January 7, 2018 - Cheers to 2019!
We are finally winding down from the holidays, and reflecting on the past year. What a blast! Fishing was spectacular, and we hope the same holds true for 2019. We had the privilege of meeting some awesome new people, and fishing with old friends. It was a great year, both on the water and in the shops. Thanks for all the support! We truly appreciate it!
Lately, fishing has been surprisingly good. The weather over the past 2 weeks has been fairly "stable", with mild temps, decent rain, and light snow (in our neck of the woods anyway). Around the end of December, we got a really nice shot of rain, which definitely helped to shuffle steelhead around. This was good, because things had been slow up to that point, with water being very low, very clear, and very cold. Not the best conditions for steelheading, especially when numbers of fish are low. That hit of rain changed this, and brought some new fish in from the lake. It also moved around existing fish, and gave the water a decent stain. Right now, we are getting lots of rain outside, which certainly can't hurt anything. As long as the temps cooperate, things could ramp up here to kick off the latter half of our winter steelhead season.
Standard stuff has been working; egg flies in pale orange, pink, and cream. Stoneflies, wigglers, and hex are good too. Honestly, it's more about presenting your fly effectively to a fish that wants to eat something. If you can do that all day, and stay focused, you will most likely be rewarded. Since numbers are still fairly sparse, it all boils down to simply getting flies in front of that particular fish.
The trout bite has been fun as well. Using small beadhead nymphs, light tippet, and 4 or 5 wt rods, it's been a nice change of pace. Best part is you can fish most anything; riffles, tailouts, soft edges, pools, runs, pockets, etc etc. You're not relegated only to steelhead "holes," which can get redundant and tiresome. It opens up a lot of water that doesn't get hit as hard.
Streamer fishing has provided some action too. Lots of decent trout, with a couple steelhead chasers mixed in.
Things look promising for the next month. We are glad to have a somewhat mild winter, but the hard water folks are getting frustrated with the forecast. Now is a good time to get your boxes loaded for the spring and summer. Check out our fly tying SCHEDULE for upcoming events, and keep in mind you can order anything from our website with FREE SHIPPING!
Remember to buy your tickets for the Fly Fishing Film Tour, which is happening March 2nd at Wealthy Street Theater. Tickets are $18 at the door, but you can buy them at the shop for $15. If you haven't been to this event before, you should really consider going. It's a great event for fellow anglers to gather and celebrate the sport, while watching some of the most compelling footage you will ever see.
We are also attending a few expos this year:
Jan 10 - 13 (this weekend): Ultimate Fishing Show, Detroit MI
March 9 -10: Midwest Fly Fishing Expo
March 14- 17: Ultimate Sport Show Grand Rapids
Also check out this sweet new video done by Echo Fly Fishing. A great highlight of our local fisheries, and how truly fortunate we are to have such incredible resources right here in Michigan.
#flyshopstrong - Michigan & Great Lakes from Rajeff Sports on Vimeo.
Thanks again for the support. Looking forward to 2019!
-Erich
