Big Manistee River

In the late summer and early fall, the Big Manistee river becomes the destination for many fisherman seeking the Chinook (King) Salmon.  The salmon run usually starts in August and continues into October, depending on the weather conditions.  Triggered by the cooler water temperatures and shorter days, these fish begin their  journey from Lake Michigan into the Manistee River, via Manistee Lake.  They continue up the river as far as Tippy Dam, in the quest to spawn somewhere along the way.

For us it is a wild guess to pick a week, a year in advance, that will be good fishing.  Depending on the weather conditions, we might hit a good run or just have some time on the water.  We always stay at the Matson's Big Manistee River Campground, a friendly and well maintained facility owned by Scott and Cheryl Matson.

This year, Taylor and I arrived before the rest of the group so we decided to camp for a couple of nights.  We got to the campground later than we wanted due to a couple of flat tires.  We quickly setup our tent, made a quick dinner and then headed out for some evening fishing.  It was great to be on the river again fishing with my best buddy.

No luck the first night, but we went back to camp confident that we would be successful in the morning.  We climbed into our small tent so that we could get some sleep and get back on the river by 7:00am.  It was not long before it was clear that several of the campers around us were not on the same plan.  This is usually a very quite campground, so we expected that the others would soon retire to their tents.  One group was just getting started with their party and continued to raise their volume until 3 or 4 a.m.  We had some "words" along the way which seem to help for a while, but did not last long.  We got up a little later than planned, due to the almost sleepless night.
After a quick breakfast, we headed back down river toward one of our favorite spots.  We found the spot already taken so we opted for an alternate.  This turned out to be a good spot, because Taylor had two fish in the boat before 8:30.

Since we were tied up to some logs, I thought about moving the boat to the other side of the river to keep the fish out of the wood. The first fish seemed to be staying in the main stream, so we decided to hold tight.  Taylor's skill kept the fish out of trouble and soon we had the first fish in the boat.  The net was still dripping when he had the second fish hit.  We again decided to keep our spot and not move the boat and soon the second fish was also on the stringer.

This year it seemed that the large pearl flatfish with the redhead and black eyes, was the best running lure. It worked well for these two fish and three more later in the week.  This was a great start to our day and gave us confidence that we might have a good run started.
After the morning outing, we returned to camp to clean Taylor's fish and make some lunch.  We took some time to report the events of the previous night to the camp office and found we were the fourth to do so.  The problem campers were quickly asked to leave, which resulted in a sigh of relief from the rest of the camp.   This is normally a very quiet camp and in almost 18 years, the Matson's have only had to eject three campers.

M2 Flatfish

On Saturday, we were joined by my good friend Chris and his son Seth.  Although Chris and I have fished the Manistee many times, it was the first trip for Seth.  We were all hopeful that he would connect with a few kings and have a good Manistee river adventure.

The afternoon did not result in any more salmon for our boat, but we did see our first sighting of bald eagles.  Seth was a bit luckier, landing a nice Northern Pike as his first fish of the trip.  Our evening was much better than the previous, as everyone was quiet, probably trying to catch up on sleep missed from the night before.  Chris had a nice fire started and we roasted some marshmallows before turning in.  It was difficult to leave the warm fire, but we were ready for a quiet night to catch up on our sleep.

Hot-n-Tot

Sunday was a short day for Taylor, since he had to head back to college.  We hit it hard, hoping to get him another fished before his trip ended.  In the last spot we tried, Taylor connected with a nice fish casting a chartreuse Hot-n-Tot .  It was a short battle.  This fish was a fresh run and did not want to cooperate. Running toward the boat and rolling like a gator, was just the trick to avoid our capture.  Even though we did not get him in the boat, it was a nice way to end Tay's trip with some action.

As Taylor headed back to school, we were joined by my dad, Frank, and Chris' dad, Phil.  We all moved into the cabin above the campground, had a quick dinner and headed out for some evening fishing.  I took dad down to Taylor's lucky spot and we tied up to a log for some evening fishing.  It was not very long before he had a fish on, using the same rod and lure that Taylor used to catch his fish.  This was a smaller fish that put on a nice fight that ended in our net.  We did not stay out very long, as it began to get cold and dad was pretty tired from the trip up.

Monday, Seth went fishing with his grandfather.  It was on this day he became a real Manistee River salmon fisherman, landing his first two Kings.
Dad and I fished all the way down to below the beaver creek, without any success.  We did get a chance to see a couple of mature bald eagles watching us, watching them.  I think they also look forward to the salmon run each year, taking advantage of the easy meals when the expired fish float back down the river.

Tuesday evening I fished with Chris and his son in one of their favorite spots.  This particular "hole" was first fished by Chris' grandfather, so it has some serious family history and holds a special sentimental value for Chris.  On this evening, it proved itself again.  I had two serious hits, but failed to get a hook set in either one.  In both cases by the time I stood up to begin the fight, it was over.  These were the first hits of the trip for me, so I had an infusion of excitement even without any results. Having fished this river for over 35 years, I know that "hits" are much more common than fish in the net.  If we land 50% of the fish that actually hit our lures, we are doing well for river fishing.

