Salmon numbers continue to grow on the Manistee River as do the number of fisherman. It was a busy day on the river as Dr. Shen and his brothers  joined me on a beautiful day for salmon fishing. The lower river is carrying a good stain from the recent rains. Short strikes are becoming an issue in the cloudy waters of the Manistee. Skein fisherman are now holding down some prime pools and pockets, making it difficult to get into some of the “money” spots.  Covering lots of water and risking snags have made to pursuit of early salmon a success. Sticks and streamers are the only game in town.  Pictured is Anthony Shen with a very nice Chinook.

Capt. Steven Kuieck

Here’s to hoping the heat and humidity is behind us!!! Day-to-day salmon season kicked off for me today, and as promised on  Facebook, some chrome Chinook! John Steen of New York, and his son Kevin joined me on the lower Manistee for some early September salmon action. Despite the incredibly warm river temperatures, salmon fishing is going quite well. Tonight’s cold front should only ramp it in to high gear. Sticks and streamers are the name of the game; almost lost John to his big one…really, thought he was going to get pulled over-board when the bullet smashed it six feet off the edge of the boat! Nice work guys; look forward to next year!

Capt. Steven Kuieck

Every day on the water affords something to appreciate and something to learn.  I don’t know that I’ve ever witnessed a river otter on the Muskegon, though I know they ply our waters, but there it was—first  a big head:  “Hey, is that a beaver?  Way too big to be a muskrat.  Whoa!  It’s an otter!”  And so it was—an adult, very fat and sleek, river otter!   Indeed, it’s probably the best trout fisherman on the river.  Quite a thrill to witness!

As for the lesson, Don and I fished a stretch of the river on which top water poppers haven’t produced very well of late.  So, out came the intermediate and 300 grain sink-tip lines with streamers of every imaginable shape and color.  We fished the structure; we fished the edges; we fished hard and long.  The result?  Two small  fish on a yellow articulated streamer;  that was it!  I noted wryly to Don, “We probably should have been tossing poppers.  We certainly couldn’t have any done any worse!”

Apparently, he agreed because soon out came the floating line and popper.   A few casts here; a few casts there; and “Wham!” the smallie that Don is holding in the picture smacked his bug.  I may be slow, but I’m not wholly without observational acumen, so soon two poppers were burbling the surface.  I wouldn’t term the action fast, but it was steady with our missing a number of fish and bringing others to hand.  Had we opened the day on top, our success rate may well have soared.  The lesson:  just because one method (or fly) produced on a given stretch of water before, don’t put your brains out to lunch and pound the water to a froth with little or no result.  Go to Plan B:  it very well may pay off as it did today for slow learners Don and Tom.

Thanks for yet another great time on the water, Don.  You are the best!

Captain Tom Kuieck

Brad and his son Dan joined me on the Muskegon river today for some smallie fishing before Dan heads back to college.

Thanks Brad and Dan for a great day on the river.

Capt. Don Graham

Dewie and his wife Nancy joined me on the Muskegon river today for small mouth bass fishing. We started out with poppers, and then switched over to leech patterns on a six weight rod. Nancy holds her first smallie on a leech pattern.

Capt. Don Graham

Capt. Dave DeVries

It’s family vacation time at the Leland cottage, and to my marital credit, nary a fly rod nor reel bag is on the premises.  Art shows, sidewalk sales, cafes, swims, walks on Big Blue’s beaches, boat rides, tubing with the grandkids, and books—lots of books.

I’ve read a number of Mr. Gierach’s works; I like his unpretentious, “it’s good enough” approach to life and fly fishing.  That the guy can write well seals the deal for me, so much so that today I called my fellow River Quest guide and inveterate fishing companion, Don Graham, to read him the second passage quoted below.  For you see, though, I wasn’t fishing, Mr. Gierach’s observations struck so many responsive chords in my personal fly fishing recollections that I simply had to tell Don all about my latest “fishing trip.”  Crazy thing is, he says to me. “I have that book and just started reading it.  I can really visualize what Mr. Gierach’s words say!”  Talk about coincidence or… Karma!

I marked a half dozen or so passages, but here are two that I thought our RiverQuest Fishing Report readers might like:

“But then I never trust people who try to act as if catching a nice big fish is no big deal for a sportsman of their stature.  After all, fishing is nothing more than the often successful search for something genuine in a world where we’re increasingly comfortable with things like coffee ‘creamer’ that’s guaranteed to contain no actual diary products.  We’re so used to the fake and the packaged that encountering something real can amount to a borderline religious experience.” (p. 115)

And then with a tip of the fly cap to Captain Don and me, the two senior guides of RiverQuest:

“The more common view of the [fly fishing] sport now is that it is, or should be, one big fish-catching spectacle after another, while those odd and delightful opportunities in between are too often referred to as ‘poor fishing.’  But there’s a specific beauty to a well-known trout stream between those big hatches that will attract more fishermen than fish.  It’s not showing off for the company now, but just padding around in slippers with a cup of lukewarm coffee, waiting for something interesting to happen.
Of course, A.K. and I [read T.K. and D.G.] will happily rise to the occasion if things unexpectedly start to get exciting, but it’s easy enough to fall back into just being two old friends fishing together, both of whom, through sheer force of time spent, have long since caught their share of trout.  That doesn’t mean we’re done by a long shot, only that the pressure is off.” (pp. 124-125)

John Gierach, Fools Paradise:  I’m sure Glen Blackwood at Great Lakes Fly Fishing Company would have a copy for you. It’s a “fishing trip” I highly recommend.

Captain Tom Kuieck

During our little five hour morning smallie trip, though, even the slow guys put some major hurt on the smackers of our beloved Muskegon River bass population.  20 for 28 exclusively on top water bugs is hot smallmouth fishing—no matter where you are.  Both black and yellow corkers were smoking with the average fish running 12-14″ and the larger ones in the 15-17″range.  Don and I aren’t numbers guides, but today I thought we would crow a bit since recently we’ve had a number of days with tough bites, due perhaps to high, dirty water and who knows what else.  Suffice it to say, though, the two grizzled senior citizens of RiverQuest–their bones and joints creaking and groaning all the while–cast their way into one spectacular day of top water fly fishing.  I am sure someplace, somewhere, better top water smallie fishing exists, but for the 95 per cent of places that can’t compare, the Muskegon today topped all comers.

Great day, Captain Don!  Will remember this one for a long, long time.

Captain Tom Kuieck

Fishing the Muskegon river  with poppers for small mouth bass is always exciting, this one took me all around the boat and then headed down stream before we were able to land it. Thanks Gary for a great job on the net.

Capt. Don Graham

Today Al and I spent the day popper fishing for small mouth bass on the Muskegon river, the first bass Al hooked put on a spectacular aerial show, however I wasn’t quick enough to get a photo of the bass in mid air.

Thanks Al for a great day on the water.

Capt. Don Graham