A desperately needed getaway to Canada!

2012/2013 has been a tough fishing year! To recap … we moved across the country in July, had to find a new job before the bank account hit zero, bought a house in February and had a baby in April.

I’m pretty sure they say those are the top 4 “stressers” in life. On top of it, when I was able to sneak out and get a half or full day of fishing, it really seemed like the dice did not roll in my favor. Whether it was as simple as the fishing being “poor”, or the water being high, or the steelhead run not being strong, or the hatch was on “a different river” – some times you just feel like it’s not going your way.

This last weekend I rolled the dice … and they wen’t my way (or as they say on The Simpson’s “everything is coming up Milhouse”).

Me and my cousin Josh

It was a guys weekend planned for our family cabin up in Canada. Mom was able to come up to MI to be with Michelle, Winston and little Henry, so that was the first piece of the puzzle that allowed me some time off for 3 glorious days of nothing but time and fishing!

There were six of us in all – Bill “Wild Willy” Allen, Matt, Josh A., Jay, another Josh (S.) and me. I arrived at camp late in the night on Friday after knocking off work a few hours early. I sailed through customs with a “Where are you going? Welcome to Canada” – the omens were good from the very start!

As a guys trip we wasted no time and our internal clocks all told us it was time to get up at about 5:30 AM. Truth be told, a smart man would have taken the opportunity of 3 days away from a newborn crying throughout the night as a chance to catch up on sleep, but really, I needed fishing much more than sleep! After a classic big breakfast we were on the lake by about 8 AM.

This was another monumental trip in the sense that Jay, Josh S. and me were all on fly-rods a rare opportunity we don’t often get since we are usually on an aluminum boat with 4 other spin fisherman and it’s a little tough to convince them all to put their rods down and change their whole approach to fishing in order to accommodate one guy in the front of the boat with a fly-rod.

This guy came up once and actually refused a popper – the second time, he couldn’t help himself.

From a technical standpoint we were all fishing for Pike – because the Bass season in Canada wasn’t open yet, but as catch-and-release only fisherman, none of us were to opposed to hooking up with some pre-spawning males – who are reckless in their protection of the beds they are fanning out!

Yes, it was two magical days of fishing, with some amazing topwater takes, rejections and violent slashes at streamers; followed by long evenings around the fire, telling stories and catching up on life. I think the photos sum up the fishing better than my words can – so I’ll let them do the talking.

Josh S. with a great fish.

The only noteworthy event, not photographed, was the pike-of-my-life! As you can tell by the picture, the pike we were catching on the fly weren’t exactly the kind of fish you write home about. And then it happened … a monster pike in the 15 lb.+ class followed me right up to the boat. He darted away once he saw us, so I made another cast at him as he was cruising back to his lair and sure enough … strip, strip, pause – he pounced on it! It was at this moment I realized I hadn’t bothered with the steel leader – two head shakes and the game was over

The day was chocked full of small pike goodness.

Monday was a travel day, but I had some leisure time to get home. I rolled the dice again and decided to stop by the St. Mary’s River, below the International bridge. It’s an amazing stretch of riffles, part of the connection between Superior and Ontario. Given the large bodies of water it connects and the cold temps of those lakes it’s has some type of salmonoid in it at any given time of the year – even if they are just rogue feeding fish. I had hoped for steelhead and those hopes were met with joy!

Underwater steelhead #2.

Once I came across a pod of steelhead I tied on a single egg and a couple of small split shot below a small indicator. Five well placed casts … nothing. Ten … Twenty … I suspected my drift was getting crushed by the challenging flows, so I repositioned a bit and got a great drop cast into the sweet spot. The great thing about cold Lake Superior water is it’s crystal clear and the riverbed is oh so clean! I could watch my egg at about 3.5 feet deep and it was like dryfly fishing. I saw a male turn 2 feet and absolutely crush my fly! I never even bothered to look at the indicator.

Pristine steelhead!

After a tough battle, and an awkward photo shoot (I got 12 stitches in my index finger the week before), I walked back upstream and did it again.

This fish was also pristine and I love the light coloration.

I heard a sermon once where one of the points was a cleaver breakdown of the recreation into re-creation. I tell you, it was a good weekend and I was re-created into a new man!

Tight Lines,

-Jeff

Underwater steelhead #1.

via Allen Brothers http://www.theallenbrothers.com/site/2013/06/a-desperately-needed-getaway-to-canada/

Knocking off work early to fish the Baldwin River

A few weekends ago, my parents were in town and we had the chance to fish some property that a friend of Jays owns. It’s up on the Baldwin River not too far from the confluence of the Pere Marquette. While it was a pretty short ordeal, it was great to get out for a few hours in the evening and enjoy time on the water with Dad, Jay and Hudson.

Dad and Hudson enjoying a relaxing moment on the bank while Jay was casting at the one riser we found.

I can’t say the fishing was epic, most of what we picked up were 6″ to 12″ steelhead smolt from the year before, but we did hook into the occasional 14″ brown and it made for some excitement.

