Mark your calendar!! This year’s BBT Spring River Cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, May 3rd…
The annual spring river cleanup is always a difficult day to nail down with the Trout Opener, Easter, Mother’s Day and all the Graduation stuff going on around then, but May 3rd seems to avoid most of that, so we sincerely hope that you’ll be able to join us in this annual conservation effort.
More details to follow, but when and if you know you are coming it is always helpful for us to have a head count. Please give the shop a call to be listed if you can, however last-minute participation is always welcome!! (231) 745-3529
For my second “announcement”, we (BBT) are currently holding onto some of the last spots available at Alaska’s Naknek River Camp at a very special deal! Our 2025 dates are August 9th – 16th, 2025 (I cannot count the number of people that told me this was “their year” and I seriously doubt that our BBT exclusive package price will remain the same for long so grab your spot now!)
The “BBT Special” will be $4,995.00* per person for a week of fishing in some of the greatest water in Alaska! This rate INCLUDES the “Best of Katmai” Package; two fly outs throughout the week! $5,495 is the standard 2025 weekly rate without fly-outs so this is an incredible BBT exclusive deal!!! (We can also offer a no fly-out package for $3,995.00*, but fly outs are strongly encouraged during these weeks.) Click here for a few more details.
So, a bit of a break there again on my end on the reports, but it turns out that finding extra time to edit a few of your photos and typing a few words is harder than one might anticipate during the heat of the season when all of your old friends and clients are hanging around…
I’ve been holding steady on the no smoking side of things by continuing to substitute a little dip (Just as bad I know, but at least I can breathe better.) or zyn for my nicotine addiction problem and after a little over a month of not drinking at all solely because I thought I probably couldn’t without smoking, I’ve now found that, at least so far, I actually can manage to enjoy a few beverages with said old friends and clients while still abstaining from the other… (I’ll try and tackle that whole nicotine thing fully once the peak of the season is over at some point. 😎)
It feels like these fishing reports become a little bit repetitive once the season really kicks into gear and the fishing is solid “in general” anyway, but it’s not always all bent rods and screaming drags for everyone on every day and depending on your location and/or rotation some tough days can still be had.
The further upriver you’re fishing the more consistent it’s been for the most part as of late, but traffic starts playing a role quite often also and “luck of the draw” in our one-way boat traffic up there can play a big role right alongside the weather and angler ability.
Barometric pressure, water temps, level, stain, sunny or not sunny all play a role but every single day you’re out there has the potential to be awesome if you let it regardless of angling success based simply on the fact that you are out there, instead of somewhere not so fun, enjoying something that many people may never even experience! We are truly blessed and spoiled… 😉
Overall, it’s been a great Steelhead run so far, and I expect that it’ll continue to be solid right on into mid or late April per usual. We typically start to do mixed bag tout and steelhead trips tossing streamers or even dry flies in-between spots depending on conditions in mid to late April for a fun, interesting and appreciated change of pace!
As I sit here typing, I’ve got a half dozen early April dates and plenty of late April stuff available to book, but those dates are only for any of my personal repeat clients “for now” as part of my tapering back program.
That being said, we’ve also got 4 other full time BBT guides as well as a nice list of fine independent ones out there that we book who have scattered openings throughout the season. Give us a shout to check on or to book your guide(s) or motel date(s)! 231 745-3529
Eggs are most certainly a “go to” pattern during a season when the real thing is rolling downriver and feeding the pack, but as John mentioned, nymphs and fry are both working and active as well! It’s hard to beat a good fry bite from a fish that has discovered they are available and there are some that would rather have that than the omelet! 🤷♂️😎
I moved “upriver” for a group trip today for the first time in quite a while and the cold snap combined with the high pressure didn’t do much for the bite in dark water for me and my client Richard (Who is a great fisherman I’ve guided for 30+ years now.) and his friend Tim who’s been with us plenty.
Results from other boats were very mixed depending on that “luck of the draw” and technique, but we only had a couple of legitimate bites that we did not capitalize on the dark water. About 2/3rds into the day after having passed up plenty of “spawners” early on I broke down to toss at some visible fish for the very first time this year for a few minutes.
(The result of that was two very obviously “flossed fish” that I could see backing up with the line thru their jaws and shaking their heads. Luckily, we never set the hook hard on those and simply got the heck out of there…)
I haven’t been doing nearly as much “pitching” as I was earlier in the season mid and down river but still do in a few key locations and a slowly retrieved hot-n-tot is still working just as I’m sure the right spinner presentation would be.
Some friends and colleagues who are back dropping plugs have been doing quite good also and as the amount of drop back fish increases these methods can become major producers. (Drop back Steelhead are also known to like a stripped streamer!)
Water temperatures have been on a real roller coaster ride just as the weather has been. At 5:15pm on 3/15 we saw 52.9 degrees at M-37 for the highest recorded this spring, but upper 30s & low to mid 40s are more common. (Links to the PMTU water monitoring stations are available here on our site, but it appears as though the Mapleleaf one is still down.)
I imagine this little cold snap we are seeing will continue to slow things down a bit for another day or two, but that is not a bad thing, and it begins to warm back up again later in the week.
That’s really all I’ve got for now… Be safe, be well, have lots of fun and try to be nice to one another out there please! 👊🎣👍
Steve
