We have had quite a weather roller coaster ride here this first week of November. From snow and wind to sunny and 70 degrees welcome to Michigan! West Michigan rivers are low and clear at this time and with very little precipitation forecasted in the near future it looks like they will stay that Read More

We had a great finish to our salmon season and have been doing trips for fall steelhead since mid October. We have been doing well on our trips with some large steelhead coming to the net on both the Grand and Muskegon rivers. Fall steelheading stays strong all month and through December. If you Read More

Finally we have rain!...and fresh chrome fall steelhead are here!

Manistee River is fishing phenomenal Fishing has been excellent with good numbers Fall Steelhead Brown Trout Coho.  Basically just a lot of fish. It’s really really good!    Manistee River below Tippy Dam has been fishing exceptionally well.   Good numbers of bright Clean King Salmon on the gravel.  Coho and Steelhead feeding on the salmon … Conti...

This years King Salmon run started off slow. But with the cooler temperatures and precipitation we have received this week the fishing has improved and should continue to in the coming weeks. We have been doing our recent trips on the Pere Marquette river. Casting crankbaits and bobber fishing skein have been putting some Read More

Our warmwater species trips have been good and full of action. The smallmouth bass bite has been consistent. Late summer & early fall is a good time to have opportunities at landing some of the large mature smallies. We have been doing trips on both the Grand and Muskegon rivers. The Muskegon is at Read More

After nearly 3 decades of writing magazine articles and books for other publishers guiding relentlessly for over 25 years and fishing around the globe I am extremely excited to announce that I am launching my own digital magazine called “ Hallowed Waters Journal-The Trout/Salmon/Steelhead Passion”. This endeavor is the culmination of all of thes...

Summertime fishing has been great on the Grand and Muskegon rivers. We are boating good numbers of smallmouth on our trips with some real dandies in the mix. Other species we are seeing on occasion include walleye northern pike largemouth bass gar-pike and sheepshead. The Muskegon is at a typical summertime level and generally Read More

(Salmo salar-born and raised in the Great Lakes.On a pelagic bait fish streamer) With our rivers blown out and flooding ( highest level at this time of year recorded!). might be time to look for Coho Kings Browns Steels and Atlantic's along the Great Lakes and large inland glacial lakes- surf. style!) I started experimenting with Great Lakes surf...

( Nexus book fly plate for FrostyFly/Hemingway- they are sick/and very fish-able and made of materials connected not molded facsimiles like some fly water does not allow) (Yesterday's care package from Boris- just in time for drakes!- get some!) In my Nexus book I introduced FrostyFly/Hemingway materials in the fly plates. The stuff is really amaz...

A fond look/ slide transparency collage back on this ever developing Great Lakes Atlantic salmon Mecca!- enjoy the ride! ( For you Johnny Giuliani:  aka Mayor of  Sault International and the proud Italian Papa G. Johnny Bugsy Miller: Catskill Mayfly master and the always young Pat O'boyle- fun days! and hopefully more coming soon  ( Maestro of th...

(my Gray Drake Super Submersible- lethal swinging when nothing is happening!- great for all banded-bodied/segmented mayflies/drakes) How many nights or mornings ( drakes BTW spinner fall at both times) have you driven to the stream or walked down from your cabin/lodge saying... tonight/this morning will be the one!- the hatch /spinner fall will ha...

Isonychia bicolor have just started as the drakes continue- (Bug Doctor J.G Miller image). John will be featured in my Entomo-Logique department/column in my new online journal coming in two weeks- stay tuned!) The heavy rains and storms have raise the rivers but lowered water temps. Perfect hatching conditions of the big meaty Isonychias. These...

My 27 1/2 inch brown I caught on the gray drake spinner fall over a week ago was my personal best on a dry. 26 was my previous pinnacle. It was a cool sunny morning- not ideal conditions to catch a brown of your lifetime. Cloud cover with filtered Cirrus cloud sunlight would be better. Yet I was hoping that the gray drakes ( Siplonurus)  which hav...

When nature is curios with art- and who says aquatic insects can't see! Image I took on the Gray Drake door with an Isonychia ( white-gloved-howdy) adult on a #Matt Zudweg Brown trout carving- cool!

(my image: dark blotches on the bottom of image are hundreds of wild Atlantic Salmon all pooled up on Quebec's Dartmouth River by a cold water spring during a nasty and unusual drought and heat wave years ago) PLEASE TAKE NOTE!. We are going into a 9 day plus run of temperatures in the mid 90's F A VERY RARE SUSTAINED HEAT WAVE FOR MICHIGAN! ( wha...

( A Hex/yellow drake/ Danica  imitation- author image and tie) Summer's  giant drakes are one mayfly hatch period that guarantees big trout will be on the prowl for them. Besides the legendary Hexagenia/( light hex) and Rithrogena (dark hex) hatch of Michigan and the Midwest Hexs' /giant drakes exist all over the globe and east coast were you have...

I am very sadden to say my good friend supporter and an Icon in the fly fishing world passed away yesterday- the one and only Dick Pobst. Dick was a good fishing partner on the Muskegon and a bug /hatch matching fanatic up until a few years ago. Dick introduced me to Orvis 25 years ago when I first started out in an old wooden/fiberglass drift boa...

Its been a successful King Salmon season here in West Michigan. Again like 2018 this years run has featured some very large fish. We did not top the 30lb mark on my boat yet but did land a large male at just over 29lbs and a good number in the mid 20s and above. Read More

Steelhead fishing has been consistent. The fish have been making us search them out but when they are found the will bite. We have mainly been fishing the Muskegon River and the fish are spread out in the higher than normal flows. Backbouncing bags and floatfishing beads or spawn have been our most productive Read More