Little Manistee Steelhead - By Ray Danders



I had planned all week to float a section of the PM on Saturday. Because of the shorter days, I thought I should be at the river at daybreak, when I remembered that I had a Little Manistee Watershed meeting to attend in Irons, MI that started at 9AM. The meeting ended at 11AM and by the time I took my wife and mom to lunch as there was not enough time to fish the PM.

It had rained pretty good, and the rivers were up, so I decided it was a crap shoot as to where to go, so I decided to fish the Little Manistee. I will only say that I fished somewhere below 9 mile bridge on Federal land, open to the public. I walked about a mile from where I parked my car and started to work back upstream. I was catching lots of little steelhead and a few browns, and just as I was letting my guard down I got a smashing strike. My line snapped in less than three seconds. I never had a chance, especially since I was using my 6 ft. jigging rod rated for 4 to 8 lb. test. I was using straight 6 lb. test, and forgot to set the drag. Lesson number 99!

I wish I had gotten a look at that big fish, and I suspect that it might have been a monster brown, but it was too late to cry over spilled milk. I was beginning to think that I had blown my one and only chance, as I had little more than an hour of daylight left and was still a half mile from the car. Because of the limited time factor, I decided I would only fish the very best looking holes the rest of the way back. 

I knew the next stretch was straight and shallow for the next 200 yards and just as I decided to walk around this stretch, when I saw something dark move in the water below me. It looked like a torpedo and then there was another one and another. I counted 11 or 12 big fish on a bed, but couldn't tell what they were, but suspected they were steelhead. I dropped back downstream eased into the water an made my way slowly back up to them. I cast my little bobber rig with a number 10 hook, small splitshot and 5 egg bag above the fish and started to reel in the slack when my "strike indicator" sank under the water like a big bluegill had just sucked in my bait.

When I set the hook, I got more than I expected. The fish came out of the water somersault style and swam frantically from one side of the river to the other more out of the water than in it. At that moment I wished I had brought my 9 weight and some heaver line. Luck was with me and it was the perfect spot with very few snags above or below. The fish strained my 6 lb test to the max as it tried in vain to make it upstream and back into the maze of spawning steelhead. This was the best possible scenario as the fish was fighting both me and the river.

My suspicions were right, they were steelhead, fall spawners if you will. As it turns out, there was at least 2 dozen steelhead on this one bed. It is possible that there were two beds close together, as I have never seen that many fish on one bed before. Because the water was high, there was a little lagoon that formed off the main river and I was able to lead the 8 lb male into it. On a short line, I was able to hold his head toward the shore and when he tried to escape, he ended up in the grass and he was mine. This was a dark fish in full spawning colors and with milt running down his side.

I had an order from my mom for a couple of steelhead so he went up on the bank. One cast later and I was on to another male, only this one was in the 14 lb class. He went through the same routine as the 8 pounder, only it took a little longer to land him, but I was successful. What a beautiful fish. I was going to keep two fish, but I decided this was not one of them, so I turned him loose. On my next drift, I hooked one of the biggest steelhead I have ever seen in the tail. I estimate he was in the 18 lb class, and was not happy about being snagged. He also went from one side of the river to the other and then swam right at me and finally got between me and shore which was only about 8 inches. When he realized I was there, he came cart-wheeling out of the water directly into my stomach, slapping me about 3 times with his tail in the process. It was then I realized where he was hooked and when he shot down stream, I held my drag and my line popped in an instant.

I was standing there shaking a little bit as I tried to tie on another hook. On top of that I was almost as wet as the fish and I had water all over my glasses. On my next cast I hooked a 15" brown that I almost yanked out of the water. I made short work out of him, released him and mad another cast. This time it was a 12 lb. male. As soon as I hooked him I walked him downstream and fought him as he tried to reach the other spawning fish. I tried to keep him below the others, but this fish had more power than my stretched out 6 lb. test, so at times I had no choice and he moved back up with the pod. I finally landed that one and decided I would keep him too.

I had it down now, let them fight above me going upstream until they tired, and then lead them to my little slough for easy landing. On my very next cast, I hooked a female and I estimate she was in the sixteen lb class. She came in easier than the others, and I assumed that was because of the rigors of spawning. When I lifted her, there was no doubt about the spawning as her eggs were running out. I was tempted to keep her as the fresh loose steelhead eggs were my favorite bait, but I quickly tossed that idea out and quickly released her and watched her swim directly back upstream to her bed. Fall spawners although not unheard of are still unusual and if I had it to do over, I would have released the two males too.

After landing the big female, I stripped off about 30 yards of very stretched line wrapped it up and stuck it down my wanders. I retied as quickly as I could and got back into the action. By the time I finished, I was 7 for ten in this one hole on steelhead including many small rainbows and a few decent browns and rainbows too. Counting the first fish, I ended up 7 for 11 which is why I called it a crap shoot. The last fish I landed tangled my line up so badly I had to retie, except it was too dark and my light was still in my deer hunting backpack. In the dim light I waded across the river, tied my stringer around a good sized stick and dragged the two males up the big hill which I now refer to as a mountain and after stopping several times, the rest of the way to my car.

Way before I got there, I realized I had dressed way to warmly. The two pictures were taken when I got back to the Splitshot Lodge in the car headlights and they didn't come out to good, but you can still see how beat up I was. I'm not complaining, as it was a beautiful day, and I never saw another fisherman.

After I took care of the fish, I took a hot shower and when I got done, my lovely wife had dinner waiting for me. I was fast asleep by 9 PM as I had a fishing trip with Dave the next day. At the meeting, Dave (Dryfly) had asked me to go fishing with him on Sunday morning and we decided to meet at his place at about 11 AM. I was thankful for that, as it would give my arms a little more time to recover. We should all have those problems.

Dave took me to one of his favorite spots also on public ground which I cannot reveal and in the first hole he put me in, I hooked and landed a beautiful 4 pound silver bullet. I love catching steelhead between 3 and 5 lbs. They are fast and acrobatic and really test your skill. A couple of minutes later I hooked onto a brute. I yelled to Dave that I had hooked a real beauty, and just then she broke water and then headed for the depths. Unfortunately there was a big logjam below and when she got into it, it was over.

Before I had a chance to complain, I looked downstream and Dave was hooked up to a beautiful 8 pounder. He had his 9 footer and the expertly Dave fought this fish there was no question in my mind that he had done this many times before. Dave needed no help and beached it while it still had plenty of vinegar left. He released the fish, and we headed downstream. The weather was perfect, and the sun even came out a few times just to warm us up. For the next two hours, neither one of us hooked a decent fish. Just as I was beginning to think they had shut down for good, Dave hooked a big fish, and after a fair battle, the fish won. A few minutes later, Dave had another big male on. The fish was on the opposite shore, and was jumping out of the water as if someone had jabbed him with a cattle prod. That one didn't last too long, and it was clear by the smile on Dave's face that he had enjoyed the encounter.

We fished within site of each other the rest of the day. I broke off for the 88th time on another unseen snag and while I retied, Dave departed downstream. By the time I caught up with him he was fast to another big fish. He was nice enough to fight it downstream and leave his hole vacant long enough for me to get a few casts in. All of a sudden, POP and Dave's fish was gone. Just about that time, my bobber went down and I was fast to a big fish. The fish was fighting upstream as I smugly told Dave this dumb fish was mine. If he went downstream, he would have a much better chance. Just then the fish bolted upstream about 50 yards, under two log jams, cart-wheeled out of the water and was gone.

Dave looked at me with a smile and said what did you say? That took care of the smug look on my face and we were both humiliated again for in the next 5 minutes we both hooked another fish with the same results, zilch. Dave suggested that I try the bend just below him, which I did. As I neared the shore, I was concentrating on untangling my strike indicator when I tripped on a root and plunged head first off the bank and into the river. I yelled oh !@#$ just as I started to go, just to give Dave a heads up. No sense making a good dive without anyone seeing it. Instead of helping me, he held his hands up as if he had a card in them and announced he gave me a ten. What a thoughtful friend!

Even though I had taken on a couple of gallons of water, I decided to continue as we only had a few more holes to go, and Dave announced that I had wrecked his fishing for a 100 yards upstream and downstream. I guess he felt sorry for me, cause he suggested I fish a really good looking hole and he headed downstream. As a result, I ended up landing a beautiful silver 7 lb hen. At the last hole, Dave lost 3 more big fish and that's where we ended the day. Dave was 1 for 8 and I ended up with a bath and 2 for 5. We released all three fish, and overall had a great day as we hooked 13 steelhead in a little over 4 hours.

For the weekend, I landed 9 steelhead several nice browns and lots of decent rainbows as well as a bunch of dinks. Sixteen steelhead in less than 8 hours of fishing over two days, is fabulous in my book and an excellent reason for you to get out there and find some fish of your own. Including Dave's fish on Sunday, together we hooked 24 steelhead. What a great weekend. Thanks Dave for the guided tour and the "10". I won't give away your secrets and I decided to explain my bathing habits before you did! LOL It will be a day to remember!