It is peak steelhead time here on the Pere Marquette. With water temps soaring to 47 degrees over the weekend there are a ton of spawning fish around. Water levels and clarity are in good shape in the fly water and the middle river is getting better every day. Fishing should be very good for the rest of this week and into next and should probably tail off slowly through the month if temperatures don’t continue to rise.
Most fish have been taken on brightly colored eggs including clown eggs, steelhead orange glo bugs and nuke eggs, and orange with red spot glo bugs, all tied fairly large. As the water continues to clear, however, smaller more naturally colored eggs and nymphs will be a good bet. Henk and his son had a great day with Steve in the upper river on Friday. Don’t forget to fish some of the deeper runs and pools for drop back hens. Gabe and Ryan caught quite a few drop backs with Steve on Saturday. They are always hungry. The warmer temps also mean that the fresh steelhead are being more aggressive. While ripping streamers for browns with me on Saturday Chris picked up a really nice chrome fish. Took us all by surprise and was quite the battle on a 6wt. Trout fishing should also be good this week with the warm water temps and stain.
75 degrees here yesterday, though it’s going to cool back down to seasonable temps this week. But I think it’s official, Spring has finally arrived.
