Hey guys, just a quick update before the weekend… It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride around here this past week or so between water temps that were too high to safely catch and release trout without undue stress thru most of the river and then, some high water…

A couple from our last night down in the “hex water” just prior to the warm water snap…

We (BBT) cancelled and rescheduled some trips during the peak of the warm water, but I did manage to sneak in one 1-man instructional trip up high in the coolest of water leaving at 6am and pulling at 2pm just as the temps were once again getting too warm.

Taylor had a great morning learning to cast and various methods of fishing for trout on the fly. Moved, hooked and/or caught fish on streamers, twitch bugs, indicators and nymphs as well as standard dry flies. Here’s one that took a larger attractor pattern… Thanks man, hope to see you again if you make it back to the area. 😎

All of the gauges are dropping fast at this point, but the further downriver you go the higher and dirtier it may still be. I expect to see major improvement in all of the upper and mid sections by tomorrow evening, but even at its “peak” height yesterday the upper sections fished well with streamers and had decent visibility.

This was from 5:30pm at M-37 today, all gauges are dropping fast now…

John K, Joe and I snuck out for a quick evening streamer float yesterday during that peak (25″+ at M37) and did well for the amount of time given. Saw another report from a good friend/colleague who floated the same area on a trip and did very well also.

We moved a lot of fish including some really nice ones during our short float yesterday. This was my first to hand and below are a few others…

It was a cooler evening for a nice change, and we didn’t see much for bugs of any note, but actually did see a couple that rose to something. My bet would be that fishing dries tomorrow and thru the weekend should be good again provided we don’t see any major rainstorms to drive it up again rapidly. I only see a few possible “showers” the next few days, but it’s summer in Michigan so… 🤷‍♂️

Perfect streamer water! This one exploded on John’s fly from some pocket water…

We had no real issues getting thru to Gleasons yesterday, but there were some challenging tight or duck under spots and there are quite a few new trees down. I would check with your car spotter and bring gear along to cut thru if necessary anywhere below that. There could be some major issues that we are not aware of yet; those were some strong storms! 😲

Bottom of the 9th with the takeout in sight for this one… 👍

That’s about all I have for you right now. We do have guides available daily at this point and please stop by the shop if you’re in the area and need or want anything, we appreciate your business! Give the shop a call to schedule a motel room or guide trip. 8am to 6pm daily. (231) 745-3529 (We are still looking for sales staff at the shop as well. Please contact the same number if you or someone you know may be interested!)

Till next time, be safe, be well and have fun!

Steve

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