Fishing Reports by Captain Steve Fraley

About The Author:

Company: Baldwin Bait & Tackle

Area Reporting: Baldwin, MI

Bio: I've done alot of things in my life, but fishing and hunting have always been my passion. Since the early 90's I've been lucky enough to make my living from the things I love. In the early 1990's I moved to Baldwin with my wife Karen and my son Brandon to manage a sport shop. The Pere Marquette always had a special place in my heart and I felt fortunate to be able to live so near to it and do a little guiding on the side. While I enjoyed my time there, I found that a change in pace was in order at the begining of 1994 and I decided to guide full time and work for another fly shop part time. It was a great move! After a full year and a half of nothing but guiding, selling fly gear, and working a few fly schools there, I took a job in Alaska guiding on the Alagnak River for the summer of 1995. I enjoyed Alaska tremendously and was all set to spend my future summers there. I returned that fall to one of the best runs of Salmon that I had seen in a long time, and a couple of friends that thought we should open our own shop and do things our own way. It didn't take much convincing. I continued guiding full time and worked very hard in my spare time with Bob Ficher & John Tulloch putting together the deal for Baldwin Bait & Tackle Inc. We managed to open on July 4th of 1996, Independence day. Since then most of my attention has been focused on the shop and I try to guide only four or five days a week during the "peak" seasons. I'm still working on finding the right clients to keep me on the river in the winter and summer. Trout trips are almost always welcome. Karen and I now have a lovely daughter in law, Tammy and a grandson that shows signs of becoming one heck of a sportsman.