RIVERS NORTH UPPER PENINSULA FISHING REPORT!

Back to Winter

March 27th, 2009

Steelhead fishing provided some more fun this past week as fish seemed to be interested in a variety of techniques.  Swinging streamers, Indy nymphing & Bottom bouncing all produced some quality Steelhead.  Nothing beats the feel of a chromer grabbing a streamer-if you haven’t tried this it is by far the most exciting & rewarding way to catch a Steelhead! Water temps are cold-most rivers are running anywhere from 32-36 degrees, these temps are going to stay this way or even drop over the course of the next week.  Forecast is calling for highs in the mid 30’s & lows @ night in the 20’s-this will stop the runoff & keep water temps cold.  The early warm up this Spring caused us to lose a fair amount of our snow, but now we are back on track for a “normal” Spring.  We should be a good waters levels for quite some time this year!

Steelhead-quite possibly more addictive than beer!

Snow & Steel

March 22nd, 2009

More seasonable weather has been present lately here in the U.P.- some snowfall & colder temps have slowed the melt off that was occurring last week.  Rivers have risen & dirtied up with the run off that occurred-water temps have been holding steady @ around 34 degrees.  Currently though with the colder weather the melt off has dramatically slowed and we are back at where we should be historically for this time of the year.  Some fresh Spring run Steelhead have migrated upstream with the increase in water flows-very refreshing to see some chrome fish around!  Forecast is calling for warmer temps this week & some rain-sounds good to me.  Still quite a bit of snow around-Spring isn’t here quite yet!

Head up to the U.P. this Spring for your steelhead fishing-non combat style steelheading in Michigan!

Pot O’ Gold

March 16th, 2009

Unseasonably warm temps have engulfed the U.P. over the past few days & the snow is melting off.  Yahoooooo!!!   Daytime temps have been in the mid 50’s and fishing in the bright sunshine has been absolutely great-normally bright sunshine is not ideal, but this time of the year I really don’t care about hooking fish as much as enjoying being on the water in beautiful weather.  Nonetheless fishing has been descent-some rivers are up a bit & dirty while others that have larger drainages won’t rise as quickly.  Most Steelhead that are present are still Winter fish as only a few new Spring fish have moved upstream with the influx in water levels.  Water temps are holding very steady @ around 34-36 degrees as the cold runoff water from snow pack doesn’t warm the water much.  There is still a very large amount of snow around (see pic below), it is still Winter here by all means!  The forecast is calling for a few more days of great weather, then back to the 30’s for the weekend.

Sunshine & Steelhead-just what the Dr. ordered!

The Light is Getting Closer…..

March 10th, 2009

Some downright beautiful weather has been present lately here in the U.P., sunshine & warm Spring like temps has it feeling a bit like the end of our cold months.  Some of our snow has been slowly melting and in a few areas some bare ground is actually showing!  Don’t get me wrong, there is still a ton of snow around & it will be quite some time before it is gone (probably June)!  Water levels have come up some a a few rivers and some have been virtually unaffected by the melt off.  I was lucky enough to find a couple players on the way home from a trip down to the Detroit area for the Fly fishing show.  It sure felt good to fish in the sunshine and feel a Steelhead on the other end of the fly line. I think of Spring Steelhead as a gift from above, one’s trophy for enduring the long Winter months.