Indigo Guide Service

Our friend Matt Dunn from the fishbeer.com blog came up and fished with Steve and I for a couple days and made this blog post on November 16th, 2009.  Matt also manages the fly fishing department at JL Waters in Bloomington, Indiana.  We had a lot of fun with Matt and will look forward to him heading up our way again.  Matt’s original post…

the size of the moon

In some parts of this country the busiest time at the bar is opening weekend of buck season.  If you ask a waitress at Riley’s Rendevouz for a spitter they’ll not bat an eye and get you one.  A lot of people are wearing camouflage on the dance floor and on Monday there will be deer hanging from their necks in swing sets.  This is the America you’ve been looking for Jack, and there’s nothing absurd about it, not a single carp po-boy, not two hoboes fighting over a bean.

Good guides on the Pere Marquette are impressive like any other good guides.  I’m always surprised at the ease with which they hold a drift boat in the current or move it around the river, ferrying at an angle until it’s pointed at the slot in the log jam.  With short, fluid strokes they move into the current, tucking the oars alongside so as not to get hung up.  They say to me, “past the seam off the point on the left, mend once, swing it all the way across.”

But good guides on the Pere Marquette are different too, mainly because their fish are huge.  A big trout is nice, but it’s not the thirty pound king, fresh out the big lake, used to getting his way and just wanting to ????.  It’s not the take that stops the world for one second until I strip in the fly-less line and the fish rips across the surface just downstream, flailing around trying to shake the sharp shit off his face.

That big trout isn’t the hero shots I don’t have.  It’s not the empty feeling in my stomach or the size of the moon.

Kevin Morlock and Steve Martinez of Indigo Guide Service have more than 30 years combined experience fishing the Pere Marquette and know a thing or two about the river and those ridiculous fish.  We floated something like 40 miles in three days and hooked six or seven fish, even getting to fight a few.  I swung flies the whole time.  Maybe that was stubborn.  Apparently there just weren’t that many fish in the river, waiting for another push and all that.  

So hopefully I’ll get back up there before too long and maybe you’ll have that chance as well.  Check back here soon because there will be a contest.  A poetry contest.  The winner will get a very nice prize.  Something a whole hell of a lot nicer than what Redington would give away in a similar contest.  Just saying.

Fall steelhead are very aggressive, ready to hit anything that wiggles by.  In a rush to stock-up on calories before the long cold winter, steelhead are quick to take huge gaudy streamers, eggs, nymphs or even crankbaits and spinners.  When hooked these silver rockets often tear-off on a quick run to then go cart-wheeling across the surface, only to go down for another run, I’ve seen a fall steelhead jump over a dozen times.  If you ask a Great Lakes river guide about their favorite fishing, most will say or at least the smart ones, that they love fall steelhead — they are just the perfect fish!

Below we have put together a reference list of the steelhead information on our site.

Steelhead Articles:
River Mouth Rewards by Brandon Butler
Steelhead Activity Rises With Temps by Eric Sharp
Winter Steelheading the Pere Marquette River by Todd Willmoth
A West Michigan Fly Fishing Adventure by Brandon Butler

Steelhead Videos:
Tactics for Tough Steelhead with Matt Straw and Kevin Morlock

Steelhead Flies:
Martinez’s Halloween Caveman (on a tube)
Grau’s Easy Sculpin by Walt Grau
Glow Nuke Egg
Martinez’s Steelhead Caveman by Steve Martinez
How to Tie a Nuke Egg Fly (Video)
Martinez’s Muddler
Hula (Tube)
Morlock’s 4 Eyes
Morlock’s Pearl Jam Shrimp
Grau’s Tracer Bullet (fancy)

Fishing Reports:
West Michigan Fishing Report
Pere Marquette Fishing Report

Other Steelhead Fishing Resources:
Steelhead section on our Fish Page

Here is a reprint of a recent article in the Detroit Free Press featuring the Steelhead fishing in the PM and Indigo Guide Service.

