. is home of the first brown trout planting in the U.S.A.! These genetics remain to be some of the purist of the german browns in the U.S.A. For more information about this great fishery check out this website

The conditions were similar to what we’ve been experiencing in Wisconsin; low, clear water with blue skies to boot. Not what your looking for when dealing with spooky migratory trout. Most of the fish were hiding deep under tree cover, which there is plenty of. After fishing a spot thoroughly, we would row over it and push the fish out to see just what was hiding down there, and sometimes it was sickening. We counted up to 23 fish in one pool!! These fish had tight lips though! I’ve never drifted eggs by that many steelhead with no takers. A bit frustrating but still cool to see. The day wasn’t a total bust, after having every steelhead in the river deny our offerings we switched gears and tried for some of the browns that were sitting below spawning fish chowing on eggs. All that it took was a good drift and my dad connected with a very nice fish.
The next day we had the same conditions but we fished new water further downstream. We also had the privilege of being the first to float the river in our guide Tommy’s new hyde drift boat, and there was no way the maiden voyage was gonna go fishless. Fishing was still very tough, but after two days of waiting for the indicator to drop it finally did, and the battle was on! If this fish had decided to take off we would’ve had no chance. As I said before, there are logjams everywhere, and this pool was no exception. Lucky for us the fish just bucked and rolled within a small area and we were able to get a net under the chrome fish!

my dads first steelhead!

Overall a great trip. The river was beautiful and the guides are some of the best in Michigan. For me the value of fishing with such knowledgeable guides was worth more than catching any number of fish. Tommy Lynch a.k.a. the Fish Whisperer, and Brad Turner are not only great steelhead fisherman, they’ve also got the night time mousing dialed in for very large browns in the summertime. If your planning any trips to Michigan and looking for a quality experience give these guys a shout. In the meanwhile I’ll see you on the Milwaukee.
Categories: Pere Marquette, steelhead | Tags: , | 3 Comments

Blue River Kokanee

Posted on November 11, 2010 by c_richter12
Nate, one of my long time friends, mentioned an opportunity to catch some nice Browns and Kokanee in the Blue River near his home. We met at the trailhead around 9:00 and the expectations were high. Nate had previously fished this stretch so we knew right where to go. We posted up on one hole below a beaver dam and you would not believe what we saw; a serious Kokanne pod just porposing left and right. With the river covered in red (a mini Alaska if you will), we knew this day was going to be epic.

The first cast was an immediate hook up. Somewhere within the pod of Kokanne a nice group of Brown Trout were eating their eggs. We continuously landed Brown after Brown without a break. Most were eating bright colored eggs, but some worms were working as well. We were wanted to hook up with some of the red colored beauties in the river, but they just werent having it.





Eventually, after setting the hook on the slightest movement ofthe indicator, the Kokanee was on. The first fish was buckwild; jump after jump. Once the first Salmon was taken, they turned on like a light switch. We hooked up nearly every cast. Most of the Salmon were eating red and pink worms, but some were taking large stoneflies and small red midges.





The fishing got techincal at the end, but were landing some of the bigger fish in the pod. It was a grab bag; Brown or Kokanee, which would it be? Just set the hook to find out.





The Kokanee averaged around 10-12″, and the Browns were only a little bigger. Our biggest fish of the day was a Brown Trout who measured 17″ on the tape (pictured above). With multiple doubles and sore arms, we headed to Boulder; a historic day in the books.



 

 

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South Boulder Creek

Posted on November 6, 2010 by c_richter12
The other day, I rode my cruiser bike on the South Boulder Creek Trail five minutes from my house. I was headed to this particular home-water in search of lake Run Brown Trout from Baseline reservoir. I pulled my bike up the the biggest hole on the traill and threw a cast in immediately. I hooked into a nice 18″ Brown, but unfortunately, and after a couple ridiculous jumps and one long run, he came undone. I was a little upset with the turn of events, but ended up having one of my best days in a long time. I ended the day, riding into the sunset on my red Schwinn, 29 Rainbows in the bag after only 2 1/2 hours on the water. All were taken on a pink egg (which was retired immediately after the trip).
Average Rainbow was about 10″
All that was left of the pink egg
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Colorado Cutthroat and Grayling

Posted on November 1, 2010 by c_richter12
Here are a couple of nice pictures I found on my external hard drive. Check ’em out!



