January 29th, 2023

Its been a great Winter Fishing experience thus far, but I believe we finally got our "deep freeze" that will last into March. The local waters will be locked up in a day or two, with the cold temps starting to set in. The good news is, its looking like we are going to have our snow pack needed for those high spring flows to bring waves of fish into our rivers, instead of trickles of fish. As of right now theres about 8 inches of snow on the ground, with about 6 inches of snow last night. With that being said, I'm expecting a very successful spring season for Steelhead! As far as the last month, its been very consistent fishing pretty much every trip. I've been Float Fishing with beads in the 8 and 10mm size, natural washed out colors along with some "fresher" colored beads as there are still Coho Salmon doing their thing in some of our tribs. The fish seemed to be scattered, but very willing to bite, so moving fast, Booning, and hitting multiple spots was key for numbers of fish hooked. I still have dates available for March. March is a great month for pods of fish, both winter fish and new arrival silver fish. April is pretty much locked up as far as full days but there will be some opportunities for afternoon/evening half day trips once it gets good. For now, cabin fever, tying flies, and getting everything ready for the rest of the year is the norm! My family and I appreciate everyones business and I look forward to warmer days and bent rods with good company! Here are a few fish pics from recent January trips to help us get through the rest of winter.

The boys had fun pulling on some beautiful, spunky fish. Most of the fish pulled like Fall Steelhead, long runs and lots of jumps despite the colder water temps. Theres nothing better!

9/10 fish we have been catching are wild fish despite the very low plants we recieve from the mdnr. Imagine if they planted fish like they used to in the 90's... Eventhough fishing has been decent, it would be unreal.. I hope and expect to see some major changes in the coming years. Im looking forward to working with, and being apart of the Michigan River Guide Association board to address issues to better of fisheries, as we are on the water ALOT and know whats actually going on with our migratory fish. I encourage any and all Michigan River Guides to join this organization and become united as one voice to bring real change to our fisheries before its too late. The association is a non biased organization, whether you fly fish, float fish, plug, backbounce, fish spawn, we are all in this together. If anyone has any questions about the MRGA, feel free to shoot me a text or email, as well as those looking to get out on the water this year. Its never too early to book a date or two, and between the Spring Steelhead, Summer Smallmouth and Pike, September Chinook, and Fall Stealhead, you have lots of options. Thanks everyone and cheers!