March 26th, 2009 Steelhead anglers look forward to warm, spring rains that raise both the water level and temperature in tributaries of the Great Lakes, signaling the fish that it’s a good time to move upstream and start to think about spawning. The higher water levels tell the fish that they can negotiate shallow spots along the way to reach shallow gravel shoals where the females will drop their eggs in highly oxygenated water. The higher temperatures increase the chances that the baby steelhead will find optimal survival conditions when they hatch about 30 days after being dropped into the nests, or redds, that the females create by fanning the gravel with their bodies and fins. Warmer water also increases the metabolism of the adult fish, making them more likely to go after a fly or lure whether it be from hunger or anger at a potential egg-eater nearing the nest. Those conditions should approach perfection in the next week or so and produce the best steelhead fishing of the year on rivers from the Clinton on Lake St. Clair to the Pere Marquette on Lake Michigan. Most years, good steelhead fishing is under way on many streams in the Lower Peninsula by the middle of March. "This winter has been a little different because we had so much snow in the woods," said Kevin Morlock, who runs Indigo Guide Service out of Walhalla and fishes the Pere Marquette, Muskegon, White and Manistee River systems. "When we’d get some rain, it would melt a lot of snow, and that meant that the rivers filled with water that was 33 degrees. But now just about all the snow has gone, so the next time we get some warm rain, it should bring the water temperature up and really start things happening," he said. Bill Groh of Grand Rapids has been fishing the Grand and Pere Marquette for steelhead on a weekly basis, sometimes twice a week. "The Grand is running a little ahead of the PM, but that’s to be expected because the snow melted earlier in Grand Rapids, and it’s been about 5-10 degrees warmer every day for two weeks than it has been in Baldwin," he said. "But the fish are still down in the deeper holes on both rivers. I’ve been doing better on big streamers that I swing down through the holes than I have on nymph and egg patterns. And the fish have been pretty spooky. I found that I do a lot better if I stay 40, 50 feet away from the lie and make long casts. It’s not like it will be when they start spawning aggressively and you can get really close to them." Morlock said that most of the fish in the Pere Marquette and Muskegon have also been concentrated in deeper water, although there are a few up on the gravel in the flies-only water on the Pere Marquette. "We’ve been catching them with a number of techniques, from lures (plugs), to center-pin reels on float roads, to the traditional chuck-and-duck fly-fishing," Morlock said. "The lures that have been working well are things like Hot-N-Tots, the Rapala Shad Rap and the original Rapala floater. "The float rods have been doing pretty well with flies and beads. But what we really need is some consistent warmer weather. One day we had 68 degrees, the next it was 27. Steelhead don’t react well to swings like that," he said.   Morlock can be reached at 231-898-4320 or on line at www.indigoguideservice.com. Contact ERIC SHARP at 313-222-2511 or .

Kevin Morlock caught this steelhead recently on the Pere Marquette River using a float rod.       Tackle your tackle While it’s possible to catch steelhead on the same tackle used for bluegills, the success rate for these big, migratory rainbow trout is much higher for anglers who use specialized tackle and specialized techniques.   Both steelhead tackle and steelhead know-how will be on display free on April 4 on the banks of the Clinton River near Yates Cider Mill in Rochester, and on April 11 at Huron Park in Flat Rock on the Huron River. Phil Bustos, a member of the Metro West Steelheaders, said the events will bring attention to two urban rivers that enjoy steelhead runs superior to most of the runs in Pacific Coast states from where these fish were first brought to the Great Lakes about 150 years ago.   "We’ll have speakers who are biologists and well-known steelhead fishermen," he said. "At the Clinton River event, we’ll also have hot dogs, and we ask people to bring a can of non-creamy soup that we put together and serve. "It’s mostly chicken noodle and vegetable, but whenever we do this, people love it. They think it’s some old family secret and ask me for the recipe," he said. Both events will run from about 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eric Sharp

The article "River Mouth Rewards" by Brandon Butler (Driftwood Outdoors) appeared in Woods-N-Water News in March 2009.

