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Ok....the end of August was interesting to say the least. Some summer steelhead showed up in a few west side rivers and Jeff and I spent a day down in the southern part of the state looking for them. We got clobbered with brutal thunderstorms but toughed it out and we actually each hooked (and promptly lost) a chrome summer run fish. We each landed a fish as well....they just weren't what we thought they were going to be. This fatty smacked a purple/black skamania leech on a fast retrieve.
Next up on the agenda as we neared the end of August was something I had never tried before.....thunderstickin' for Kings! It's something I've always wanted to try but never had the proper equipment or anyone else who wanted to go. After a trip to Gander Mountain I got setup with the only spinning rod/reel that I own and after grabbing a handful of fire tiger thundersticks it was off to the river. What we found was some of the most exciting fishing I've ever seen. Jeff hit a fish right off the bat but after a short fight it busted his 12lb like it was nothing. A few minutes later though he hooked another hot fish and it ran us all over the river. After giving chase in the boat and a few close calls with a logjam I was able to net a MASSIVE chrome king for Jeff. What a thrill to have a fish well over 20lbs in the boat! The strain on Jeff's face says it all.
And a mugshot before the release.
Strangely enough that was the last fish Jeff would hook all day. I managed to hook the final 4 fish of the day....and I lost all of them. The first two fish got away because of a reel malfunction...the drag was screwed up and as fish took line it would tighten the drag, ultimately locking up the drag and its no surprise that the fish busted my 20lb fireline with no trouble at all. I was furious that my brand new equipment wasn't working properly and had cost me 2 fish. Luckily we met some friendly guys on the river who were able to jury-rig a quick fix that was enough to get me through the day. The final 2 fish I hooked were red hot and out of control, both finding the wood after a good tussle and breaking me off. Needless to say I had my eyes opened at how aggressive RIVER kings can actually be if you find them early enough and pursue them in this manner. We got out the next weekend and things were a little slower. We each hooked a fish or two but once again they were out of control and we never even got close to landing one. Oh well....at least I know for next year and will be a little more knowledgeable on the technique.
After 2 straight weeks of not fishing we were met with the opening of grouse season!! This is something I have grown to love nearly as much as fishing and to say I was excited would be an understatement. I was also excited to be shooting for the first time with my new Canon DSLR camera. Loo was also excited and ready to hit the woods.
Grouse hunting is always a challenge, especially so in the fall. The foliage is extremely thick making it very hard to see birds well enough to get shots off, not to mention how tiring it is to drag yourself through for hour after after. Also, woodcock don't open for another week so you don't have the action they normally provide to keep you at least getting some shots. On this day, however, Jeff got some really quality looks at 3 different birds. The first good look he got resulted in the first grouse of the 2011 season! It was a small juvenile bird but a grouse none the less. Nice shot buddy!
After feeling pretty good about bring that grouse down Jeff proceeded to fan on 2 killer chances......hence why grouse are called the king of game birds. They can make you look silly no matter how long you've been at this game and thats what keeps hunting them from ever getting old. Despite kicking up quite a few birds I never got a good look and never even raised my gun. I did have 4 or 5 woodcock go up right at my feet, but with the season still a week a way I had to let them pass. By late afternoon we were exhausted and we wanted to save a little bit of time for some fishing. Loo was ready for some rest too.
Well deserved....she did her job.
And we toasted to the start of what is hopefully a wonderful upland season. Cheers!
We got to the river about 6pm and as expected it was full blown madness due to salmon season. Even in the chaos of dozens of cars in the parking lot, boats everywhere, and extremely heavy fishing pressure there is a silver lining. 99% of the people there are salmon fishing. We were there looking for egg eating trout so we had our pick of any spots we wanted. For the first hour and a half or so it was kind of slow. I caught 4 or 5 small juvenile steelhead and Jeff did about the same plus he lost a decent looking brown. With only a half hour of light left we walked upstream to one of my favorite spots on the river. Sure enough there was a pile of spawning salmon right above a fast knee deep riffle that always seems to hold some quality browns. It didn't take many casts for me to connect on a good fish. He fought hard against my 5wt rod and 5x tippet and was exactly what you hope for this time of year. I scooped him up gently in my rubber bagged net and Jeff and I enjoyed the colors only a fall brown trout can display. He was about 17 inches long, and judging by the size of his head he has alot more growing to do.
Jeff got this cool shot as he swam back off in pursuit of my eggs to fill up for the upcoming spawn.
That closed out our day and we headed back to the truck with smiles on our faces. We worked our tails off for 1 bird and 1 good trout....but can you really expect anything more than that? Fall has officially begun in west Michigan and for me thats as good as it gets.
Last weekend was the woodcock opener and my Dad joined Jeff and I for a full day of chasing birds. Nothing beats the anticipation of pulling into the north woods and getting geared up.
The amount of fruit around this year is insane! These are thornapples and when we found them we found birds.
The bottom line for the day is we saw a TON of birds. The final count was 18 grouse and 16 woodcock. The downside is due to some bad luck and also some rusty shooting we came away with surprising little. After several misses on both grouse and woodcock for Jeff and Dad Jeff shot the first woodcock of the season. A short time later, while walking in on a hard point by Loo, a grouse kicked up and gave Jeff a solid shot and a left to right crossing grouse. He missed the bird and as he scrambled to re-load his gun a second bird flew right at him. He wasn't able to shoot but the bird flew straight towards Dad and then started cornering away. Dad fired a shot and down went his first Michigan grouse!
I may always joke with Dad that the old Browning square-back isn't a "birdgun" but he proved it is more than capable of taking down the fastest bird in the woods.
The rest of the day was more of the same.....plenty of birds, quite a few good chances, but only a couple more birds brought down. Jeff got his second woodcock of the day after fanning on another grouse or two. I did the same, I missed 2 decent grouse chances and then capitalized on my first woodcock of the year. Dad shot at another grouse or 2 and 4 woodcock but the early grouse proved to be his only bird. Soon it was late in the day and everyone was feeling the many many miles we had put on in thick cover....especially Loo.
We decided it was time to make the hike out.
Back at the truck we relaxed and had a beer.
Our bounty for the day. Given the opportunities we had this is a bit disappointing, but then again everyone got at least 1 bird and we all had shots and chances at others. It certainly wasn't the birds fault we didn't bag more.
The next day Jeff and I went out for an afternoon of egging behind the salmon. The leaves have really started to change up north and the colors were beginning to pop.
Jeff fishing one of those mesmerizing deep green dropoffs where you just know a few big browns are hanging out.
Despite fishing incredible looking water and having dozens or redds to fish behind we just weren't getting a thing. This was a prime example of there literally being too many salmon. They were on the redds, in the holes, and pretty much anywhere else you wanted to cast. Needless to say this resulted in many un-wanted hookups (read snags) and we lost a pile of eggs because of this. Jeff's facial expression says it all after yet another set of flies is lost to a big king.
We stuck with it though and kept fishing our way down river. We came to a perfect dark green drop off behind at least a dozen spawning fish. After a dozen drifts with my eggs I decided to try something different since I was convinced a fish must be setup there waiting for an easy meal. I tied on a small #16 drab olive caddis pupa and my first drift into the chute produced a nice hookup. This was no bruiser, but it was also no dink. This colorful guy was our only fish of the day and he made me work hard for the hookup.
Faceful of spawning colors...
Rumor is a few steelhead are around and I've seen a few pics of fish. Right now though, for steelhead or browns, fishing is a bit tough because there are too many salmon getting in the way. In another couple weeks when the salmon have started to die off things could be really good and I know I plan to test that theory first hand.
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