After an unseasonably cold and snowy few weeks the weather finally moderated with a sunny day in the mid 30s. I had planned to fish the Rifle from a guided drift boat, but water levels were low and the river iced over in the lower reaches. So I rescheduled for April and turned my attention to fishing the Betsie and possibly the Platte rivers. But a call to Mark Andres was more bad news, with reports of low flow and no fish. So I decided to head south to the Kalamazoo River. My first stop was Rabbit River, a tributary of the Kalamazoo, which crosses M40 just east of Hamilton, a small town midway between Holland and Allegan. A small park on the north side of the highway provides easy access below the low head dam. There was one fisherman at the river when I arrived, but as I made ready he headed toward his car mumbling profanities about his cell phone. I assumed that he was either at work and the river had gotten in the way or the call was from his wife. Either way he was most distressed at being called off the river. I managed to get a few pointers at negotiating the current and avoiding the holes before he drove off. He had not seen any fish jumping the fish ladder in the short time he was there, which was not a good sign. He claimed it is not uncommon to count over a hundred steelies climbing the rock ladder in just a few minutes time, but not today. I gave it a good college try without success, deciding to move on to the Kalamazoo River below the dam west of Allegan, stopping first at the Eagle Nest cafe for lunch.
After an unseasonably cold and snowy few weeks the weather finally moderated with a sunny day in the mid 30s. I had planned to fish the Rifle from a guided drift boat, but water levels were low and the river iced over in the lower reaches. So I rescheduled for April and turned my attention to fishing the Betsie and possibly the Platte rivers. But a call to Mark Andres was more bad news, with reports of low flow and no fish. So I decided to head south to the Kalamazoo River. My first stop was Rabbit River, a tributary of the Kalamazoo, which crosses M40 just east of Hamilton, a small town midway between Holland and Allegan. A small park on the north side of the highway provides easy access below the low head dam. There was one fisherman at the river when I arrived, but as I made ready he headed toward his car mumbling profanities about his cell phone. I assumed that he was either at work and the river had gotten in the way or the call was from his wife. Either way he was most distressed at being called off the river. I managed to get a few pointers at negotiating the current and avoiding the holes before he drove off. He had not seen any fish jumping the fish ladder in the short time he was there, which was not a good sign. He claimed it is not uncommon to count over a hundred steelies climbing the rock ladder in just a few minutes time, but not today. I gave it a good college try without success, deciding to move on to the Kalamazoo River below the dam west of Allegan, stopping first at the Eagle Nest cafe for lunch.
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