Chris pulled our batting average up by landing the next two fish that he encountered.  Although one of the fish was seeking some wood to make his attempt at escape, Chris knew this tactic well and countered the maneuver with some pressure that brought the fish back around.  It was not long before we had him safely in the boat. It was a great way to end this day with a couple of nice fish and Chris now removed from the "skunked" board.

On Wednesday, dad and I jumped in with Chris and we went back to the same spot to see if we could repeat our success from the previous evening.  It seemed like some fish were moving up the river, so this should be as good a spot as any.  We decided to again run some plugs rather than cast, since it would be easier with three people in the boat.  It is always a nice way to start the fishing day watching the steam lift from the river as the sun begins to climb and enjoying a hot cup of tea.  We typically wear our rain suites in the morning, even on a clear day, because dew from the cold air has everything wet.  As the sun dries out the boat and warms the air, we shed layers as needed.

This morning I finally got on the scoreboard.  Using Tay's lucky flatfish, I connected with a salmon that was spunky to say the least.  Another fresh run with silver sides, it gave a nice fight yet was fairly well behaved.  Taking an initial run downstream toward some known logs had me worried, but we soon had the situation under control and gained some line back on the reel.  I felt a sigh of relief when the fish was safely in the boat.  There were many years that I went back home fishless, but this would not be one of them.

Dad had the same experience that I had the previous evening - two good hits, but no hook ups.  We were running monofilament on these running rods, rather than braid.  Although the mono provides some advantages in cushioning the tackle while fighting a fish, it also provide a bit of stretch that might have contributed to the issues with not getting a good hook set.  The decision to use mono might have cost us several fish.

Wednesday evening, I had the opportunity to guide Seth in my boat.  Although we did run some lures in several spots, we primarily casted down river.  Since there were only two of us in the boat, it was our opportunity to see if we could get some of these fish out of the log jams.  I use a technique of running the engine in reverse, while standing on one leg and steering with the other one using my foot on the tiller.  This slows the drift down the river, while providing good boat control.  I've used this approach for years on the river and as far as I know, I'm the only one crazy enough to do it.  It really does provide great boat control for casting in some tricky spots.  Although the running motor does not seem to affect the fish, it does become annoying hearing the engine and breathing the exhaust.

On this evening, we only managed to hook a large underwater stump and loose one of Seth's lures.  Normally we have a 90%+ success rate retrieving lures using our special pole, but this one was under the log and it was bound to lower our average.

As it began to get dark, we once again tried running some flatfish in Taylor's spot.  We even tried glow-in-the-dark technology, since both of our lures had this magic paint.  My Q-Beam was the charging station and soon our lures became like the bait fish from the nuclear plant.  We both wondered if this eerie glow would really work with the salmon (Seth said he would do some research when he gets back home).  Although this approach did not result in any hits for the evening, it was a fun distraction from the fishless evening.

Thursday was our last day on the water.  Since fishing was once again slow and we were getting tired of fishing the same spots near camp, we decided to venture up river.  Chris, Seth and Phil did the same, so we followed them without any real destination in mind.  I figured that we would just see how many boats were fishing the holes around Rainbow Bend and then see if there was a spot that attracted us. With the lower water level this year, and the wind on the water, I proceeded very slowly.  This year I hit more stumps with my motor than I had in the previous decade, so it seemed best to be cautious.

I asked dad if we were close to "Cemetery Run" and he confirmed that it was just around the corner and we should give it a try.  Although this is a very popular "up river" spot we were surprised that it was almost devoid of boats, but then again it was a Thursday afternoon.  We anchored and ran back some flats.  Dad had switched to one of his old favorite rods, hoping that the extra power would provide for a better hookset.  On this afternoon, it seemed to work.  After only a few minutes, dad hooked a nice fish.  This run has few snags, but fairly fast water.  We knew if we had a good hookup, we had a good chance to land the fish.
There was a boat heading up toward us and it was clear that they did not see that we had a fish on.  The guy in the front of the boat seemed to be asleep and the guy driving could not even see us.  I waved the landing net and we yelled "fish on".  They eventually saw us and steered to the other side.  Even though they should have stopped below us, they continued past us like they were watching TV.

This was a nice fish and it really worked the current to it's advantage.  After a couple of attempts to find the prop, dad persuaded the fish back around to the side of the boat.  I put the net in the water looking for the right time to make my move.  The fish decided to turn and head back down river which put him right into the net.  Bingo, dad had his second fish in the boat!

This proved to be the last fish of the trip for our group.  Although we fished until early evening, there was no more stories for this adventure.  Since we were leaving in the morning, we pulled out the boats and packed up.  It turned out to be a wise move, since the rain started again while we were eating a very late dinner.

It was not our best year, nor our worst catching fishing, but we have enough for the smoker, which is always one of the goals.  More importantly, we added to the great memories of fishing this beautiful river with family and life-long friends.

Scott, Frank, Phil, Seth and Chris - Manistee 2012