Beetled 'Bow for Mr. B

Dog friend, Ken Beutel, shows off a mega-sized rainbow he caught during a dry fly lesson with JD. The fish were eagerly eating terrestrials and this fish happened to inhale a Crowe beetle plopped along the bank.

Beetles, Browns & 'Bows

It's terrestrial time for trout. Late summer's hot days with cool nights are the perfect combination to keep bugs active and make trout hungry. Grasshoppers, crickets, ants, and beetles are all on the menu plate when they hit the water after an errant hope or get carried by a gust of wind. Try "plopping" your flies along shoreline grass or under overhanging brush and branches.

This hefty spring creek brown took an all-time favorite terrestrial pattern, the Crowe beetle. This fly, of western PA origin, has been around for decades and still catches trout whenever they are tuned in to land-based bugs.

The Rapids at the Soo

Here is a shot of the St. Mary's River Rapids from the International Bridge that connects Sault Ste. Marie, MI and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Canada on the left, U.S. on the right. The St. Mary's is the connecting water from Lake Superior to Lake Huron. It hosts an assortment of coldwater species 12 months a year. From the bridge it looks easy to wade and fish, but it is a different story when you are actually there. The water is vodka-clear making the depth hard to judge with boulders that range from house to golf ball-sized. The current runs 10-14 miles an hour. A wading staff, studs on your wading shoes, and lots of caution are needed to fish the main rapids area, this is some of the gnarliest wading you'll find anywhere.

The Soo Locks are on the right hand side and allow ships to bypass the rapids.

Summer Chrome

I caught this steelie in the St. Mary's River a couple weeks ago while on an adventure with fish buds Jeff Liskay and Capt. Brad Petzke. This fish came while wading the rapids and indicator fishing. This was probably the only time I was actually disappointed to hook a steelhead as we were targeting Atlantics. On the other hand, this fish was one of few that I have hooked river fishing during the month of July. I can now definitely say that I have hooked Great Lakes steelhead in rivers every month of the year from January through December. It is also my first Canadian chromer, eh!

River Bigmouth

Muskegon River guide, Kevin Feenstra, shows a largemouth bass from the lower part of the river. Though most recognized as a cold-water fishery, the Muskegon provides plenty of warm-water activity during the summer. The lower river divides into a series of braids and side channels that have plenty of cover for largemouth, smallmouth, and rock bass, plus pike and walleye.