After becoming a member of Flies and Fins several months ago I realized that most people on the site are absolutely crazy about steelhead. I decided that I needed to see what all the fuss was about. I found a guide and hotel/motel in Newaygo MI and reported my findings to my dad. We were set to go pursuit our first steelhead. We gathered a crew and had 6 guys packed in two cars or route for Newaygo, MI. After a quick three hour drive which was full of laughs and throwing brownies back and forth between our two cars on the highway, we arived at the prestigious “Cronk’s Motel”. We put our stuff in the not-so-cozy room and went out to have some dinner. The best we could find in the lively Newaygo MI, was, ironically Cronk’s Resturaunt. The place seemed nice enough ( I guess this guy Cronk runs newaygo seeing everything seemed to be named after him) so we went in and asked for a table for six. We sat down and seeing five of the six guys at the table were Irish, the older folk ordered a round of Irish Whiskey in celebration. This of course left me, my brother, and buddy ryan to our Coca-Colas. After our “delicious” dinner we went back to our “first class” hotel and started a big poker game. While flipping the channels on our little TV back and forth between NCAA basketball and Star Wars we threw some cards and had a lot of laughs. All in all, a perfect night to be in Newaygo with my family. We woke up around 8:30 the next morning, the water needed to warm up before we could go fishing. We went to breakfast at, you guessed it, Cronk’s breakfast place and had a pretty good bacon and eggs. The air was a brisk 31 degrees and the water was an unseasonably cold 35. On top of the bad steelheading conditions, one of our guides, Chad, had his garage broken into and his rods were stolen. The perfect start to our day. We met the other guide Dennis at the breakfast joint and he told us of the series of unfortunate events that had occured. Between the high, freezing water and Chad’s rods being stolen it looked like the start to a bad day, but Chad gathered up some extra rods and we hit the water. The first casts were ugly as we learned the ways of drifting spawn sacks down the river. My dad hooked up first and landed a nice brown. This was odd because he usually never catches the first or biggest fish. Ironically, the next fish in the boat was a 11lbs steelhead which my dear old dad landed. So far my dad was winning 2 of the 3 bets we had between ourselves: first fish, biggest fish and most fish. My dad would turn out to win all three with ease, however, I did get a chance to do something that most people on this site have done and love to do: catch a steelhead on the fly. My boat hadn’t hooked up with anything all afternoon and I finally pursuaded Chad to let me throw a fly, just for fun. He told me that they are going to hit a spawn sack before they will take a fly, but gladly handed my the rod. I threw a few ugly casts, but finally got in the groove. The day was winding down and it looked as if I was going to go home empty handed. I threw a good cast 15 ft. from shore and watched my bright orange line as it drifted smoothly with the current. At the very end of the drift I extended my rod to give my clown egg a few extra feet, then WHAM! I almost lost my rod into the cloudy frigid water as the fish ripped the fly away from me. I instinctually gave the fish a low strip strike as I would a tarpon (not exactly textbook steelheading, but it got the job done). I was hooked up. I could feel that this fish had some serious weight to it. It took drag and charged downstream. Finally, as I cautiously reeled in line the fish flashed. “Wow, big steel!” Chad yelled. Ryan got his camera and started taking pictures. I gave a sigh of relief and a scream as the fish fell into the net. I had caught my first steelhead. We took pictures and shook hands and I let the georgous hen swim back to the bottom of the chilly Muskegon river. Ten minutes later the other boat came by and naturally asked “What’d you guys get?” Chad put his hands out measuring out the fish and I pointed to my flyreel. I got the classic sign of approval from my dad: a big thumbs up. Both boats went back to the cars and we unloaded our gear as we talked of the fish and the ones that broke off. Overall, the trip was a great success. We promised Chad we would come back when the weather gets better and he promised us more fish. We all had a great time, however, the only two who land ed a steelhead were me and my dad. It was truely meant to be that two Irishmen got their first steel on one of the greatest holidays of all, St. Patricks Day.
Great fish pictures and story, Hopefully I’ll get Steelie fishing soon. It’s always good to see new members post their stories and share the game with us. Nothing like a pull and a tight line to make your day.
bonefisher … what a great fish tale .. certainly, indicative of what flies and fins is all about! yes, there are sometimes easier and more effective ways to catch more and bigger fish of any species .. and, yes, many times the elements make things very difficult … but, resisting the urge to take the “easier” way, despite all of the obstacles, is what makes catching all species of fish on the fly that much more rewarding. i know, that many times its not easy to do … i fish with alot of saltwater guys who are very good fly fishermen, but they throw spin gear alot too, especially when conditions are much more conducive to conventional tackle and much less conducive to fly fishing. they make fun of me and say, “why are you throwing a fly? can’t you see that the albies are 100 yards off the beach? you would be slaying, if you just put down the fly rod and used a spin rod.” they are right! i know i would be slaying with spin gear … but, for me, something magical happened when i first picked up a fly rod 12 or so years ago … fishing changed forever. i had longlined on commercial swordfish and tuna boats in the gulf stream, setting thousands of hooks per night and slaying tuna, swordfish, all kinds of sharks, marlin and anything else that crossed my path during 30 day trips 200+ miles off shore. we seriously slayed fish with bait, trolling and any tactic that would get literally TONS of big fish on deck. i then worked on a bottom dragger dredging the ocean floors for cod and caught thousands of pounds of fish every 2 hours .. then to alaska and gillnetted salmon as they entered the river .. it was a slay fest and when the gillnets or longlines were not in the water, we were using conventional tackle to pass the time and make extra money .. and of course the philosophy was .. lots of fish and big fish. and whether it was salmon, cod, swordfish, shark, tuna, dolphin (mahi-mahi) .. or whatever else crossed paths with our nets, long lines or trolling or stand up gear .. we slayed em..
