Manistee River Fishing Report RSS

It’s been a while since the last report and quite honestly this has been the most difficult start to spring fishing that I’ve seen in a long time for trout. The flooding and worm flow events shuffled the deck and gorged the fish. I spent a significant amount of time searching water for rising fish while we had strong Hendrickson hatches to little avail. Along with the water conditions and weather clashing, boat traffic was off the charts on certain rivers. Combine that with tough fishing and it made for some pretty quiet weeks on what are typically productive fisheries...

Spring is here and so are the fish.  Warmer temperatures and a bump in river levels have pushed a lot of fish up the river systems. Most of our rivers have just returned to normal levels or slightly higher than normal depending on where you are at. There is rain in the forecast so I would expect water levels to stay on the higher side for the next week or so. Lately we have been fishing the Muskegon river and have found most of our fish in pocket water or runs near spawning gravel. I have yet to see any...

Summer is finally here and we are settling into our favorite month of the year for fly fishing in Michigan. Along with warm weather and long days, June brings some of the best fly fishing opportunities of the year. From smallmouth on top water to Trout sipping big bugs and everything in between June has it all.  Trout fishing takes center stage in June. As we transition from the weeks of bug soup into "Big Bugs" matching the hatch becomes less complex, but timing and tactics still play a roll. Northern rivers are fishing well, its been a slow start...

From Matt Re: Grand Rapids area The spring run of steelhead is here.  Warmer temperatures and a bump in river levels have pushed a lot of fish up the river systems. Most of our rivers still have a good amount of stain to the water from the recent snow runoff and rain. In these conditions using larger egg patterns or streamers have been the flies of choice. With the water clarity being less than favorable in some systems, using a fly a size or two bigger than what you would normally use seems to help the fish pick it out...

Well if you haven't figured it out yet, winter is here. Most of our rivers have locked up in the last few weeks, which can be good or bad depending how you look at it.  Locked up rivers means less ice and slush mix floating down the river that poses hazards to boats and wading anglers. Fishing closer to dams or fast moving usually means less ice slush and chunks in the current. The water coming out from under the dam is usually a touch warmer a the discharge and has to travel a few miles before ice starts to...