High Water

The high water that affects Michigan rivers in the spring is heavy. Its sheer force can move giant trees, take out bridges and also other foundations. Even with little snow melt, rivers around here are still making their presence known. The Tittabawasee, down the road from my apartment, has gone up 6 feet since Tuesday. It is not quite out of the riverbanks, but it is very close. Reports on all Michigan steelhead rivers are the same: high and dirty. However, the high water will help to fill the rivers up and down the west side with a fresh batch of chromers.

I guess its not too bad sacrificing a few days of terrible fishing for a couple weeks of good fishing. After all, there is no steelhead that bites like a fresh run steelhead, in the spring or the fall. Timing is everything on a steelhead stream, and being there at the right time can mean the difference between struggling for a few hookups and having a banner day.

The next couple months will give us the chance to have that "banner day." Spending the time and putting in the hours will reward you big-time. A keen eye will also help. Above all, timing is the most important. Figure out the flow rate and conditions at which your river fishes best will help you make the most of your fishing time every time out.


High water on the Pere Marquette, that river gets scary when it's got that type of flow.

Small Streams, Big Fish

Most every diehard fly angler has an opinion about creeking. Some love it, others hate it, and some of you out there may say, "what the heck is creeking?" Personally, I consider creeking as fishing in a stream that flows at less than 100 cubic feet per second. In Michigan, it is most common across the northern lower and upper peninsulas for brook trout. In these environments, the further one walks from the access is directly proportional to how many fish one will have a chance of catching. Some small streams harbor brown or rainbow trout or other gamefish, and some hold steelhead.

Fishing a small stream can be frustrating. At times devoid of fish, and at times loaded with them. Figuring out the timing in these streams can be a daunting task. One day you think will be perfect turns out to be a bust. A day starting with low expectations ends with double digit hookups on steelhead. You just never know how the fishing will be, and this is the beauty of creeking.

Productive fishing in small streams requires stealth and adaptability, in that order. Stealth is required to stalk the fish in the shallower rivers, and good adaptability allows the fisherman to fish every spot properly. On any given creeking river, I will employ 3 tactics so as to fish every spot. The first is my go-to method, the bobber. The second my old go-to method, chuck and duck (except with split shot, not a sliding weight). The third is a method I learned from a regular on a river I used to fish. It involved, in his case, a large pyramid sinker and spawn. He would basically "glue" this rig to the bottom, and then wait for a steelhead to bite. It was very effective. I adopted his rig, and scaled it down for fly fishing. It too has turned out to be very effective.

Learning these methods is essential to creeking. Hiring a knowledgeable guide can help tremendously. More just a fish locater, a good guide can give a client knowledge they will employ for the rest of their fishing life. The ability to read water is a perfect example of also a quality a good guide will give you. Below you will find pictures and descriptions of 3 types of water one will find on any given great lakes stream. They are nowhere near all of the types of water a fisherman will encounter. But all of them, at certain points of the year, will hold fish.

THE SLIDE

This type of run is a "pinch point," explained as a point in the river that concentrates fish during heavy runs. Spots like this produce on both big and small rivers alike. In small streams however, they are very important.

POCKET WATER

This type of water holds fish before, during, and after the spawn. When you see long faces around shallow gravel, look to the pockets for fish

SLOW POOLS

Great winter time holding water. Take a long slow pool and dissect it piece by piece until you hookup or cover the hole. If you do hookup, let the hole rest and then fish it again...

These 3 types of water can hold fish both individually or consecutively during a run. Learning where steelhead are located and the techniques used to catch them will greatly enhance your time spent on the water. There is nothing like leaving the stream with a smile on your face.

Great Morning

Had a chance today to explore a small great lakes trib that I had not visited in a while. When I arrived the water was very stained, but the particular river I was fishing has a reputation for this. When I decided to fish despite the conditions, I had no idea what to expect. I soon found out however, that the steelhead and trout had absolutely no problems with the stained water. They bit well all morning, mostly on egg patterns. While the two steelhead I landed were skippers, I hooked 2 others that were each around 4 pounds or slightly larger. A lot of small, wild steelhead smolts around today, a very good sign for the future.

Small stream steelheading has a special allure to me. Hooking and fighting a raging steelhead in close quarters requires stealth, precise drifts, and good fish-fighting ability. I learned to salmon and steelhead fish north of the 45th parallel, where the rivers run cold and clean. For example, one of the rivers up north is so clear that a person can literally stand on the riverbank and count the stones on the river bottom in a 6 foot deep hole.

I took my early lessons learned from those northern steelhead rivers, and applied them to other small rivers in our state. Tight little roll casts, the kind you may not learn from a casting instructor, become normal on the stream. A 6-inch difference in a drift can make a world of difference. Holding water is different. In fact, fishing a small stream is just that, different.


20" hen skip


lil' smolt


19" male skip


bobber fishing a good run

Boo-yah!

