Ben and guest Chris joined me today for some “big uglies” streamer stripping. Chris fishes the Manistee and Ausable and has brought to hand some tremendous brown trout this spring on outsiezed streamers so naturally he was pumped to give them a whirl on the Muskegon. Apparently, though, our brown trout didn’t get the message that today was to be dinner time. In the word, the “bite” was weak to say the least. Some short strikes and chases from trout smaller than we had hoped were the order of the day. During the day, too, the river jumped some 300 cfs, which surely didn’t contribute to our good fortune. Fortunately, the weather was Chamber of Commerce perfect. Neat, too, to see some grey drakes over the water in the morning—a harbinger of good times ahead. Some steelhead remain in the river, but their time is short. Chris holds a buck that literally punched in minutes before he needed to call it a day. Thanks, guys; it was great to reconnect with you; I enjoyed the day a ton. Best wishes for continued success!
Captain Tom Kuieck
