Fall Steel

Hi All

Fall Steelheading is going and based on conditions can be real good. The fish are there but when the water is low and slow it can be tough. Just add water and you will get a push of nice big fresh ones and good conditions all at the same time and it's really good for a while. King Salmon and Coho Salmon are present if you just want to put a bend in the fly rod. Nymphs are still good on some days when eggs are not working well. Try hex's, stones and caddis in the upper streaches..

Spinners and plugs are taking there fair share along with flies. If intrested in a trip my open days are November 17-25th...Half or Full Days.

Tight Lines

Clint

Happy Steelheading !

Steelhead are Lurking

Hi All

Salmon season is still in full swing and so is the foul odor on the river. There are far more dead ones than alive ones. We have had a good mixed bag on the last couple trips out. Every day last week we jumped 2 or 3 Steelhead a day some days you land them some days you don't. Steelhead, Coho, Kings and Browns are all possiable in a day on the river. Our version of a October Grand Slam.. We had 2 days with a grand slam last week and a couple days off by one species. There is no better time of year to flyfish than October the river is a target rich enviroment and the Fall colors are great. It's a win- win..

I have booked this Friday / Saturday / Sunday and then I have open dates 21st.- 28th of October. If your intrested in a full or half day on the river give me a call..

We are getting some rain around here and a slight stain to the river. It should be bringing up the remainder of the Salmon and increasing our chances at Steelhead daily..

Tight Lines
Clint

More Salmon ? Yep

Hi All

Yes, more and more Salmon are coming up river to lay there eggs in the fertil Pere Marquette River. The Trout are enjoying the free meals as well as they fatten up for there up coming spawning season as well here in a few weeks. Caught a real nice 11 lb. Coho Salmon this past week nearly chrome and it smashed the fly second cast for Rick. Dave and son Nate caught some 24lb. and 25lb Kings. Dave also pulled off some nice doubles 2 weeks in a row. Week 1 he landed a King and a 10" Brown in one cast and week 2 it was a 12" and 16" brown on one cast. Well the river is fully joy right now with the air and water temps falling. Some breif showers and thunderstorms giving the river and the springs a little extra flow. Have had some women getting in on the action too. This sports great for all ages. Lots of fish and tons of oppertunity at catching these large fish in a small stream. Even if you don't land one it's still just a great experience to see all the fish in the system spawning, or even a hole thats stacked full heads and tails..It's just a spectical some days seeing how many fish can pack themselfs into a hole..Unreal if you get to fish a spot like that..

It's been real busy and has been nice seeing all the new and old clients around the lodge and on the river. We have about another month of Salmon season left then Fall Steelhead starts to take over and what Salmon are left are just bait piles and accidental catches as we target Trout and Steelhead behind them..

My open dates to guide are October 6 then the 11th.--31st.. After October 15th.  I start to really look for Steelhead and will target them.. Between now and then they are jumped here and there. We have some good room openings after October 6 thru November. So if you want to miss the crowds there is plenty of time to enjoy some great fishing as the river emptys out and most of the fishermen take to the woods chasing bird dogs, Ducks or Deer.

Have A Great Salmon Season !

Tight Lines
Clint

Peak Salmon season is here

Hi All


2013 Salmon season is in full swing. There is Salmon spawing activity in all sections of river from Custer to the upper head waters. There are staging fish moving up from the lake daily where they stop no body know's ( but I want to be there when they do). Some nights they move 2 miles some nights 30 miles.  A few Steelhead are being jumped here and there, very few landed. Brown Trout are becoming active and biting better with the cooler water and little showers we are recieving. We haven't had high dirty water yet this Fall season but when we do the run will explode. Last really good heavy rain was back in June sometime. So the river is low and clear for the most part which makes fishing a little slower and boat travle slower and lots of rock and gravel grinding but there is plenty of fish in the system for everyone to play with. If you don't have a fish weight scale near buy you might want to bring one or buy one. There are some whoppers in the system this season.


I have a couple open date to guide trips September 22,23,24,25..

I,m also open in October 6, 10th.---31st. Which is great flyfishing for a real mixed bag Kings, Coho, Trout and Steelhead...

Tight Lines
Clint

Salmon run has started

September 9 , 2013

Hi All

The Salmon run has been going for a couple weeks. It has been a slow start for hardware with the very little rain we have had. We have had a couple trickles but no real big pushes yet. The best thing going right now is the flyfishing program in the holes for staging fish. Every section from the M-37 to Walhalla has a couple holes with some nice stacks of Salmon.

