22 degree day, wind gusts of 35 mph, negative 5 wind chill, white outs off and on ten times over all day long. Few can withstand fly fishing in blistering cold, windy weather. There’s only one thing that can push an angler out on a blistery cold day like this past Saturday. It’s the addicting quest to hook-up with the ultimate fresh water game fish in North America; the Muskegon River Steelhead!
Here are the “Men of Steel.” Buzz & his son Spencer joined me this past Saturday for what turned out to be a good day of steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River. I’ve got nothing but pure respect for these guys not only for wanting to go forward with the trip, but more so for not wanting to put the fly rods down. They fished hard all day long despite the constant barrage of blistering cold, relentlessly windy, nasty weather. Hats off to you my friends! You guys both truly are Men of Steel!
Only one thing can warm you up on such a cold day and that’s catching steelhead. Here’s Spencer with the best of the day. An awesome 13lb mature double stripe buck! Spencer did an exceptional job fighting this beast. The steelhead instantly took him into his backing 100 yards down stream in 2 seconds! Steelhead this strong are usually lost due to small mistakes made by an angler during the fight. Not with Spencer. He handled the blistering runs, acrobatic jumps, and instantaneous pulls flawlessly! Awesome job Spencer! Awesome fish!
Here’s Spencer with a chromed out steelhead so bright he had to wear shades to block the glare.
Muskegon river conditions are great for steelhead right now. Current flow is at 2,900 cfs. Look for the flow rate to maintain thru Thanksgiving. Water temps are dropping rapidly. Key winter lies, approach silently, fish thoroughly.
post by: Jon Fortuna