Hey guys, just a quick one from me as it’s been a while and, quite frankly, I’ve been trying to hold off for better news. The stuff that you need to know is that the water is basically low and clear again and there are not significant numbers in the river as I type but it’s still “decent” and we are expecting more….
When will that change? It’s anyone’s guess, but it is steady enough to make a go of it on any given day right now and have a good time with a fair shot at a few fish. Some folks are targeting the few steelhead that are on or “near” a few select gravel spots and coming up with some more impressive numbers at the end of the day, but most that are actually moving and searching for new players are scratching out a decent day at best right now.
It’s been a weird fall/winter/spring to be sure, but nothing we haven’t seen before or has me particularly worried at all. It’s just fishing… The long and short of this short report is don’t come up here expecting what you normally would for this time in late March, but we’ve got enough to target and have some fun for sure! (I’m just trying to manage expectations here.)
The big news on my end is that I’ve finally decided to start the long and “hopefully” very slow process of scaling back on the guiding part of my life during the busy times. As of right now I am no longer taking any new clients for “peak” Salmon or Steelhead dates (March 1 – April 15 & September 1 – October 15) but we do have some awesome guides available for sure and I will also be using a subcontractor and/or employee to fill/use my open dates on my USFS permits etc…
I am at something like 90-95% repeat clients during the peak seasons as it stands and have been for some time now, so I don’t expect this change to do much right out of the gate or anytime in the near future, but it seems like a nice way for me to ease into less days on the water and more in the shop in the long run. I am more than happy to take on new clients any other time of year and I hope you’ll consider spending a day on the water with me or one of our other guides if you get a chance! (Call 231-745-3529 for reservations.)
I have also been very crappy at getting/taking photos as of late, but I feel like there’s way more than enough fish porn to go around on the internet these days so forgive me the lack of eye candy. Some days we simply didn’t land any, some days we did and we just let ’em go and some pics were just too goofy… 🙄🤣
I “expect” that we’re still going to see some nice new pushes of fish as this season progresses, but I’m not a biologist nor do I have a magic 8 ball so just keep an eye on the reports right here as well as our social media pages for updates on that!
The shop is very well stocked on all the things you need and lots of things you may just want so please stop in and see us if you happen to be in the area, we’d love to have your business and we sincerely hope we’ve earned it.
Tight lines, be well, be safe and above all, have some fun out there!
Steve