The proverbial Boo-yah exclamation came into play yesterday, as a couple friends and myself manage to bag a good number of walleye. They were taken from a canoe, in an open stretch of water that was basically foreign to all of us. Others we talked to were not faring quite as well. We did see a couple that were taken on jigs, but casting and retrieving rapala's seemed to be the ticket for us. It sure was nice to get off the ice and move around a little while fishing. The biggest of the three walleye pictured below was 21 1/2 inches, and the other two were 18 1/2 inches long. Perfect eaters.


The first batch of cajun-fried walleye nuggets with a lemon--> NEVER forget the lemon!


Three nice, clean, coldwater walleye

40 Degree Weather

A 40 degree day is like gold to a winter Steelhead fisherman. On these days, fish are summoned from their sulked winter mode and begin moving towards pockets and pools around gravel. While people fishing deep holes can get blanked, fisherman hitting "secondary" spots will often hook fish.

Today was just such a day. Starting off at my favorite pool, I fished for nearly an hour without hooking a fish. I moved upstream to the next pool, only to leave again with the same results. In between spots, I noticed a small pool at the top of a fast run. I stripped out line, and on the second drift through, I hooked and landed a beautiful 6-pound buck (who turned out to be a little camera shy ;). The pattern of hooking up in pocket water continued throughout the next 4 hours of fishing. All of the trout and Steelhead hooked today were holding in less than 5 feet of water.

The day before was much more uneventful, with a couple Steelhead hooked and lost. I did, however, land a very nice Brown Trout which is pictured below. The fish that were lost were hooked on 4 lb test floro, and let me tell you, trying to land a chromer on 4 lb is challenging. Sometimes it seems like the difference between 6 lb test and 4 lb test is like night and day.

In fishing this weekend, I realized that all the rivers on the West side really need more water. Either a big snowmelt or a rain is needed to "shuffle the deck," and bring newer fish into the river systems...


29" hen caught on an egg. Great battle...


19" Brown Trout

Some Days

Some days are better than others, or so goes the phrase, which seems to describe fishing to a tee sometimes. On Saturday, Jim and myself walked in on a fairly pressured piece of water and managed to hook 5 Steelhead between us. Jim went 2 for 3, I went 0 for 2. Got the big donut. It's only the second time its happened since December. Jim and I fished hard all day, and saw more people in boats then on foot. Friends I talked to faired well also. It has been a great winter over there, with good numbers of fish in most West Michigan rivers.


Jim with a nice hen


This fish was sweet. Notice the scar on its jaw. It provides good roof of catch and release regs working. It enables a single fish to be caught a number of times. In winter, the catch and release sections of any given steelhead river will almost always hold more fish.

The Honey Hole

Truly, the honey hole is a fisherman's holy grail. One can never have enough of them, and those held under hat over time allow for a true understanding of the river and its ever-changing nature. For me, I have found several different holes on different rivers and streams that would fall into the "honey hole," category. One in particular, however, stands out in the forefront of my mind. A close-lipped secret between my dad, myself, and some very close friends, we cherish this particular spot because of the indelible memories made there.

The spot gained its lore before I even fished it. When my dad used to talk about it, his voice would lower and he would get what I would describe as a twinkle in his eye. He would also get very serious. I never knew why he did this when I was younger, but as I grew older I soon understood.

Numerous fish over 18" have come out of the hole. When I was younger, my dad would usually bag a big fish out of the hole, and then he always told me about the story which involved him, the hole, and landing three trout over 18" without moving more than five steps. I caught my first 20"+ brown out of this hole. Trout slurped Sulphurs by the clumps in this hole. I landed an enormous brown trout, longer than my 24" net, in this hole. I love this run. A heavy riffle used to give way to a long slick, in which monster fish would rise. Since I could wade up from the nearest public access, I spent the vast majority of my fishing time here.

Now, don't get me wrong, its definitely a sizable walk from the nearest access. After all, that is probably why the fishing was so good there and the fact that it was almost always open. Fortunately, the folks that lived nearby were not fisherman, and the fish there were relatively unpressured.

I watched this hole evolve practically since my flyfishing obsession started. At first, there was a huge log jam that had "stuck" itself to the the south bank of the run. Untold 18 + inch brown trout lived under the jam, natures version of a man-made "trout hotel." After the jam washed out during a high-water event, my dad and I assumed the fishing would drop off, but it only got better. I have seen numerous jams move in and out of the hole since my introduction to it.

One year, about three years ago, I noticed something very different about the hole. Where one of my favorite eddies and a good brook trout spot was once located, it was now slackwater. As I looked closer, I saw that massive man-made "trout hotels," were put in spots that had essentially channelized the river. As nearby property changed hands, I noticed more and more of the man-made structure in unfortunate spots. Where I used to wade on small pebbles, I now waded in foot-deep muck. The man-made structures have ruined my run.

By and large, these structures have vastly improved both the Au Sable and Manistee river systems. For the most part they are put in good areas that attract not just trout, but large trout. In this case, however, I wish I would have known about the changes that were to be made in the name of trout habitat.

I have not given up on my honey hole. I still spend a lot of time here, but unfortunately most of it is spent reminiscing about past times. Trout still live here, and I am sure that it will someday be restored to its former glory. I just hope that I'm sitting on the bank when it does...