troutologist

Good job man, they will start to come easier from that river now. Had a few tribs that shut me out many times...keep after them and you always seem to learn alot. Chrome!

As Dan mentioned, the only thing that stops steelheading here is ice cover and temps. Im fed up with the crowds after easter monday...10 people on the river....time to strap the snowshoes on and get away from that.

Glad to hear it was a good show. Im going to see him in the Soo tomorrow...can't wait.

You have that much faith in the red wings D and goaltending right now? They need to pull a serious 180 if they want to get out of the 2nd round. The east is gonna be interesting, especially if certain goalies steal some games

The irony was I got "low holed" there by a spey guy

Good Friday I packed up the truck and headed down to Traverse City, MI. I’m not really sure how it happened but my float rod and waders found their way into the truck as well. A few hours of driving along the Lake Michigan coast (with strategic tributary rest stops) put us at our hotel. The rest of the day was devoted to procuring goods in stores with stupid dance music and way too much cologne. I had never ventured into a lot of these places and could only muster a head shake at what was occurring there. On a side note apparently 40-45F in Michigan means its time for the eleventeen year olds to start wearing shorts, tank tops and sandals. Did I ever feel like a tool wearing a jacket in those temps with 30mph winds....anyways back to business. What are the chances one of my fishing buddies would be in the same town with his wife a few hotels down?? Who would have guessed he would have brought his steelhead gear as well?? We planned the hell out of this. Next morning we left TC at 5am and arrived at the Big Manistee hoping there were still some fish left after solo's visit. Being a Saturday one look at the parking lot at Tippy was enough to chase us downstream. Found a nice deep run and started drifting. First fish came on spawn and just gave me my cummupins, a big silver hen that I would have put over 10lbs...wow!!! Switched to an olive jig and the first drift coughed up this nicely colored buck Same fish... Ended up going 1 for 4 losing 2 more fish quick after brief fights...jigs were the hot bait, my buddy had some hits on wax worms and caught a tiny brown. At noon we packed it in to head back so could remain in the good books. Id even venture to say it was an epic half day of steelheading on a couples weekend

We need a good rain until most of those rivers are fishable. Lots of ice on them still. If the weather man is right about this weekend mid to late next week should be doable.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Looks like a nice weekend to be out, beats the heck out of being inside.

killer Mike, can't wait for the full report! Hope I get into em this weekend like you guys did.

I wouldn't trade living up here for an earlier steelhead season. Just have to icefish a bit longer and a half dozen guys on the river this weekend was a crowd Drifters got the right idea living up there with monster lakers and increased proximity to Alaska.

Spring has slowly loosened winters grip on the rivers and creeks in the area. We had some rain last week that fooled a few trout into heading upstream. The water was still low but cloudy, red spawn bags were the trick to entice the fish stationed in tailouts to hit. I am glad to be back in the open water game!

Battery...2nd last song listened to in the car before fishing. Last song before fishing Overkill by Motorhead if that doesnt get you going nothing will.

Come on....no one does anything stupid involving internal combustion engines in the soo...

The harbor and areas along the lake heading south were ice covered as of yesterday. No idea how thick it was and I did not see much indication of recent fishing activity there....I guess Im not much help

Most municipalities have a land registry office http://www.ontario.ca/en/services_for_resi...s/STEL02_165696

Looks like a good day Mike. A good warm up for the Michigan trip I suspect.

If the roads werent ice rinks I'd still be fishing. Hideous driving but what a river!

echo what kelfun said. Great wader for winter but warmer than my previous 5mm neoprenes. Also I found them a bit short. Im 6'5" and the XXL certainly work but in a perfect world they would be longer...

Drove from the soo to tbay today...bring your icefishing gear if you head out.

No Mike, I couldnt pull it together for the weekend Im heading down as soon as I can since the rivers here wont be fishable for a while yet. Had to settle for specks...

Anders, is there a trail into fife or did you just bush bash past belanger?

It was over 3 anyways around 19"....both bigger fish were really fat.

Saturday morning at O dark hundred myself and a buddy were bleary eyed in the Hortons drive through. Sufficently stocked with caffinated beverage we were off in a driving conducive mixture of snow, sleet, rain and fog. Metallica followed by Motorhead kept things moving at top speed for 2 hours when we reached the trail head. An hour and a half on the shoes, with 1 Crazy Ivan mixed in to through off pursuit we arrived at the skating rink. This ice was unbelivably slick and resulted in falls every few steps....running to the lines after fish was going to be hilarious for the morning. 5 minutes after having a line down I had a single bell ring then nothing. After an hour we headed to a new spot. The outflow of the lake, a shallow feeding shelf with between 2 points with quick drops to deep water...I set up in 3fow and the 2nd line in 5fow. Just as I was preparing my mid-morning snack I was interrupted by my gad pointing down the hole... A nice start for sure! My buddy had some smaller fish from water between 10-15' so after a lull in the action I moved off one of the points in 10fow The reward At this point it was raining hard and the fog was rolling in so think it got difficult to see your line over 50 feet away. We moved over to the inflow to try our luck, hit one small fish right off the bat then nothing. Soaked and satisfied with our efforts we pulled freight and headed for home. Im hoping to get one more outing in before the rain and sun erode the ice.... all 30" of it.

Luc Quit complaining! Fishing can occur at anytime of the year. Make your way to a river or thinning slushly ice covered lake and have at it. Im taking a new route this year..no sorting of tackle and pining over the ice embarce still holding the steelhead waters. I will continue to icefish through rainstorms and warm weather until open water is available. Im going to catch some walleye at echo tonight.

pick yourself up some coveralls or overalls to wear. Clothes get ruined pretty quick doing that type of work. You'll have a blast.