I *Heart* Fat Chicks by Matt It had been a cold December in Michigan when the weather finally broke in early January.  The rivers received some much needed water to replish the water level.  With more cold weather in the near future, my brother and I decided work was not a good idea on this particular Wednesday. Shortl after sunrise, we had the hour and half drive to one of our favorite steelhead streams.  It was a balmy 16 degrees when we reached the river at 9 am. We considered stopping at our parent's home, who live only a short drive from the river, until the temps rose a few degrees. But once we saw the river, the decision was made to brave the cold and fish. The level and clarity was near perfect. It really wasn't that bad, although the increasing breeze put a sting into any exposed skin. Not sure what the windchill was but my best guess is "cold".   We blazed a path through the fresh snow as we headed for one of our favorite pools.  Once I stepped into the icy current, I knew we had made the right decision.  It just felt right and there had to be a hungry steelhead holding in this pool.  The cold quickly vanished when my brother was able to land a skipper on the first cast. We weren't sure if it was a sign of things to come or the curse of the first cast.  After picking up a couple trout a piece, I set the hook into something heavy but it would only last a few seconds.  Winter steelheading in northern Michigan can be tough.  Many days you are lucky to get one bite, and when you blow that one chance, it can linger on your mind.  Three casts later, while still annoyed with myself for a poor hookset, the indicator would dip again. It was near the end of my drift and I felt the rod load as she grabbed.  Before I could lift the rod, she immediately launched herself into the air and I saw the tell tale white belly of a fresh steelhead. This girl was hot.  She made quick runs across the pool ending each one with another ariel show.  She tried hard to reach the wood below the surface, but the 10 1/2" 6/7 weight switch rod was too much for her.  All in all, she would leave the water 6 times before giving up. We both laughed in excitement as my brother slide his hand up under the belly revealing her heavy girth. She was easily over 10 lbs and taped at 31".  A fine Michigan steelhead.   We didn't care what happened after that. Our day was already made. Over the next two hours we would lose a couple more brief hookups with steelhead and land a few more trout. Every fish that we could confirm came on a nymph. The Bear's hex and grizzly hex did the majority of the damage. It was another great day spent on the river with my brother. We only saw one other angler who packed it in shortly after arriving. Apparently it was too cold.  The fishing was good, the scenery was awesome and the company was even better.  I can't wait to do it again.   Comments great chrome! What kind of line/leader set up are you using on your switch? Are you running poly leaders or tips? #1 - Jean-Paul Lipton - 01/13/2009 - 01:27 Name E-mail (Will not appear online) Homepage Title Comment