The Pere Marquette

by Doug Truax

"Early spring is the time for steelhead on the Pere Marquette."

	A fine Pere Marquette River steelhead.

Michigan's Pere Marquette River has been one of the Midwest's prime attractions for sportsmen for close to a century. This rich and varied stream was originally home to a large population of grayling. But the fragile grayling were unable to withstand the changes brought on by the rapacious logging of the mid to late 1800s. By 1905 they were extinct in the river.

But the Pere Marquette's future as a sportfishing destination still lay ahead. It was the first river in the country to receive plantings of German brown trout in 1884 and McCloud River rainbows were introduced soon thereafter. Since then anglers from throughout the country have flocked to the P.M., as it is known. Since the late 1970s Chinook salmon have been added to the mix -- hailed by some as a blessing, others as a curse.

The Pere Marquette is classified as both a National Scenic River by the U.S. Forest Service and a Natural River by the State of Michigan.

The Pere Marquette lies in a vast watershed in northwestern Michigan's Lower Peninsula. The Pere Marquette's four main branches and many tributaries comprise some 138 miles of prime trout water. The headwaters of the P.M. rise near the village of Chase in the center of the state and flow generally west until they empty into Lake Michigan at the town of Ludington. The town of Baldwin on M37 is considered the hub for fisherman. The mainstream begins just east of Baldwin where the Middle Branch joins the Little South Branch to form the mainstream.

Just south of Baldwin the river crosses M-37. This is the upstream limit of the famous flies-only stretch of the P.M. that stretches seven miles downstream to Gleason's Landing. During peak steelhead and salmon runs, this area of the stream is bursting with both fishermen and fish.

In the flies-only stretch the river is usually very wadeable and the river flows quite constant. The riverbed weaves a meandering course through sandy hills covered with pine, hardwoods, and second-growth forest and cedar-covered lowlands. A variety of access points are available to anglers, and increasing numbers take to the water in drift boats. This is classic riffle/pool water with plenty of deep holes and gravel runs.

Below Gleason's Landing the water gets deeper and is trickier to wade, although it is fishable by the wading angler down to about Bowman's Bridge. Below that point, most anglers float the river and wade only at selected spots.

From late April to the end of September, anglers can enjoy angling for brown trout in a variety of places, with varied techniques. Fly anglers will experience a steady succession of hatches -- from early season Hendricksons to late-season Blue-winged Olives. One of the most prolific hatches on the stream is the Gray Drake spinner fall which begins about the third week in May and lasts until mid-June. At times these spinners come in clouds so dense the fishing is nearly impossible. The lower waters of the P.M. produce good hatches of the giant Hexagenia flies that bring up substantial browns from the deep holes.

Early spring is the time for steelhead on the Pere Marquette. Runs can peak as early as the first week of March when the winter has been mild, or as late as the last week of April. Typically, however, the first two weeks of April are prime time for steelhead, although runs can trickle on into May. There is good spawning gravel throughout the Pere Marquette system, but the gravel runs of the flies-only section attract fish by the hundreds -- and sometimes it seems there are 10 fishermen and drift boats for every fish.

Anglers use lead-weighted leaders to drift everything from small nymphs to gaudy streamers along the bottom of the stream. Once hooked, the aerobatic steelies present a significant challenge in this moderate-sized trout river filled with logs and other obstacles.

Chinook salmon dominate the river in the autumn -- any time from late August to mid-October. As with the spring steelhead, anglers usually focus on fish spawning on the redds.

Following the salmon, in early to mid-November, there are often significant runs of fall steelhead, although the number of fish can vary greatly from year to year. Angling techniques for fall steelhead usually require light tippets and small nymphs or subtle egg patterns in the low and crystal-clear water.

RESOURCES

Lodging

Baldwin Creek Motel
Rte. 3, Box 3282
Baldwin, MI 49304
616-745-4401
Owned by guide and river activist Bob Nicolson

Johnson's Pere Marquette Lodge
South M-37
Rte. 1, Box 1290
Baldwin, MI 49304
616-745-3972
An Orvis-endorsed outfitter with complete fly shop

Barothy Lodge
P.O. Box 69
Barothy Road
Walhalla, MI 49458
616-898-2340

Tackle

Johnson's Pere Marquette Lodge

(see above)

Ed's Sport Shop
712 Michigan Avenue (on M-37)
P.O. Box 487
Baldwin, MI 49304
616-745-4974

Food

Emerson Lake Inn
7786 E. U.S. 10
Walhalla, MI 49458
616-757-2385

All Seasons
M-37
Baldwin, MI 49304
616-745-7731

Main Stream Cafe
M-37
Baldwin, MI 49304
616-745-3377

Edie's Log Bar
M-37
Baldwin, MI 49304
616-745-4421

Scotty's
U.S. 10
Ludington, MI 49431
616-843-4033

Fishing Information

Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fishing Hotline
517-373-0908

Michigan Department of Natural Resources
District 6
Cadillac, MI
616-775-9727

Michigan Department of Natural Resources Web site: www.dnr.state.mi.us/

Copyright (c) 1998 Doug Truax. All rights reserved.