Tranquil | Top Midwest Sportfishing Photographer
This past week The WIld Blue Films hit the road to cover spring steelhead fishing in northern lower peninsula Michigan towards Traverse City and Frankfort, MI. This time of year always jogs back amazing memories of chasing spring steelhead. The entire experience, in and of itself, is absolutely spectacular. It starts with the early feels of spring with the snow gently melting, birds chirping, and later sunsets. The journey begins from Minneapolis, MN as we sprint across north central Wisconsin in the dead of night to make it to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by mid-morning. From there, the drive begins to take new life as we stare out at the vast expanse of Lake Michigan as we trace the outline of the northern coast and look back around to the Mackinaw Bridge. As we cross the bridge our enthusiasm begins to draw stronger. The speed limit quickly turns to 75 mph and we are gunning to camp. We arrive at Winding River Campground to little snow, birds singing, and waters flowing strong from the spring melt. We are eagerly anticipating a successful shoot as we are set to float the local rivers such as the Betsie and the Big Manistee for three days of filming. As goes with spring steelheading, Michigan weather in this transitional season is quite unpredictable. So we were struck with a snowstorm our second day in but that didn’t affect the fishing. Those winter steelhead love the gnarly weather and thrive in it. We arrive to beautiful 55 degree weather and leave after a huge snowstorm. Our first day in was Monday, St. Patrick’s Day, so after a near 12 hour drive, it was time to head into downtown Frankfort to Stormcloud Brewing for some corned beef and cabbage and green beer.
The next day we met up with owners Jacob and Kyle and set up a gameplan. Our first day on the water was Tuesday on the Big Manistee River just below the Tippy Dam. Winding River Campground owners Jacob and Kyle have linked up with some of the very best local guides in the area to head up their excursions. Michigan Guide Services would be our guide to catching some of the most beautiful rainbow trout (steelhead) in the world. The bIg Mansitee River is just that…big and winding and loaded with huge steelies. It didn’t take us long to hook into our first steelhead. Jacob was the first one on and it was quite the momentous occasion as it was his first steelhead. Pretty honored to have been with him for that. The morning with filled with screaming reels and Creedance blaring. We were in jovial spirits as we landed numerous giant steelhead and a dandy walleye. We were off and rolling as all three of us guests each caught our one fish we could keep. Now it was time to have some more fun. As the morning turned to afternoon, we hooked into some big one’s. I had a dandy on but it overpowered me and straightened out my hook but I was redeemed when I landed a 34” steelhead just shortly after. That’s a 12 lb. steelhead…unbelievable! We ended the day with 13 total fish being landed and a ton of amazing footage…success!
That evening all of us clients, guests, and guides headed out for a nice dinner in town. When you get a bunch of fishy people around each other naturally we are trading amazing fishing stories. We went to bed that evening with our hearts and stomachs full. The night and next morning brought with it a huge snowfall and ripping winds. Waking up at 5:00am at zero dark thirty and seeing white pines bending over sideways in the wind from your bed is a memory I won’t soon forget. It’s intimidating to say the least but you know the adventure that lies ahead and you are motivated. The drive in to the Big Manistee down snow covered country roads was a sight. We launched right away and we were off. We had an amazing day yet again and were able to catch some dramatic footage. In between floating the Big Manistee, we had the late afternoons and evenings to float around Winding River Campground and target steelhead right there. We were successful there as well landing numerous beautiful steelhead. That’s the most amazing thing about Winding River Campground, you are catching trophy class rainbow trout right off the banks at camp. Also, with the excursions they are offering, you are able to power pack an adventure of a lifetime in only a few short days. As we concluded our shoot with Winding River Campground we are already so eargerly planning for next spring steelhead season. But before then come the Kings of Fall. The king salmon run in northern Michigan is one of lore and prestige. If you can time it right, you will need 800mg of Ibuprophen and a “Coupla Beers”. The coho salmon run also coincides with the chinook run. The coho can be caught right here at camp or take a 15-minute excursion down the road to the Platte River where the coho run in huge pods coming in from Lake Michigan and up the the dam. So plan ahead and make your reservation at Winding River Campground for an experience of a lifetime in these world-class fishing waters and as always…Journey Further.
