With Spring comes warmer air temperatures, which melts the snow of Winter, triggering runoff. Runoff can be a great time to be on the river with a guide. There are certain times when the snowmelt or Spring rains cause the river to be unsafe to wade or cross. High water and decreased visibility can make it very dangerous to even step foot in the river. Why not jump in a boat, and safely float down the river with a guide who loves the challenge of fishing dirty high water conditions. Your expert guide has quite a bit of experience when fishing high water conditions. This is a great time for you to ask questions and learn about fish behavior during high water. During this time of decreased visibility, it can help to cover multiple river miles to have a chance at high water success.
Steelhead
On many of our Michigan rivers Spring is a time for Peak Steelhead fishing. Spring brings a large amount of Steelhead into the river to spawn. Steelhead spawning typically occurs during March and April. Peak spawning activity always depends on weather, water, and individual river. This is a time of year that brings lots of fish and anglers to the rivers. Although there are many anglers enjoying their own time on the water, there are plenty of fish to go around. River Ninja Outfitters prefers to fish to non-spawning fish. This leads us to fish behind spawning fish or in the deep dark holes for staging fish. Spawning fish provide a unique buffet line of eggs. We like to leave these fish unmolested and keep the buffet line open. When you find spawning fish and let them be, it can be some of the most fun fishing of the year. Not only steelhead, but resident rainbow and brown trout are found behind spawning gravels, feeding like there is no tomorrow. During this high water time nymphs and other food sources may get kicked into the flow and carried downstream to the first eager fish.
Stripping Streamers
Brown Trout are a favorite fish to chase for many anglers in Michigan and across the Eastern states. They are known for being very aggressive and territorial. Fishing streamers for trout is active and involved. The angler is tapping into the fish’s attack instinct. This leads to some ferocious eats of your fly. Casting a fly to the bank, or some piece of structure, and stripping it back to the boat seems simple. There is actually a lot of technique that goes into each and every part of this game. Some of the most fun I have ever had in a boat was spent stripping streamers for trout. Also some of the wildest fish experiences I have had were during streamer trips. The fish are chasing the fly back toward the boat and you get to see the whole thing.