Bronze and Steel Outfitters -- Fishing Reports

Michigan 10/3

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:01:46 +0000

Salmon Camp ‘09 was a success. A mix of wet and dry weather then sprinkle in a little sun……..But the fishing was worth it. I would like to thank Bob for taking care of the logistics of who was coming and when. This was the 9th year of Salmon Camp, I look forward to it every year. From that original group, Bob, Jerry, Lee, Tony, Ward made it back this year, with some new faces, Ryan and Brad. And then to add some comic relief we had Pat and Ray join us for their 3rd year at Salmon Camp. It was a pleasure to share the water with all of you. I look forward to the next time we meet on the river.

James

March 7

admin — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:27:33 +0000

Fished some big water today. Swung streamers all day. Covered lots of water and finally came up with this.

2/17

admin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:39:40 +0000

Finally!!!!!! It was great to get out today. About time the ice broke. I was getting some serious cabin fever. We headed far east today. I was out with Dave. He managed to get into quite a few fish today. It was just what the doctor ordered to cure cabin fever. Most of fish came on nuke eggs with steelhead orange with a yellow veil being the hot color. Ice and slush was a problem early, it burnt off by around 10:30. We covered some ground and caught fish in all the holes.

12/28

admin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:32:21 +0000

Headed east today with Kevin. Weather was cooperating and the flow was decent. The posting of private property is a major problem on this certain river. Crowds are increasing and non-posted land is decreasing. We ended up getting into some fish. Observed a landowner who was patrolling/cleaning up his land carrying a shotgun. Not sure if this was a form of intimidation? Another guide floated by with clients on a pontoon and the landowner carrying the gun shouted at him. Not sure what that was about. He never paid any attention to us. Kevin caught fish on the usual, nuke eggs, green caddis, small black stones. Overall, it was a great day to be out.

12/14/08

admin — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:51:09 +0000

Fished out east today with Dave. He is a great fisherman and a pleasure to fish with. We both had high hopes for today with warmer temps fore-casted. The water color and flow was perfect. Angling pressure was surprisingly light. We encountered some light rain that soaked us. Never had a consistent bite. A few minutes of fish and then the bite would shut down again. We managed many hookups. Here is a nice fish that Dave landed.

Here is fat female that is reddy to drop her eggs:

Here’s to another great day out East. I hope warmer temps are in the future weather forecasts.

Thanks,

James

12/13/08

admin — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:38:41 +0000

We had a late start today but still found good water. I had the pleasure of spending the day on the water with Chris and Seth. It was a cold day with temps never getting above 32 degrees. The water was perfect, nice green color and good flow. They had consistent hook ups all day and occasionally landed some!!! Just kidding, they are getting better every time we fish!!! Here is Seth’s first fish of the day.

Not a bad fish. Next up is Chris, here is first fish of the day. Not sure what’s up with the crazy leggs?

They fished indy’s all day. It was an egg bite most of the day. We had lots of slush in the water for most of the day.

Here is Seth with another fish. All fish caught were the typical cookie cutter fish the Lake Erie is know for. We did manage to hook some bigger fish but the fish won those battles.

Overall it was a good day on the water.

Thanks,

James

12/6/08

admin — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:25:10 +0000

It was a good day on the water but it was also extremely cold!!! I had the pleasure of fishing with Steve and Justin from Detroit. Unfortunetly I learned that my digital camera battery doesn’t hold a charge in VERY COLD temps, so we don’t have any pics. We fished out east and had good water. The color was green with a lot of slush in the morning. We managed quite a few hookups and landed some nice fish. All fish were caught on indy rigs fishing the usual suspects, nuke eggs, green caddis, and small black stones.

11/9 Rocky River

admin — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:02:13 +0000

Got out today with Chris and Seth for a half day. We fished the Rocky River. The water was dropping with about 10-12 inches of visibility. Chris and Seth are both new to Steelhead fishing but are quick learners. Actually, Chris is the best creek chub fisherman I have ever met!! We managed to stay out of the rain but couldn’t avoid the wind. It was a cold south wind with gusts that made good drifts difficult. Fished the new SA Sharkskin fly line and it is a nice line. It shoots and mends better then any other line I have ever used. Although it makes a strange whistling noise as it shoots through the rod guides. Didn’t get a chance to do any distance casting yet, I will update with how the Sharkskin casts at long distances. Back to the fishing report….. Seth caught his first Steelhead today. Was a nice female. Seth caught it in the first 10 minutes we hit the water. Even though we had a small technical difficulty Seth still managed to land this fish in no time. Congrats to Seth and his first Steelhead. Lastly…………Chris was 5 for 5!!!!!!! ALL CHROME CREEK CHUBS!!!!!

James

10/26

admin — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:01:36 +0000

Finally got a little rain!!!!!!!!! Made it out east with Andy. He is an excellent fisherman. We fished some locations close to the lake hoping to find some fresh steel. He landed several smaller fish………and then landed this nice fish!

They don’t get any prettier then this. It was a nice day on the water. I hope we get more rain ASAP!!!

James

Michigan 9/20-9/24

admin — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:52:12 +0000

What a trip!! Lots of fish and incredible weather. I almost felt guilty fishing in such nice weather. It was an absolute pleasure fishing with Bob, Jerry, Lee, Will, Pat, Tony, Russ and Rob (The Rattler).

The trip started off with a great day on the Betsie River. We had access to a stretch of water that was beautiful and full of salmon and trout (thanks Rob & Ken). Jerry and Rob caught some nice fish….

The rest of the trip got better each day. We fished the Pere Marquette the remainder of our trip. There was plenty of fish……and plenty of other fisherman. But we managed to find some quiet water with lots of fish. It was nice to have Will on the trip this year. He is a quick study with the fly rod and was casting well in no time. He landed some nice fish and also managed to stay dry (I bet he won’t wear those hip waders next year!).

Next up is Pat. He got into some quality fish. Pat landed a nice brown trout but I couldn’t get a pic. PS. Thanks for the pasta salad and cookies. I hope you make it up to Cleveland for some steelhead.

Tony & Russ. I bet the fish are glad you two left town. Russ is an animal with a fly rod. He hooked and landed too many fish to count. It’s too bad that Ward (Russ&Tony’s brother) couldn’t make it this year. Maybe next year he will have his priorities straight. And then there is Tony……. He also hooked and landed many fish. But for the third time in four years Tony managed to break his fly rod. Instead of a 9ft rod he had a 7 1/2ft rod. He fished with that broken rod the rest of the trip. We had extra rods but with Tony’s record no one wanted to lend him one (Just kidding).

During the week on the water we ran into Jeff Slade a Fish Biologist with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. He was in the stream assessing the larva population of Sea Lamprey. He was very generous with his time and explained the details of his work. Here is a photo of Jeff and the larva Sea Lamprey. His work is crucial in controlling the population of Sea Lamprey (a parasitic eel) in the Great Lakes.

Lee and Bob, Please send some photos of your fish so I can get your pics up on the site. Lastly, I would like to thank Bob, he takes the time to organize this trip yearly. It was good to see him running up and down the river this year. He always seems to pick the best weeks to come fish. Thanks to all of you, it is truly a pleasure to fish with you all. I am already looking forward to next year.

Thanks,

James