Another round of moderate to heavy snow is poised to make its way from the SW into lower Michigan tonight through Friday evening. With a bump in water flow from the melt earlier this week fishing should be great next week. Don Fred, and myself have dates available. Also look for Don, Fred, and Tom at the Great Waters Expo in Chicago Illinois next week Friday through Sunday. Dave and I will be at the Greater Cincinnati Fly Fishing Show in Cincinnati, Ohio Saturday the 9th. Look for more happy faces and pictures of chrome next week!

Tight lines,

Steve

With a 13 degree start to the morning and water that had a viscosity of jello I was a little nervous when we started. The water temp was 33 degrees and the steelhead wanted to play! Dan Challa and his brother Fred enjoyed the day with me bringing six nice steelhead and a good river brown to the boat today. C&D along with deep Indy rigs were the techniques of choice. Every fish yesterday was taken on a clown egg. We fished the egg tandem with just about every other color of egg I had along with stone flies and cross dressers. Fishing pressure was fair dispite being Monday. Another round of Arctic air is poised to arrive this evening so the remainder of the week is touch and go. Pictures are a sampling of Monday’s action.

 Tight lines,

Steve

Just what the Doctor ordered, a afternoon on the Muskegon River with Chet Babcock. Overcast skies and light rain made for a great afternoon. Chet with a real nice Brown, and me with a steelhead.

Don

With warmer weather in the forecast for next week look for conditions to again be favorable for winter steelhead fishing on the Muskegon. There are plenty of fish in the system and with a break from the pressure with the past cold snap “the bite” should be great. Don, Fred, and myself have dates available so give us a buzz.

We will have a booth this weekend at the Derby City Fly Fishing show near Louisville Kentucky. If you are in the area please come check us out. We will have new media and some new stories to share.

Tight lines,

Steve

Hey fellow frozen Michiganders,

While I appreciate all of the beautiful winter steelhead shots from my fellow guides, I for one, could use a little warmer weather. Riverquest Charters has partnered with StoryMakers Outfitters to be able to offer a trip to do a little fishing for Tarpon, Permit, Bonefish etc. in the Marquesis Islands of the Florida coast. We have openings for up to 6 people. This will be a true “fish bum” trip. We will be setting up Outfitter style wall tents right on the beach and parking our 3 boats right outside. This trip leaves February 29 & returns March 9. This is an all inclusive trip including transportation. The only additional cost will be License & Gratuity. The Cost is $2,500.00 per person. If you are at all interested please check out StoryMakers website. Click on Trips & Select Florida Fishing. www.storymakersonline.com Or you can contact me directly at davedev@comcast.net

I hope to hear from you,

Dave DeVries

I fished with my partner Don yesterday for a day of R&D. We spent a good deal of time fishing a Spey/Indy technique that proved not only effective but pleasurable to fish. Medium sized egg patterns along with stone flies produced fish.  Tippets were in the 2x range though with the Indy rig much heavier line is used above the flies. With Arctic air in the forecast steelhead fishing for me will be on hold until next week when more manageable temperatures are in sight. Pictured is Don with one of 4 steelhead.

 Tight lines,

Steve

What a great day on the Muskegon River fishing with Captain Fred Vargas. Broken landing net, surprise hook ups and great weather.

Don

You might have thought it was March by the number of boats on the water today. The river above Thornapple has cleared considerably since Friday while the water nearer to Henning remains heavily stained. The water has also dropped considerably-nearly 450cfs in about 24 hours. Steelhead orange produced today paired with clowns and chartreuse. January weather is set to make a return by weeks end so a last minuted trip to the river this week should be worked into your schedule. Pictured is a nice buck from today.

Tight lines,

Steve

New chrome are in the system! The river is high and dirty; my favorite conditions. The river is just starting to drop with the flow at 3100cfs down from 3270. The water temperature has all started to head back down as well; now at 36 degrees. With the color and flow it has been nice to be able to fish some heavier tippets; 0X on top and 1x to the flies. Large clown eggs and colorful dime sized yarn eggs are producing. Look for hexes and larger stones to start back up once the visibility improves.

Tight lines,

Steve

After a very quick snow melt and temperatures in the 60′s the Muskegon is actually flowing above normal. Water flow currently is 3270cfs and 2.2 degrees Celsius or 36 degrees Fahrenheit. The water is still very cold and though this push of water will jump start a few fish into the system it certainly won’t push too many for the time of year. Based on what I can tell the river is starting to peak on its flow. This will push some new fish into the system but most importantly move the current fish around and concentrate them a bit. Fishing should improve a great deal by the end of the week into next so if you can make it out we have guides available. The extended weather forecast has us returning to temperature that are more fitting for this time of year but still staying slightly above normal. Precipitation looks to be marginal as well so over-all fishing conditions should be very tolerable.

Tight lines,

Steve