Steelhead fishing at it's finest

The Muskegon River recieved a very good push of chrome Steelhead that all seemed to stop in the section of river we fished today and they were on the bite in a big way.  Long time customer of Muskegon River Guide Service, Gerald Magee brought his wife Andrea for her first time Steelhead fishing and she picked up on the program right away putting a nice 9lb. buck Steelhead in the net before we were a full minute into our first spot of the day!!  They both kept up the pace for the whole day hooking and landing enough Steelhead that I think it's best we do not even get into the numbers here.  Boat traffic is slowly starting to build though it does not yet reflect the fishing quality.  We are set up for a great fall season and I am looking forward to fishing with all of you who are on the schedule or will be in the near future.  Gerald and Andrea are pictured below with a couple of great Steelhead from today and a bonus fresh King Salmon.

10/18/2011  Don't let the picture fool you, she caught the fish but would not touch it!

10/18/2011  A healthy Muskegon River Steelhead.

10/18/2011  Gerald with a fresh Salmon from today.  Not a bad bycatch.

 

Fall Steelhead

Ed and Jeff joined me today for some fly fishing on the Muskegon River.  Jeff had never caught a fish on a fly rod before today so we broke him in with a few different species, he caught Steelhead a king salmon a coho salmon and a smallmouth bass.  The boys are pictured below with a couple Steelhead that were eager to eat beads behind spawning salmon.

10/9/2011  Jeff with his first ever fish on a fly rod!!

10/9/2011  Ed with a great steelhead that gave us a nice aerial show.

Fall Steelhead

There are some Steelhead available in the area rivers, most are sitting behind spawning Salmon feeding on eggs.  Egg flies, beads and spawn bags will all take Steelhead around spawning salmon right now.  The end of October through November should be great Steelhead fishing.  Derek and Joe are pictured below with a couple Steelhead we found today amongst the Salmon.

(10/6/2011)  Joe with a Steelhead from this afternoon.

(10/6/2011)  Derek with a nice Muskegon River Steelhead.

Michigan Kings

Well I have put in a full week of guiding Kings every day since returning home from Alaska and what a week it's been!!  There are lots of fish in the Pere Marquette River and they are big, we have landed more fish over 20 lbs in a week than in the last 5 years combined.  There are still good numbers of King Salmon working their way up the PM to add to the already impressive numbers of fish in the system.  The Muskegon River is getting a few fish but is usually a few weeks behind the Pere Marquette due to warmer water temps coming from croton pond.  Fall Steelhead will be here before you know it!!  I still have some dates available to chase these chrome bullets so call or e-mail to reserve your days soon. 

9/11/2011  Fritz with a healthy PM buck.

9/15/2011  Myself and Jim with a heavy Salmon.

9/15/2011 

9/11/2011  Ed with a Pere Marquette King.

Alaska Trout Fishing

Trout fishing is still going strong in Southwest Alaska, while rivers with spawning Chum and King Salmon being the Rainbow's meal ticket are in the later stages of the egg drop other rivers that support all spawning Sockeye Salmon are in their prime.  Also as the spawning Salmon die off carcasses are caught in snags and in soft water where the rainbows feed on their flesh, this is the time of year some of the biggest, healthiest Rainbows are caught!!  We are right smack in the thick of the Silver or Coho Salmon run right now as well, these fish are very aggressive making fly fishing very productive with sometimes 30 or more hookups per rod in a day,  we also get these fish to come up to the surface and eat poppers, that's good fun!!

2 weeks of guiding left for my 2011 Alaska season, looking forward to fall in Michigan!!



Myself and Jack with a 28" Rainbow



A 27" upper Togiak River Trout.



Trout are gorging on eggs and flesh right now.



A nice Rainbow from the Goodnews River.



A 2 Footer from the Togiak River.



