Fish on!!! Today was hands down one of the best days on the St. Joseph river that I have ever had. Dr. Mike V. and his fishing partner Dave from NC. joined me for a awesome day of summer run steelhead fishing. Swinging purple speys on intermediate lines were the rig of choice. We stopped counting at 12 in the boat with all fish being +12lbs and the largest being 18lbs+. Wow…thats all I can say!

Tight lines,

Steve

 -I have a light schedule for the next two weeks before the salmon season begins; if you want to give it a try please call!

Out with Dr. Shen’s group again today. We fished an alternate section of river with the intention of ridding ourselves of the nuisance tubers; good idea but we left the cooperative fish upstream.  After flogging the water for awhile the fish finally woke up and provided us some action. St. Joe tomorrow!

tight lines,

Steve

Dog days of summer? Not here; Dr. Vincent Shen and his son Tim joined me today and again tomorrow for some Muskegon River style smallmouth bass fishing. Today was a bad day to forget the camera; although I had my PDA the pictures just are not great as you can see. The fish today were all taken on crayfish patterns. Brown; pumkinseed, and orange craw patterns were the ticket.The strip was extremely slow; it seem some fish would follow forever before they bit. If you are fishing the weekends this time of year go early or late because the tube hatch is ridiculous!

Tight lines,

Steve

Benjamin Pratt and his son James and Grandpa Simon from England joined me this morning for a half day smallmouth trip. Young James had all the luck (as it should be). Although the bite was slow young James seemed to find the right cast. Pictured is James with his first smallmouth bass.

Tight lines,

Steve

Captain Don Graham and I had postponed a “guides day” for summer run steelhead on the Manistee River a couple of times, so we were fired up to hit the river with all we had. High pressure, temps in the mid 70′s—in short, a perfect day for tourists, sightseeing, and soaking up some sun, but not the sort of low light we like for shallow water steelhead. Nonetheless, we gave it our best shot and were rewarded with brown trout, rainbow trout, walleye, and…summer steelhead!

We went two for five—two brought to net of the five we hooked. All went airborn, some multiple times with leaps exceeding three feet in height. A couple ran us into our backing before we could fire up the boat moter to give chase, and one raked a tippet over a zebra mussel-infested gravel bar.

But what a great day it was! Champagne egg flies and Viagra caddis were the ticket. We fished 2x carbon tippets with no problem, despite the bright skies. We even were able to sight fish to some of the steelhead and, in a couple instances, watched the takes. We both agreed that when it comes to quality of fly fishing sport, the summer runs are right up there with 15″ plus trout on a dry fly with a four weight rod.  All in all, we couldn’t have asked for a better time on the water:  great weather, great fishing, and great friendship.  We are blessed.

Tom Kuieck

Definitley putting some time in on the highways lately! Jack Donahue from Florida joined me today for some sight fishing on the St. Joseph River. It was a pleasure to fish with a guy who is used to casting a lot of line to keep “off” the fish. This was Jacks first attempt at summer run steelhead; though it took a while to put a fish in the net it was no fault of his effort or casting. We concentrated our fishing in the cool creek mouths with small nymph and wooly buggers. Pictured is a beautiful fish from this afternoon.

Tight lines,

Steve

After the weather roller coaster finally calmed down a bit in the “Soo” seasonal conditions ushered back reliable fishing. Dr. Scott Smith rounded out my tour for at Atlantic Salmon this year. Dr. Smith brings a wealth of technique to anyones boat he boards. Dr. Smith also has a reputation as a fish magnet! I too was most certainly glad to have Dr. Smith fish with me and to say I could use some “magnetic” qualities in the landing of Atlantic’s this year would be true! Dr. Smith landed 10 or 12 Atlantic’s over the two days we fished! Dr. Smith is always welcome to bring his “magnetic” qualities to my boat -anytime!

Tight lines,

Steve

Well to say fishing has been easy here in the “Soo” the past few days would be a stretch! Big wind, rain, and temps in the 50′s have made for quite an experience. The weather looks a bit more like July this coming week. White fish have been the savings grace this week with the salmon bite sporadic. Hex’s continue to pop though I think they have been kidding themselves in the wind. A special thanks to Paul, Jason, and Erin who endured the lovely weather.

Tight lines,

Steve

Well after two tough days of Atlantic salmon fishing a front moved in and the fish turned on! David Goedde and his buddy Jim joined me here in the “Soo” for the past two days. I am glad we have had white fish to entertain us because until this afternoon the bite has been slow. Light line of 2-3x has been key along with a bunch of patients.

From the “Soo”,

 Steve

Today I had the pleasure of taking Doug Swisher out fishing again, just like I have for the past six years. But this year was somewhat of a sad visit. Doug was visiting to attend a memorial for Carl Richards. I will miss not having a chance to fish with Carl again. He was a consummate perfectionist and a great guy.

We hooked several smallmouth – all on the surface with Mr Froggie and Boogle Popper. Don helped out again this year as he had George, Doug’s friend, in his boat with the fish of the day on Mr Froggie. Bob Braendle always makes sure his friend Doug always has a good time fishing when he comes out this way.

Fred