Alert! We will be closed on Monday, February 26th for a BBT team building river exercise!
Hey guys, just a quick little update as once again, it’s been a while! Unfortunately, I have not been out nearly as much as anticipated since last report with projects, preparation, various business issues and life in general getting in the way but that will be changing now real soon! 😎
On a quick “shop note” we are well stocked with inventory for the upcoming spring season and stoked to get into it, but we could use a little more sales staff help! (Sadly, for us, Brad will not be able to return this spring, but we want to wish him the very best in his new career adventure and assure his new bosses that they most certainly picked a winner!) If you or someone you know may be interested in joining our team, please contact Jake at the shop or, stop by to drop a resume/fill out an application. (231) 745-3529
On the guide side of things, we are fairly well booked up for most of the “peak season” but as usual picked up a few cancellations when the spring reminders went out in the mail. I actually had a couple of two-day trips that had to bail so my personal open dates in March thru mid-April are now: March 1st, 6th & 7th, 11th & 12th and the 26th. In April all I personally have available at the moment is the 14th & 15th, 18th and then it opens up pretty good on and after the 21st.
That being said, between the five of our full-time BBT guides and some independent guides we like to book there’s still lots of other great peak season dates available besides my own and Motel dates as well! (I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that there’s actually some pretty awesome weather between now and March 1st and pretty decent fishing “most days” already… If you’d like to beat the crowds, I’d be happy to take you myself or you can grab a day with one of our other guides!)
It’s actually crazy that I’m not out there today with this super nice weather, but a few projects and this report will have me pretty much fully caught up and ready to go so I’m just gettin’ it done… Per usual, I’ve got plenty of friends and colleagues that are getting out even on those days when I’m not so we’re keeping a pretty good finger on the pulse of the river daily. In all honesty, not that much has changed…
That nice little push of higher water back in the beginning of the month did bring in some nice new fish and those lucky enough to hit a wave just right had a few pretty impressive days for a bit, but most of those fish are now nicely scattered throughout the system.
Getting blanked can, will and does happen to just about anyone on any given day depending on a multitude of variables, but working hard and covering the right water is producing at least a couple of hookups most days or even many more when the rotation, presentation and stars align! 😉 In other words, we are a ways off from any kind of “peak” run, but calling it fair to good fishing right now would not be an exaggeration and honestly, I’ll take that minus the peak season traffic any day…
Water levels are pretty much low and clear again, but we are seeing a touch of a bump with the melt off of that little bit of snow we have left. Current water temps are ranging from the low 40s further up to mid and upper 30s in the lower river. Keep in mind that we have links to levels and temp gauges at various locations along the river right here on our site thanks to PMTU and the USGS. (Click the little square with an arrow in it for much more detailed information on each category in the M-37, Bowman’s Bridge and Mapleleaf monitoring stations…)
Not much more to add right now, but I did want to mention a few more of our resources available to you right here as I’ve been noticing a whole lot of questions that can easily be answered by clicking these links on social media these days. Check out “The Pere Marquette River A-Z” for just about anything and everything PM related (Access, history, description and much, much more.) Another popular one is “Month-by-month on the Pere Marquette River” or “Seasons of the PM” as well as “Rigging for Migratory Fish” an article about basic rigging and presentation for both floating line & indicator fishing and C&D.
These are just a few of the many links available to you here on our website. Please take a moment if you have it to explore around a little bit and we hope that you find something useful! In closing, this year will mark our 28th year in business here and we have many of you to thank for it! We actually cannot thank you enough for your support past, present or future and we hope that you’ll continue to consider us for any of your needs (Or wants! ;^) that you may have.
Be safe, be well and have fun!!
Steve
Thanks for the updates and your services over these years. Appreciate ya!!