Fly Fishing | FirstLightGear

Opie, PT and Tex After a Morning Adventure

Like it was yesterday I still remember loading up the old Ford truck with our fishing gear, hooking up to ‘old greenie’ and heading for northern waters across the bridge in the U.P. for the first time. PT, Tex and I were 8, 7 and 6 and it was the greatest adventure of our young lives.

For the next 7 years we would head north for the first week of June to explore new waters, chase monster Walleyes and just be boys. Memories and traditions were born during those years that are permanently ingrained in each one of us. From our morning swim/bath that we called the ‘Healer’ because the icy water would cure whatever ailed ya to the endless stories of lost fish and the shenanigans us boys got into while our dads were napping. Every year for one week at Pitko’s Landing on the shores of Caribou Lake we were allowed to just be boys; to test our brawn, enrich our souls and glory in our own victories and defeats. Those are truly some of my fondest memories from my childhood and I feel so blessed to have a father that would invest so much time and patience with me.

The Crew Dockside on Caribou Lake with Old Greenie

Well this weekend all of us boys from the Caribou lake trips are reuniting on the banks of the Pere Marquette River in Baldwin, Mi to recant old stories and chase spring steelhead. It has been 22 years since that first trip north with the boys. A lot has changed over the years as we have all grown older and wiser and have each followed different paths through life. The old men are a little older and us boys are now men but there are some things that will never change. I am looking forward to some very hearty laughs, some great fish stories and spending time enjoying nature with some of my closest friends.

Hopefully none of us end up taking a surprise ‘healer’ in the river this weekend.

Tight Lines,

Opie

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.” – Norman MacLean

A Beautiful Spring Steelhead Caught By Opie

Well it’s just after lunch on a beautiful March Friday. It is almost 40 degrees, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and I’m getting ready to take off and head up north with PT for two days on the river chasing spring Steelhead. It’s been a long week and I couldn’t be more ready to bask in some warm sunlight while floating down the river and just enjoy the serenity of the moment. Below is a short post that PT wrote the other day that I think everyone will enjoy. Spring is just around the corner!

Tight Lines,

Opie

Surprises While Spring Steelheading

I am sitting down to tie some more size 10 stoneflies. I don’t want to, there are already 20 of them in my fly box, but I have to do something to take my mind off the fact that I am not fishing right now. The sun is shinning, very little wind and it is supposed to get warmer and warmer as the day goes on. It is perfect steelhead fishing weather…. but since I cannot fish today I will continue to get my gear ready to go and make sure everything is perfect.

As I was getting my gear around I was thinking about the first couple times that I went steelheading. I was under prepared and not at all conscience of the situations I would encounter. I remember a spring trip a few years ago with a good buddy of mine. We were going on a guided trip on the Pere Marquette river and I could not have been more excited. Rumor had it that there was a ton of fish in the system and we were going to have a great day. We launched the boat about 8am, the sun was shinning and the temp was on its way to forty degrees. We had on a lot of layers but left some of our warmer gear in the truck because it didn’t look like we would need it. About halfway through the trip it started to blow and spit rain but we were hooking fish and having a blast so we just zipped out coats up and kept fishing. We were set up on a good run and fishing from the boat because standing in forty degree water even with good gear on isn’t much fun. My buddy, or should I say lucky ass buddy kept hooking up fish, it was almost every cast. He tried to stay in the boat for the first one and it quickly schooled him, the second one he got out of the boat and headed down river with it but after a short battle it was off. When he hooked the third one in as many casts I was pissed, I didn’t even look up as he got out of the boat and headed down river. I did however look up when I heard a very loud “crack” thinking that he had broken his rod and therefore I would have something to smile about. But I couldn’t see him, all I could see was his rod sticking out of the water, then his head emerged and he stood up, the sound was his rod slapping the water and he went under. Somehow he had managed to keep the fish on, like I said “lucky ass”, and he landed a wonderful 8 pound male steelhead. The celebration was short, remember water temp 40 degrees, air temp around 35 degrees, wind blowing 15 mph and we were 3 hours from the truck, and my buddy was soaked from head to toe, every piece of clothing was wet. Lucky for him the guide had an extra jacket and hat, and he spent the rest of the float hunkered down in front of the heater trying to stay warm. He was lucky, it could have been a lot worse and we were both thankful that there was an extra jacket or it would have been a very serious situation.

Most people think fishing is safe, fun and relaxing, and most of the time it is. However, spring steelheading can be scary and dangerous as well. The fish will wait until the rivers are swollen to start pushing up stream, this means that some rivers can and will be flowing at twice the normal flow, it can be warm or freezing cold, sunny or cloudy and your gear and mindset will make or break your trip.

Be prepared to be cold and uncomfortable and be surprised if the weather is better then expected and when it is at all possible fish with a buddy.

Be safe out there this steelhead season.

A River Runs Through It

Heading North For Some Steelies