Updated for January 24th, 2006

All Inclusive Steelhead Weekend

December / January 2 nights (double occupancy)

Fly Tying Class and 1/2 day guide trip

Friday night meet your guides at the lodge for appetizers & refreshments

Saturday 6-7 Hot Breakfast

Sat a.m. 8-11 Fly Tying Class

Sat a.m. 12-5 Guide Trip

Sat p.m. 7-9 Gourmet Dinner

Sunday fish on your with a late departure.

$450.

(Price is based on two people / $225. Each)

No Other Specials or Coupons Can Be Applied With These Promotions

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December/January Lodging Special!!!!!

Stay Two Nights, Get The Third Night Free!!

No Other Specials or Coupons Can Be Applied With These Promotions

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Steelhead Fishing Has Been Getting Hot With The Thaw!!

Brown Trout Fishing With Eggs And Nymphs Is Producing!!

The Biting and Beautiful Fall/Winter Steelhead are Here!!!

Things Are Turning White And Epics Are Getting Nice!!

'04&'05 Orvis And Patagonia Outerwear And Underwear In The Shop!

All Sizes And Colors Along With Tons Of Gear, Rods, and Reels!!!!

The Conditions on the River with Fishing Update

:::::::Fishing is still holding on just fine. It isn't bang up, but on the right day you can get several hook ups and everyday there is at least a couple hours of good biting activity. Fishing pressure has been right where it should be with a few boats a day through the upper sections and several other boats scattered downstream. Fishing seems to be consistent with the smarter fish upstream and the dumber and much more aggressive fish downstream; also the general color has been much brighter downstream too, but there have been a few fish that have moved into the Fly Water that have some nice bright sides too. The water levels are just right with some color still holding, but it is slowly clearing again. We got a good snowball drop on us up here while Frank, Vince, Andrea, and I were down working the Ohio fishing show. The air temps were very nice there for awhile and the fish seemed to be pretty receptive, but again there haven't been any big days in some time. I had a trip on Friday and Monday of last week and we were quite successful both times. The fish all came on egg patterns, everyone got a picture and there were many others battled all the way to the net before they got shy, and we did loose a bigger fish this week that would have topped all that we have gotten till now. Fishing pressure this week should come down a little with the air temps, but the water temps should hold high for several days to come with all that warmth that we did receive, and air temps are promised to be at or over freezing for highs for the bulk of the week so fishing should be decent to good all week!!

The Steelhead have been on the bite in and out for the last two weeks just after a great bite that lasted almost three weeks back towards the end of December and beginning of January. The steelhead are in the river in great numbers this winter, and by comparison to the other rivers around it, it is fishing quite well. I have heard tougher conditions have appeared on the Muskegon and again on the Rogue, with the Manistee holding it's own. The Grand has been moving some bigger numbers of fish and pushing them into the Rogue occasionally; but the Grand has been high making for big number days down there even tougher even though they are very present. The White never got good this year as this will be the toughest year I have seen down there in half a decade, but hopefully that will bring a very large Spring blast to that stream. The PM again has been fishing good and not only upstream to middle sections this year, but all the way to the Big Lake. The fisherman down there either fishing hardware or bait have been doing good all year with no real tough days out there at all minus a few freak weather fronts that shut them down. Fishing pressure has been much lower downstream making for more receptive fish during these later months of Winter. Every time the water has risen, we have gotten a good push or at least pulse of fish, and that has been going on since the beginning of November. The fishing shouldn't improve too much till the first big hens runs start moving sometime this next month, but the fish should remain decent to good with a few bang up days scattered. Good weather conditions are forecasted so give us a call for some cabin fever medicine!!!

The shift in diet has been occurring the last week or so as I have been hearing of a few fish being taken on nymph patterns. I have run some nymphs and had some success with them, but nothing huge yet; eggs still being the talk of the town in the holes. The best patterns have been all the usual suspects, with some more natural patters working too now. Variety has been catching some fish, and walking of the normal might get you some great trout action telling you some better patterns or presentations that may or may not be working. Fishing again has been good, but allot of day's the action has been hot and heavy for a few hours of the day only with the better half of the day being pretty lack luster. Trout have been keyed up and back on cue with them all feeding again and none spawning, and they are looking much better too; there were a few of them out there getting pretty ugly after almost spawning to death. They have been big on the nymphs more then the steelhead, but I have popped a few on the egg too. Streamer fishing has been OK if you beat it long enough, but the eggs are still the brightest bulb on the block. The Grapefruit is having a banner year as it is the fly to have. Mango has been trying hard, and a new variation of the fruit called Super Fruit is making a huge entry to the game especially when the water is stained or dark. Presentations should be very slow right now with a very stealth approach as most fish are not all that interested in feeding hard, but will if they feel comfy. Cover water fast and deliberately, almost plan your beat whether on foot or a boat so that you maximize the amount of time your showing your flies to fish that will eat instead of beating on their heads for an hour just cause you know they are in there. The bulk of the fish that I have popped the last week and a half are still coming within the first five drifts with very few of those taking after the third drift; so they are still aggressive when they choose to feed. Nymphs, especially smaller stones and mayfly variations will be the way to go to mix up your presentation; but be sure and run at least one egg in the rig. Streamers will work pending on the where and when you choose to do it, with some areas being premium for the swing and others being tight or just off current keeping you from hanging right where you might think one might be. Try and save the streamer for either really bad conditions when they just don't seem to be biting nymphs or eggs, or the exact opposite when they are smashing it and you want to see if you can move them with a varied technique. With the amount of fish in the system right now it should be more about just getting the flies to the right fish or the right fish looking to eat so covering different spectrums of possible food is the way to go whenever the fishing is off or just plain bad. Great numbers of fish allow for such approach as there are many more eyes looking at each individual drift and where one fly may be perfect for one fish, it may offend the others leaving you with a small amount of biters!!!

