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Welcome to RiverQuest Charters/Muskegon River Lodge
Greetings!
All of us guides at RiverQuest can feel it: the pace of the 2011 fly fishing season is accelerating. The phone rings more often; last minute tackle acquisitions swell guides' already substantial collections; trade shows in Chicago and Detroit fall on back-to-weekends; and most important, steelhead, bright and happy, arrive in ever-growing numbers. Understandable, then, that we guides hit the river whenever the weather allows. And, we're excited! Judging from the condition and size of the steelhead we're bringing to hand, the Muskegon River should very soon boast an excellent spring run of silver steelhead.
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 Muskegon River Lodge Spring is slowly beginning to show itself in the Muskegon River valley. Noticeably, the sun is angling higher and the days grow longer. Song birds have yet to make their presence known, but it won't be long before they begin staking out territories with song and flight. Steelhead have begun their spring migration upstream to spawn and soon will assemble in peak numbers throughout the river system.
Lodge guests will find March an enjoyable time along the banks of the Muskegon River. Cold evening temperatures render a soak in the hot tub under the stars most enjoyable, while warming daytime temperatures make for pleasant hours of fly fishing.
 Corporate customers find March an opportune time for strategic planning, sales meetings, and product release functions. The spacious conference room, wi-fi, and plenty of room for smaller task and discussion groups enable creative productivity.Our available gourmet dinners top off a day well spent. For information on how you can schedule a meeting or just simply get away from it all and relax at the lodge, call 616.293.0501 or email. |
 RiverQuest Charters Spring has sprung throughout the glides and pools of the Muskegon River. Though you wouldn't know it by the still snow covered banks of the river, spring steelhead are here!
The spring migration of spawning steelhead is underway on the Muskegon River, and the river is beginning to fill with the fly fisherman's spring treasure. No other time of year finds more steelhead throughout the river system than spring.
Spring steelhead, eager to spawn, yet continuing to feed, gorge on black stone fly nymphs, chinook salmon fry and parr, green caddis worms, and small leeches while holding in runs and tail-outs before heading to gravel to spawn. Once spawning begins, small egg patterns drifted drag free through pockets of dark water behind the newly shined gravel will bend the rod with regularity.  Spring steelhead will take center-stage for the next 8-12 weeks on the Muskegon River. If you have never fished the spring run, you owe it to yourself to experience it firsthand. No fly fishing experience is necessary. You and your guest will receive a full day of instruction with our providing premium fly tackle for your use. We love to introduce newcomers to our sport, and by the end of the day, you will have learned enough to take to the nearest steelhead stream on your own. We advise clients who wish to own their own fly tackle about gear best suited for their fly fishing interests and pocket books. For information on joining us for a guided float, please give us a call @ 616.293.0501 or simply drop us an email. To see a sample of our guests' successes or for river conditions, be sure to visit our blog. |
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Fly Box by Micheal Schmidt
Mike's Impossihex
Thread: UTC140, dark brown
Hook: Daiichi 1530, size 8 or 10
Eyes: Mono Nymph Eyes, small
Tail: Australian Possum, front half of the skin
Body1: Grizzly Marabou, sand
Body2: Hungarian Partridge
Body3: Hares Ear Plus, tan
The Impossihex is a pattern designed to imitate a Hexagenia nymph for use in both lakes and rivers. The use of Australian Possum off the back and soft hackle legs means that even in very still water, this fly will "breathe." Though originally steelhead in a river setting were the intended target of this fly, it has proven itself very effective when fished, either by itself or in a tandem rig, on lakes with a resident Hex population. In such lakes, this fly has proven itself against other species such as walleye, perch, carp, and smallmouth. For the best action in such lakes, I find that fishing the fly in the spring on a sinking line, while making short and quick finger strips, has been key to success.
For more information regarding this pattern or to see more of Mike's works, please visit his website or drop him an email.
