While four of the SimplyOutdoors’ crew head up to Baldwin to try our luck catching some steelhead, we figured we tide all of our wonderful readers over with a new video.

This video is from last May, and it features Jeff, along with a few new friends, chasing after a gobbler known in our parts as “Mr. Waddles”.

Enjoy the video, and you can expect a full fishing report sometime early next week.  Earlier this year, I wrote a post about how an electric barrier on the river was finally being turned off, and after reading one of the local reports, it appears that the barrier’s dormancy has had some positive effects.  We can’t wait!

But, regardless, fish or no fish, I’m sure we’ll manage to HAVE FUN!

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I walked out the back door yesterday afternoon – to take out the trash – and I was promptly met by spring.  This weekend the weather has been unbelievable, especially considering that we were ice fishing just last weekend; we hit the 50 degree mark yesterday, and we’re supposed to be in the high 40′s, low 50′s all week this week.  So much for ice fishing, I guess.

What I experienced this weekend, though, is one of the big things I love about Michigan – the definite change of the seasons.  And while it was a little depressing to know that the melt off would signal the end of our ice fishing for the season, it’s great to know that the melt off also signals to the steelhead that it’s time to head upstream.  You have to love the variety that Michigan’s woods and water provide!

And, I can’t forget, that this warm spell will also start to stir something inside Michigan’s turkey flock as well; they will starting thinking about those good-looking hens, and start gobbling from their roost very soon.  Of course, come the second of May, I will be in those woods and appreciating the newly regenerated woodlot and hoping that a lovesick tom heads my way.

Watching the changing of the seasons in Michigan is a very unique and one-of-a-kind experience.  And not a season goes by that doesn’t provide something exciting and stirring to do outdoors – and this year it has been even better. Usually this time of year I would be experiencing some serious cabin fever, but with my new ice fishing discovery, those feelings were definitely kept at bay.

As March arrives, there are no thoughts of cabin fever or seclusion.  The thoughts I have are those of anticipation and reflection; reflection on the first fish I ever hauled through the ice, and my wife’s first pike through the ice; reflection on quads heading across the frozen tundra that was Houghton Lake, and sitting on the ice eating hot pizza; and anticipation for the steelhead that will be running soon and the turkeys who will be answering our new Cottage Craft Works calls.

Every one of Michigan’s seasons brings with it a chance for a great outdoor experience.  And I look forward to every one of them.

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The trip usually starts around 2 in the morning – earlier if Jeff has his fish Nazi way – and takes a toll on everyone involved.  But during the moment you never think about your lack of sleep, or worn limbs – you only think of the gratification that can come from a trip such as this.

After riding in the warm truck for a few hours, it’s hard to muster the courage to leave the sanctity of the vehicle, purposely open the door, and invite the bitter cold in……especially at 5 in the morning.  But we do it.  Many layers are worn underneath our breathable waders, and you better make sure you have some damn good socks on because 30 degree water tends to take its toll on feet; before you know it, they’re more like solid stumps then they are appendages used for walking.

With gear packed, backpack cinched up tight, and fly rod in hand we make our way down the snow-covered path to the place where the silverheads roam: the Pere Marquette river – which has scenery made for a National Geographic nature special, and is one of the main reasons for going head-to-head with the frigid temps.

After a few minutes of listening to the crunch of snow under your wading boots, and the feel of the arctic blast against your face, you finally arrive at the river.  Here you are rewarded with the sound of tranquility:  the constant lapping of water against rock….against wood….against gravel; the sound of water traversing its way to the big lake, providing a needed method of transportation and seclusion for the spawning that is about to begin; providing a hiding place for steelhead.

As the minutes pass by, the dark mysterious form of the river slowly becomes visible and reveals its true beauty.  Fly rods are in-hand, casts begin to be made, and anticipation begins to mount.  Every cast could be the one, and each of us strives to make this cast the cast.  Any frustration that settles in immediately begins to fade as the rising sun begins to reveal the dark forms making their way upstream into the shallow abyss located in front of you.  The day is truly starting to take shape, and any thoughts of cold……or sleep…..or lack thereof, are gone; the only thoughts pertain to the fish, the cast, the moment, and what needs to be done to capture it and keep it forever.