Working water correctly will catch you more fish then any one fly or even section of river. The fish are there, and if one is biting, odds are there are probably others doing it too. The last half dozen trips I have taken, all the action has been in ten percent of the day with that action being pretty good to great for as long as it lasts. When I do recognize that the bite has begun I try to cover some water, or at least more then I would if the bite were off. The fish tend to move to the forward part of the run when they are really feeding hard but can also be found leaning on the tailouts waiting for the easier meal, burning less calories in the slower slack. The deep holes are a great place to be thinking when the bite is off, but they do noticeably move on flies when the bite in popping, and more just take the fly when it is off. Runaway bobbers are common only if the fish in question has chrome to it where the older fish take their time getting all their guns firing, and some are just plain tired and cold. Deeper runs and even the latest part of the hole are key areas to pic off the actively feeding fish where the bottom of the holes is likely holding "holding fish". Just before I went to Ohio I did notice a few polished spots around, but that ended with the snowball we got hit with. Numbers are holding, and so are the temps considering we are in the last week of January and have had a mild winter to date even considering the cold snap late fall into winter. Winter trips, including our specials running till the end of the month, are being booked occasionally and the solitude is great with the lack of people fishing during the week up here. The snow will hold for awhile as it won't be too warm this week, but they are promising again better then freezing temps for the highs this week so give us a call and come on up for a boat ride, hot lunch, and some chrome or crimson bouncing around on the end of your rod!!!

Steelhead trips will start as early as 7am and as late as 1pm so call ahead with for as start-time; don't forget the polarized glasses, fingerless gloves, and neoprene waders. Water temps are cooling quick so breathable is able but not recommended. Plenty of fingerless gloves make for an enjoyable day and the longer the rod the better as it gives good tippet protection and castability for anyone.

GOOD LUCK AND GOOD FISHING/SEE YOU OUT THERE!!!!

Tommy Lynch/AKA FishWhisperer....

GUIDED FLY FISHING TRIPS AVAILABLE!!!!!

Steelhead on Floating Lines and Sink Tips

 

Full Days include gear, grilled shore-side lunch,8 to 10 hours on the water; Half Days include everything the full day trip includes minus a lunch that is replaced with snacks/beverages and only half the time on the water fishing. Relaxing, Instructional and Productive!

Drift Boat, Raft, and Jet Sled Guiding with Licensed,Insured, and(most importantly)FEDERAL PERMITTED Local Guides!!!!

Orvis Endorsed with the Largest Guide and Professional Fly Fishing Staff in the Midwest!!!!

$325 Full Day Trip

$225 Half Day Trip

Half Day Trips are available now but will be not be during the Spring Steelhead Season!!!!

Fly Tying Schools, Casting Schools, Water Reading Classes

While someone may do allot of fly fishing, he or she may need some help getting those skills a bit more sharp. Engaging all types of fish and fishing situations in this sport requires thousands of hours trial and error to find out what works, how to get what works to the fish, and finally how to identify where one might think his or here quarry might be. Our guides fish all the surrounding rivers and tribs to find out just what is what, and they like doing it. They get a ton of practice in the field, and have mastered every technique ever thought of; whether it be for Trout, Salmon or Steelhead, they have the answers. Combined they have a couple centuries worth of knowledge that can be pasted on to you. Whether your just starting out and want to start the right way, or they are avid veteran fly fisherman that need to get there skills to a professionally level, we have a class for you. Schools generally run in the Winter and Summer months so we can have the guides answering your questions versus some fellow that lives in the shop and knows only what the catalog does and gets limited time on the water. Guides have a much better hold on what works, how it works, and where it works then any one person that can teach about something like Fly Fishing. We will be setting up classes for this Summer over the coarse of this Spring, so be sure and call the lodge for details!!!!

