Good grief!  What a week.  Woke up to negative degrees far too often in the last couple of weeks. It’s been so cold that I think every school in Northern Michigan was closed just so those poor kids didn’t have to stand at the bus stop. I think it’s safe to say that an...

By: Aaron Dexter   Category: River Reports Tags: cold, Winter, Au Sable, Manistee

I’ve logged some serious ice time this season.  I spent more time on the hard water last week than I have in the last two years and, even with some pretty serious sorting, I cleaned about seventy perch as a result.  A lot of knife work for sure, but it’s really not that bad when you get in the groove.  Sure the smaller ones take some careful surgery and a steady hand but it’s amazing how much pride you can get from producing a couple of mouthfuls of fresh perch. Most of that a...

By: Aaron Dexter   Category: River Reports Tags: Higgins Lake, Ice Fishing, fly tying

I caught a mudpuppy!  No kidding.  I hadn’t even seen one of these lengthy salamanders since I was kid and that was in the shallow muddy banks of the Thunder Bay River backwaters.  But I caught this critter while perch fishing on Higgins lake in 60 feet of water. I was on a pre...

By: Aaron Dexter   Category: River Reports Tags: Black Lake, Mudpuppy, Perch, Ice Fishing, Au Sable, Manistee

I’ve never enjoyed Florida - but I was never on Pine Island until a couple years ago. My ol’ man picked me up at Ft. Meyers airport, and within the hour we were on Pine Island at my dad’s friend’s condo. The condo was part of an association, Blue Crab Key, which is ideal for fishing people. The condos are basic stilt construction, so living quarters are located on the second floor and most guys had some sort of flats boat or bay boat stored below the living quarters. My ...

By: Don Richards   Category: Fly Fishing Community, Tourism Tags: Trip Reports, Pine Island, Florida Fly Fishing, Saltwater Fly Fishing