Legends | Great Lakes Media Company
This past September The Wild Blue Films once again made our way over to Benzie County outside of Frankfort, Michigan in pursuit of the legendary king salmon and coho salmon run. We have been doing this trip for a number of years and it never gets old. There are a number of ways to make it to the rivers. First off you can drive in or fly in but our favorite is the S.S. Badger car ferry that runs from Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Ludington, Michigan. The S.S. Badger is a giant ferry houses numerous cars, trucks, semi-trucks, and even fifth wheels and travel trailers. So my pickup is loaded down with all my gear and kayak in the back. There’s plenty of walking and wading but our preferred method is kayak. Now there are a number of runs in a given fall. It sounds like the first major run was around Labor Day weekend and then another around the middle of September. We came in on Sept. 26th and caught plenty of giant kings while fly-fishing in the rivers. The water levels and perhaps the timing wasn’t hot for the coho run. We have seen more success with the coho in early to mid-September. Regardless, the natural beauty and ecosystem surrounding us is insane. We are right down the road from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and highway M-22. There’s so much to discover in the area and still is one of our most favorite spots for adventure. So as the salmon finish their natural lifecycle of spawning and dying, we are thankful for the time we had chasing them this year and look forward to it once again next year. We would especially like to thank Winding River Campground for the amazing stay and hospitality. We look forward to a short winter of planning and prepping for a spring steelhead run!
