One Warm Afternoon and The Fishing Blows Up

Arriving at river X, I took a look around studying all of the lower stretches for signs of fish. Nothing. It looked bleak. Slowly wading my way upstream, I stopped at a couple of deeper runs and let my line drift through a dozen times but nothing seemed to be around. I continued upstream and met another fisherman coming down.

“Should have been here yesterday.” He said. “Fish were all over the place! Today I haven’t seen a single one!”

Hmmm…I thought to myself. I continued upstream to a deep pool, put an indicator on and let my single egg imitation swirl around in some of the side eddies. I wasn’t long before I hooked and landed a nice hen steelhead.

Fly Fishing Steelhead on North Shore of Lake Superior

After slipping her out of rubber net, she decided to pause right in front of me for a few moments and pose for another, more natural picture.

Fly Fishing Steelhead on North Shore of Lake Superior

After checking my line to make sure everything was straightened out and ready to fish, I proceeded to hook two more and landed a nice buck.

Fly Fishing Steelhead on North Shore of Lake Superior

I was anxious to make my way up to the next hole so I only made a few more drifts and headed upstream. I entered the hole and got myself in position. First drift and hooked a fish right away. It was in the fast water and went a little nuts, popping the hook off with ease.

Drew was on his way and arrived about then. The sun was up and the water was warming slightly, and then the fish just starting snapping up everything we dropped in. As I was tying up, Drew landed four in a row. Several different times we had doubles on, hooking well over 30 fish. We managed to land 13 that afternoon. Some of them were absolute pigs.

Fly Fishing Steelhead on North Shore of Lake Superior

Fly Fishing Steelhead on North Shore of Lake Superior

Drew holds up his first of six steelhead for the day.

Fly Fishing Steelhead on North Shore of Lake Superior

Fly Fishing Steelhead on North Shore of Lake Superior

Releasing another hog buck steely, Drew was nearing euphoria.

Fly Fishing Steelhead on North Shore of Lake Superior

And then this happened.

Fly Fishing Steelhead on North Shore of Lake Superior

It was time for some celebratory cigars.

Fly Fishing Steelhead on North Shore of Lake Superior

Or maybe they were good luck cigars.

Fly Fishing Steelhead on North Shore of Lake Superior

Fly Fishing Steelhead on North Shore of Lake Superior

 


The Rivers Are Slow, The Lake is Good

After spending a solid week fishing a couple of rivers and out in the lake, the lake was the way to go. There were only a couple rivers that were running low and cold with very few fish. Most of the rivers and smaller streams were still locked in with ice or not even flowing into the lake. Fishing was so slow in the rivers that we caught the same fish twice.

fly fishing rainbow trout lake superior tributary

Drew was the first to hook into this kamloop rainbow trout and released it.

fly fishing rainbow trout lake superior tributary

After a while of fishing the same stretch of water, I caught the same fish. A bit of a letdown.

fly fishing steelhead lake superior tributary

We did find one smaller steelhead in there.

Drew had one good day shore fishing in the lake catching 3 or 4 rainbows on his fly rod.

fly fishing rainbow trout in lake superior

But the best fishing took place out in the boat jigging over deep water. There were a couple of very calm, warm and sunny days so we hopped in a boat with our jigging gear and had some really good success lake trout fishing.

Jigging Lake Trout on Lake Superior

Jigging Lake Trout on Lake Superior

Mitch watches the depth finder for fish marks coming off the bottom as Drew and Joe wait anxiously to drop their lines down onto the fish.

Jigging Lake Trout on Lake Superior

Boat Dog

Odin had a good day in the boat too.


Fish Dog

At nine months old, Odin has been doing very well accompanying me on fishing outings. He loves just being outside let alone interacting with other dogs and people. A little young yet last fall, he never really fully experienced deeper water and swimming in it. But now he appears to be quite ready – it’s just that the water is really cold and I don’t want him dumping in quite yet.

Odin looking into the water

Odin really wanted to explore deeper, but I reined him back before he went for it.

Other dogs walking a ways off, and ducks landing nearby seemed to really get his attention. But when reeling in a fish and landing it, he didn’t seem too enthused. Odin is going to make a great bird dog.

Fly fishing Lake Superior Rainbow Trout

Fly fishing Lake Superior Rainbow Trout

A fat healthy hen full of eggs. Odin looks on.

I would let him explore some, as long as he stayed close. From the other dock he appeared quite poised for a picture.

Chocolate lab on dock

The fishing was pretty good too. Drew and I were having some decent action on the fly rods fishing flies under an indicator.

fly fishing rainbow trout on Lake Superior

Drew holding a bright buck.

fly fishing rainbow trout on Lake Superior

Another male rainbow (released).

fly fishing rainbow trout on Lake Superior

A very fat, beautiful hen loaded with eggs.

Chocolate lab on dock

Odin wasn’t the only one looking to take a nap.

Chocolate Lab in Car

It was a good day, once in the car – Odin crashed and was out like a light.