The winter of 2013-14 in Michigan will go down as one of the coldest in decades, but hey, if you live in Michigan or anywhere near the Great Lakes, you can either cave in and let it beat you, or you take it head on and enjoy some of the great opportunities the winter angling scene has to offer.
This past month I was able to join Capt. Larry Raney of Premier Angling Guide Service on the Manistee River. The Manistee is one of the top winter steelhead rivers in Michigan. The combination of natural reproduction and plantings produces some of the best year- round access to bruising steelhead action.
On this January day there weren’t any signs of a Polar Vortex, but the temperatures hovered in the mid 20’s, so not short-sleeve weather by any means. Larry, like other top guides in West Michigan, takes winter steelheading to the next level and tries to make the trip as comfortable as possible. With their neatly appointed custom river jet boats with full cabin enclosures and heaters, no matter how cold the temps get, the ability to enjoy a day on the river landing monster steelhead is available all winter long.
This day produced nice action with double digit hook ups and landing half. A couple of the fish went over 10 pounds. According to Larry, this was a decent day. If he can hook 10 or more fish, that’s a great day and will take that all winter long. I don’t think there is anywhere in the U.S. that produces those types of numbers in the winter.
One of the best techniques for winter steelhead, is a center pin set up, drifting spawn with various floats. This consists of a 13 foot rod and what looks like an oversized fly reel. Today we used ECHO float rods with Okuma center pin reels. This equates to drag free presentation in the river current of your run. The natural drift presents your spawn in a way the mimics the natural float of eggs at the speed of the river current. This is critical to trigger aggressive bites. When many other techniques fail to produce bites, the center pin float set up will provide the action you crave.
So don’t let this winter get you down. Get out and secure a winter steelhead trip with one of the many licensed guides in West Michigan. Make sure they have all the necessary permits, especially if they fish the National Forest areas with Federal access.
It’s winter, it going to be cold, so you might as well go fishing. I guarantee you won’t regret a winter steelhead float on the Manistee River.
Guided services were provided by Capt. Larry Raney of Premier Angling Guide Service. Larry is a U.S. Coast Guard Captain as well as a Michigan Licensed and U.S. Forest Service and State Permitted guide. www.premieranglingguideservice.com, (231) 510-5862.
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