Angling Obsession

Winter Steelheading 1.15.11

2012-01-15T22:08:00.000-05:00

Single digit temps this morning when Berk and I arrived to the river. It definitely felt like winter after such a mild start to the winter steelheading season. For the first time in about 10 years I threw in a couple plug rods, just in case my office paws couldn't handle the cold. This chrome hen just slammed a hot.n.tot as I was warming up with a bowl of chili for lunch...bonus! Explored

Fishslime 2011 - AO's Year in Review Video

2012-01-04T19:34:00.000-05:00

Steelhead Streamer Report 12.17.11

2011-12-21T21:26:00.000-05:00

The streamer bite continues to be strong in west MI as water temps hover around the 40 degree mark. Big sculpins, marabou speys, and flashy flies all took fish this weekend. Bonus brown and rainbow trout were also agressively taking swung flies. Below are pictures of the best brown and steel from three days on the river. Streamer eating steelhead buck Swung fly brown trout

Swingin 12.3.11

2011-12-04T19:25:00.001-05:00

Spent the day chasing steelhead on some local water with swung flies. Fishing continues to be good with many active fish. Large flashy flies hooked 3 steelhead today, one of which I was able to get my hands on for a very short amount of time. Also caught a nice resident brown trout on a conedisk leach tube fly. Pictured below is the brown and another scuplin eating steelhead from a recent

Swinging Double 11.5.11

2011-11-05T23:05:00.001-04:00

Spent the day on a SW Michigan trib swinging half chickens for fresh chrome. Results of my awesome self photography below. Sexy hen The boyfriend Its streamer season...get out there and swing a BIG fly!

Fatty! 10.23.11

2011-10-23T20:59:00.000-04:00

Salmon Camp 08.25.11

2011-08-30T22:04:00.000-04:00

A few from our extended weekend in Northern Michigan. The fish are big this year...better bring an extra rod!

Snakes 7.30.11

2011-08-02T21:37:00.001-04:00

I spent the weekend fishing with my brother, targeting big largemouth, with jigs and heavy tackle. When water temperatures climb to their summer peak, jig fishing can be excellent. Check out my recent post, Off Season, for tips and tackle. Fishing started off a bit slow over the weekend, with only a few fish in our favorite weedlines. We ended up finding the majority of the bass and pike

Pimp My Ride - Driftboat Edition 7.26.11

2011-07-26T21:43:00.000-04:00

My trusty 2001 Hyde LP has treated me well for hundreds of floats. I picked it up used about 4 years ago, about a year after I began steelheading fishing seriously. She has been a fantastic boat, creating many great memories. A few years ago, Hyde Drift Boats, debuted their XL series, and I've been eyeing them up ever since. The XL Low Profile is 18" longer than my standard LP, and the new

Off Season 7.11.11

2011-07-11T22:13:00.000-04:00

Its definitely summer here in the great lakes! With temps hovering around the 90 degree mark this weekend we were more interested in staying cool than chasing chrome. The family and I made it out to a local lake on Sunday for a boat ride and a little fishing. Avery likes fish, although she didn't quite know what to think about this one. It was big, green, and slimy...I think she's more of a

Summer Chrome 7.3.11

2011-07-04T20:09:00.000-04:00

Centerpin Kyle and I met up for a few days of chasing summer chrome. After 2 days of getting beat up by hot steelhead, we ventured further north for salmon. Kyle put the centerpin down and stuck it out with the spey rod. His reward is pictured above...doesn't get much better!

A.O. Update 6.15.11

2011-06-16T23:12:00.000-04:00

Its been way to long without a post around here. As my regular readers know, I've recently switched jobs and moved 300 miles without leaving the great state of Michigan. Work is going great, my wife recently landed a solid job in our new home town of Kalamazoo, MI and we have secured a great house equipped with a giant garage to house SS Huffer #1 and SS Huffer #2. Normal life is about to get

Northern Michigan Browns 5.22.11

2011-05-24T21:55:00.002-04:00

Spent the weekend chasing trout on a couple famous Northern Michigan trout streams. The plan was to chuck streamers all day and spend the evenings stalking giants while they sipped hennies in the film. Friday went as planned when Dustin stuck the pig in the picture above on a streamer. I followed up with an 18" chunk of brown trout on a dry fly that flopped out of the boat just in time

6-Pack of Cougars 5.19.11

2011-05-19T22:03:00.001-04:00

The yellow zoo cougar, designed and developed by Michigan native, Kelly Galloup. Its my goto streamer, always yellow, its one bad ass fly. I'll be stripping these up north for the next 3 days. Stay tuned.

