Playing A Hunch

Fishing guides are smart. If they stumble in the brains department, they often are out of business within a year.

Guides know when to make decisions. and then proceed with an action plan. That plan may not always produce the desired results, but I'd rather have a guide who is willing to make a sound decision based on his experience than fence-straddle all day while nothing happens.

Arnie Minka of Grawn and I had booked a steelhead trip with Mark Rinckey of Honor (231-325-6901) a few years ago. Fishing had been extremely slow, but it's been too nice of a day to reschedule a trip. We were committed to it even though we knew steelhead fishing had been unremarkably dismal for two weeks.

"We are going to try something new," Rinckey told us when we met in Honor at 5:30 a.m. "The water level flowing over the rivermouth where the Betsie River flows into Betsie Bay has been so shallow that few steelhead are moving upstream. We're going after them in Betsie Bay."

Rinckey has been guiding river salmon and steelhead fishermen since 1977 when I first started fishing with him. He's come up with some strange ideas in the past, but they often pay off. Minka and I would go along with this venture with great anticipation.

A hunch paid off with this steelhead for Arnie Minka (left) and Rinckey.

We got to a spot that borders the Elberta side of Betsie Bay, walked to the water, and stuck short sandspikes at the water's edge to hold the rods. Rinckey began rigging lines with a quarter-ounce pyramid sinker, a four-foot leader of four-pound test, and a No. 8 hook. Spawnbags would be used for bait.

The first bait hit the water, and Rinckey was rigging the second rod, when a steelhead rattled the rod. I grabbed it, set the hook, and held on as a fish powered off on a 20-yard run. Five minutes later an 8-pound steelhead was skidded up to shore.

Rods No. 1 and 2 was baited, and Rinckey was working on Rod No. 3, when the second rod dipped toward the surface, and Minka grabbed it and held on as another fish powered off on a short but determined run. That fish was soon landed, the line was baited again, and we soon had five lines in the water before the sun rose above an eastern hill.

Guides often have hunches and they often produce fast action.

"This is the first time I've fished this spot," Rinckey told us during a lull in the action. "It made sense to me because the fish often follow the dropoff as they move upstream, but I think these fish are stranded here because of the extremely low water just below the M-22 bridge. Very few fish are making it upstream through that skinny water.

Another strike, and this was a 10-pound male for Arnie. I hooked an 8-pound silver female, fought her and she was soon released. The strikes weren't coming too fast, but every 10 to 15 minutes, we'd have a bump or a hook-up and it kept our attention level high.

Boats were trolling the harbor but the action was slow for them. For us, we seemed to be in the right place at the right time. And frankly, folks, that is why people hire fishing guides to show us how and where to fish.

The fishing often slows about 8 a.m., but not today. A bright, sunny day, and the only thing that changed was the fish went slightly deeper. We'd make longer casts, allow the sinker and line to sink to bottom, tighten up the line, stick the rod in a sandspike, adjust the drag and wait for a nodding rod tip to signal another biting fish.

Rinckey with a nice spring fish.

Other steelhead were caught, and then Arnie landed a seven-pound brown trout. The fish fought hard, stayed deep, and was a lovely specimen. It was quickly unhooked, held aloft for a photograph, and quickly released.

"Hunches do pay off," Rinckey said. "I've had a few that didn't work, but often a hunch is based on fishing knowledge, an analysis of existing river conditions, and a small portion of good luck. I thought about this spot last night when I was trying to fall asleep, and it proved to be a genuine hotspot."

He said that tomorrow's fishing at the same location may not produce a fish. If so, then a good guide refers his clients to Plan B.

Rinckey doesn't need a Plan B very often. He knows spring steelhead, and is adept at helping clients catch them. A 10-fish catch and the release of six fish over a half-day of fishing should be good enough for anyone. It was certainly good enough for us.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors