Strippin' in the Rain

Have you ever stripped in the rain?  If you haven't...you need to try it.   The next time it rains, grab your fly rod and some BIG articulated streamers, and head to you favorite brown trout stream.  When you get there, start strippin'!  Strip hard and fast.  Strip up stream, down stream, and across the stream.  When you see the golden roll, hold on for a wild ride.

Rob and I have been planning a trip on the bikes up to Michigan to chase some brown trout all winter.  Friday we jumped on the bikes and made the 350 mile journey to Newaygo, MI to enjoy some time on the Muskegon river.

Friday was a great day to ride.  You can't beat blue skies and warm temperatures for a long ride.  The growl of our cruisers was pleasing to the ear all the way through Michigan.  The wind in our faces was refreshing.

We arrived in Newaygo Friday evening for a retreat at Logan's Run.   Logan's Run is a nice cottage right on the Muskegon about 12 miles below the Croton Dam, or smack in the middle of prime brown trout water as I like to think of it.

We met up with Matt Zudweg from Feenstra Guide Service late Saturday morning.  Matt's reputation as a guide on the Muskegon precedes him, which is why we wanted to spend the day on the river in his boat.  We put in at the Croton dam and ultimately drifted about 13 miles.

The Croton Dam/Hydroelectric Plant was constructed in 1907.  The dam is capable of producing 8,850 kilowatts at peak outflow. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.  All that being said, it really is a site to behold.

We started the day swinging wet flies below the dam.  It was not long until I hit into my first Muskegon brown trout.  She was no monster, but a beauty none-the-less.  Shortly thereafter, I hooked a nice little rainbow as well.

As Matt repositioned the boat, and Rob found a small brown trout as well.  Rob made another couple of swings and SMACK...something large about pulled Rob out of the boat.  He had hooked into a drop-back steelhead.  

Landing a steelhead on a 5wt rod with 4x tippet was going to be a tall task, but Rob took the challenge willingly.  The steelhead made a run and for a moment it looked like Rob was in the game.  But the steelhead had other plans.  With a high leap out of the water, the steelhead shook his head in a violent display and threw the hook back to Rob.  We'll give Rob an "A" for effort in this encounter, but the steelhead did win the battle this time.  It certainly had all of our hearts pounding.

We landed several more small trout below the dam and then Matt pulled the anchor and we began our 13 mile trek down the mighty Muskegon.

They early part of the day was sunny and warm.  We stuck to swinging wet flies as we made our way down river.  As the day progressed some clouds began to roll in.  The cloud cover muted the sun's glare and set up some nice conditions for stripping large streamers for brownies as well.

Stripping large streamers for brown trout is a productive method for catching large fish.  The streamers are big and bulky, often articulated, and generally are tied to mimic sculpins.  Bright sunny days and clear water are not ideal for these streamers. 

Due to the size of the streamers, these conditions really allow the trout to discriminate the streamer from an actual sculpin.  Brown trout are NOT stupid fish and BIG brown trout are even less stupid.  So, some cloud cover and even some stain to the water from a recent rain is really helpful when using this type of fly. 

The most effective method to retrieve the fly is to strip the fly as fast as possible.  This also aids in fooling the trout.  When the streamer is screaming towards (or past) the trout in stained water the trout only has a split second to decide if it looks like food and if he should pounce.  Now your getting the picture why it works!  And remember, large brown trout are an apex predator in their systems.  They will take a large meal when they can.  So, get some large streamers and give it a try.  You will not catch a lot of fish, but you will catch BIG!

We rolled several fish with the streamers.  I did finally bring one small fish to hand and then we were back to swinging wet flies. 

As the afternoon drifted by we caught numerous fish along the way.  I started to hear a gurgling sound from the back of the boat.  It turns out it was Rob's stomach.  Matt had a cooler on the boat with sodas and water and I figured he probably packed a sandwich or 2 for when we got hungry.  Boy was I wrong.  Matt whipped out a small grill right in the middle of the boat and started making pork chops and grilled pineapple.  My friends, that alone was worth the price of admission!

After our mid-river dinner, the clouds grew more dense and the rain began to fall.  I thought this would be a good thing, but for the next hour or so, we really struggled to get a strike on wet flies or streamers.  And then, with one swing, Rob got us back in the game.  Rob felt the "tick, tick, tick" on the wet fly and the trout finally turned on it.  BAM, Rob's rod was bending.  The fish was running nicely and Matt was forced to pull the anchor to pursue.  Rob got quite the work-out, but in the end he was rewarded with a chunky 16" Muskegon brown trout.

From there, things started picking up again, and for the last hour of our trip we were busy with plenty of action.  I put the final fish of the day in the boat.  He was a stunning 15" brownie.  He had an excessive amount of intense scarlet dots mixed-in with the normal brown dots.  Rob won the prize for the big fish of the day and I won the prize for the beautiful fish of the day.

Matt dropped us off at the cottage dock at dusk and our day of fishing was complete.  We toasted the day with a nice ale from Bell's Brewery and a Rocky Patel Sungrown.  Sand filled both of our eyes shortly thereafter.

Our plan was to jump on the bikes Sunday morning and tour around southern Michigan and take 2 days to ride home.  But, there was significant rain forecasted for Monday, so we decided we better push on home to avoid a long cold ride. 

We had a great time in Michigan fishing with Matt.  Rob and I put in over 750 miles on the bikes and had a great day on the water.  Those memories will be burned into our memories forever!

But wait, I took off Monday...and I'm home on Sunday.  What's a guy to do?  There were showers forecasted for Monday morning.  That only left me with one option...strippin' in the rain at Clear Fork for big brownies.

I hit the water just after dawn.  I was using my 6wt rod with a large arbor reel.  No fancy leaders or tippit are needed.  Just attach 2 foot of 12lb Maxima leader material to the fly line and tie on your favorite big sculpin streamer.  I started the day with one of Kelly Galloup's articulated Butt Monkey sculpins (olive colored).  I don't think I want to know why Kelly calls this thing Butt Monkey, but it is a sweet pattern.

It was raining when I hit the creek.  I made my first cast directly across the stream and stripped the sculpin in as fast as I could and WHOOSH, there was a golden flash, but no take.  The second cast...nothing.  The 3rd cast WHOOSH, another golden flash, but no take.   Still, not a bad way to start the day. 

I made a few more casts and SMACK, some golden lightening came straight out of the water with my streamer in his mouth.  This guy was big (like 23-24" big) and strong.  He was pulling hard and running down stream.  I got him on the reel and he was taking plenty of drag.  We wrestled back and forth for a few minutes and the line just went slack.  He turned and found his freedom.  I definitely missed an Ohio brown trout trophy.

When I finished sulking, I moved on down stream to another favorite section.  The rain continued and the water was nicely stained.  I began casting and stripping again.  I kid you not, I must have rolled 10 fish before the next big BANG.  Again, the brownie rocketed out of the water with the sculpin in his mouth.  And again, it was a 20"+ brown trout.  Second verse, same as the first.  How on earth could I be rolling so many brownies and had 2 hook-ups with nothing to show for it? 

I inched down the creek and began stripping again...GULP.  FISH ON and this time I was showing no mercy.  This fish was hooked solid.  Now all I had to do was wear him down.  He didn't come out of the water like the others, but when he rolled on the sculpin, I figured he was about 16 inches or so.  But man, he was running like mad and really digging in.  This was one feisty fish.  He was acting like a fresh chromer, not a little brown trout.  After a couple of nice runs, he began to tire and I finally got him in the net.  A 20" fat buck.  That explained the extra strength.  What a reward for my morning work in the rain.

So yea, try strippin' in the rain!