The Governor of Michigan is not re-legalizing salmon snagging. Nor did we dump 20,000 Asian carp into the Pere Marquette River. And Kevin did not break the world record long nose sucker record, much to his chagrin. It was all our hilarious attempt at April Fools.
Weather started to warm up a good bit last week, but rain and snow showers and high wind made for some uncomfortable, though not bad, fishing over the weekend. Water temp was 43 on Friday afternoon and steelhead were up on the gravels spawning throughout the middle river. They aren’t around in great numbers, but they are certainly around. Water is up and dirty and after a good bit of rain this past weekend it’s coming up again, we were at 1100cfs already last night. This gives the advantage to anglers that really know the river as it’s tough to see anything in the stained water.
Steve and Kevin both had trips on Saturday and their guys hooked nine fish total in the middle river, but only one made it to the net. Most fish were hooked in pockets behind gravel on smolt patterns, hex nymphs, and pink eggs. Warmer water temps mean fish are tougher to land, but one for nine is just plain bad luck.
I walked into the middle river on Friday and swung streamers for a while in the runs and didn’t hook any steelhead, but I did manage a nice brown. Trout fishing is really heating up on the Pere Marquette and it’s the perfect time to chase them while everyone else is focused on the steelhead. High water and decently warm temps mean the streamer fishing should be good for several days. And check out Kevin’s new fishing report page on the Indigo site.
We’ll be diving into the Facebook pool here this week so stay tuned for that.
