Happy New Year!
2016 was a good year to be an angler in Michigan. I was going through some of my fishing images and found a few that liked. I thought I would share them in this post:
This image was a foggy morning on a lake rumored to have muskies in it. Although I caught a lot of pike and bass, the muskies proved to be elusive.
This is one of my favorite lakes in Michigan. I fished it in September for a couple of days. It never fails to rain when I fish here, and soon after this very scenic moment, I was drenched.
Steelhead are so beautiful, and so majestic. This one put up a tremendous fight in early November!
I hope you enjoyed the photos! Good fishing to you in 2017!
Muskegon River Steelhead Underwater – Pic of the Day
Amazing image by Kevin Fenestra, of a Muskegon River Steelhead. Hand model is Erik Rambo, great fish guys!
Another Pic of Day
Nothing cooler than a fall steelhead!
Kevin Feenstra
My Encounter with a River Otter
One of the hidden benefits of being a fishing guide is the opportunity to witness cool moments in nature. Wildlife photography is a side hobby of mine, and for years I have been hoping to capture a good photograph a river otter.
A lot of times you see otters on TV and they appear to be social, gregarious animals that are friendly and curious. On the contrary, our local river otters are reclusive. Though they are always present, I only see them a few times of the year if I am lucky. Not only are they reclusive, but they are fast. They are as much land animals as water animals. Often when I see them they are running off onto dry land after catching a juicy trout.
Recently, I saw such an otter running down the bank. I had my camera handy and snapped a couple shots as the otter galloped by.
This was a typical otter encounter, and soon the otter disappeared into the brush. They are extremely fast!
I took the boat upriver and started to wade and spey cast, hoping for an early October steelhead. As I waded down the run, I heard a strange crackling noise. I looked upriver into some tangled brush to see the otter. He was crunching on a salmon carcass.
I was amazed to see the brutal efficiency of the animal. Otters are fierce animals. The otter had bright white teeth, and fed undisturbed for about ten minutes. I was able to get fairly close but did not want to ruin the animal’s dinner.
A lot of the wildlife that I see on the river is easily overlooked while fishing. It is often only when you look at the small details that some of the coolest things you can see on the river appear. Soon after they appear, they are gone.
Thanks for looking!
Amazing Otter picture
Kevin Feenstra continues to take amazing pictures along the Muskegon River this Otter picture feasting on a dead Chinook Salmon is a once in a lifetime experience and Kevin captured it perfectly with this image.
Life Cycle of a Midwest Steelhead
I was thinking about steelhead this weekend–they are still quite a ways off but it is hard not to think about them from time to time. Things look optimistic for this fall; the reports from the big lake are pretty good and the fish are abundant and healthy. Another indicator that we have about steelhead is by looking at the summer steelhead. I spend most of my time on the Muskegon, and though we don’t have a sustained summer run, we do get stragglers. This year stragglers have been big–this is another indicator of health of the steelhead in the lake.
This spring, we had a period of high water, and I spent my time when the river was flooded photographing steelhead that had moved up into tiny springs that were now swollen. The photos of these fish can be found here. You think that steelhead are an awesome fish and then you watch them go through water that seems impassable and realize they are even more amazing than you once thought.
Eventually their mission is complete, fry hatches, and the life cycle continues. Those fish that were hatched in these tiny streams have a better chance of survival. The water in these small streams is cold all year.
Thanks for looking and enjoy the rest of the summer!
Kevin Feenstra
April Volley Anchored Podcast – Kevin Feenstra
Make sure to check out Kevin Feenstra on April Vokey’s Podcast – Anchored. Kevin Feenstra who is a great friend, an incredible guide on the Muskegon River, and a Mangled Fly Contributor. Was Interview by April Vokey at his home in November. April and Kevin discuss Midwest Steelhead, you will enjoy this episode click this link to go to iTunes – or go to April Website and find the episode as well.
Respect for Migratory Fish
Each spring, the river floods, and at some point I have a few days off. It is not that steelhead can’t be caught on those days. Fly fishing, however, requires that the fish see the fly and if I don’t feel that this minimum requirement can be met, cancellations are the likely result. Steelhead are of course a great gamefish. They are my favorite fish. I also have a tremendous respect for steelhead and other salmonids as they migrate. They really do amazing things as they traverse rivers big and small. When I had some cancellations last week, I visited several small streams and witnessed these marvels of nature working their way up river.
Steelhead take advantage of small creeks when they are flooded. As soon as this tiny, tiny creek became high enough for travel, up came the fish in droves.
In any creek, steelhead take advantage of breaks in the current. In fishing terms, these are snags. Steelhead love structure just like any other fish. They need the structure for protection in small places but they also need the break in current that these provide.
In this stream, a series of tiny water falls existed. I did not see the steelhead leaping over them, but they had definitely been clearing them, most likely at night.
The fact that there was little water in the stream was not an issue to these fish at all. I saw some fish temporarily stranded as they worked their way through the shallows.
Steelhead are a precious commodity, this year more than ever. The Great Lakes fisheries are in a period of change, with the decline in baitfish populations and the subsequent increased pressure on other species, such as steelhead. Now more than ever, they need a little respect. This means protecting the fish while they are in the rivers, and protecting them on the small scale even as we fish and handle them. They deserve it!