Hey guys,
Sorry I didn’t get another post up before last weekend, but John did a nice job and beat me to it and now he has yet again! ? ?
First off, the obligatory reminder! Our 23rd annual (I believe our first was in 1997 ?) Fall River Cleanup is scheduled for this Saturday, November 2nd. Please join us along with other like minded individuals if you can to give a little back to our wonderful resource!!
We will meet at the shop at 8:30am to distribute garbage bags, try to arrange the participants in such a manner as to cover as much river corridor as possible and hopefully, get a nice group photo!
The morning gathering can be a bit like herding cats ? so please bear with us until we get it all sorted out and include your smile in that pic! We will pay for and provide the car spots/garbage bags for those that need them and try to pair some folks that are not in boats with some of those that have room in boats as well…
The appreciation dinner party afterward is provided by us as well as a way of saying thank you for the effort! (Please call the shop to let them know how many will be attending if you know ahead of time! A head count is helpful in the planning.) Festivities begin around 6pm with dinner around 6:30 at my pole barn just to the south of the shop.
For those of you lucky enough to stick around on Sunday, as of last night, there were still around 15 tickets left for Barski’s Annual Brewfest and you could join a bunch of us there!! Details and menu here below…
Steelhead fishing has been up and down since my last report with more fish pushing in daily, but then spreading out in the high(er) water. I’ve been out a fair amount since last report catching some fish and losing even more (They’ve been hot! ?), but also had a couple of days when we never even had a shot!
The water is currently on the higher side, but not dangerously so (Disclaimer, ALWAYS respect the river regardless of level!) and visibility is, IMHO, perfect with a nice stain… Fly water is in fantastic shape, (M37 and Green Cottage shown here from 11:00 am this morning.) but the further down you go it’ll be a bit higher/darker. Doesn’t look like there’s any “major” precipitation in the forecast so I expect it’ll be shaping up nicely by the weekend and even coming back down way low.
There are still a few Salmon spawning here and there, but this latest flush of water is doing a nice job of thinning out the old and sending food/scent downriver to bring in more fresh chrome! (Speaking of sending food/scent downriver. A friendly reminder. Chumming is illegal on the PM as well as all other designated trout streams I believe and, unfortunately, this tactic has been witnessed by friends and colleagues of mine several times here recently…)
Not much more to add really. Egg patterns as well as beads and spawn (Where legal! ?) have been producing the most fish I know of recently, but we’ve had a few commit to crank baits, a guy I spoke with hit some on spinners the other day and nymphs will start to play a bigger role as the season progresses!
It’s shaping up to be a great fall run and we have lots of great dates available in November yet for anyone interested!! (Don’t forget, Kam is available and happy to guide you on the Grand or Muskegon as well!) Give the shop a call to check on those and grab a day or two! We/I would love to have ya… 231-745-3529 New shop hours are 7am to 5pm daily…
Tight lines!
Steve