River Mouth Rewards

Worn out after a long day coursing the final miles of one of West Michigan’s famed rivers in search of salmon, I sit resting upon the water’s windswept southern bank starring into eternity. My thoughts, clear from hours of serene solitude, begin to drift out over the rolling waves stretching beyond the horizon. In this momentary trance, a vision runs through my mind I have yet to displace; rivers are assumed to end at their mouth, but perhaps it’s at the mouth where the life of a river actually begins.
            Miles upon miles of renowned river water runs through the interior of Michigan. Anglers from around the world flock to fish the highly publicized riffles and runs of historical fame. From trolling crankbaits on the St. Joe for steelhead, to laying out delicate dry flies for brook trout on the Two Hearted, river fishing in Michigan is as diverse as it is wonderful.
            One aspect of fishing Michigan rivers which often seems overlooked by the masses is focusing on river mouths. It is here, at this portal between two worlds, where countless salmon begin their final journey and steelhead start their spawning run. Who better to understand the vulnerability of eager aggression, than we sportsmen who strive to seek great adventure? When a journey begins, we are full of steam and ready to tackle whatever the road may hold. Fish staging to run up a river seem to be no different.
I’m not sure if anyone, scientist or not, can positively deduce what drives salmon and steelhead to return to their home river to perform their most primal act of life. What we do know however, if only through simple observation, is anadromous migrating fish are wholly committed to their spawning journey. If you have ever watched these fish attempt to leap a waterfall or climb a manmade fish ladder, then you understand their level of determination. Harnessing the power this determination on the end on your line can result in unforgettable fishing experience.
               West Michigan fishing guide Kevin Morlock has spent his life getting to know the rivers of his home state. Kevin spends endless days on the water each year, and has come to the conclusion that river mouths are often an overlooked highlight of salmon and steelhead fishing. Kevin believes, “As fish head upstream from the lake, they become less and less aggressive the closer they get to their breeding grounds. Fishing then becomes more difficult as the fish become more indifferent towards most attempts.” It makes sense to think about salmon and steelhead becoming less aggressive as their journey nears an end. Imagine yourself at the end of a work day; unless you’re totally committed to your job, I would be willing to bet you begin to fade a little as the clock ticks closer to quitting time. The same rules apply to these migrating fish once they’ve been in the river for a spell. Their focus completely changes from feeding to breeding.
Kevin has learned to take advantage of this opportunity of targeting salmon and steelhead while they are at their peak level of aggression. “I’ve seen king salmon in west Michigan enter the deltas like tigers with a thorn in their paw; smashing nearly any big, bright, flashy presentation I offer,” he explains. “A week and many miles later, these same fish are passive, even skittish, toward the most subtle offering.”
