Trout season is fully upon us now here in the Upper Peninsula as all our waters are open to fishing-the weekend saw the normal increased fishing pressure as anglers were out pursing their favorite waters.  Rivers are still running very low for this time of the year as no rain has come our way, water temps are ranging from mid 40’s to upper 50’s.  Cold daytime temps have kept insect activity minimal lately as not much for dry fishing opportunities have been available.  Steelhead fishing is essentially done as at this time our focus is now upon Trout fishing.

It’s Troutn Time!

I’d like to say otherwise, but river levels continue to slowly drop as our dry weather patterns continues persist.  Cold clear evenings have kept water temps in the low 40’s to mid 50’s, yesterday’s high temp was in the mid 30’s as snow squalls moved in off Lk Superior nearly all day.  Dropback Steelhead and few fresher fish are still present in rivers across the U.P.-numbers vary from river to river.  Resident Trout have been active and some good opportunities are available with the upcoming Trout opener.  Stoneflies, BWO’s & a few Caddis have been bringing some Trout to the surface-the warmest daytime hours are providing for the most surface activity.

Opening Day-a celebration of another season of fun!

This weather here in the U.P. never ceases to amaze me- we can go from a snowstorm to 4 days later 76 degree sunshine.  Yesterday we did manage to get a small amount of heavy rain in some areas that helped our dry conditions-currently wild fire danger is extremely high with the arid conditions.  Steelhead are present in our river systems, dropback fish are most prevalent with a few newer fish available.  Resident Trout have been active as well with the warming water temps, Trout opener is arriving quickly & some good opportunities will be available this season.  Water levels are still low & clear @ this time with temps from the upper 40’s to mid 50’s.

Chris holds a trophy Brook Trout that nearly made him wet his waders!

It looked like Winter here again for a few days as a nice snow storm gave us around 6 inches of snow in areas across the Upper Peninsula-this helped our drought a little bit.  Currently rivers are still the very low-seems as if the majority of our Steelhead have taken care of their business and are headed back to the lake.  I’m sure we will see some more fish trickling into the rivers, but without any influx of water there probably wont be any more big push of new fish.  This will go down as one of the earliest & strangest runs of Spring Steelhead i have ever seen here in the U.P..  Should fair well for our wild Steelhead as many of the fish were virtually unharrased during their spawning as lots of the areas they spawn are closed till Trout opening day-very cool!  I do urge the readers of this blog to take a second before they make a cast onto a redd of spawning Steelhead-by not fishing to spawning fish you can promote the future of our fisheries.  Not harassing fish on gravel ensures natural reproduction & creates less stress on our wild fish.

Fishable numbers of Steelhead are present (drop back & fresher fish are avail.)-resident Trout fishing has been getting much more productive.  Stoneflies have been coming off daily & some fish have been looking to the surface.  Stonefly hatches are not very dependable here, but if they are out the Trout will take full advantage.  Water temps are in the low to mid 40’s & very clear.

Congrats to Colin Henning on his first solo Steel-teaching his Dad how to get it done in the yoop!

It sure seems strange to go Steelhead fishing when it is 70 degrees outside, I am finding myself wishing it was Trout season as this record warmth is not ideal conditions by any means for early April.  Many anglers have been taking advantage of the pleasant weather as fishing pressure has been much higher than normal lately.  Our snow is now pretty much all gone as of today, a few areas in the shade are holding on the the final pieces of Winter.  Some much needed rain fell today from the sky-several small wildfires have popped up across the U.P. as of lately & this precip should help moisten our dry terrain.  Steelhead opportunities are avaible and some nice fish have provided for some good times on the water.  Resident Trout have been getting more active with the warming water temps as well.

Forecast is calling for a fairly wet week-sounds good!!