So, here I am lounge-chaired out on the cottage deck gazing out at North Lake Leelanau, shimmering flat with the golden glow of days end. No fishing report here today, at least in the conventional sense; just a snapshot or two of a most pleasant...
When the bite is on, the fish can make you look like a genius. All the finest tackle, latest techniques, and spiffy duds are worth the proverbial hill of beans if the fish don't open their lips. Today, though, the smallies popped their chops with...
With a cardiologist and a mortgage broker in my boat today, I figured I had every base covered. If I hyperventilated over errant casts or a Big Bertha lost or needed a 30 year fixed mortgage to assuage any angst I might have accumulated...
First Muskegon River smallmouth bass trip of the year today with bud and fellow RiverQuest guide Don Graham. Lots of fun, though, the bite started off tough. The water was significantly off-color from recent rain, and the river was choc-full of minnows—literally thousands of them. ...
Great evening of dry fly fishing today with friend and client Jeff and his guest Mark! Both guys are dry fly neophytes, but with trout rising to cinnamon caddis for well over two hours, the guys eagerly ventured into the world of dry fly fishing, ...
And so return we did, but first, of course, we had to see if the trout would play, and, indeed, they did. Action was fast on streamers and before we knew it, it was anchor time. We quickly located the anchor and...
Finally, finally, I was able to get back on the river! After competing in the annual northern Michigan, Deming/Kuieck "pasture pool" tour based at our cottage in Leland, I was thrilled to be back in Captain Don's boat on the Muskegon. With the...
Absolutely the most gorgeous conditions possible on the Muskegon today: clear skies, temps in the 70's, and calm winds. Orioles, lots of orioles, sang their beaks off, much to the delight of Don, who loves these colorful, elusive birds. The river is dropping and is...
Captain Don Graham and I spent a delightful day stripping streamers and literally boating more trout than we could count. Most were plants of this year, to be sure, but many ran 8-10" in size. Toss in some carry-over trout from last...