When it comes to actually fishing the river mouths, timing is everything. Kevin states, “There is usually a relatively narrow window when conditions are optimal for migration, so it’s a good thing that fish tend to arrive early and mill around at the mouth.” Multiple runs occur each year, with the peak periods falling in and around August-September and February-March. During the peak migration season there are generally fish moving up the river at all times, but from a river mouth perspective, the hottest action occurs when the conditions are just right to stall the migration. This leaves plenty of aggressive fish congregating at the mouth. If I were to design my perfect scenario for river mouth fishing during the migration; I would already be making casts as the sun creeps over the eastern horizon to calm, clear water just in front of where a small creek dumps into the river. First light is prime time. Feeder creeks or a smaller river dumping into a larger river just inside its own mouth, are generally ideal locations to target. Rip-rap, concrete piers, sandy beaches, and rock flats are also top producing locations.
   Techniques for catching river mouth fish vary as far and wide as one can imagine. Fly fishermen find success in swinging flies down and across the current, as well as ripping flashy streamers. A general rule with flies, unless sight fishing to shallow cruisers, is to get your fly slightly above the depth of fish. This depth can only be determined by putting in the work necessary to figure it out.  Sometimes fish will want your presentation just above the bottom, other times they’ll be aggressive in the middle. Large flies, 4s, 2s, and even larger, tied in leech or bugger patterns are always a favorite. Clouser Minnows and other flashy streamers will trigger aggressive fish.  Sink tip or a full sinking fly line helps for getting your presentation down, but split-shot will drag down a floating line.
Fisherman throwing lures will suffice with a multitude of options varying from spoons to jigs to rapalas. Vary patterns, retrieve speed and depth until finding a combination that works. I like to fish from the bottom up, unless it’s obvious fish are in the top layer of warmer water. Counting down your presentations will help to establish a pattern of probing different depths. Live bait and eggs will work as well. When using live bait, be sure to check local fishing regulations to know what is and is not legal on the water your fishing.
Targeting salmon and steelhead when they’re fresh in the river makes sense for more reasons than simply tangling with the beasts at their highest level of fitness. Crowding, quality of table fare, and spawning disruption are all factors to consider when targeting fish at a river mouth.
Crowding on the upper, more popular stretches of Michigan’s famous rivers can at times be overwhelming. River mouth fishing will most often afford the opportunity of escaping the crowd. Boats have more room to operate and bank fishermen are less likely to have trouble finding suitable space. When it comes to enjoying the great outdoors, I don’t think any of us want to feel crowded. Spreading out at the river mouth is generally realistic.
If you are going to keep a couple for the freezer, it’s obviously important to take them while they’re fresh. River mouth fish are in supreme shape from their time in the big lake and should transition nicely to a plate. In regards to keeping these river fish, remember intelligent harvest is important. No one loves a meal of fresh fish, brought to the table by my own hand more than I, but while keeping a few fish from a hatchery based river is acceptable, naturally reproducing or wild fish, in my opinion, should be released.  In this day and age of reduced stocking, I believe catch-and-release is more important than ever in efforts necessary to maintaining great fishing. Use good judgment when considering where to keep and where to release fish. Some rivers can handle the pressure, and some can not.
  When the crowds flock up stream for salmon and steelhead, give river mouth fishing a try. If you time it right, and figure out a proper pattern, I think you’ll be pleased at what the mouth of a river has to offer.

