Fly Fishing Extreme Weather During the Spring Can Be Your Best Day of Fishing

I had to choose between a warm bed and sleeping in, or a cold and wet day on the river. Short of lightning, here's why you should always choose the river.

Bad weather can lead to good fishing and no crowds. | photo by Max Werkman

I had a choice to make. Go out in cold, miserable weather to fish for steelhead, or continue lying in a warm bed in my hotel room. It was early spring in Grand Rapids. When I booked the trip, I understood the weather could be poor, but snow and sleet weren't part of the deal. So I called guide, Capt. Max Werkman, to see what his thoughts were.

"Nope, we are going fishing," Max said, with zero hesitation. "There is an upside to this weather. The fish don't care, and the river will be empty of people." He wasn't wrong.

The steelhead we caught on this day were stunningly beautiful in rich, dark colors. | photo by Ken Baldwin

Fly Fishing in Bad Weather Has Benefits

On one particular stretch of the river, Max's point was hammered home. We pulled up on a real nice section of the river, and slid the drift boat over to the bank to get out and wade. The stretch was close to seventy yards of river with a few shallow runs that dropped into some good-looking pools. "On most days, there would be around seven anglers here fishing this section," Max stressed. Most days it wasn't cold and miserable, so we had it all to ourselves.

The Fish Were Active

Swinging streamers through the deeper water, we caught three steelhead and lost a fourth. These were dark, colored up Great Lakes steelhead. They were quick to jump on an orange and yellow, sculpin-looking streamer that Max tied up. The takes were subtle, but once the fish felt the sting of the hook, they did their best to get downstream.

Guide Capt. Max Werkman tying one of his custom streamers. | photo by Ken Baldwin

The Gear for Great Lakes Steelhead

These fish are healthy and strong. My best of the day was 10 lbs. I fished a 6/7-weight Spey rod and a 7-weight single-handed rod. We were using a 3 to 5-ips sinking line that got the streamer down to where the fish were.

Snow turned to sleet turned to rain turned to a sunny day. A Hardy 1921 Wide Spool Perfect Fly Reel and the Sage Spey II reel. | photo by Ken Baldwin

• Fly Rod: Sage Sonic - 7-weight
• Spey Rod: Redington Prospector 12'6" 6-weight
• Fly Reel: Sage Spey ll
• Fly Reel: Hardy 1921 Wide Spool 3 3/4"

Merino Wool and Technical Clothing

The MVPs of the day, though, were my technical clothes: Merino wool layers made from Nuyarn, and a good wading jacket. If you don't wear wool, you should. It keeps you warm, it breathes, it wicks sweat away from the body, it helps regulate body temps so you don't overheat, and it can be worn for days without smelling up the joint.

• Tech Clothing: KUIU PRO Merino 200 Zip-T Hoodie made with Nuyarn
• Nuyarn Basel Layer: WURU Tech Baselayer Long Sleeve 2.5

Cold Wind Can Ruin a Day

A good fly fishing wading jacket should allow you to keep fishing under harsh conditions. My Grundéns jacket kept my upper body dry and protected me from the wind. If you get wet and then get hit with cold wind, at best, you'll feel miserable; at worst, hypothermia can set in. Both will ruin a day on the water.

The steelhead were sitting in the deeper holes where we used a sinking fly line to reach them. | photo by Max Werkman

• Grundéns Vector Wading Jacket

Catching Fish Is a Cure All

Three lessons came from this day. One - fish in bad weather (unless the bad weather includes lightning). Two - bad weather doesn't feel so bad if you have the right clothing. Three - catching fish takes the sting out of the cold. KB

"The gods do not deduct from man’s allotted span the hours spent in fishing.” - Herbert Hoover