Pere Marquette River RSS

We aren’t out of the woods just yet! Some unseasonably warm weather moved through and shuffled the deck big time. With the first major high water event of spring under our belts, there are quite a few fish scattered throughout the systems. There have been great days, there have been very slow days. Conditions didn’t seem to line up with exactly what you might expect the last couple of weeks. On the warmer weather patterns, the morning was fairly productive while the afternoon slowed down a lot. That could be due to numbers of fish in different sections of river,...

It’s officially fall despite the weather acting as if it’s late June. We got a couple small shots of rain which were much needed, but still not enough. Despite low, clear water there have been some great opportunities for trout. With increased river traffic focused on the salmon, the night bite is still rolling. Don’t stray away from the larger mouse patterns this time of year, it can help weed out a few of the smaller fish. With the upcoming forecast of cooler nights and a big temp swing during the day, I’d expect the mousing to fall off. But...

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...

While the weather seems to be up and down with temperature the trend has been towards the cooler side and the water has started to creep down around 33 degrees in most systems. It's safe to say most of the fish are in their winter holds and should be fished accordingly.  Lately we've been focusing on slower holding water with either structure or depth. The rivers are still low and clear so the shallower runs that we are finding fish in usually have some sort of structure that they are holding close to. Log jams and boulders are great places...

Fall is on the horizon. Shorter days and crisp mornings have returned, at least for now. The cooler overnight temps have been great for trout fishing.  Shop staffer Drew got out for an early morning of Euro Nymphing and found a few nice players. Small nymphs and light tippet has been the ticket. But soon enough the egg buffet will be back open and the trout will be the first in line.  Reports have been rolling in of King Salmon in the lower river. Over the last week I have heard of a few fish caught downtown as well. The...