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Korkers Chrome Wading Boot  As most of you would agree, keeping your office clean and appealing to your visiting guests is good business form! While my floating office certainly isn't quite the same as yours, in many ways it is. Sometimes, guests arrive wearing their favorite wading boots for the days trip, only to be asked to take them off because the cleats or studs in the soles of the boots damage the floor of my office. This obviously creates an issue for both customer and me. Korkers, in the last few years, decided to produce a wader boot that not only solves "office problems," but allows anglers the opportunity to change their choice of traction with a single pair of boots, at his or her convenience. Anglers may choose from plain felt, rubber (friendly to my office), felt with studs, or rubber with cleats. This is a great product and should be considered by every wading angler--period!
Great Lakes Fly Fishing Company, Rockford, MI
Bob Linseman's Au Sable Angler, Mio MI
Chicago Fly Fishing Outfitters, Chicago, IL
Fly Masters, Indianapolis, IN
Mad River Outfitters, Columbus, OH
Reel Fly Rod.com, Dayton, OH |
Sage 4200 Series 
Looking to add an additional reel to your arsenal this spring? Or perhaps, you just have a reel that you are looking to replace.
Allow me to introduce you to a budget-priced high performance reel from Sage. The Sage 4200 series reel, available in four sizes from 3-10 wt., anodized in three different colors, is suited for salt water on your favorite bonefish rod, as well as appropriately sized for your favorite small stream trout rod. Best of all, this high performing reel carries a price tag few others can rival from $289.00.
Please visit one of our local affiliates to purchase or to learn more about this unique product. Great Lakes Fly Fishing Company, Rockford, MIBob Linseman's Au Sable Angler, Mio MIChicago Fly Fishing Outfitters, Chicago, ILFly Masters, Indianapolis, INMad River Outfitters, Columbus, OHReel Fly Rod.com, Dayton, OH |
"Like us" on Facebook  Most of you have heard about Facebook by now.Some of you undoubtedly have your own Facebook page. RiverQuest Chartersand Muskegon River Lodge both appreciate the fun and benefit of offering "Fan" pages to our clients. The fan pages offer discussion, forums, photo albums, and, of course, a place for you to share that experience or fish tale with fellow fans. To join one or both of our fan pages, please click on the above links and give it a thumbs up! If you are not a Facebook subscriber, you will be prompted to open an account to join the fun. These accounts are free! |
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 Call it what you will-rationalization, delusion, or flat-out craziness-but the fact is, for those of us either choosing to remain the "frozen chosen" here in the North or having been relegated to that unenviable state, a great book encountered on a winter's eve is a delight to savor. Thanks to Dr. Kevin Nelson, one of my fly fishing clients, this winter I've read and reread passages, even multiple pages, from the pen of Ted Leeson. Starting with his Habits of Rivers and now having finished with no small regret his latest book, Inventing Montana, I find myself reflecting that I've not experienced this much pleasure with a piece of sporting literature since I first read Robert Traver's iconic Trout Magic decades past. With Inventing Montana, Leeson shares what makes Montana, Montana. The sum of location on the banks of the Madison, friends who live the summers there with him, the experiences and conversations, the food, the locals, the wildlife and, yes, the trout and fly fishing meld into Leeson's Montana-a reality unique to him. By inference, Leeson leads one to reflect on one's own "Montana"-that similar sum of it all that each of us blessed enough to live, treasures so dearly. For me, "Montana" is the family cottage in Leland, though fast upon it is the Muskegon River with its glides and runs so rich in memory and promise. Then, too, the Muskegon River Lodge, scarcely little more than a year old, already evokes "Montana" for me. Perhaps, you, too, hold fast to your "Montana." More power to you, and if so, here's a bet: Inventing Montana will crease a smile on your face and a lift a song in your heart, too. Inventing Montana and perhaps one of the most extensive collections of sporting literature, old and new in the Midwest, may be found at Great Lakes Fly Fishing Company in Rockford, Michigan. Your guide through it all is proprietor Glen Blackwood, who loves writing, books, and sharing the joy that flows from a great book read. Pay him a visit; he will steer you to a book-perhaps your Inventing Montana-that you'll enjoy as much or more than I. Captain Tom Kuieck To purchase this book or other fine sporting literature, visit with Glen--you wont be disappointed. 616.866.6060
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