fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Today is the "opener" of snowmobiling season for trail riding on State land and groomed trail systems throughout Michigan. Normally I would be out running some miles on the sled and cruising the two tracks, but due to a lack of snow...and without the ground even starting to freeze...that was not going to happen today!

Plan B...go steelhead fishing...and I pretty much knew this ahead of time because all our recent snow has melted away!

Drove down to a place called Tippy Dam on the lower Manistee River near Brethren, MI to wet a line. It is a popular public access spot. Much to my surprise, when I arrived at mid day, I was the only one there except for a couple of guys anchored out in a drift boat right below the dam. Wow...no worries about having to snug in between anybody else and get into synchronized casting from shore! I'm gonna like this!

As the day wore on, a few others did come and go...but I still felt like I had the whole area to pick and choose from.

I was pretty sure there were some fish hanging out below the primary spillway/rapids, so that is where I focused my energy for the next 4 hours. I moved from time to time to reach a few other nearby runs, but only managed to catch one very small steelhead smolt using a tiny orange colored "Spin-n-Glow" lure...which I think is still made by Wordon Tackle Co. As you will notice from one of the attached photos, I ended up trying a large variety of lures today...all of which were ignored by any substantially sized fish!

The air temps were in the low 40's, which is probably as warm as we'll get between now and next Spring so I was glad to be able to spend the day on the river. I'll call the weather today "comfortably tolerable", although the wind was steady at 20 mph with gusts approaching 40 as the day wore on. Thankfully, when standing down in the river proximity below the high ridges, the tree lined banks tend to shield you from some of that harshness.

I did not take any fresh photos of the trip today (other than the lure choices), but as I often like to do with a story, I'm adding some "meat" to the "bones" and will conclude with a few snapshots from my past archives to paint a visual picture for the words above....and what I had hoped to tempt into finding my tackle offerings today.

Tippy Dam...only today the place was vacant of other fishermen besides myself and 2 guys in a boat below the dam.


Representative of my little steelhead smolt from today.


Lure selection from today. Not sure how picky the fish were going to be today, so I decided to run each of these for about 15 minutes apiece. The Spin-n-Glow is on the lower left corner. The Little Cleo was silver on the flip side.


A plump steelhead taken on a previous outing. This is what I had high hopes of catching today!


A shiny bright chrome beauty taken during the local Spring run while trolling via our boat. Another typical Great Lakes steelhead.

Grizzly 17 Loc: South central Pa

Ni e pictures fishyaker. A little too crowded for me brother. 👍🎣

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

Good job, Yaker, Low 40s and your in a t shirt?????????? You are tough!

40GRIT Loc: San Ramon, CA

Beautiful spot and pics from your archives FY! I hear you on the “commando” fishing, things weren’t too crowded when I was in Alaska this year, but at times the anglers did get thick (although the fish were thicker!).

The Outcast Loc: NE Michigan

Sounds like you had a good day Yaker! Little to no people, decent weather, and no skunk…😎
The pic of you in a tshirt and with the GL steel is awesome…
If you wore just a t-shirt with 40° temps and 20-40mph winds, you are the man.( I don’t think you did, as pic is from the spring)!?

The Outcast Loc: NE Michigan

I spent a pleasant day winterizing my rig, ready for spring!

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Thank you Grizzly! My pocket camera battery was dead this afternoon when I took it out for a snapshot, and I left my cell phone back in the truck...so I had to use some old photos to tell the story. Thankfully, the river was deserted today and I had the whole site to myself for the most part. I agree with you that "combat" fishing is no fun. I'd rather go to a far less popular spot when the big runs are on!

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Thank you flyguy...and I appreciate the compliment...but in reality I did have a heavy Winter parka on today as I fished from shore at Tippy...complete with a wool cap and gloves. The photo in the boat was from a Spring troll that my wife and I ran from a different time frame on a nice sunny day, and I included it to present a typical local steelhead that we catch around here since I did not catch any big ones today.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Thank you 40Grit! This place is about a 50 minute drive thru some nice countryside from where I live and I like to get down there at least a few times each season. I was fortunate today to be almost alone there...which is a rarity. Most likely a lot of fisherfolk are still busy in the woods with MI deer season and they took the day off from fishing!

ranger632 Loc: Near Yosemite Park Ca.

Nice looking fish, no Panter Martins???

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Thank you Outcast! Yes...It was a very fun day...despite not catching any big ones. The steelies stack up in that area and over the course of the late season, like now, they get picked off one by one until there are almost none left to be caught. I do know that there are still decent numbers present, but as for today I guess my lure choices were not what they should have been...although that being said...the Spin-n-Glow was my last choice before I needed to leave and get home before dark...so I wish I had perhaps tried it first! Saw lots of deer leaping and prancing across the road on my way home! No antlers though...just the lady ones.

Yes, that open water shot in the boat is from the Spring season and not today. We caught several nice coho on that day as well. My wife was running the boat and she was gracious enough to keep running us thru fish so I could enjoy the catching part. She likes to join me now and then, but does not have the same passion for fishing that I do!

Glad you got your boat all set for storage. Ours is all cozy in hibernation too.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Thank you Ranger! Good call there on the Panther Martin. I staged that lure photo when I got home, with most lures still being wet! I did run a Panther today as well, and forgot to add it to the snapshot! It was about the same size as the Mepps #2 Black Furys...orange blade, yellow body with red dots and no hook dressing.

I think that the fish were somewhat sparse, although it is hard to tell without flinging a stick of dynamite in there. Sometimes when I "sight fish" steelies you can get a better feel for their mood by seeing them refuse a lure selection and then finally go after one. This water is not too deep, but it is very hard to see the fish due to the swift current and roiling surface film. It is mostly a process of just covering the water and sweeping lures around....hoping to pass in front of a hungry fish.

Panthers are a great lure and I use a lot of them...along with the small ultralite size 00 Mepps with single hook fly dressings. Of course the Rooster tails produce too! So many good choices!

ranger632 Loc: Near Yosemite Park Ca.

Thanks for the follow up, Panther Martins are always my go to lures, if they don't work then its Mepps and then Rooster Tails

OJdidit Loc: Oak Creek Wisconsin

Nice pics fy!

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Thank you OJ! I was sure hoping for a real "rod bender", but that's fishing...not always catching! I may give it one more try yet this December, but with the forecasted temperatures being in the low 30's I don't think I could stick it out four hours like today...maybe just a couple and then call it a season on the steelhead!