October 2nd, 2019 | Officially Fall

It's officially Fall, and we couldn't be happier. By far the most popular season among anglers, it provides countless fishing options and techniques. Weather permitting, it can really be a magical time to be on the water, with comfortable temps, great scenery, and active fish. 

We've received mass amounts of rain in the past few days, and it's not done yet. Flood warnings have been issued for several counties in West Michigan. After today however, seems like the rain will stop, allowing the rivers to drop and clear. Even though high water makes fishing challenging, (if not impossible), it's the biggest factor in drawing salmon and steelhead upstream. So even though we are essentially "blown out" for the next 3-4 days, it will no doubt bring more fish into the rivers. Here's an update for the Rogue River..

1140 Cubic Feet per Second (CFS) and will likely keep climbing throughout the day. It may have crested already, hard to say.

Normally we tell folks to wade with EXTREME caution when the Rogue is at 600 CFS, especially for people who have never been. Clearly, it's way over that, so wading is ill advised for the next few days. Thankfully, the Rogue drops and clears relatively quickly compared to other rivers, mainly because it's a smaller watershed. It flushes out in roughly 4-6 days. Hard to say when it will be approachable again, but right now, it's safe to say it's completely blown. 

The Muskegon is also huge, at 7470 CFS. Still rising....

The safe wading level for the Muskegon is ~1100 CFS. Obviously this one is out for the wading angler. 

The Pere Marquette is very high as well, at 1210 CFS with no signs of slowing down. It has been raining up there for roughly the past 48 hours. Not sure if the PM is blown out, but it's certainly high, and based on the radar yesterday it's likely to keep swelling. 

The King Salmon run is at peak. There might be one or two more pushes of fish, but for all intents and purposes, it's at peak. Steelhead have showed up already, and will continue to do so, especially with the high water and cold nights that are in store for the remainder of the week. 

Trout fishing has been good, mainly on nymphs and eggs. The streamer bite will be awesome with the high stained water. In dirty water, flashy streamers are your best bet. Save the small naturals for clearer water. 

The Steelhead run is gaining momentum, and should be game on once the water drops. We will get more fish upstream throughout the month, and by late October it's normally good to go. Obviously it's all weather dependent, so we will see what happens. 

For the past week, we have been fishing in Montana. It was my first time out there, and I was beyond impressed. The fishing was so incredibly good, that it almost brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. The scenery, landscape, trout habitat, good company, and overall fishing action was like nothing I've ever experienced. I felt like I was at some sort of children's fishing camp, with good sized trout coming out of every single spot, all day long. I didn't really believe the stories I've heard from Montana, but now that I've experienced it firsthand, I am a believer. It was ridiculously good.  

Just so many fish... It was constant action. Justin and I caught an estimated 120 trout over the first 2 days. It was stupid. We are considering putting together a hosted trip to Montana for some time in 2020. Next time you are in the shop, let us know if you're interested. We are still trying to figure out what type of trip this would be, so we need some feedback from candidates on price, lodging, food, expectations, etc. 

Thanks for all the support over the summer. We had a great season, and really looking forward to this Fall. We've got lots of classes coming up, so check our website for updates scheduled events. Brews and Bugs will be starting later this month, and we've already got a solid lineup of tyers for this fall and winter. Details will be posted very soon. 

Also, for some mysterious reason, our Instagram page vanished recently. We are still trying to determine what happened exactly, but in the meantime, we created a new page @nomad.anglers    Hopefully we figure out the issue soon.

Thanks again for all the support! 

-Erich