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Captain Jake Kopec
is a west Michigan native and has been fishing since he was very little. His strong passion for fishing and the outdoors has brought him to rivers all over the state in pursuit of steelhead and trout with a mix of salmon and other warm water species. Settling further North, making the river his main vein and way of life, he has shaped his experience angling river systems across Michigan, Alaska’s Bristol Bay and the Oregon cascades. Most of his free time is spent chasing steelhead with the jet boat and dialing in after trout, one can not miss a good hatch! “Their is nothing like hunting out a big specific brown trout and having his area code, let alone holding it together with being successful in those moments.” Being a fly fishing & light tackle seasoned angler, he has honed his skills in everything from fly, spey fishing & spey casting, to getting more aggressive with float fishing with centerpin finesse and big river light tackle tactics. Big water with the jet boat is his favorite way to target steelhead and salmon, he is also not shy about dragging the Stealthcraft raft the extra distance on an adventure mission in the less-touched waterways.
If you catch him not fishing, it’s usually hunting trophy white tails or on that fresh powder day at the resorts snowboarding. Jake has been guiding for 10 years, starting out spending his summers in Alaska on the Naknek River system and remote fly out streams of Katmai National Park for trophy trout and salmon. With Alaskan mini guide seasons on the mind for mid summer visits, his favorite streams here in Michigan to fish are the Big Manistee, Pine and Grand rivers. Areas of fishing that bring him the most enjoyment are swinging flies and center pinning steelhead, also given the opportunity of sight fishing. Fishing a hatch/dry fly and night fishing with the lights out gets his full attention when trout season is present, but any opportunity of stripping streamer patterns or casting the big stuff will put a smile on his face. He is an easy going but warm and passionate person who strives for his people to have an enjoyable experience and successful day out on the water. Enjoying the art of teaching people new unique ways to fish and being open minded to multiple methods of targeting fish, makes Jake a very versatile and knowledgeable angler to spend a day out on the water with!