 

Book Now For Steelhead and Brown Trout Fly Fishing This Fall/Winter!!

BROWN TROUT(lake run or the residents that reside here all year)

STEELHEAD(fall,winter, spring, and maybe a summer on the surface)

RAINBOW TROUT(possibility of one all year, most likely in the Spring and Summer)

COHO AND KING SALMON(Peak runs in the early/middle Fall)

For more information Call 231-745-3972 and ask for Andrea, Jodi, Dave or Frank!!!

Techniques in Season

UPDATED

November 20th, 2005

Steelhead And Brown Trout Fly Fishing

Floating Line Indi Rigs and Swinging with Sink-Tips for Steelhead

Floating Line Indi and Streamer Stripping for Late Season Browns

It's past peak salmon and the ones that are left are dusty and dead, but what is left in their wake is a tidal wave of protein that the steelhead and brown trout clean up with pleasure. Eggs and flesh make up the bulk of the initial spawn and fed on aggressively to fill the bellies of all the feeding fish in the river that have to put away a winter nest egg to get through not only the winter hold over, but the spawning that the steelhead have to do at the tail out of winter. They feed without hesitation and aggressively as there is much competition for the next calorie in the holes between not only the browns and rainbows, but all the steelhead that need even more then the trout do. The fish will feed on eggs right through the winter and when they are at there most aggressive, the steelhead will chase streamers including sculpins, leeches, and popsicles through the fall and early winter months. The hit is like no other when swinging and is recommended at least to try, but remember to match the hatch in November you don't need streamers or dries so much as you need a killer box of egg flies!!!!

Steelhead can be found in the fall months just about anywhere where there is either a good consentration of eggs or somewhere where they are at least coming down consistently. Best areas to be looking are tailing sand bars, quick narrow or wide runs and the deep holes, especially those that have very tight seems in them. The best way to approach the steelhead is with an Indicator rig, but there are those that do chuck and duck for them. Streamer fishing is another strategy to tango with the chrome, and is best fishing in wide and long runs that might trigger a fish to follow instead of spook. The Big Rivers are great for this technique in that you can work the big spey rods better there as well as a having a better playing field to not only land the fish but also to give the fish the proper room to target, give chase and still hit without having the fly at the boat when he goes for it like here on the PM. Eggs and nymphs both are fancied in the winter months, but the eggs are consistently the best way to get hook ups as that is there main motivation for even running the river in the first place!!!

The Browns this time of year are at their most photogenic as that fall dress code is just gorgeous. Reds, golds, oranges, etc are all standard issue for any fish wishing to get some action on the gravels in Late October and Early November. Even though the spawners have one track minds and don't like to feed as much as get some nooky, the ones that weren't invited to the gravels, or the ones who are taking a night off, will readily take flies. The browns that come off the gravels after they are done spawning almost have to feed since they spend so much energy getting it on and they have to get a ton of calories back in a quick way to get them through the winter or they will just kick. They will feed on the strangest things this time of year and usually originality in either your eggs or even your streamers will get you the hit since it may be the only pattern they haven't seen this year. The browns of the PM are smart and likely aware of you before you are of them so stealth and cutting edge will catch more of these gold beauties more then any one pattern in general. If you intend to target these fish during the late months, then choose the lighter gear to give yourself a better battle in the cooler water temps but be careful and courteous with your release as they are not a dime a dozen and live in the river year round and have to be treated with the upmost finesse and care!!!

________________Techniques____________

 

The most widely used technique is the Chuck and Duck. With some type of shooting line ranging from colored monofilament to mildly tapered shooting lines, this is an effective way to approach King Salmon. It is fished with a but section from your immediate shooting line then tied to a leader that shouldn't exceed the fifteen pound mark. With either a drop tag and split shot or a slinky, you provide weight at the lower most part of the leader and then knot that to an even lighter ten or eight pound test and run no more then 4 feet of tippet. Your choice is to run either one or two flies. It is cast with no conventional fly casting; it is more of a lob of weight to the other side of the river. You strip up the line right to the leader and more or less chuck the weights to the end of the shooting line and feel the hits versus an indicate a take. It is controversial and unconventional, but it can and does produce fish.

 

The most popular way, and without question the best way to engage a steelhead is the Floating Line/Indicator set up. Fished with longer rods, all the way to the Spey rods, this drift is perfect. Presented in a downstream fashion, the fisherman can control a drift that does not drag across the seam and sometimes fish; more that the drift follows the seam straight down the current presenting the fish with a more natural drift. Indicators that are as big as ice fishing bobbers work the best. Overload your ten foot rods with one weight heavier Salmon Steelhead Taper or a Double Taper. Mending becomes a great skill with this technique as well a long and precise roll casts. Exacting depths can also be achieved with this fashion as well as staying above ninety percent of all the wood on the floors of the river bottom. Normally fished exclusively with eggs for the first few months, this is also a bang up way to fish nymphs slow in the winter. This is the truest way to fish for the Fall, Winter, and Spring Steelhead if your looking to actually fly fish to them with nymphs and egg patterns.

