Muskegon River Fishing Report RSS

Winter came and went, and then it came again! We’ve seen some big air temperature swings in the last few weeks which has opened up some really strong windows of fishing. With water levels up, the streamer fishing has had its moments. Black circus peanuts with some contrasting heads continue to shine if you’re looking for a big pull from our migratory fish which seem to be hanging around even the upper reaches of our rivers in good numbers. The trout seem to take a liking to similar flies although a little less flash goes a long way when looking...

While there are some whispers and rumors of fall salmon in some of the river systems, and fall weather patterns loom over us, we are still focused on our warm water fish species and are enjoying every minute of it. Summer is at its peak and we have taken full advantage of as many fishing opportunities as we can this last month. We have been able to target a wide range of species in a lot of different areas. We've fished open water gar, smallmouth in the rivers, largemouth in the bayou, deep water pike, and carp on the muck...

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...

With warmer temperatures and a little bit of ice melt off we've seen a spike in fish activity. Sections of river that were once iced over are now starting to open up and we are starting to see new steelhead arrive daily. Trout fishing has been very good on the Pere Marquette and Muskegon River systems. Most of our fishing has been with indicator setups or euro setups using stonefly, caddis, eggs, and fry patterns. Water clarity varies a little bit depending on where you are in each system. Areas that have creek mouths with heavy sedimentation from runoff cause...

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...