April Fools

One indication of Spring time in Michigan is when you hear of the early runs of mighty Steelhead making their way into the rivers to spawn. The foolish angler dreams of balmy spring days, deep runs filled with eager fish anxiously waiting to gulp down a hastily tied stonefly or caddis nymph or even heaven forbid an EGG fly. More often than not, the reality is a blustery, cold day dodging snow showers and hoards of eager anglers stomping through the deep runs, chasing the fish halfway back to Lake Michigan. Your humble host joined the ranks of those eager anglers this past weekend in April accompanied by three other hardy souls and the photos below document some of the highlights of our day on the Pere Marquette.

This handsome angler actually flew up to Michigan from Atlanta, Georgia to hook up with some of those famous Steelheads. So much for that idea! I must point out here that fashion truly takes a back seat to survival when you are waist deep in a 40 degree river and the air temp is 15 degrees lower. You have to admit, the $4.00 Russian army surplus toque with optional earflaps and chin strap really does bring the whole ensemble together.

Not to be out done by our Southern friend, this Steelheader takes the Michigan deer slayer approach, confident that he will stay toasty warm all day as well as blend into the brushy shoreline to better trick the wily trout.

Have you noticed that no one is smiling yet?

A typical view of the flies only section of the Pere Marquette river. This trip occurred on a Friday and we still shared the river with close to 100 other anglers. I think that Michigan Steelheading is catching on.

OK - now we are smiling. I'm not quite sure why, but consider this little guy the ice breaker - literally. We call this young man "Guide Boy". If that anemic little rainbow he is holding is the best he can do, I'll let you speculate on what else we called him.

	No - not yet, but our now smiling anglers did land a dandy Brown and warmed things up enough to remove that tacky Russian surplus head gear for a genuine fishing photo-op.
And to end the day, one last conquest was this chunky rainbow. A victory cigar, another pair of fresh handwarmers in the pockets, and away we go. We did see two (2) real steelhead landed during our float - but the general consensus was - you should have been here last week!