I think my last post speaks for itself when it comes to Memorial Day so I’m not going to go much further into it other than to say that I hope you all enjoyed your extended weekend, but even more so, I hope that you took at least a little of that time out to mourn a little and reflect on all of the great men and women we all owe so much that it can never be repaid…
I’m actually having some sort of “writers block” here lately for some reason. I don’t know why, but it’s just not flowing from my ole’ brain to the fingertips like a normal conversation per my usual method for some reason. 🤷♂️ Anyway, I’ll start out with this:
I still haven’t come even close to fully recovering the summer clientele numbers I used to have before the 14 seasons/summers I spent in Alaska, so my trout trips continue to be pretty thin! If you’ve ever thought that it “might be” fun to spend some time on the water with me, any time now would be a good time to find out for sure and maybe establish that relationship as one of my “repeat clients” for peak season bookings later on… 😜
I’m good either way, but in all honesty, I’d rather be guiding than not guiding because I DO still love the job, meeting new people and all of the rewards that go with it. (I just can’t run 24/7 during peak seasons like I used to anymore and 3-5 days a week is definitely my happy place! 😎)
Anyway, I passed off all of my regulars for the trout season to other guides a long time ago when I started doing “summer camp” in AK and I’m not looking to take them back at all, I’m just looking for some shiny new ones! 😎🎣🤷♂️ (PS. I REALLY like nighttime fishing… 😜)
I’ve also had a fair number of people asking me about our (John Robinson and I’s) big lake gig and no worries, that is slightly delayed at the moment, but we weren’t looking to go heavy until later in the summer season anyway and it is still “in the works” …
I put in my paperwork (my application, complete physical, drug test, captains logs, etc…) into the system with plenty of time to have it (My Master Captains License) renewed before it expired on May 3rd but I didn’t hear anything back for a while and luckily, I realized what was going on in time to go get my DRN Inland Pilots license to cover me on the river in the meantime before that happened… (I haven’t had an Inland Pilots License since I got my Captains License as one supersedes the other. Now I do! 😅)
Turns out, the Coast Guard is part of DHS and while they were not being funded, nobody was working on that stuff at all… That being said, now that they are back in business, we are all safer again of course and I did just get an email that stated my application is in process.
We are also waiting on a definitive answer from the DNR if our boat needs a new dry dock inspection or not before we even put it in the water for the season… 🤪 (It’s too big to take in and out, we have a slip.) The last commercial inspection was good thru next year, but apparently, they just can’t figure out if that carries over to a new owner or not, I guess! 🤷♂️😅
Enough about all of that! I am totally good to go on the river and I will shout to the rooftops when we begin those trips on the big water. (We may or may not begin to take some “tentative” reservations for Lake Michigan sometime soon.)
I was going to go into great detail about how awesome of a time we had, as usual, down in Argentina with our host from Flymaniacs and all of our guest, but John really did a great job of that in his report thanking everyone in person by name so all I can do at this point is echo his thanks to all involved and express my excitement and enthusiasm to do it all over again! (Especially since my writers’ block kicked in. 🙄😅)
This is truly a “trip of a lifetime” that for some fantastic reason the majority of our clients find a reason to do again and I think that speaks for itself as well… Mucha gracias mi amigos! 😎👊👍🎣
If a picture speaks a thousand words, then this post should say plenty. I tried to not only include the bigger fish from the week, but also some of the smaller beautiful residents, some scenery and, of course, some of the great food! We are still finalizing dates and rates for next year for both a one week or a 10-day option and I will post those soon. I do hope that you can join us sometime!! 🇦🇷👍😎
I’ve only been on the river here in Michigan twice since our return. Once with Coleman and Cory on a trip that I donated to a TU/Ruffed Grouse Society thing (Salmon in the classroom is where the proceeds went to is my understanding.) and the second time for a half day in a long section of river with John…
Both were much colder nights than anticipated, but we still rolled some good to great fish after dark on the first trip landing a couple small(er) ones and caught a good number of small to mid-size fish as well.
Opportunities presented themselves on both trips for larger fish, but I wouldn’t say it was “on fire” by any means and the return of the warmer temperatures is most certainly going to make a big difference now! (I only took a couple of bad pics but could have taken more. Most of our fish were just released boat side with hemostats and without touching them.)
As it stands my next guide trip is on the 29th right now, but I’m pretty wide open for Drakes (That are already happening btw!) hexes, etc. and I’ll be out with or without clients quite a bit coming right up so more details will be coming soon also!
John has actually been here all of those years I missed while in Alaska and has had several trips this week with his normal clientele so I expect that you will see a good ole’ Pere Marquette River report from him very soon!! 😎👍
The water is in great shape right now; hatches are either on or ahead of schedule and it’s shaping up to be a fantastic summer. My advice is to get out there, with or without a guide, and enjoy it if at all possible! Life is short, you better live it while you can!! (That’s been my mantra since I cheated death that last time in 2016; there’s not a cat out there that has anything on me! 😎😅👊👍😉)
I’m gonna sign off here now and save some things I’d like to talk about for the next time… Till then, be safe, be well, have lots of fun and please play nice with one another when you can!
Much love,
-Steve-