Nushagak River Kings

Today was my first day on the "Nush" for the season, there are a decent number of Kings being caught but a good number of them are jacks.  The fishing was red hot for the guys we had there last week but the tides are smaller right now so there should be another good surge of kings on the next big tide.  Steve and I pictured with a good one from today taken down trolling spinners.  More King pics to come this week, King Salmon to be released cannot be removed from the water so other than the occasional in the net shot the only ones you get to see are the ones we keep. 

6/25/2011  Steve with a good Nushagak King Salmon.

6/25/2011  One of the smaller "jacks" we let go.

It's Alaska time!!!

Well this is the last post on Michigan fishing until mid-September as I leave early monday morning for Dillingham, Alaska where I will find my home for the next 3 months at Mission Lodge.  As many of you know I look forward to my time in Alaska every year and by the time it is over I am looking forward to getting back to Michigan for King Salmon and Steelhead just as much.  Look back here for updates on what is happening in Alaska periodically throughout the summer, just not as regularly as while I am home.

 I am reachable by e-mail and check my voicemail messages regularly for those of you looking to book fall Salmon or Steelhead dates, although e-mail is the best option with the 4 hour time difference and a busy guide schedule in Alaska.

I fished with David, Kirk and Ryder the last couple days on the Muskegon and Pere Marquette River.  We fished the Muskegon last evening and found plenty of Brown and Rainbow Trout and a few Smallmouth Bass willing to eat just about anything we threw at them including spinners, rapalas and dry flies.  The Pere Marquette River did not produce the numbers of fish the Muskegon did but the quality was better.  When we pulled into the boat ramp I noticed the river was up a bit with some color so we decided rapalas and spinners would be our best bet, we had a handfull of nice fish in the mid to high teens chase to the boat and enough low teeners that actually commited to keep it interesting.  Ryder is pictured below with a couple nice Brown Trout from the Pere Marquette River today.

6/11/2011  All smiles.

6/11/2011  Ryder with a nice Pere Marquette River Brown Trout.

Early King Salmon Fun in the Sun

Each summer before I head to Alaska to guide for 3 months Ed and I like to head north to a fairly well known "little river" in search of the run of early kings it holds. While there may not be big numbers of these chrome beasts, for the motivated angler there is enough fun to be had.  We found fish coming in this morning chasing bait, what fun to watch!!  When you do hook, (or should I say encounter),  one of these early King Salmon in tight quarters the chances it will come to hand for a picture are very slim, Ed made it happen today with the great fish pictured below, nice job Ed I am looking forward to casting Thundersticks for Salmon when I return in September.

6/8/2011  Ed with a very hard fighting little river Salmon.

Muskegon River Fishing Report

Back bouncing spawn was great again today, there was quite a bit more boat traffic to work around but the bite was still on in the bright sunshine.  Muskegon River water level has dropped to just over 5,000 cfs and is clearing with around 3 feet of visibility today.  We should be able to chase dropbacks throughout the river system for the next 2 weeks and get away from any crowds that may show up once they can see what fish are left on gravel.  It's almost time to head for Alaska and that means it's time to start filling the fall calendar, I have some dates left in late September for King Salmon and a few for late October and early November for those chrome bullet fall Steelhead we all love so much.  Our customers have grown to love back bouncing spawn for fall Steelhead so get your dates booked before they are gone, I have email capabilities all summer while guiding in Alaska so that is the best way to get your fall dates booked between June and September.  For those wondering I am headed back to Mission Lodge in Alaska's Bristol Bay region, this will be my 9th summer guiding in AK and I am looking forward to many more.  Jim and Alex are pictured below with a few Steelhead caught back bouncing spawn today on the Muskegon River.

5/4/2011  Alex with a nice hen, back bouncing is still going strong.

5/4/2011  Back bouncing spawn for Muskegon River Steelhead.

5/4/2011  This fish bit like a freight train.

5/4/2011  Muskegon River Steelhead.

5/4/2011  Jim with a very nice Brown Trout from this morning.