 

For the more experienced and hunting fly fisherman, there is the Spey Rod Streamer Swinging. Fished all during the Fall,Winter and Spring this can be a deadly method to engage steelhead. Fast sinking shooting heads with floating lines to burst the flies many yards out; you then swing the fly with several mends as it goes down, adding just a bit of action as you tighten with the mends you can provoke a crushing blow from a crimson giant. Two handed casts are a must, unless in two tight of an area, then go to the single handed approach. This is the most aggressive hit that a steelhead can muster. They often are moving in excess of thirty miles an hour when they take the fly. The Muskegon is an ideal river for this technique with its long runs, giving the fish plenty of time to move on the fly. It is quite exciting having the control of a Spey Rod when you hook one of these giants that could eat anything from a popsicle to a sculpin

 

If you don't like dead drifts and waiting for a fish to hit something after several casts,Streamer Stripping for Large Browns could be just what the doctor ordered. Streamer fishing for browns requires you to strip a large fish or leech like pattern aggressively through the water in hopes that a large brown will come and sack it. The but section, leader and tippets in total is only about 6' long and is tapered from a heavier sink tip line that is used to descend your fly on contact with the water. Counting down to strip out of certain depths will show your fly to fish that are either located very deep or are found in very dirty water and can't see anything clearly unless ripped right by them. Sometimes the fish may miss the fly more then a couple of times as it is brought back to the boat, and you get to see him do it which makes this style of fishing one of my personal favorites for not only cathing allot of trout, but also catching some really big trout!!!!!

 

If your a purest or if you just like hearing things that gulp and throwing your fly to them and catching that trout or possible Steelhead, then Dry Fly Fishing with Hatch Flies, Terrestrials, and Waking Mice is for you. Hatch fishing involves particular bugs that hatch at certain parts of the day and then spinner or dun on the rivers surface. Spinners are flies that are spent and die on the water after laying their eggs and duns are the earlier stage of the fly that lays eggs. You can also fish just below the surface with emerger patterns or suspended nymphs to catch fish at all stages of the mayfly cycles. Stone flies typically fly into the trees after laying their eggs but hatch sporadically throughout the day making for an all day fly; another good all day fly is a caddis that too sporadically hatches, and sometimes really heavy making for some great early season dry fly activity prior to the big mayfly happenings late in May and June. The Hex Fly is without question the fishes favorite dry fly hatch, but you can also fish a mouse that is an imitation of a mammal coming across the river during these hatches as some of the biggest fish in the river come out for that bounty. Mousin normally produces the largest browns of the year since you fish them in the dark blind to fish that could be just about anywhere; at the same time more receptive to your presentation then any other time of the year or day since it is pure darkness and the odds are even as you cannot see him and he cannot see you making for some intense mammal killing hits from a normally careful trout. Mousin and Hexs are something not to be missed if your a big trout or steelhead fisherman who likes to see a trophy from time to time!!!

 

DAILY REPORTS AND PAGE WRITTEN BY YEAR ROUND GUIDE AND COMMERCIAL FLY TIER

TOMMY LYNCH/AKA THE FISHWHISPERER

WE HAVE SEVERAL SALES GOING ON THIS TIME

OF YEAR IN THE SHOP TO MOVE OUT LAST YEARS

STOCK, SO GET IT WHILE ITS CHEAP!!!

Shop Hours: Our hours are at the Peak Season and will return once the Fall Salmon and Steelhead ends in later November

• 7am to 7pm Monday through Thursday/Friday and Saturday open till 8pm/Sunday Till 6pm

We'll be open at the crack of dawn to help you get the latest and hottest flies, gear, rods, reels, lines or apparel for all and any of your fly fishing needs while your up here including Orvis, Patagonia, Rio, Umpqua, and several other fly fishing retailers to make for a enjoyable, productive, and hopefully very memorable trip to the Pere Marquette River as well as the Pere Marquette River Lodge!!!

 

Guided Trips Normally Begin either at 8am or even later if it is a half day trip for the warmer part of the day. They include all the gear needed for the day, flies are extra. Grilled lunches(ON FULL DAY TRIPS)done right on the river with professional and licensed guides instructing and navigating all parts of the Pere Marquette Watershed as well as several other rivers in the near by area; including the White, Muskegon, Manistee, and even parts of the Pine River. Jetsleds, Driftboats, and Rafts are all different crafts used to pursue several different cold and warm water species all over the West Side of Michigan.

 

Good Luck and Fishing Out There, See you soon!!!