April 1, 2009

Late March Steel: Finally, waters are warm enough to get steelhead to chase streamers.In the Straits area of northern Michigan, March is a hard nut to crack, at least for me.
Early on water temps hover between 32 and 33F, meaning fish are super lethargic. Then, finally, we start to get some warming days, and the thaw starts.

Although we finally start getting some 45 to 50F daytime temps, that doesn’t really do much to help out the fishing. As the snow melts, and runs into the river, it raises the volume, it raises the height and it raises the turbidity, but it doesn’t raise the water temp. Add 33F run-off into a river that has a 33F temperature, and you get MORE 33F water. We certainly need warmer water than that to entice Burt Lake steelhead to start their hunt for gravel. Fishing is still slow. Bottom bouncing nymphs to lethargic fish is about the only game in town. I only made it out twice during the first half of March, and came up empty both times.

Finally, toward the end of the month, the direct solar exposure, warmer daytime temperatures, in combination with moderating night time conditions, start to nudge up the mercury. On the 18th, the Sturgeon was up to 35F. By the end of the month it was consistently around 37F. Time to make a choice. Fish should start to get a little more active now. I could either suspend nymphs and egg flies under an indicator, or tie on some streamers and swing them slowly. That decision was implanted in my genes many years ago.

Even though the hot streamer fishing is still 3 or 4 weeks away, just the thought of walking and casting was exciting enough. It sure beats standing in one spot for a half an hour, drifting a bobber over dark water. Over three more outings, I managed a 14-inch brown, and a 21-inch (over-wintering) steelhead. That certainly didn’t set the river aflame, but it was fun to have solid hook-ups on aggressive “players”.

Well, the worst is over. April is here. The steelies will be moving into the river in earnest. By the end of the month it ought to feel like trout fishing again. Later.