Hey guys, just realized it’s been a minute since I’ve posted on here yet again. If you follow my Instagram or Facebook pages and/or the shops Facebook and Instagram pages then you have likely seen much but probably not all of this and if not, my apologies for the delay in posting…
A monster shout out goes out to all the great people that showed up to the annual river cleanup on the 19th!! It was a beautiful day with some fantastic souls doing some great work. We here at BBT can’t thank you all enough and I am sure that the river itself as well as all of its other users appreciate it also! 👊🦅😎🎣👍🦌❤️
Jad, Hatcher and I hit the lower river on the 20th. Moved a few Steelhead, Cohos and Kings that did not fully commit to the lure in the low clear water but got a few interesting fish as well and had a great time on our “scouting mission”.
I had taken a little time off there for a bit, but also squeezed in a trip or two where we hooked, but didn’t land some Steelhead and caught a few left-over Kings in the process that I also neglected to photograph… 🙄🤣😉 (Even though a few of those were still pretty good looking yet.)
One such day was not a “trip” however on the 23rd when Jake and I hosted some folks from the German ARD TV Network. The pretense of the segment for their show that I was given ahead of time was an interest in Michigan’s long history and tradition of fly fishing. (After all, we received the very first “German Brown Trout” planting in the US right here!) This was, in part the truth, but in reality, we found that they were also interviewing people from all walks of life in Michigan while doing their thing (artist, river guide, etc.) on politics, the election and how it affects us…
Sadly, I had to let them know that they would not get much from me “on camera” when it comes to that because of an unwritten understanding that we will leave things like politics and religion out of the public’s eye when it comes to business, but we had a nice time and I am told that Sarah, the host of the show, is now “hooked on fly fishing” and that I will enjoy the portion of their show that they filmed with us.
The 26th was my first really good day on the Steelhead front when I took first time Steelhead angler Whitney (@quick_whits on Instagram.) out for the day and we had a strong bite in the morning floating beads under bobbers before the high pressure, high sun and clear water shut things down a bit later on.
I really enjoyed her response to our social media post as well. “Experience of a lifetime. Steve was so great and I am just so high from the entire experience. My favorite moment was “bend the rod…I am…the rod’s not even bent!” 🤣 I keep reliving each catch, like, was that even real??? 😂🙌🙏 I cannot wait to come back” What a great testimonial Whitney and thank you again for supporting us!
I ran into my cousin Jim that evening who is in Baldwin for a bit and managed to squeeze in a float with him the next day. (Jim is the owner of Alaska’s Naknek River Camp as well as the original owner/builder of the Pere Marquette River Lodge & Stealthcraft Boats among other things.) A few other boats in the same area actually did pretty well on the lading ratio of the many fish we saw, and we hooked a few ourselves, but in all honesty, I think we spent more time just catching up and solving the world’s problems! 🤣
I spent the next two days (Monday and Tuesday) with Gary. A regular client of the BBT guide staff & Motel who has a pretty good record when it comes to landing fish, but both days were full of heartbreak to go along with our fun! 🤷♂️🤣 Plenty of fish still around and more hookups than I actually care to mention, but only a couple came to hand. Most came off at some point due to a tossed hook, but a few were just bad luck…
I was planning to take yesterday off, but woke up early as usual and had the sudden urge to go hook a fish for myself. Tossed the motor on, headed downriver and had two nice ones kick my butt in no time! (I was sure to let Gary know that they got me too, but mine took me to the woodshed!)
I had to run back into the pharmacy kinda early so that was it for that, but I did manage to get Jad and Hatcher to go back out with me further up for an evening float afterwards. Our “rotation” was not so great mid-river and just about every spot that I really wanted to work over for any amount of time was occupied when we got there, but we saw tons of fish on the move everywhere and in the one great hole we did get Jad managed to go something like 2 for 7 on adults while I was still screwing around with my rigs and netting his fish! 🤣
Today probably would have been a great day to be out, but alas I took it off to get some chores (and this “report”) done. Just got word from John R that there’s a bunch of fish moving again today when we talked on the phone a little while ago and made tentative plans to fish tomorrow if it doesn’t book up… My next available days are tomorrow thru the 4th at the moment and then the 17th, 18th & 19th after that, but we have a guide or guides available on most days yet this fall if you’d like to get in on the action!
Call the shop at (231) 745-3529 from 8am to 6pm daily right now to book a guide or motel room and please stop by and see us f you’re in the area! We are pretty well stocked right now for just about anything you might need to fly, spin, center pin, bait or float fish as well as with waders, warm gear, rain gear, etc…
As always, we appreciate your support! Be safe, be well and have some fun out there. We can all use a little more fun right about now… 😎🎣
Steve
