For those who havn't seen part one of my report here it is: http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25658
Part two is the real meat of the report. I won't bore you with my ramblings, it's primarily pictures and video clips.
Enjoy!
Lower River Chrome-a-thon
I've got a good friend Karl who lives in Cadillac, about 30 minutes east of Wellston.
A few years back him and his dad Leon designed and built the now highly regarded Hanson centrepin.
He's a true master in the art of steelheading and knows the Manistee like the back of his hand.
A good man to know...
Prior to our trip we had made arrangements to fish with Karl in his friend Jon's jetboat on Friday. Jon is an ace in his own right making his living guiding full time on the big river.
Unfortunately this left Jay to his own devices as it's next to impossible to fish 5 in a boat...
Didn't hamper him much though, as Jay had a good day as well (I'll let him tell his story though).
Prior to our trip Karl had said the river was glass water clear and to tie small subtle stuff. No problem.
Here's a picture of my idea of small and subtle compared to Karl's :
Fortunately for me the fish didn't seem to care. They were fresh from the lake, hot and hungry.
As mentioned in part one fish in the lower river relate to "artificial" current breaks as it's somewhat wide, deep and featureless.
Pretty much every single branch, log or tree that had fallen into the river held a pod of angry steelhead in the seam behind it.
Being in a boat there were many occasions where we were loathe to pull anchor and follow the fish so we had to stand on them and work them back to the boat in the heavy current.
Quite a feat as these fish were incredibly strong and powerful.
Because of the very clear water I started the day using 6lb fluoro for tippet. I then bumped it up to 8lb and still lost a few fish.
I finally settled on 6lb Maxima Ultragreen monofilament and had no further issues. It's waay tougher, stronger and abrasion resistant than fluorocarbon and frankly finesse wasn't required.
As is the case most of the time when steelheading, presentation was the key.
I'll now let the pic's and videos tell the tale:
Dave with a nice one.
Karl in action.
Yours truly battling a steelhead and the result.
Dave in action.
At one point I hopped out of the boat onto a sandbar and managed to hook a fish.
Karl with a nice cromah!
Couple videos of Karl in action:
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmF9gfvXRs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmF9gfvXRs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmF9gfvXRs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O63ipNd6UuU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O63ipNd6UuU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O63ipNd6UuU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
We had several double headers on the day and at least one, maybe two triples.
We certainly didn't suffer either. Here's the uber cool Jonny cookin' up our lunch right in the boat. (I supplied the steaks, it was the least I could do ).
More chrome:
What an incredible day!
You'd think we'd have had enough right? Wrong!
At the end of the day there was still a bit of light left, so with the chrome fever still running hot Dave and I said our goodbyes to the boys and raced over to the mouth of the Little Manistee where it spills into Manistee Lake.
There was one lonely sentinel standing on a sandbar in the lake off in the distance.
As the sun began to set steelhead began to roll and jump all around us. It was an excercise in futility though, none could be enticed..
We retreated to the comfort of our lodgings to meet up with Jay and plan tomorrows assault.
The MOTHER Of All Cold Fronts ~ Jay Perseveres
After our stellar day on the river we talked things over and we all agreed to try and procure a guide/boat for Saturdays fishing.
As Jay can attest to there were some fish to be caught up top, but nothing like the numbers we hit in the boat lower down.
A quick call to Ray Schmidt and he had one of his guides lined up for us for Saturday.
Sweet! We were pumped, and I was especially happy that Jay had agreed to the plan as I really wanted to see him have a good day.
Unfortunately for us we had neglected to check the weather forecast. For those of you who wonder whether steelhead are affected by fronts the answer is emphatically yes.
While most of Southern Ontario experienced heavy rains last Saturday from the same system we were subjected to a wintry mix of snow sleet and ice pellets all driven horizontally by the 50km winds.
Lovely .
Still, we were there to fish and fish we would.
Bundled up as best we could we helped our guide Steve launch his boat in the pre dawn darkness:
Fishing all the same water we had the day before we struggled. Staying warm was a full time job and motivation was tough at times.
Still I did manage a few bright chrome fish :
After a particularly long period of silence Steve suggested we run into the town of Manistee for some hot coffee.
Smart guide .
The ride over was bitter cold, and the boys received the worst of it:
Here we are approaching Manistee:
After consuming several gallons of scalding hot coffee we once again hit the river.
Of course as soon as we walked outside a veritable blizzard hit. Driving snow with stinging ice pellets mixed in, my hear sank.
I had been hoping all day that Jay would hit at least one fish. Under such brutal conditions things weren't looking great. Still, Jay surprised me as we motored back to the river in the squall.
A maniacle gleam entered his eyes, he pumped his fists and shouted "I'm gonna catch a fish now!!"
The lad has spunk and the fish gods seeing this smiled down on him .
Literally the very first decent spot we anchored at after his loud proclamation he hit the fish of the day!
Here's a video clip of almost the entire fight. At one point if you look closely you can see the fish cartwheeling waaaay off in the distance. We were in a somewhat protected oasis from the wind here, but you can still see the snow falling.
It was an epic battle and a true testament to Jays perseverence. Well done my friend!
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtD1TNaP0Q4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtD1TNaP0Q4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtD1TNaP0Q4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
And a still shot of the triumph:
We fished hard for a couple more hours after that. Actually managed several hookups but each one came unbuttoned after short furious runs and jumps.
Perhaps that was fitting.
With darkness falling and the temperatures dropping further it was time to go.
Steve sped up the river at hyper speed just as the skies opened yet again and the snow began falling in earnest.
Steve's got a beautiful jetboat but I do believe the lad needs a windshield!
That night back at camp we celebrated our trip with a few adult beverages and some steaks on the bbq:
Ahhh it was nice to be warm!
All in all a truely outstanding trip! Jay and Dave were perfect company and I'd share a drift with either one of them at the drop of a hat.
Thank you gentlemen for making this trip a huge success!
'Till next time boys!
(On a side note Saturday was opening day of the rifle season in Michigan. Driving home I think we were the only vehicle on the highway without a deer on the roof LOL!
Cheers, Mike