After a few days of seventy degrees here in South Carolina it's almost hard to believe that last week this time I was on the Pere Marquette a bit frigid in blowing snow.
This was my second day on the Pere Marquette and my dad drove up and was at Batcke's Baldwin Creek Lodge just after 8 a.m. Steve Martinez of STM Outfitters arrived at 8:30 a.m. and we were on the water minutes later.
The short story of the day was that a few days of snow thaw, rain, and then dropping temperatures brought the river up six inches or so, gave it a lot of color, and of course put all the steelhead in deep holes where we couldn't really see them. I egged one early in the day, picked up a trout or two, but otherwise it was a slow cold day in the snow. Still worth spending a day drifting a beautiful river with dad and Steve but certainly not the day that we had had together last year. Oh well...that's how it goes.
POST TRIP & GEAR NOTES
- I've fished quite a bit with Steve Martinez of STM Outfitters and Indigo Guide Service and he's one hell of a guide. If you are interested in fishing the Pere Marquette or Beaver Island give him a call.
- The Baldwin area is dotted with lodges, motels, and cabins and Batcke's Baldwin Creek Lodge is the perfect base camp choice if you find yourself there for a few days. The rooms were clean, comfortable, and the price is right as well.
- Waterworks-Lamson recently sent me one of their Arx 3.5 fly reels to play around with and it's the perfect match to the Scott Fiberhammer. Besides this steelhead trip I'll hopefully be chasing stripers in the river soon on the Fiberhammer and give it a proper work out for a full review.
- I am finding that I'm in flats boats or kayaks more than wading these days and have been using the Fishpond Westwater Boat Bag to keep all my gear oraganized. I've been really impressed with it inside and out and after two days of pouring rain and snow on the P.M. everything stayed dry without a problem. Full gear review with photos up soon on T.F.M.
- I recently ordered the new Umpqua Deadline 3500 since I've been in need of a do all wader/boot bag. This is it. Full gear review in the works on this as well.
It's always great to get home to Michigan and I am already looking forward to our return in July for a few days at the family lake house for the holiday and then the T.F.M. hosted trip to Beaver Island. Come on summer.
This was my second day on the Pere Marquette and my dad drove up and was at Batcke's Baldwin Creek Lodge just after 8 a.m. Steve Martinez of STM Outfitters arrived at 8:30 a.m. and we were on the water minutes later.
The short story of the day was that a few days of snow thaw, rain, and then dropping temperatures brought the river up six inches or so, gave it a lot of color, and of course put all the steelhead in deep holes where we couldn't really see them. I egged one early in the day, picked up a trout or two, but otherwise it was a slow cold day in the snow. Still worth spending a day drifting a beautiful river with dad and Steve but certainly not the day that we had had together last year. Oh well...that's how it goes.
POST TRIP & GEAR NOTES
- I've fished quite a bit with Steve Martinez of STM Outfitters and Indigo Guide Service and he's one hell of a guide. If you are interested in fishing the Pere Marquette or Beaver Island give him a call.
- The Baldwin area is dotted with lodges, motels, and cabins and Batcke's Baldwin Creek Lodge is the perfect base camp choice if you find yourself there for a few days. The rooms were clean, comfortable, and the price is right as well.
- Waterworks-Lamson recently sent me one of their Arx 3.5 fly reels to play around with and it's the perfect match to the Scott Fiberhammer. Besides this steelhead trip I'll hopefully be chasing stripers in the river soon on the Fiberhammer and give it a proper work out for a full review.
- I am finding that I'm in flats boats or kayaks more than wading these days and have been using the Fishpond Westwater Boat Bag to keep all my gear oraganized. I've been really impressed with it inside and out and after two days of pouring rain and snow on the P.M. everything stayed dry without a problem. Full gear review with photos up soon on T.F.M.
- I recently ordered the new Umpqua Deadline 3500 since I've been in need of a do all wader/boot bag. This is it. Full gear review in the works on this as well.
It's always great to get home to Michigan and I am already looking forward to our return in July for a few days at the family lake house for the holiday and then the T.F.M. hosted trip to Beaver Island. Come on summer.
1 comment:
Nice report and great pictures as always! Beautiful fish as well...
Post a Comment