Kalyn Hoggard | Monday, 24 November 2025
I have had a moderately successful fall run thus far this year. I have found some fish two handed and single handed, and that’s all I really want any year, BECAUSE IT CAN BE HARD!!! If you are out on The Great Lakes tributaries chasing migratory fish, then you are aware of the obstacles. The river levels vary, the mood of the fish can vary, the fish spend an extended period spawning and swimming hard, the river can freeze over, there could be too many icebergs to safely fish (if you are the cautious sort), depending on where you fish it can be extremely crowed, and things can change at any moment.
Unfortunately, I am a glutton for giant pre-spawn monster browns, because I want to catch the biggest one that has ever lived. This means that it is necessary to fish the brown trout on their way into the river before they spawn. If there is enough water for the fish to come into the river and hang out for a little while before they spawn, then there can be this tiny window of opportunity here and there until they start doing their thing. The easiest way to catch these fish is by imitating the ever-present roe that is the strongest hatch of every season. Unfortunately, I fish with streamers exclusively throughout the migration, (because I like fun) and it can be extremely difficult to be successful imitating baitfish. But it can happen…
It isn’t total sadness and despair for the people who have come fishing with me for years and haven’t caught a monster brown because there are some other willing eaters around during the same period. We have coho salmon and fall run rainbow trout that have completed their spawning and are happily refilling their bellies and hanging out for a while. Even though, deep in my heart, these fish are bycatch, they can be one helluva fun time. On top of long chases, leaping fights, and explosive eats, these fish can really boost morale and keep people going for 3 days straight of one shot at glory a day.
So the question is…
Why not give them time to get back on their feet after the spawn and catch them when they are pumped back up and ready to go?
Other than the hope of finding that one fat happy and full of eggs Moby Dick, you never know when the season is going to be touch and go for a while, and I only have so many days to chase the biggest one ever. The rivers freeze, the weather becomes unlivable, we have periods of time with a high temperature of -10 degrees Fahrenheit, and even though I will push every possible limit to chase the fish of a lifetime, or a lifetime of fish, some days it isn’t possible. Some days you trip on the bank on your way in and now have an emergency situation to get dry. Some weeks they have been so cold for so long that they will pile into the deepest of holes and might only eyeball a glob of fresh roe floating by at a snail's pace. Some days the water is so cold that we have to burn fires on the bank so we can thaw our feet out after wading for 20 minutes. But some days…
After the deed is done, the fish recover and gradually get back to the ways of healthy normal life. This is when the mayhem begins. There are weeks of good weather, normal water flows, and a chance at having a tussle with meat eating dinosaurs. I really have developed a taste for watching 20+ pound browns bolt out of the darkness, chase for 40 feet, and destroy big streamers. It’s a lot less nerve-racking when I’m watching it happen to me than when it is happening to someone else.
The excitement has gone to a new level with the fishing buddies that have fought the variables for years.
“Oh, you can only come that week… Well, we can give it a shot, but it might snow.” “There was nothing you could do about that fish man. He ate and ran right at you.” “You might get a shot just believe in the program.” “It only takes one.” “You probably should leader check more often.”
Unless you live near a place with this sort of opportunity and you are always ready to strap on your chain mail and go to war, then you do not get many shots at fish per year. Add in the weather, the weekend days on the river overrun with people, life, fish at various different stages of happiness, river level, and the pressure to capitalize on any opportunity… The emotional response to a bad knot, a missed hook set, a long chase with no commitment, the eat and leap of a freight train, momentary hangups on rocks, a fish netted, a picture framed is amplified in so many ways. What a blast! The highest of highs and the lowest of lows, years of chasing, preparing, failing, and tying the one fly that will make it happen. The grind.