Cabin Fever

Everyone knows what it is. At different times for different people cabin fever sets in at some point during the winter. For me, it comes very soon after the cold sets in. The only thing that lets me keep my sanity is looking forward to those breaks in the weather, and each person has their temperature threshold. For some, if the temperature isn't 45 degrees or better they won't go fishing. Others choose to place their cutoff at the freezing barrier, where rod guides start to freeze and make life difficult. For me, 15 degrees is too chilly for sure, if its 20 I may go ice fishing, and in anything over 28 (and sunny) and I will go steelheading.

Looking for the days when the weather pans out is key during the wintertime. People place importance on different elements in the forecast. For me the two most important things to take into account are temperature and barometric pressure. If the instruments measure both of these to be in my favor, I will go fishing.

There is something different about the pull of a steelhead or trout during the wintertime. Something about winter solitude, and braving the elements that makes a fish in the net worth its weight in gold. Kind of reminds me of a day on a river north of here, when my buddy Nick and I were the only souls on the river that day. We carefully walked out onto a piece of shelf ice at a good spot and managed to hook into a steelhead and land two nice browns. It seems that when shelf ice is around the steelhead definitely know how to use it to their advantage. Anyway, here are some pictures from that day to get you through until your next break in the weather...

Great Day

Today is a great day for tying flies. A balmy 8 degrees outside, its nice to see the pile of Sulphur Comparaduns growing slowly. This has been a great winter for fishing, but not such a great one for wrapping bugs. Oh well. Time spent in neoprene definitely trumps sitting at the desk anyway. I have started preparing the early summer arsenal with the usual array of flies. Hendricksons, Black Caddis, Sulphurs, Little Mahoganies, the list goes on and on. And thats not even counting the big four hatches of June.

Below, you will see a Sulphur Comparadun. It has a white microfibbet tail, cream dubbing, and a coastal deer hair. This is a great pattern from mid-May to mid-June. I have caught some large trout on Sulphurs, and my fair share have come on this exact pattern.

Feast or Famine

Fishing Sunday and Saturday provided a true dichotomy as to how steelhead fishing can be. Saturday was very tough, with one brief hookup on a might-be steelhead and a few trout. Sunday faired much better, with us hooking up a good number of times and landing one steelhead in the morning, but nothing after 1 o'clock (probably because of the cold snowmelt). As my friend Kyle stated, steelheading can be just that: feast or famine.

Some lessons were also learned this weekend. (1) When you think you should not drive down an icy, snow-packed hill, you probably shouldn't. (2) Riding a bike on an icy road leads to falling on your butt (thanks Kyle for that one). (3) Finally, thank god for locals, sometimes they can help you out of a pretty sticky jam. Overall, the fishing was good, the company was better, and the scenery was impressive.

One fish I hooked and lost sticks in my mind because, well, it was just an epic battle. After watching my bobber drop, I set the hook and the fish immediately ran under the log along which my bobber was just floating. Somehow, I managed to keep him free of the tangle. As he ran strongly upstream, I knew I had a battle on my hands. Then, as soon as it ran upstream, it ran back at me at full throttle. As I struggled to pick up line, the fish shot downstream like a bullet towards the next log jam. As I steered the fish away from the logs I was feeling pretty confident. Steelhead don't usually have more than two strong runs (if that even) in the winter, but this fish was different. After avoiding the log jam I positioned myself and the fish in the flat at the end of the run, right upstream of a heavy riffle. The fish decided it had enough, and headed right into the riffle, bending a 2x strong scud hook to the point where it lost its hold and the fish came off. These fish are why we come back, why we chase these chrome bullets in the freezing rain and sleet. Its all for the battle my friends...


Here is a beautiful hen taken on an egg pattern from this weekend

Freezing Guides, Singing Reels

Today I went fishing with two friends, Dane and Kyle. We fished a west Michigan river and we did all right. Between us, we hooked 3 steelies and several trout. Here's the one I landed.


Check that. This is the one Kyle landed, with only bare hands and a Michigan mitt in 35 degree water in below freezing weather. The guy is a trooper. Isn't it funny that nothing on your body is cold when your holding a chrome steelhead?

There are definitely fish in the rivers. I have a hunch that all the west Michigan rivers received a decent amount of chrome with the last high water event. In the next week, I'll be fishing the east side as well, to do some "research."

On a sidenote, I used a switch rod today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Hooked and landed my first steelhead on it as well today. You can get mile-long bobber drifts with that thing...


This blood is probably from a steelhead that was not as lucky as the one we released.


Here's Dane fishing a good lie.

Phil's Dish on Fish - The Introduction

Hey Folks,

Welcome to my web site. This site has been a long time coming because I have been busy, well, fishing. This site is dedicated to helping beginning anglers delve deeper into the sport, for novice anglers to understand why learning how to fish is a never ending process, and for expert anglers to compare notes. I will also be posting guide specials as well as interesting stories and insight as to fishing and all its wonders.

In particular, the species I target and guide for include large predatory brown trout, steelhead, brook and rainbow trout. I also fish and run guide trips for salmon and walleye as well. In general, I love to fish, whether it be for walleye through the ice or brown trout on mouse flies in the middle of the night. I grew up spending a large part of the summer, including most of May, June, and August, at our family's cabin on a prime section of the famed Au Sable in Northern Michigan. I still spend most of my summer there, running guide trips and fishing for my own personal enjoyment. I learned to night fish on the Au Sable at the impressionable age 9 and was "hooked". I caught my first Hex trout at age 10, and my first 20-incher at age 12. During these years I also learned to steelhead and salmon fish with my uncle on the Pere Marquette, or "PM" as it is affectionately known among flyfishers. He taught me the ways of "chuck & duck," and I learned to indicator fish shortly thereafter.

Simply put, I love fishing and guiding, and this is why I put up this site. So, make yourself at ease, check out my recent reports and pictures, look at my "how to" pages, and contact me at phils.dish@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Thank You,
Phil Cook