Spring Steelhead _ Muskegon River Guide Report

As the days get longer and old man winter loses his grip, our thoughts drift towards Spring Steelhead on the Muskegon River.  These treasured fish ascend west Michigan rivers in great numbers during March and April.  With enthusiasm, anglers take to the rivers and streams in search of these silver leapers! 

   The best techniques for spring steelhead seem  to be fishing spawn or jigs tipped with waxworms, drifted under a float. Strikes are subtle but electric once hooked!  Steelhead make dashing runs with powerful jumps.  Wading anglers must chase these fish on foot in order to land them.   

  Fly Fisherman also have great success with steelhead by drifting small egg patterns and nymphs near nesting or spawning steelhead.  Often times,  large dominate male   attack flies to chase them away for females.  Larch March and April, anglers may see lightened areas of gravel with fish spawning on top of rock shoals, these areas are called Redds, or spawning gravel.  These areas are a hot spot for fish activity.   Drift flies like stone flies or hex nymphs are very effective for these spawning steelhead.   Flies may be purchased at
Mojoflies.com.       Dark flies with brightly colored egg patterns seem to work best.

Another favorite technique is to cast spinners along the shoreline for moving steelhead.  These fish often follow the lures and make for heart pounding strikes!      Often times, anglers may hire a fishing guide to help them learn the skills needed to land many steelhead.  Fishing guides have all of the proper gear and tackle, making for a fun day on the water.  The Muskegon River has many fishing guides, one of the best is Chad Betts.  He has guided for many years, catching many Steelhead.    Michigan Fly Fishing

Now is a great time of year to try something new and different,  get outside and do some steelhead fishing on a river near you!  

Winter Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River.

Winter Tailwater fishery for Steelhead in West Michigan.

Step on board for one of the best Fall / Winter Steelhead runs in over a decade! If you ever wanted to learn to steelhead fish, now is the time! Steelhead fishing has been very good over the past week making this December one of the best migrations in over a decade. Both the numbers of steelhead and the average size have been larger that years past. This trend should offer tremendous fishing opportunities through December and the winter months. The long-range weather looks to have our run of above normal temperatures ending and seasonal conditions becoming the norm. Steelhead fishing forecast looks excellent!   

Unlike the Grand River, White River, and Pere Marquette Rivers, the Muskegon is a tailwater fishery, this means the Muskegon River never freezes! This allows us to guide anglers throughout the winter months for Steelhead and Trout. Float fishing during the Winter is a beautiful time to be on the water with good numbers of Steelhead and lots of wildlife along the rivers banks. We are also now offering Centerpin instructionals to learn Centerpin float fishing for Steelhead!

Water flow and levels are normal with clarity being excellent making for some great floats and spawn fishing. Good numbers of steelhead are spread throughout the river system. Fishing should be excellent through January / February with a great number of steelhead already in the system with more to come!

Muskegon River Fishing Report

  Muskegon River Steelhead   Muskegon River Trout Fishing   Michigan Fly Fishing

Muskegon River Winter-Early Spring Steelhead. Spring Steelhead Guides (231) 519-7348

  In the up coming weeks, we should start seeing a fair amount of brighter, chrome spring fish. I guided down low, Bridgeton down, last week and there were good numbers of chromers to be had. I know there are good numbers of fish in the lower section of the Muskegon River. Water levels were up this morning, also with warmer temps. Day light is getting longer, Spring Steelhead fishing should start in earnest in the next week or so. There also seems to be a fair number of stone fly nymphs. The activity of Michigan Winter Stone flies usually my cue to start fishing hard down lower for bright chromers closer to Muskegon Lake. 

Muskegon River Steelhead and Salmon fry - During the late winter months, early Spring, Chinook salmon fry and lake run brown trout fry begin to hatch out of the gravel into the "Fry" or "Alevin" stage.  Red Horse Suckers also produce many fry and tiny minnows.  Large lake -Run Brown Trout feed on them heavily throughout the winter months and early Spring.  

