Michigan King

I admit it, I had no idea. Reading an issue of Outdoor Guide Magazine, there was a letter from a reader holding a pretty good size king salmon. Here’s part of what the letter said. “That is one ugly fish. What is it?” was a common question I got when I posted pictures on Facebook of the king salmon I caught in northern Michigan. The spawning run of the king salmon on the Pere Marquette River is the place to get up close and personal with the fish they call king!

The Pere Marquette is a salmon run just off of Lake Michigan, a shallow tributary maybe 50 yards wide. We arrived at our spot hours before daylight to ensure that we would be the only ones fishing the hotspots that our guide  had scouted out with a previous group. We would be using 9-foot, 10-weight Fly rods with 8-pound tippet rigged with a weight and 2 flies, a nymph half-way down from the tube weight and a customized salmon egg at the end of the line. It didn’t take long to feel the subtle bump on the line near the end of my drift, and with a hard, quick pull of the rod over my head, I set the hook and it was on! The battle went on for 20 minutes with dominant runs up and down the river. I eventually won the fight and beat the king in his own waters. I had worn him down and we were able to net him. Over a day and a half, I hooked up with over 50 fish and I managed to net six king salmon on my fly rod, averaging 20 pounds. Today, I am back home and eating like a “king” on smoked salmon, grilled salmon, pan seared and finding new ways every day. I highly recommend the tributary rivers of Northern Michigan during the fall salmon run; you can contact my guide and outfitter,  Doyle Melton, at www.peremarquetteoutfitters.com.