Shop Hours – 8am to 6pm Monday thru Thursday & 7am to 6pm Friday, Saturday & Sunday
March is here and we are busy chasing steelhead on the Pere Marquette River!!! It feels great to have the season in full swing. The shop is loaded up with flies, beads, lures, rods/reels and everything in between. We are still looking for some additional shop employees, so if you or someone you know might be interested give us a call…231-745-3529.
We experience a full range of weather last week…Snow one day and in the low 60’s a few days later with stoneflies bouncing on the surface and several trout rising. It was great to see the river come alive and have so many trout looking up! The steelhead fishing has been good and the trout bite has been solid! Stoneflies, fry patterns and egg flies have been producing the most consistently for my boat. Pale pinks, lighter oranges and chartreuse egg flies in a size #8 or #10 in normal water levels and #6’s in higher water. Bead fishing the lower river has been up and down. 8mm to 12mm have been the size range and natural to bright “attention grabbers” in dirty water. (Just a friendly reminder….Beads are NOT LEGAL in the Flies Only Section).
The river has been running a bit higher the last couple days from the rain storm on Thursday. It has been very nice fishing the river with some additional flow and color after the low water fall and winter. Who knows how long it will last, but we are enjoying it! The water temps have been bouncing around from the low-50’s to the upper-30’s with our roller-coaster weather. The fish have been scattered throughout the system. The gravels pockets and buckets around the spawning areas are holding newer fish as well as the pool/runs. We have even caught a couple drop-backs already.
We had a great week of fishing with several long time clients and friends! Thank you for all the support and business…we really, really appreciate it!!! Our guide schedules are pretty full until Mid-April, but there are a couple random dates open still. Plus, we have availability for Lodging at our Motel. Spring steelhead season is the beginning of our fishing year, so please don’t wait too long to book your spring and summer trout fishing trips.
Streamers are always an option in the spring when conditions are right. Stripping fry and smaller baitfish patterns on bright/clearer days and larger patterns in higher water levels. Switching colors, size patterns and strip speeds will help you crack the code. Browns can be extremely particular on most days, but their predatory instincts will trigger strikes. Steelhead will also hit a stripped streamer! I like a mid-sized pattern with more flash when targeting steelhead. But you might get browns on a steelhead type pattern and steelhead on a trout type pattern…you just never know on the Pere Marquette River. After all, it’s a trout stream with a “migratory fish problem”. It truly is a one of a kind river!!!
We are starting the spring grind, but its what we have been waiting for all winter! It is here and let’s go!!! Please respect your fellow anglers and their space. We are on the front edge of another great year of fishing on the Wild & Scenic Pere Marquette River. Making memories, strengthening friendships, telling stories from previous years and spending quality time on the river!!! Good luck out there and looking forward to seeing everyone on the water, in our boats and/or around the shop/Motel.
Fish-On!!!
John Karakashian