Brandon Butler is a professional outdoor communicator and public affairs specialist from Indiana, who enjoys nothing more than doing "research" in Michigan.  Visit his website www.driftwoodoutdoors.org to read more of his work.

Kevin Morlock is a full time fishing guide in west Michigan with Indigo Guide Service.  Kevin is also an outdoor writer, phographer and Iditarod Sled Dog Racer.  Visit Indigo’s website www.indigoguideservice.com for more information or to book a trip.

The fly fishing article "Winter Steelheading the Pere Marquette River" by Todd Willmoth appeared in the Kentucky Fly Fisher, the newsletter for the Northern Kentucky Fly Fishers (NKFF) in the April 2008 issue.  You can view the original article in pdf on the Northern Kentucky Fly Fishers (NKFF) web site, click here to view the steelhead fishing article.

Winter Steelheading the Pere Marquette River

     February is when I typically make my annual trip to Washington state to fish the Olympic Peninsula for winter run wild steelhead.  As I watched this winter unfold, the west was getting more than its share of rain, and after last years blowout of the rivers while we were there, I decided to try something new.  After listening to our featured speaker, Kevin Morlock of Indigo Guides at the January meeting we approached Kevin and his guy’s about a February week long steelhead trip.  I think we had dates and fishermen lined up before he returned to Michigan, so after a few emails we were set to go.
     Kevin recommended staying in Ludington, Michigan a small tourist destination on Lake Michigan, and since it was mid-winter renting a house for the week was no problem thanks to my wife.  With everything set and us scheduled to leave Sunday, February the 17th, the weather looks to be a problem, Kevin and I talk on Friday, he wants to know if we still want to fish as it is getting colder and the National Weather Service is forecasting high temperatures in the single digits all week.  On Saturday Kevin tells us the rivers are starting to generate shelf ice and our drive is looking worse every minute, so we postpone for a week.  The week passes, we load our gear, and Mick Noll, Jim Patrick, Don Willmoth and I are off Michigan.
     After a 7 hour drive we arrive in Ludington with roughly three feet of snow on the ground, our rental on Lake Baldwin is now a frozen snowmobile road.  We awake Monday to a fresh couple inches of lake effect snow, actually we awoke every morning to fresh lake effect snow.
     After a 30 minute drive we meet Kevin and Jed in Walhalla at 9:00 a.m., load our gear and we are off.  After a short drive we arrive at the landing and since nothing has been plowed we slide the boats downhill about 100 yards to the water.  My first impression of the river is that of a clear free flowing large creek.  I notice the overhanging trees, downed logs and other structure around the river, its then I decide fishing this will be a new game show; I will call “The Spey Challenge”.  I also notice every tree is decorated with flies that were committed to bad casts.
     My plan was to swing streamers and Spey flies, Kevin was apprehensive at first but we found that if presented properly they were as effective as drifting wets.  Don, Jim and Mick would fish a two fly, sliding changeable pencil weight rig with a large indicator (FLOAT).  Don fished this rig on a TFO 11’6” switch rod with a Rio Skagit spey line, allowing him to make a long upstream cast, getting a huge drift toward and past him.  Our first day was spent figuring out the river, her obstacles and what exactly Kevin expected of us.  The experience Don and I have on Western Steelhead rivers needed major adaptation to say the least.  Jim had fished the river before and had an idea of what we would see, for Mick it was his first day as well.
     Temperatures remained in the 20’s all day with a wind chill around 11 degrees.  The snow levels presented a problem in that very few ramps were open which had us taking-out well after dark.  Day two would bring a different stretch of the river, the same weather, and more learning.  Kevin and Jed would leapfrog the boats, giving each boat a chance at fresh untouched water.  We were served fresh Sweet rolls and coffee each morning, soup was served before a hot grilled lunch, making the cold seem not so important.  Day two would end in the dark and without a fish.
     On day three it decides to get cold with a high of 13 degrees, Jim hooked up a nice steelhead that promptly ran toward a Raccoon on the bank, turned upstream and breaks off.  He would land a beautiful wild Brown trout though.
     Day four it is decided that if a fish is seen or rolled, sit on the run, let a few minutes pass and give it another try, this actually worked in a few instances.  The cold weather we suspect had the fish on the bottom, not expending any energy unless a meal presented itself with little movement required.  We anchor at our first run, just upstream of where a major tributary enters the main stream.  Kevin wants me to swing a fly under a huge stump on the bank ahead of the boat; the fly reaches the stump drifts a few feet beyond, Fish On.
     Kevin asks how I would like to play it; I respond lets see what the fish has in mind.  The fish decides to run, I apply side pressure we put some line on the reel, he runs again for the brush, and since we were upstream of the creek merge bringing him to us was not a good idea,  as I move him toward the bank, Kevin weighs the anchor and row down to him.  Kevin does a great job netting him, we take a few pictures and he heads back to his hole.  I just landed my first wild Pere Marquette steelhead.
