Late Summer Fishing Forecast: During the heat of the summer, West Michigan offers the angler lots of fishing opportunities for those while to drive a bit and move around. Three species of fish stick out for excellent fishing opportunities during July, August and early September:
Skamania Steelhead. Best Location, Big Manistee River below the Tippy Dam. Available both above and below the coffer dam at Tippy Dam. Tackle: 10' med. action Spinning rods. 20 lb power Powerpro braid. Style: Slip style drift rig with 8 lb flourocarbon leader. Offering/ bait: Softshell crayfish, chartreuse wobble-glo, blue /silver Cleo spoons, large egg suckle leach fly patterns. Note: Skamania steelhead are an aggressive strain of steelhead that love live bait offerings, both crayfish and night crawlers.
Early Season King Salmon: Best Location: Little Manistee River near Stronach. Lower Pere Marquette River, Manistee River near Insta-Launch, White River Near Whitehall. Tackle: Med-Heavy Bait casting or Spinning Gear. 30lb PowerPro Braided line, Deep Junior Thunder sticks - Fire tiger. Little Cleo casting spoons. Style: Cast Thunder sticks, shad raps, or Cleo spoons across current allowing lure to move along freely in a slow and steady retrieve.
Smallmouth Bass: Best Location: Any multitude of West Michigan lakes or rivers, some of the best being the Thornapple River, Flatt River, Grand River, Muskegon, Manistee, and Ausable River.
Note: Smallmouth Bass are related to sunfish species and are extremely active during hot weather, especially during late summer. Smallmouth are an excellent choice for young people or anglers that would just like to have a blast fishing! Tackle: light to Medium Baitcasting or spinning reels with 20lb PowerPro braid, or 8 -10lb monofiliment line. Smallies love topwater! Popper flies, buzzbaits, spinners and soft plastics are all great choices for Smallmouth! If you find them, usually they will bite.
Style: There are hundreds of water to fish Smallmouth, popping surface lures creates heart stopping, explosive strikes!! Sometimes are more subtle aproach is needed such as jigging soft plastics along the bottom or casting crank baits to cover water.
Smallmouth Bass Fishing: is going very well in this great summer weather. Good numbers of smallies are feeding heavily on crayfish and small baitfish minnows. The higher water level is making for some great smallmouth fishing as well. The best fishing with streamers for smallies is usually once the sun gets over the trees throughout the mid-day into the evenings. Afternoons have been the best Fishing for both trout and smallmouth.
July-August: Smallmouth Bass fishing will be been fantastic! The hot and humid weather has the smallies fired up, feeding heavily on crayfish and streamer patterns. Smallie fishing could be the best in the midsections of the Muskegon River, floating Pine to Thornapple has been very productive.
Fly Fishing: Sink-tip fly lines and brightly colored streamers are fishing well. Casting crayfish flies patterns near the banks or any logs and structure has also been producing many nice smallies. Clouser minnows, Smallmouth candy, and Circus Peanuts have produced the most fish for me. Mojo flies offer a great selection of summertime smallmouth bass patterns for fly fishing the Muskegon River.
Skamania Steelhead. Best Location, Big Manistee River below the Tippy Dam. Available both above and below the coffer dam at Tippy Dam. Tackle: 10' med. action Spinning rods. 20 lb power Powerpro braid. Style: Slip style drift rig with 8 lb flourocarbon leader. Offering/ bait: Softshell crayfish, chartreuse wobble-glo, blue /silver Cleo spoons, large egg suckle leach fly patterns. Note: Skamania steelhead are an aggressive strain of steelhead that love live bait offerings, both crayfish and night crawlers. 
Early Season King Salmon: Best Location: Little Manistee River near Stronach. Lower Pere Marquette River, Manistee River near Insta-Launch, White River Near Whitehall. Tackle: Med-Heavy Bait casting or Spinning Gear. 30lb PowerPro Braided line, Deep Junior Thunder sticks - Fire tiger. Little Cleo casting spoons. Style: Cast Thunder sticks, shad raps, or Cleo spoons across current allowing lure to move along freely in a slow and steady retrieve.
Note: Smallmouth Bass are related to sunfish species and are extremely active during hot weather, especially during late summer. Smallmouth are an excellent choice for young people or anglers that would just like to have a blast fishing! Tackle: light to Medium Baitcasting or spinning reels with 20lb PowerPro braid, or 8 -10lb monofiliment line. Smallies love topwater! Popper flies, buzzbaits, spinners and soft plastics are all great choices for Smallmouth! If you find them, usually they will bite.
Style: There are hundreds of water to fish Smallmouth, popping surface lures creates heart stopping, explosive strikes!! Sometimes are more subtle aproach is needed such as jigging soft plastics along the bottom or casting crank baits to cover water.
Smallmouth Bass Fishing: is going very well in this great summer weather. Good numbers of smallies are feeding heavily on crayfish and small baitfish minnows. The higher water level is making for some great smallmouth fishing as well. The best fishing with streamers for smallies is usually once the sun gets over the trees throughout the mid-day into the evenings. Afternoons have been the best Fishing for both trout and smallmouth.
July-August: Smallmouth Bass fishing will be been fantastic! The hot and humid weather has the smallies fired up, feeding heavily on crayfish and streamer patterns. Smallie fishing could be the best in the midsections of the Muskegon River, floating Pine to Thornapple has been very productive.
Fly Fishing: Sink-tip fly lines and brightly colored streamers are fishing well. Casting crayfish flies patterns near the banks or any logs and structure has also been producing many nice smallies. Clouser minnows, Smallmouth candy, and Circus Peanuts have produced the most fish for me. Mojo flies offer a great selection of summertime smallmouth bass patterns for fly fishing the Muskegon River.