Finally, after clearing eyelets of ice for the 40th time, and after about 100 casts, it happens: one of the silverheads take your offering and explode to the surface to rid themselves of it.  Breaking the surface of the water, the burst is spectacular, and the fight is instantly intense.  Fishing line begins to rip downstream, frozen fingers fumble to adjust your drag, and the fight is definitely intense.

With the fight out of the fish, the net touches the winter stream, and one of the purposes for being there is in the net.  Pictures are taken, high fives and congratulations are given, and cold is the last thing on the anglers mind.  The hooks are removed, and today’s quarry is placed back in its rightful home – back in the peaceful stream, in the middle of the wild forest, in the middle of a perfectly wild place……in the middle of a small piece of heaven.

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Our trips to the Pere Marquette River in recent years, have been somewhat disappointing.  The river is always an inviting place, and we always love being able to enjoy its sure beauty, but in the last few years the steelhead run hasn’t been what it used to be.  And for a lot of us, that could be blamed on the electric barrier installed on the river a few years back in order to keep lamprey at bay.

Recently, though, and to the cheers of many anglers and guides who felt the barrier was only impeding the natural upstream movement of the steelhead, and not keeping the lamprey out, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has decided to treat the river with a lampricide, and leave the electric barrier dormant.

Rock on!

Personally, I have definitely seen a difference in the numbers of fish moving through the system, and I cannot wait to see how this affects those numbers this year.  Jeff and I firmly believe that this move will make this year’s steelhead run one of the best we’ve seen in a long time.

And we can’t wait to hit the river, and see if our feelings are true.

I’m glad that the USFWS listened to all the concerned anglers and guides, and made a move in what we hope is the right direction.

Fish on and tight lines!

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The trip started with a 12:30am trip to Walmart.  Now Walmart usually isn’t our first choice when it comes to sporting good equipment, but you tell me another store that is open this early in the morning.

Maybe I should back up a bit first.

Our steelheading trips always start off early, but this one started off way earlier than normal.  After watching the Michigan State Spartans lose the National Title game to those pesky Tarheels, we knew that – if we managed to sleep – we’d only be getting about 2 hours in before we need to leave.  What to do, what to do.

All of us then decided, that leaving right then, and sleeping in the truck once we got there was probably the better choice.  We also decided that we needed a few last minute things, and so it was off to Walmart we went.  Once that task was completed, the truck was loaded up, and we were off on our steelheading adventure………..at 2 in the morning.

In retrospect maybe we should have slept for a couple of hours, because as it usually goes on these trips, none of us slept at all.  It sure makes for a long day on the river when you are sleep deprived.  At the start I was fine, but it’s always the trip home that kills ya.  Thankfully I had a couple of people who could stay awake so that they could drive me home.  That worked out nicely.

We arrived on the river at around 4:30am – a full two hours before we would even see daylight.  Usually getting here this early is a good thing, and is required in order to find a spot; but on this particular day our promptness wasn’t really needed.  Why, you ask?  Because there were no fish.

Alright, so there was a few fish in the system, and Jeff did manage to land one.  Matt actually landed one as well, but once we realized that he was inadvertently hooked in the belly, that catch got taken off the scoreboard.  Me, on the other hand, well I think the title should speak to how many fish I landed.

It was a rough day, and although we did manage to find a few fish, the fish numbers just weren’t quite where we wanted them to be.  It was a tough go, and required many a cast just to have a random chance of hooking into a fish.  Plus, the 30 degree weather didn’t help the fishing out either;  it brought the water temp way down, and caused the fish to go into a hibernation of sorts………especially around my flies.

The day on the river was great, though.  We ate lunch on the bank, laughed a bunch, and all around had a good time.  And while I was frustrated with the lack of fish, and a little crabby on the way home because of it, the day was definitely not a waste; if you’ve never fished while its snowing, you just haven’t lived yet.

This will probably be our sole steelheading trip this year; and while it didn’t go exactly as planned it still created memories:  my reel bouncing downstream (for another post), Jeff’s mask pulled down over his face while sleeping, and Matt’s “fat guy in little coat” routine.

Another steelheading season come and gone, but turkey season is right around the corner.

Note: We did take a picture of Jeff’s fish, but unfortunately I don’t have it yet.  Maybe after reading this he’ll feel like sharing it.

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