"Ice Man - Rainbow Fry"  is available at MoJoFlies.com

These young fish are the perfect food source for larger steelhead and trout during this time of year. Egg patterns with a pronounced "blood dot" or bright red dot mimic the fry at this time. Also patterns such as the "Ice Man Minnow" or other fry or parr patterns also work well. Steelhead and trout during winter are now relying less on salmon eggs and focusing more on case caddis, stone flies, scuds, sowbugs, other macro invertebrates. Stone flies and fry patterns begin to really work well at this time of year when temperatures are cold and food is limited. 

Muskegon River Daily Fishing Reports 

Muskegon River Fishing Report - Muskegon River Fly Fishing

A new month with new spring steelhead entering the river. March is possibly one on the best months for steelhead fishing in Michigan. With a fair amount of spring snow melt off, much longer day light, warmer water tempratures, March kicks steelhead fishing into overdrive!
Over the past few days, we've expreinced some great fishing! Fly Fishing has become increasing more productive each day. Best fly patterns have been the Egg Sucking Stone Fly, Psycho Nymph, and the Ice Man Minnow. All of which have produced some great fish! Josh landed a gorgeous hen on the "Golby" ice man minnow. Dr. Reily, and Dr. Steve also landed some great steelhead and trout on flies.

Centerpin float fishing has also been very productive. Jigs and wax worms, and floats/spawn.The upper sections of the Muskegon River from the Newaygo area up to Croton have been fishing well. New Chrome Spring Steelhead are on the way with plenty more to come.

Spring Steelhead on the Muskegon River - Muskegon River Fishing Reports

In the up coming weeks, we should start seeing a fair amount of brighter, chrome spring fish. I guided down low, Bridgeton down, last week and there were good numbers of chromers to be had. I know there are good numbers of fish in the lower section of the Muskegon River. Water levels were up this morning, also with warmer temps. Day light is getting longer, Spring Steelhead fishing should start in earnest in the next week or so. There also seems to be a fair number of stone fly nymphs. The activity of Michigan Winter Stone flies usually my cue to start fishing hard down lower for bright chromers closer to Muskegon Lake.

Muskegon River Steelhead and Salmon fry - During the late winter months,early Spring, Chinook salmon fry and lake run brown trout fry begin to hatch out of the gravel into the "Fry" or "Alevin" stage.

These young fish are the perfect food source for larger steelhead and trout during this time of year. Egg patterns with a pronounced "blood dot" or bright red dot mimic the fry at this time. Also patterns such as the "Ice Man Minnow" or other fry or parr patterns also work well. Steelhead and trout during winter are now relying less on salmon eggs and focusing more on case caddis, stone flies, scuds, sowbugs, other macro invertebrates. Stone flies and fry patterns begin to really work well at this time of year when temperatures are cold and food is limited.

Muskegon River Spring Steelhead - Spring Steelhead Fishing Report

Spring Steelhead: In late February, Steelhead move up river and begin their migration to their spawning areas. Steelhead feed heavily on stone flies, caddis larvae, and Chinook fry. During March, April and May, Steelhead begin to polish gravel and begin to spawn.

During this time, Fly Fishing Steelhead is at it's absolute best!! Anglers can visually seek steelhead and make casts to the spawning Spring Steelhead. Sight fishing to Steelhead on gravel and watching them take the fly makes this an exhilarating experience!!

We have guided trips available for fly fishing for Muskegon Steelhead. Guide trips with sink-tips or chuck & duck are available. We also specialize in fishing with floats and spawn during the winter months. Not only do these fish bite.. They about rip the rod out of your hand!

Muskegon River Steelhead - Spring Steelhead

Muskegon River - The Muskegon River, as always, is far behind, because of the warm water reservoirs. The Muskegon River improved greatly over the next few day with the high water levels. Over the past few days, rain and warmer weather has dramatically improved the Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River. There seems to be good numbers of steelhead starting to show near the mid to lower sections. Deeper holes and runs have been producing the best fishing action. With forecasted rain, fishing should continue to improve. The middle to last week of March and April should offer some great Fall Steelhead fishing, I would also expect to see a handful of large, Lake-Run Brown Trout.

Fly fishing has been our choice technique. Deep water nymphing has been producing good numbers of Steelhead with the stone fly emergence. Stone flies emerge near 36 - 38 degrees and Steelhead key in on them big time!