Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays !

Hi All

First I'd like to say Thank You from Clint, Debi and Adam Anderson here at the Red Moose Lodge for helping us have a great 2013 season and hope to see you all again next year in 2014. Second is come up and enjoy all the great outdoor activities this Winter. We are buried with snow !!!! Compared to many other December's. We have around 12"-14" of fluffy stuff last week that settled into a good base around 8"-10" over last weekend when we hit 30-34 deg... Sence then we have had another 6"+ of fresh fluffy land on that base to bring us to well over a foot of snow in the woods..That's pretty good for this early in Baldwin..Trails are groomed and ready for you to ride your snowmobiles..

Ice fishing : still be extra careful. The ice isn't super great around here...I went on one local lake last week on Thursday the 16 th. and it was iffy..We had 2" of hard ice and 1.5" of soft slush on top..We just have had to much snow to have real good ice. I'll bet were around 30" of snowfall for December so far..My driveway looks like February.. 4' banks that are built out 8' and already missing 2 or 3 parking spaces..We still have parking but the lot's not getting larger it's getting smaller. We'll probably have to have a front end loader come in by the middle of January if it continues to snow like it has..

Steelhead and Trout fishing continues to be good. There are days when the bite is off totally. Other days when the bite is good..You just have to go !! To find out.. The fish are in the system and when they feel like feeding you have to be there in the right spot with the right stuff on the end of your line. Hiring a guide is the best thing to do even if it's for a half day. That way your in the right spot with the right thing on the end of your line. You have 2 out of 3 things you need covered, now all you need to wait for the fish to decide to feed on your offering. Then the real fun begins..A good guide is a very skilled net man and has a warm camera ready to take your picture also a heater to warm your hands back up. This time of year is when good guide can make the difference in getting skunked (which is a bummer but happens) or landing a couple Steelhead and having a great time..Plus you will learn new skills each trip despite the number of years you have been doing this sport..

Have fun and enjoy the outdoors this winter !

Tight Lines
Clint

Been Hunting and Fishing Fool

December 10, 2013

It's cold up here 7 deg. this a.m.. Winter is here ! We have had about 15"-20" of snowfall. Most of it melted last week in a 50 deg. warm up. When I got home there was still some crusty banks and a dusting on the driveway.I'll bet we have plowed 6- 8 times since Nov. 20th. More snow is on the way tonight and we have flurries going on now. 5" of super fluffy stuff is on the ground now and another 4"-6" is predicted overnight.

My Steelhead trips thru November and December were good when I was home. I missed a lot of good fishing while in Missouri bow hunting Deer for 2 weeks. I got a buck a decent 9 pt at 30 yds. with my bow.. The Deer numbers were down really bad this year. The Deer had a second summer where it was hot and dry and as a result EHD or ( blue tong) reared it's ugly head. Last season there were a few less Deer but we had a pretty good hunt all and all. This season SUCKED my Deer sightings were down 60-70%..

I hunt 3 or 4 different farms and all were the same and so were the farms my friends were hunting. Trail camera photo's were down too. My cousin had a family of 10 doe's coming into his green field last season everyday..This season it's the same 3 or 4 doe's coming in everyday. Big bucks took a hit also, very few of them survived. A sickness like EHD affects the young and old the hardest. There was a few medium size bucks left and a few doe's left but I never laid eyes on a giant buck in 2 weeks of hunting hard.

6 guys total hunted. I bow hunted for 2 weeks and 5 other guys went down for 1 week of bow and 1 week of firearm. All in all our group killed 5 bucks, 2 doe's, and 1 wild turkey. 2 Bucks were killed with a gun the rest was with bows and crossbows. Everyone killed something or had shots but the big buck sightings were way down and so was the overall sightings and opportunities. It can only get better next year, but I'm thinking it's going to take 3 to 5 years to get back to normal good/ great hunting again..

Steelhead fishing this past weekend was good. There was a good bite both Saturday and Sunday. It was mostly on eggs. Even saw a  zombie Salmon or 2 floating around. Probably why eggs were good. Had only 1 or 2 fish on the nymphs. One of the 2 days we hooked into 10. Most of the bite was afternoon. So getting out and being the first guy wasn't a factor at all..The 4 guys were cold but they made it and were glad they came up for some solid days of Winter Steelheading on the Pere Marquette River..

That's all for now. I need to put away my hunting stuff, clean the basement and barn and get ready for snowmobiling and ice fishing. Some lakes are already reporting 3"-5" of good ice. Still be careful for the next week or so and I wouldn't try snowmobiling on any of the lakes yet.They just barely have enough to walk on.

Tight Lines
Clint

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