Mariner
Member
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2008
- Messages
- 268
I finally got my feet wet for Great Lakes area fishing. I went out with guide and uberinstructor Loren Williams (occasional poster) of www.flyguysoutfitting and had a blast. It was cold and not particularly crowded for a holiday weekend.
We Spey casted above the Pineville boatramp cutting through some slush with tube flies and tungsten leader butts. Got a couple of hits, no takers.
The afternoon took us down river to find less slush and even fewer anglers. We found a hotspot where I landed my first two steelhead
I hooked into two browns there. The first shook his head on the bottom--it looked like someone flashing a bronze plate. The second was one of the biggest freshwater fish I've ever seen and I will lose even more sleep over it if I describe it further.
Large spawn patterns (sz. 6) in numerous colours bought attention.
Loren's backgrounds in wildlife science and FF coaching make him an excellent guide and an even better instructor.
On a sidebar--we (my wife & kids came along for a little road trip to round out the weekend) could not get over how nice the people are up there. Fishermen were swapping flies left and right and giving away leaders and advice. On the second day when I was suiting up on my own, one old-time local pulled up and said he was cruising up and down the river, seeing how guys are making out. He topped up my mug with coffee from his thermos and gave me a couple of egg patterns to try.
I ran into this Quebecois couple who fish all over N. America. The man said, "Zeez are zee nicest countrymen you have. Zey zmoke, zey fish, and zey drink beer." I think they even smoke fish while drinking beer. For being at the epicenter of hook & cook, they sure are good folks.
We Spey casted above the Pineville boatramp cutting through some slush with tube flies and tungsten leader butts. Got a couple of hits, no takers.
The afternoon took us down river to find less slush and even fewer anglers. We found a hotspot where I landed my first two steelhead
I hooked into two browns there. The first shook his head on the bottom--it looked like someone flashing a bronze plate. The second was one of the biggest freshwater fish I've ever seen and I will lose even more sleep over it if I describe it further.
Large spawn patterns (sz. 6) in numerous colours bought attention.
Loren's backgrounds in wildlife science and FF coaching make him an excellent guide and an even better instructor.
On a sidebar--we (my wife & kids came along for a little road trip to round out the weekend) could not get over how nice the people are up there. Fishermen were swapping flies left and right and giving away leaders and advice. On the second day when I was suiting up on my own, one old-time local pulled up and said he was cruising up and down the river, seeing how guys are making out. He topped up my mug with coffee from his thermos and gave me a couple of egg patterns to try.
I ran into this Quebecois couple who fish all over N. America. The man said, "Zeez are zee nicest countrymen you have. Zey zmoke, zey fish, and zey drink beer." I think they even smoke fish while drinking beer. For being at the epicenter of hook & cook, they sure are good folks.
