Shop Hours 7am to 7pm Daily!
Hard to believe it is already October, but time flies when you are having fun! The trees are showing their cards and starting to turn & drop leaves. The kings are making their way home and fulfilling their main objective in life; returning to their natal waters to spawn. One of natures mysteries and marvels! It is truly amazing and we are lucky to have such a healthy Lake Michigan salmon and steelhead population….not to mention a wild and scenic river like the Pere Marquette that sustains natural reproduction for kings, coho and steelhead!!!
It has been very busy for all of us at BBT…the shop staff, guides and house-keepers. We ALL truly appreciate your support and business during this busy fall season….THANK YOU!!! The shop inventory has been getting hammered by customers, so please excuse us for being low or out of some stock. We are doing our best to replenish inventory as fast as we can…sorry! But, also thank you for everyone that has been clearing out our inventory. We certainly had planned for a busy season, but it has exceeded our projections.
The river is still very, very busy in certain sections. Please respect one another and their space. The best policy is “ask before you cast” and everything will work out. We are all out there to have fun and have a couple fish pull us around, so make the most out of a day on the water! Better to have some friendly chatter while you’re out there….at least in my boat there will be!
We finally received a substantial amount of rain last Thursday and it bumped the water level up & colored up the river. That was short lived and the river is pretty much was back to normal levels within the next few days. That increase in flows did send more fish up stream to the upper sections. We did get some excellent reports from the lower river after the rain too…so, there are more fresh fish coming home! It has been a great run with plenty of fish! The average size of the fish is down, but that increases your landing ratio.
The hole fishing has been a bit of a chest match lately…here today and gone tomorrow…but, we are still making it work and having good days! There are lots of kings spawning throughout the system and new fish staging in some of the holes. We are starting to see LOTS of natural eggs tumbling down the river right now. Hopefully, with the higher flows for a few days it will send a bigger egg trail out to the lake. That will trigger some steelhead to start “pecking” their way up-stream and set us up for later this month! I have been spotting a couple here and there, but have not boated one yet….soon and very soon!!!
It is NEVER too early to start thinking and planning your fall/winter steelhead fishing trips. Typically, we start targeting steelhead around the middle of October and that is only 2 weeks out (but who’s counting?!)!!! I love the fall fishing on the Pere Marquette River. The best is yet to come!!!! We offer all techniques…fly fishing, casting hardware, bobbers and beads…we got you covered! Please call the shop to lock in your guide trips and/or lodging…231-745-3529. We have guide availability after October 16…My personal open dates are October 16, 22, 26 – 30. Other guides and dates are available….please give us a call!
PSA….save the date!!! The River Clean-Up is scheduled for October 24th…more detail to follow. River Karma is a great thing to have in your back pocket!
Not to sound like a broken record, but….there is only some much you can say?!?! Thank you to all our clients and guests over the last week. It was another awesome week and great having you around…without you we would not be doing what we love!!! Guiding the Pere Marquette River is an honor and a privilege…at least to me it is!!! I am running short on time and energy…so, here are a couple fish that did not get away! Fun week and I really appreciate it….we all do….THANK YOU!!!!
It feels really good to be out on the river guiding everyday! I love my office and spending time on such an amazing resource. The river “owes” me nothing…it’s given me everything!
Good luck and be safe out there!
John