Grayling of Joe Wright Creek



Greenback Cutthroat of Zimmerman Lake



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The Fish Whisperer – Pere Marquette Fishing Reports

Posted on October 28, 2010 by a_rosati18
The Pere Marquette River in Michigan has seen a sad salmon run this year according to guide Tommy Lynch of Hawkins Outfitters. His theory – a decline in bait fish due to over stocking in Lake Michigan. Tommy has spent most of his days on the P.M. in the last 30 years and has seen it at its best and at its worst. Check out what he has to say about this year’s salmon run on the P.M. at his website The Fish Whisperer. A couple years ago I was fortunate enough to fish with Tommy on the P.M. for steelhead. When we launched the boat in the morning Tommy asked me “what’s the biggest inland trout you’ve ever caught?” I answered “well I’ve only been fishing for trout for a year or so, my biggest is about 14-15 inches.” He replied “we’ll get ya a twenty incher”. Like it was that easy. He dropped anchor and showed my brother and I where to drift our flies. My bro and I had not been fly fishing much at this point and were still working a lot on line control to get good drifts, but when we did get a good drift through the hole we hooked a nice brown trout…..every time! All of them were decent size, and a few of them were hittin’ the 20 inch mark. It was then that I knew this guy knows the river well. We never did land any chrome that trip, but I wont blame it on the guide. He put us on fish and we just couldn’t land them. In a couple weeks I plan to head back to the P.M. to fish with Tommy and get my revenge on some feisty fall steelhead.
Mike and I doubled up with these impressive browns. (Pere Marquette fall 2008)
Categories: Pere Marquette, steelhead | Tags: , | 1 Comment

Williams Fork>Colorado>Lower Blue>Upper Blue

Posted on October 27, 2010 by c_richter12

A friend and I had quite the “Sunday Funday” (as he calls it) on around the Kremmling area. Here are the reports from the many rivers we fished:

Williams Fork River:

The fishing was ablsolutely awesome. We averaged 14-16″ Brown Trout, with the occassional fish being larger. The fish were keyed in on all types of worm patterns; rock worms and natural tan flavored San Juans. We caught a few throughout the day on small midges and had some chasing streamers. At one point, we posted up in a hole that was simply amazing , and we proceeded to catch countless fish in a two hour span of time. It was one of those times you actually gave up because your arm was tired.
Average Brown on the Williams Fork



Beauttifully spotted Brown



Suprise chunky Rainbow of the day
Colorado River:

We only stopped on the Colorado for twenty minutes, but it sure did pay off. We spotted what looked like a great run from the highway and stopped the car. I sat back and watched my friend Chad take a furious and large Rainbow on his fifteenth cast. The trout was sitting in the fast water at the head of a massive pool, and he ate a very large Rock Worm. The water looked perfect for streamers, but we had other plans for our afternoon.

Resident Rainbow of the Ol’ Colorado

Lower Blue River:

We arrived in the late afternoon on the Blue River below Green Mountain Resevoir and hopes were high. We walked down to the river and saw what appeared to be the biggest wild Colorado Trout we have ever seen. I took a few casts, and he was not interested. After my chance, Chad had a couple…….and he hooked up! This fish, resembling the fight and tenacity of a Steelhead, jumped and ran down river as fast as he could. Chad and I chased him, but unfortunately we were unsucessful in netting the beast. I did, however, get a good look at the fish, and it was without a doubt, the biggest wild Trout I have ever seen. We managed a couple nice Cutbows (also fooled by worm patterns) after that and decided it was time for an early dinner.
Gorgeous Blue River Cutbow



Early dinner after a great day



Upper Blue River:
We fished fairly far towards the inlet to Green Mountain Resevoir and the fishing was not that good. Low flows made it really tough and we really didn’t spot much. We thought the Kokanee might be pushing, but they just weren’t there. Chad lost a big rainbow at the end of our day, and besides that, there was nothing else hooked.
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