Believe It Or Not But Some Sportsmen Don't Hunt

Hunting is not a universal pastime among sportsmen. Some people simply don't hunt, but they have nothing against it.

Fishing guide Mark Rinckey of Honor is such a man. The archery and firearm deer seasons hold little appeal for him because he doesn't have time to hunt.
The reason is he is is busy guiding steelhead fishermen. He's a boot-fishing guide, and wades and fishes on the Betsie and Platte rivers. He loves venison, but gets some from his brother who does hunt.

Instead, Rinckey spends almost every day fishing for steelhead on the Betsie River. It usually holds fish through November and often well into December. It can be cold fishing, but hooking fish can warm up any angler.

Some great steelhead fishing during the firearm deer season. Arnie Minka (left) and Mark Rinckey with a nice steelhead.

"Some of the finest steelhead fishing takes place in October and November, and if I have a day off, it is spent scouting other sections of these rivers to keep track of steelhead movements," Rinckey said. "There are still some fish here but some have moved on upstream. I'll keep guiding until the rivers freeze over."

The steelhead were still hanging around, and Rinckey, Arnie Minka of Grawn and I pounded a section of river. The wind was up from the southwest with gusts to 20 miles per hour, and the fishing conditions were about as bad as they could get  on this day but we hooked, landed and lost some steelhead.

Minka got on the board first with a three-pound skipper, and he kept the young fish for dinner. I followed with a buck steelhead that sizzled off almost 200 yards of 4-pound line, jumped twice, and it was a long struggle to catch up with that fish and fight him to the net. The 11-pounder was photographed and quickly released.

I caught two other fish. One was a skipper of three pounds and a 10-pound female that was promptly returned to the water.

Different year classes of fish.

Rinckey weighed in with a skipper, and a 10-pound female and a young silver coho salmon. These fish are in 45-degree water now, and they are hot. Rinckey's technique of fishing 4-pound mono, a small spawnbag and very little weight, allows the bait to roll smoothly and naturally along bottom.

Sure, we occasionally hang up and have to break off, and occasionally a fish is hooked and breaks the line. Minka lost one nice fish two minutes into the battle when it jumped, landed on the line and it parted like sewing thread. Rinckey hooked and lost a nice fish, and I wemt three for three.

Make no mistake about it. This is finesse fishing, and there is no place for heavy-handed anglers line as flimsy as a spider web. The drags are set light, and a hooked steelhead often jumps once or twice when the hook bites home, and from that point on, it is easy to land a big fish if you take your time.

Minka hooked a mint-silver chromer that provided him with five minutes of pure angling excitement. The wind was howling, there was a riffle on the water, and his steelhead was darting this way and that, jumping as she went downstream, and it was finally led to the waiting net, unhooked and released.

This was a day that I've become accustomed to in early to mid-November. Rinckey and I have fished yearly since I quit river guiding in 1976. We've seen some grand and wonderful days, and over these many years, we have been skunked only once or twice. He has numerous days each fall when clients may hook, land and release 30 nice steelhead. This photo of me and a nice fall steelhead is whaat really turns me on during the firearm deer season.

A great four hours of fishing.

We wound up hooking a total of 11 fish, and landed seven steelhead and one coho salmon. We fished from 7-11 a.m. It's entirely conceivable that we could have landed many more fish, but how many does it take to satisfy a person? I released all of mine, but that is a personal thing with me.

Rinckey (231-325-6901) has some open days in November and December, and a phone call can put anglers in touch with one of the finest steelhead fishing guides I know. He may take you through some rough terrain, and other times it's an easy walk. He just may teach an angler some steelheading tricks they didn't know.

All I know is that I'm happy he doesn't hunt. His woodsmanship skills are as good as his fishing skills, but he makes his living as a fishing guide. I hunt Benzie County every year, and I for one, am happy with his being on the water instead of in the woods.

I'd rather see him on the steelhead stream than walking into a tree stand. I know he'd have that deer pegged, and I might not stand a chance. He's good at whatever he does, and that's a fact you can take to the bank.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors