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We finally got what we prayed and wished for!....cool, cool rain. How the daytime highs go from the upper 90's to the upper 50's F is just the continued saga of the global bizarre climate change roller coaster....but we needed it bad!. It has poured rain in Michigan for the past 48 hours and much welcomed. Water levels are rising, river temps. are falling and the remaining summer steelhead and caddis hatches are poised and ready to roll!....next weeks highs are expected in the uppper 60's/70's...what a relief.
SO....what's this garbage about summer Skamania steelhead eating terrestrials?....YEP AND MORE .....YUP !....wouldn't have believed it myself to be honest. It all started weeks ago on Trail Creek in Indiana when guiding several clients in log overhanging pools and hot steamy weather. Crickets, beetles , inchworms and hoppers were all over in the sweltering hot heat. I saw an inch worm fall from the log jam and ...WHAM1... the swirl take of a huge summer run destroying it. With Doc Davison and that crazy YOU TUBE video we posted, the fish hammered a brown caterpillar off the bank. This week, guiding several clients from Chicago, Roger Nordy caught his first summer run on a beetle imitation that hit the water and his chrome beast went three feet to inhale the offering with a vengeance. If you want to try and catch 30-40 ich steelehead on a floating line and terrestrials....which by the way is way too cool!....that's what I've been up to and loving every minute of it. Trail Creek is a limestone spring creek and real cold water in its upper stretches in the 50'sF....those steelhead act like large spring creek rainbows with all their curiosity.
STATUS OF THE SUMMER STEELHEAD RUN:....Now that we are getting rain and colder temps , The St. Joseph, which had the hottest and driest conditions in a century, should start to see its summer steelhead run finally start up since it got a few fish in June.
Since the Indiana spring creeks are cold and ready for migration, the Lake turnover of temps. is all they will need to bring in the remaining steelhead which are still huge in number.
I will be guiding summer runs thru early September. The bonus at this time of year are the huge 300,000 stocking of Coho Silvers that take place there which bring in big runs of these perfect fighting beasts that readily take the fly if you've experienced them in in Alaska...hot fish!
MUSKEGON TROUT:...now that the waters are cooling , we should start to see the August thru October mega hatches of Green and Cinnamon caddis. The trout have survived well despite the heat and on my trout/smallie trip on Thursday morning with Dave Richardson we caught browns and rainbows  in the middle of the river targeting tricos and tiny olives- Cahills were also emerging all day in the rain...the insects are still on the rocks and cooler water will spur their emergence. Todd at the Trout & Eagle already saw a few salmon porpoising in the pools.
We go from hell heat to freezing polar fleece fast and quick....crazy stuff.
NOTES: I still have a few dates open for summer steelhead if I've piqued your interest....it's a blast!...and the best of summer is yet to come my friends. Every body should experience the hottest fighting game fish in the Great Lakes....hands down no contest! Posted in: beetles , dry fly steelhead , gray drake , Great Lakes summer steelhead , Indiana Skamania , Muskegon trout , summer skamania steelhead , terrestrial insects , Trail creek , trout and eagle