October 17th, 2019 | Peak Colors

Safe to say the leaves are in full Autumn colors right now, and it's pretty spectacular. Makes for a nice backdrop during a long day on the water. 

This last weekend was wet, windy, and sometimes bright and sunny. Got fairly cold at night, and made things sort of challenging overall. Had a great time though, and caught a few fish along the way. 

Trout fishing will remain strong, and steelhead numbers have increased greatly. The King run is dissipating, with maybe another push of fish yet to come. Seemed like the egg bite for trout was tough over the weekend, most likely due to the overabundance of eggs rolling down stream. Got the sense they were just stuffed on salmon eggs and didn't need to eat any. 

The steelhead are coming into the spotlight, with numbers increasing each day. All the rain has helped them migrate upstream, and many more are on the way. Egg flies in Peach, Golden, Orange, and McCheese are safe bets. Basically anything with a Yellow tone. Clown eggs are also a really strong option. Later in the Fall and early winter, Cream, light purple, and light pink will start to become the better colors as the eggs wash out and become more pale in color. Hexes and Stonefly droppers are also wise choices. 

For the swing bite, Olive and Black bodied flies with bright Orange or Chartreuse heads are good templates to follow. Black and purple, copper and black, pink and black, etc etc. It's mainly about being persistent.

We had a full house for our Steelhead 101 class last night in GR. The same class will be held on October 30th, so let us know ahead of time if you are interested in attending. The same class is being held next week in East Lansing on the 22nd. Check our class schedule HERE for a full lineup of fly tying classes and other events.

Recently we've gotten a ton of product from Simms and Patagonia. Lots of cold weather and layering items, as well as hats, gloves, jackets, waders, etc etc. 

Here's a look at the Grand Rapids weather for the next week. Not bad at all!

Thanks for all the support lately! See you out there!

-Erich