We were expecting to see more steelhead, but the one pod we did find didn’t disappoint. We drifted eggs behind the redd and picked up  what seemed like a brown every cast for a few glorious minutes.

This brown took my egg pattern almost the second it hit the water. I’d say he only had one thing on his mind!

The big takeaway for me was wading in the cool water for the first time of the year without a down jacket, beanie and gloves – and breathing deeply of the fragrant forest air.

-Jeff

via Allen Brothers http://www.theallenbrothers.com/site/2013/05/knocking-off-work-early-to-fish-the-baldwin-river/

North Branch White River … it never felt so good to lose a fish!

The most important news I have is that my wife, Michelle, gave birth to our second son last Sunday! Henry Lewis Allen was born at 6:30 PM in the evening. As it goes, the first week was a little rough, with very little sleep and a lot of crying. But what a joy it is to have another boy – Winston now has a best friend and I have two fishing partners (in about 5 years).

Henry, fast asleep after a long struggle to come into this world.

When Sunday rolled around my loving wife said, “you need to get out and recharge”. So, I took the opportunity to head out to the river for a half day of fishing. As it turns out, western Michigan is under a flood of Biblical proportions, so I decided it would be a great day if Jay and I just went for a long drive, discussed life, and hopefully found some fish in the process. We heard rumors that some of the more spring-fed rivers were clear water and if it was small enough of a system may be wadeable – the North Branch of the White River fit the bill so we headed out!

When we arrived, we were happy beyond belief. The river was in GREAT shape – clear, wadable and lots of gravel! The steelhead fishing was not epic, but we were happy to find the fish were fresh, but not on their beds yet, so we were able to hook fish on nymphs and egg patterns in the deep runs.

If I would have been a little more aggressive with the net this photo might look a lot different!

The worst news of the day is that we went 0/4 when it comes to landing, but hooking a steelhead each hour meant that fishing with your brother, the sun on our backs, the air in the 50′s, and an occasional fish exploding up the river it never felt so good to lose a fish!

Tight lines,

-Jeff

via Allen Brothers http://www.theallenbrothers.com/site/2013/04/north-branch-white-river-it-never-felt-so-good-to-lose-a-fish/

Muskegon River – on a cold afternoon

When you really need a day on the river, it doesn’t matter much what the weather is doing. Such was the case yesterday. The weatherman had said high 30′s and partly cloudy, the reality was high 20′s, wind, bone chilling humidity and no sun. But, it really doesn’t matter too much when you’re out on the river with your brother breathing in the fresh air. Even poor fishing didn’t make much of a difference, it was just good to be out.

 

A close up shot of Jay’s pristine steelhead.

Jay, Hudson and I got on the river about noon and the primary goal was to hook some steelhead. We fished deep runs with the classic “chuck and duck” method with not much success. Jay hooked and landed this well colored steelhead, but the rest of the day we couldn’t even say we bumped a fish.

Near the end of the day we decided to fish for trout, which turned out to be pretty great! We only had an hour, but we were able to pick up about 8 fish in the 8″ to 12″ range. It probably would have been a pretty good day had we just gone for trout.

We did get a couple of fun photos to add some good laughter to the situation too! Check them out below.

Here’s to staying sane!

-Jeff Allen

Jay, looking like a happy “normal” angler.

Jay again, rocking the new fangled “my w@ng is bigger than yours” fish hold. Whenever you’re tempted to do a photo like this – just say no We all know what you’re trying to say – we’re not buying it.

What’s that? Two can play at that game – Jeff answers the call right back! Kaboom! Turn that 8″ fish into a monster! (Yes, that was a painful expression to perform.)

via Allen Brothers http://www.theallenbrothers.com/site/2013/03/muskegon-river-on-a-cold-afternoon/

Rogue River Steelhead

Jay and I got out on the river Monday morning before doing some video work on our fly-ting business (the Allen Brothers). It was a good chance to check out what is soon to be my new home-waters. No doubt you’ll be seeing a lot more posts from me on the Rogue. On February 1, 2013 Michelle and I move in to a new home we purchased and it’s a short 5 minute drive from downtown Rockford, MI

Jay with a hefty steelhead!

Currently, the Rogue seems to be a “marginal” trout stream due to pretty warm temps in the summer. But my endless optimism, when it comes to trout, thinks it has the potential to be EPIC with proper management and and regulations. No doubt I’ll try and get involved in that arena.

We had a great time on the river. The fishing wasn’t anything to write home about, but the conversation was great. It’s been awesome these last few months “getting to know” my brother again. We’ve always been best friends, but have lived in different parts of the country for the last 15 years.

Getting ready for the release.

I think we were on the water for about 4 hours and landed three fish – one 13″ rainbow, a 17″ jack steelhead and this hefty steelhead that jay picked up. The rainbow came on a scud, but the rest were on a classic egg pattern.

Looking forward to blogging more and getting “back on the wagon”!

-Jeff

Location: Rockford, MI

Date: Monday December 31, 2012

Weather: Cold and clear, just above freezing

Insect/Activity: None

Patterns Used: Pheasant Tail, Gammarus Scud, Egg

Flows: 175