This Michigan fishing trip was the result of one of our Trout Unlimited chapter members winning it in a raffle sponsored by the Georgia Council of TU. This second place prize was a week’s stay at a cabin at Schmidt Outfitters in Wellston, MI. Rodger, who won the prize, gave it back to our chapter as a fund raiser. Since my sister and brother-in-law live in Kalamazoo, MI, and Sonny is an avid fly fisherman, I bid on the trip and won.

I flew into Grand Rapids from Atlanta on Saturday morning. Sonny picked me up at the airport which was on his way north from Kalamazoo. We drove up to Sonny’s brother’s (Craig) cabin in Baldwin to spend the night and fish that afternoon. I should mention that Craig’s place is a very nice home on the Baldwin River.

Craig’s place is at the junction of the Pere Marquette and Baldwin rivers. We walked over to the Pere Marquette and fished for trout and steelhead. However, the river was loaded with spawning salmon and we spent most of the afternoon catching and sometimes snagging (not on purpose) salmon.

On Sunday, we headed up to Schmidt’s to check in and get some fishing in. To make a long story short, other than our day with the guide, the fishing was sparse. Our target when not with the guide was trout and steelhead and we came up pretty much empty. We even went up to Grayling to try the AuSable with no success. I would say that it was because I was not a very good fly fisherman but even Sonny, who fishes these waters a fair amount with success, was pretty much skunked. We had beautiful weather the whole week and Ray Schmidt blamed the lack of a bite on the high pressure system.

Our day with the guide was a lot of fun. We fished the Manistee and my first fish on was a steelhead which made my day. After that it was all Salmon for Sonny and I. Some were still fresh which added to the excitement. I caught one monster which the guide could not bring in for fear of breaking his tongs. It was so big he wanted a photo of it for his records.

Although we used fly rods, the technique was called Chuck and Duck. The guide rigged a dual nymph or nymph and egg fly but used a pencil lead off a swivel at the head of the tippet. We cast it very similar to the technique used when casting a surf rod.

All in all, it was a great trip with great weather and super accommodations. In addition, my sister Joan did a great job of providing us with meals for the week.