Another upper teens Lake-Run Rainbow (low sodium) scored on the Big River. Jay Turner holding a 15 – 16 pound brute. Great fish Jay. Nice job. This winter when they fish turn into double strippers, maybe triple strips???? I can’t wait to photograph them then.
While most the recent press on midwest swinging flies talks about using two hands, single hand rods or switch rods work just as well. One of my personal favorites is the Scott L2H 1158/4. Pictured below is Ralph from MA enjoying MI steelhead and putting the Scott L2H to the test.
Nice part about battling the big boyz of the 2013 fall steelhead with the streamer rod, is that you can battling them with 12-15 pound test tippet. Pictured below is Robert from OK with the largest steelhead landed so far with a streamer. Great fish Robert. Would guess the fish to be 14-15 pounds.
The rain had finally stopped, I had the camera set up with the proper ISO, rapid fire was engaged, and my 70-200 with IS was ready. But this steelhead just would not leave the comforts of the river. As water temps have dropped into the 40’s now (48 yesterday). My season of capturing the ultimate jump shot is shrinking. Oh well.
On a positive note last weeks swing game was great. This week I’m looking forward to the challenge of high water. Yesterday with water levels going from 1700 to 2500 cfs we still found a handful of players. Once water levels maintain for a few days and I dial in the color combo’s, I expect a good week on the streamer game again.
With everything about perfect right now to swing flies. Perfect river temperature, plenty of steelhead around, and the desire of anglers and guide. The fly tying bench has been getting some serious use the past couple days. Shot this photo with the use of a UV light to bright up the egg sucking head of this leech pattern. More photo’s of patterns and successful steelhead trips coming soon.
Kean O. with a great fall brown trout in epic colors. Great day on the river yesterday, seeing the old trout water one more time before old man winter locks her in. Streamer fishing was pretty consistent, while not too many would actually put the streamer in there mouth, plenty came out and played with it. Great job Kean getting the couple when you had the chance.
Better get ready to rumble this year, as fish are bigger than normal on the West side. Pictured is Jon with a big boy from the Manistee River from this Friday, Oct 11th. Two-Handed rods are start to come out, as heavy angling pressure is pushing the fish off of the gravy train and into the spots I call home.
With an off day today from the river, did my usual run around, and then caught up on emails, and household chores. One of the emails I had in that long scroll of inbox was from GoPro, with a link to the new studio download. The new studio is a definite upgrade.
So I took the new software for a quick spin. The GoPro Studio is by no means as good as FinalCut but for just looking and doing a quick edit of some GoPro footage it does some really cool stuff.
I really liked the fact that I could export still images from video. Below is an example, as we continue to play around with the Muskie footage we shot this past month. Also another great feature is playing with the fisheye adjustment. Haven’t tried that but plan on it. Anyway check out the download if you self edit. Link is above.
The contrast of the bright orange pants with the green tree line, and the pure beauty of a Michigan fall run steelhead. I love taking pictures of these fish.
My 2013 Muskie chase has come to an end as of today, but had one of the best sun rises of the year. Brings to mind the old sailors saying. Red Sky in the morning, sailors take warning. As the last day brought with it 20-30 mph winds that chased us off a little early. Now back to my home waters and the steelhead chase begins in full swing. It’s truly a mix bag of emotions though. While Muskie absorb you in every way and almost eat at your sole, I do love my leaping, jumping, cartwheeling, quick-running, dime silver friends that I will be coming home too. I will miss the muskie waters and look forward to the chase in 2014. During the winter thoughts and patterns will be developed and new techniques will come to mind. If any of this muskie stuff interests you I am booking additional muskie fly fishing guide days in 2014. Feel free to contact me direct at jray@mangledfly.com
Thank you to all that joined me this fall season!