Fishing in Michigan

[Jeremy Hunt]

Fishing in Michigan for Steelhead and on the Pere Marquette River!!!

Ok, Fishing in Michigan......

It was great as far as the drift down the pm and really getting the whole traditional fly fishing experience we all look for when we go out. The fishing was not all that hot. The timing was great as far as the steelhead coming into the river, but the weather kind of backed up the run of f. Everyone keep saying that we need some rain. I knew the day I got there that they were expecting some rain thatnight. And the next morning is when we got out there with fresh rait was going to turn into a good day of fishing.

They said there were only 500 fished that have moved up. I was like you, that is a lot of fish, bit they seem to say that was not not enough fish to go aroundto . It also seemed like when we knew there was a spot to have a few steelhead holding on the gravel bed's there was somebody fishing it and in those rivers up there you give people there space and not crowd them out which I like that method. I did forget to think that it was the weekend when we did go fishing. And the fact that I did go up there to pick up my boat and didn't have much time for fishing because I had a lot to do and just kind of threw fishing in there for a day. I know that it wasn't much time and I did drive all that way to catch steely's. The only thing that made me feel better about leaving early without fishing is they weren't up there like they were suppose to be. I did end up catching this fish that you see in the picture though. This fish was well worth the trip though because this is a wild brown that is 20 inches and that is kind of hard to catch in this river system. There average brown that are actually caught are between 12 and 16 inches and not to many for the day. As we were drifting downstream in-between stops for fishing for steelhead we fished steamers off the bank and striping them back to the boat. It was a short presentation because the rivers are not that wide. I notice as I was casting this white streamer pattern they were following it , but not taking it and the fish that were coming up to it were 14 inchers that would come out of a deep holes and almost chase it all the way to the boat. So the guy that was guiding me that you see in the picture was telling me to add another fly about 2 feet from the first fly. I thought that was a good idea too. When he opened up is fly box he handed me a size 2 Zoo Cougar that Kelly Galloup invented for these Michigan waters. I never fished one but saw a show on OLN that Jack Dennis and Kelly were showing how to fish this fly effectively. I always wanted to fish this , but never gave it much thought. I actually have tied this fly and never fished it on our tailwaters. I just had other go to flies for our waters and forgot all about this one until I trusted what the guide said about fishing it that day. I was glad I did because when I was throwing it next to the bank this one fish hit the first fly and then went to the Zoo Cougar and took it.

I was glad that I got to see the take because I learned something from it. I never really saw to many fish hit a fly that way. The water was not that deep in the center only along the curves of the river. I set the hook and the rest was history. The only thing that was different for a fish that big in our waters was , it would have taken you for a run. This fish really didn't.do that at all ,this fish would only go in circles like it was fowl hooked and I didn't really notice it was hooked correctly until I got his head up and got him into the net. It was something to learn and that is what I got out of the whole experience when landing this fish. I'm glad I did because he was a beautiful fish and the fact that it was wild one was a pleasure to see.