then, after graduating from college and having had slayed and killed 100’s of thousands of pounds of fish and made good money doing so … i was done with commercial fishing … and to be honest, for me, spin gear just didn’t do much for me anymore ..
then i was out to dinner at an ocean side restaurant and looked out the window and saw a couple guys fly fishing for striped bass … i said to myself, “wow, that must be tough?” i then told my uncle that it interested me … that christmas he got me a saltwater fly rod and i never looked back … fishing was re-invented for me when i found the fly rod .. i was amazed that it was possible to catch literally anything with a fly … but a bit more challenging … so, for me, back then and still today .. it is the sport of targeting fish a fly rod that interests me …. whether its true or in my own mind, i just feel as though it is more of a fair chase between man and fish … and the sense of satisfaction when i do catch fish with the fly is great ….
now, that does not mean that my son will only fly fish or anything like that .. that would be silly… i just think that every fisherman on earth has different objectives and is at a different stage of fishing and at the end of the day fishing is meant to be FUN! so, their is no “better or best method” and the only real thing that determines a successful day is “did you have fun” ….. and as long as you were fishing within the guidelines of the law and having FUN ,.. than no one method is better than another, because it is a matter of personal opinion..
sorry to ramble .. i am gonna wrap it up here … anyway .. i was very impressed with your decision to not follow the “easier” approach and use the fly rod even though there were a million reasons why it did not “make sense” to do so … and, on top of that, you got it done! you caught a steelhead on the fly….
very well done .. i want to send you a flies and fins hat .. .. pm me with an address to send it to .. thanks. — jeremy.
Bonefisher, Those are “big steel” great job getting your first one too hand, on a fly no less. Glad you took control of the situation and drifted the clown egg. I’m a firm believer that presentation is key in most situations. You will never be the same…those fish will forever be in the back of your mind. I really enjoyed reading your story. Certainly a St. Pat’s Day you won’t forget
Bonefisher….yep, with a moniker like that you may be destined to be forever in fly fishing heaven….Bonefish!
Just to expand on some major points jeremy made about the “lure” of fly fishing and why it is to me the apex of fishing sport.
“Better Sport” in fishing is something to always strive toward, never shy away from…That is a strong statement, I know, but adopting this as a personal goal has meant I never get bored, discouraged, ….you see, because the fish always call the game, the time, the tide, the ground rules are theirs….and, to fool a fish your own way, while there may be far more effective methods….well, to me, seeing if they will play my game and eat my fly…. that’s elevating the sport…It involves pushing the barriers. Fish got you stumped? Find another way, another place, another ANGLE of attack….
The fish got game. But do we have game? Too much wind? Buck up and cast! Fish too spooky? Learn some stealth. Fish got lockjaw? Go another time or wait them out. They chase but don’t eat? Switch flies. Sooner or later THEY HAVE TO EAT! and….if you’re over fish, there’s always a dumb one that’ll eat. Sure, listen to the local guides, play their rules, listen to locals. Start there. But I like to push it up a notch….see if they will play another version, if they’ll eat another pattern, if they like a different retreive or if they eat better at a deeper level.
I have fished many satisfying days without a hookup and sometimes I have learned more on those outings than on the days when I caught fish hand over fist.
Thanks for the cool fish tale.
Nice looking steel bonefisher…. like whip said those fish will creep into your dreams. Soon you will be tying glo bugs, studying methods to catch steel, driving endless hours to remote rivers and always looking for a window of opportunity to get one last cast in. I enjoyed reading your story, glad you got your fish.
j-
Great job bonefisher, it is pretty apparent that there are some member on this site (including myself) who are borderline insane about steelhead fishing and as others have mentioned once you catch your first metalhead it’s hard not too develop a passion for them.
Good job getting your first chromer. I guess you have better insight into the sickness.
bonefisher — hat went in mail today.
Great job on the chrome!!! That was a very entertaining story!! Thanks for sharing it with us and a belayed welcome to flies and fins!!
Story has brought back some very good memories.
Best times ever, have been fishing with my Dad. Got my first fly rod in 1962 and have been “hooked” ever since. Hope you have many more such experiences to come.
mro