The Bait and tackle program has been tough in the lower river.. I haven"t had a great day yet down stream lots of 1 or 2 fish to the boat days.There have been lots of days lower river the fish are rolling around but won't bite because the water conditions are poor. The water has been warm and the fish have been going right by lower river headed for the Trout stream protions where the holes are deeper, cooler, and extra current for some extra oxygen in there gills..So fewer fish hanging around lower river and super clear water down there also has forced me move up stream to flyfish for them with better #'s to cast to. I have casted some lures for a couple hours mid stream and had just as many bites as if I had been down river casting. Then switching over to flies for the rest of the day in big deep holes.

The fish are a larger average and very hard to land. snaping line, straiting hooks, and many lures lost to log jams as the fish weaves his way thru. Picking areas with room to fight fish is key to landing them. They are hot and big Salmon...

Good Luck and hope to see you on the river or around the lodge.

I have a few open dates September 16,18,22,23,24,25,29 if intrested in guided trip..

Tight Lines
Clint

Finaly some RAIN !

Hi All

We'll we have got some good down pours in the last 24 hours. I haven't had a chance to check the rain gauge but I'm guessing a inch. Which isn't a lot but it fell hard and fast. Lots of new trees down with the heavy winds but also the oaks I cut up going across the road at the cabin had good acorns on them. Which is making them heavy also. Bring a saw if you plan to float the river in a driftboat and even a come along if you have one with a sturdy rope.

This will kick off the season and get fish moving along up stream. There is decent pockets of fish in every section of river but the best is yet to come. The first 2 weeks of August was better weather than these last 2 weeks. It' has been hot and dry. There is more fish around these last 2 weeks but the bite is worse from all the heat and sun warming the water putting them in a down bite.. This rain is cooling the river down and adding oxygen. The flow prior was deathly warm , slow and little oxygen.

I've had a few trips but there is nothing to brag about #'s wise. Scott here with my largest king of the season at 28+ lbs. This fish would have been is about 5 th. place in the Ludington Tournament this summer. Big fish so far in the big lake is 35.9 lbs. last I herd. That fish was caught on Katch Me, most likely on a meat rig. That was the last week in July. Scotts 28 lber was on a stick bait with 30 lb. braid. I've had a few other in the Minnow my 165 FM this season that were 24, 22 lbs and those were nice fish. This is the year for a wall mounter. The taxidermist will be busy this Winter mounting big Kings Salmon.. Congrats Scott that is the biggest King I've ever had on a stick bait that hit the floor of my jet sled.

Well got to get to bed. Good luck this weekend it's the last weekend of summer. Drive safe and go hook some fish and have a GREAT SEASON this Fall...

If intrested is a guided trip this Fall my open dates are.

September 2,3,5,9,10,16,18,22,23,24,25,29..

October 6, 9-27th. Great Fly Fishing dates in October..

Tight Lines

Clint

Salmon are in..

August 18, 2013

Hi All

There are a few King Salmon around. Conditions are poor..Low clear, bright and sunny...The Salmon are trickling up the system and there isn't any huge #s around but if you want to give it a try, you can catch a few. I was 2 for 5 with Johnny Matson and Camron his daughter and  1 for 1 today with clients Tom and his wife. Biggest diffrence is it was 42 deg up to low 70's. on the 15th. in the a.m. and 52 deg this a.m. with highs in the mid 80's by noon today. Plus on the 15th. the peir head was 40 deg and more fish were on the move and around the harbor... So things change day to day....Some rain would be great, like 3-5" would be perfect..But here we are again waiting for rain to bring us a big push and better conditions for casting lures... The fish are big.. One of Johnny's fish was 22 lb. male and the hen we caught today was 20 lbs. Johnny had the last fish of the scout mission spool him removing all 300-400 ' of all his braid and backing. In other words these fish are very big on average.. Sorry no picture of Johnny's fish there are on his camera..Trout fishing is still good/ average..Pressure on the river is starting to increase but it isn't crazy by any means yet. Be nice and give people plenty of space to fish and we'll all have a great Salmon season. My Tue. ,Wed. cancelled so I'm open every day this week Mon. -Fri. if you get the itch to do a half day a.m. Salmon mission give me a call..

Tight lines
Clint