     Landing the fish put our anchorage directly across from where I had hooked my fish so Kevin had Don make a few drifts before we moved, at the tailend of the run the indicator kept getting a bump in the same spot, giving all indication of a snag until a nice steelhead rolls the rig and is gone.   This is why Kevin was adamant about a snap set as he describes it, with a two handed rod, you quickly push down on the bottom hand while pulling up on the top hand with no follow through.  This allows you to follow through if resistance is felt or let the rig continue the drift without ruining it.  It also cuts down on lost flies by freeing them before they have a chance to set in the snag.  Later in the day Mick would hook up on a big beautiful steelie that wanted nothing to do with him, after a few rolls on the surface it broke off and was gone.
     Day five saw clear skies, temperatures in the 30’s, some needed casting practice and no fish.
     Now for the technical aspects of a winter steelhead trip to the Pere Marquette River, my experience winter steelheading was based upon on western Washington Rivers.  The winter weather in Michigan can be without a doubt much more extreme, a little research prior to the trip ensured we had the proper gear.  We were prepared to wade but did not find it necessary, the rivers size allows for casting from within the boat, so why get out.  As for clothing, layering is key to staying warm with the outer layer being a wind/water resistant outer garment.  A good hat and plenty of gloves to switch into as they become wet, for boots I recommend a Thinsulate insulated rubber boot, I wore a 2000 weight rubber boot that allowed for getting in and out of the boat without worrying about wet feet.
     As for fishing gear, Indigo guides provides everything you need if you are fishing with them up too and including flies, I am comfortable with my own gear and prefer to fish it.  If you take you own, an 8 or 9 weight rod will do fine.  Spey rods do work on the river, you will either improve your casting skills or you will run out of flies.  I fished a Sage TCR 8 weight spey rod 12’3” in length and after some adaptation was fine, that does not mean I didn’t get my share of trees.  Indigo uses switch/spey rods for their nymphing rigs, they allow for a simple overhead toss by loading the rod off the swing.  Icing of the guides remained a problem throughout the week, requiring cleaning every few minutes, since we had two different styles of fishing going on in our boat we would take turns; it became common to have your flies freeze while you waited.
     I brought a selection of steelhead flies not knowing what would or would not work, bright patterns did not produce a single strike, while black combinations dominated.  I prefer to fishing Tube flies, they can be tied on various materials allowing for weight changes to the fly without changing the flies profile, they increase your landing percentages  through their use of short shanked hooks by decreasing fish leverage.  Nymphs and “swing flies” as Kevin calls them are flies that look good drifting and even better when they swing out at the end of a drift.
     Nuke eggs in a #4 or #6, do not reduce the hook gap and stick to the teeth if you are a bit late on the hook set.  Kevin demonstrated that while dry the hard ball style egg looks much better, when wet the nuke has a more realistic look with a natural translucent quality.  Nymphs would include hex, stone pearl shrimp, and alevins.  Swing flies used would be various buggers, Blueberg and some small streamers.  I had tied a few different weighted nymph patterns but found with the weighted setup being used they only increased snags.
     Since you are only going to get a few chances a day enough cannot be said about using a good quality hook.  Steelhead require a reel with a quality drag, the nymph rigs were tied with 6 pound test on the bottom flies so any startup problem with a drag results in a lost fish due to a break off.  We had a one reel that as soon as it got cold would squeal and its drag would be one click free spin one click lockup, it is currently at the manufacture being looked at.  Overlining with weight forward floating lines will work with the nymph rigs, it will provide better rod loading at short distance with the heavy bottom drift rig.
     For the Spey’s I used a Rio Skagit head multi tip line.  I initially had my Sage TCR set up with a 650 grain line but after the first day found it to be too much line for the river, and switched to a 450 grain for the remainder of the trip.  I also removed the 15 foot sink tip and replaced it with varying length tips made up of Rio T14  allowing for easy changes.  We found the 6 foot tip worked well for the conditions we experienced.
     Indigo guide service’s Kevin and Jed provided a first class experience; both are willing to teach anyone who has a desire to learn their style of fishing on the Pere Marquette River.  Indigo put together a nice package because we were willing to come for five days in the non-peak season.  If you go don’t forget a headlamp these guy’s like to fish and use every minute of daylight.
     If your fishing has moved past numbers and you are looking for a challenge, winter steelheading is a sure bet.  At just over 7 hours driving the Pere Marquette River provides the challenge and WILD steelhead.