Great Lakes Fishing Blogs 5.17.11

2011-05-17T22:48:00.001-04:00

I'd like to be steelhead fishing during all of my free time, however, we all have obligations that keep us off the water more often than we desire. When not on the water, I attempt to keep up with a number of fishing blogs as a source relevent news, stories, and fish porn to fuel my obsession. Illinois Wisconson Fishing Blog is a noteworthy blog from across the pond. Written by a dedicated

Brown Trout in Familiar Places 5.11.11

2011-05-11T21:38:00.000-04:00

Again, a huge lack in posts around here. Centerpin Kyle has been tied up with school and I've been extremely busy with a new job, moving, and house shopping. Anyhow, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel and I found some time to fish a local SW Michigan trout stream this evening. Its a familiar place, since I caught my first fly rod trout here many years ago. I also posted my

Spring Is A Great Time For Jigs 5.1.11

2011-05-05T21:14:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, Final exams have had me locked down to the library and the books. I finally got the chance to break free and headed up to one of my favorite rivers. A lot of new anglers and even the more accomplished sometimes fall into a rut of tunnel vision thinking steelhead only eat one thing, Roe. This creates a great opportunity to capitalize on fish that have seen every

A.O. Update & Spring Steelhead 04.14.11

2011-04-14T21:53:00.001-04:00

The lack of new fish porn around here is unacceptable! The truth is, I haven't been fishing as much as usual the last few weeks. I took a new job, sold my house, and I'm in the process of moving my family. Although my lack of fishing smack dab in the middle of the spring steelhead run hurts, life overall is going good and I'm looking forward to getting back to my angling obsession tendencies!

Dont be a lazy steelheader 3.26.11

2011-03-26T20:42:00.007-04:00

We’ve all done it on the river in pursuit of the mystical steelhead. Pulled our line free from a snag, landed a couple hot chromers, or ran the offering around rocks reeling it up, only to glance at it and think, “It’ll be good for one more fish. DON’T DO IT. Do not be the lazy steelheader that separates the anglers who get fish to hand more consistently than others. This also includes cinching

A.O. Welcomes Centerpin Kyle! 3.23.11

2011-03-23T19:26:00.000-04:00

I met Kyle just over a year ago on the banks of the AuSable River in Northern Michigan. We chatted for a bit as I rowed my boat past him and he claimed that he fished here "all the time" and gave me a few tips. This was my river and I'd never seen this joker before and called BS. A few days went by and I ran into Kyle again, and again. This guy is a fully addicted to chasing chrome and is

Man Eater 3.13.11

2011-03-13T21:50:00.000-04:00

Brought to you by my little brother while vacationing in Key West. I have no idea how to tell the difference between a shark, and a big shark, but to me this thing is huge.

Egg Wagons 3.4.11

2011-03-10T21:15:00.000-05:00

The Angling Obsession crew hit the road this weekend to chase chrome steelhead on Michigan's western shoreline. The plan was to fish three rivers in three days and test our skills on some not so familiar water. Centerpin Kyle started day one off right by quickly putting a solid 8lb hen in the net. We followed up with a few resident trout as the freezing rain stuck like syrup and the water flows

Weekend Chrome 3.1.11

2011-03-01T22:47:00.000-05:00

The A.O. crew managed to crush a few steelhead this weekend. The action wasn't quite as good as last week, however, we did find a few quality fish. Kyle put this solid steelhead in the boat just before sunset, steelhead cocktail hour. Sorry for the delay in posts, between planning for an upcomming fishing trip and Avery taking her first real steps, its been a busy week so far! Today is the

Fishing Logs 3.1.11

2011-03-01T22:35:00.001-05:00

I've kept a fishing log in one form or another for about 10 years. They're fun to look back on years down the road and especially helpful for planning future fishing trips based on past successes. I recommend any serious angler give it a try. Jason Puris of http://www.thefin.com/ recently put together an article on fishing logs with input from several anglers from around the country. I

Northern Michigan Chrome 2.20.11

2011-02-21T19:21:00.001-05:00

Warmer temps and some rain last week made for excellent steelhead conditions on the river this weekend. Fished with Centerpin Kyle and put the smack down with centerpins and floats. No takers on the swung fly. It was an excellent day on the river and we even hit a pair of chrome fish.