Two dads, two sons, and two days on Michigan’s Muskegon River from parts near and far—that’s what Gil and Tom and their sons Nick and Will filed away in their memory banks yesterday and today. Honestly, RiverQuest guide Jay Allen and I wondered how the two days would turn out since the 2019 spring steelhead run is about ready for the history books. Much to all of our delight, though, all of us had a fantastic time since Jay and I were able to get the guys into steelhead, as well as into a beautiful 18″ brown trout that Will got to meet. The two dads had brainstormed the trip and decided what better way to reconnect with their sons, now successful career men in New York City, than to hang out, rods in hand, on the Muskegon River with us. Tom flew in from California; Gil drove up from his home in Grand Rapids, and the young guys winged their way in from New York, so there we all were on the MO for two days of great fun and sport.
I’ve posted this fact before; it’s a privilege to guide these father/son trips because we guides get to witness the happiness dads and sons experience and get to know that these moments together will long be remembered and told to friends and family . So, it should come as no surprise that we love guiding for groups like this; and oh, did I mention that some 15 plus steelhead hooked and a good numbers brought to hand certainly didn’t hurt either! Our feature pic is of Gil posing a gorgeous double striped buck that sucked in his PM Stone fly, skyrocketed water clearing a couple of times, only to shoot down river with our chasing it with the boat, giving Gil, by the time I netted the fish, one sore arm and a very big grin!
All in all, these proved to be a couple of days that Jay and I will look back upon with smiles and look ahead with hope to someday doing it again.
Captain Tom Kuieck
