Halloween Steelhead

Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River has been very consistent, most years when you have a great day in a certain section of river you can see the effects the next day but this year they just keep biting and biting day after day.  Back bouncing spawn for steelhead has been our method of choice but fishing beads on the fly rod has provided some good action as well.  Ed put a beating on the fish today switching between back bouncing and fly fishing.

10/31/2011  Fly fishing with beads behing spawning Kings.

10/31/2011  This fish was taken back bouncing spawn.

10/31/2011  This buck was full of energy.

10/31/2011  Ed hit this fish within 2 minutes of casting on a bead rig.

 

Michigan Steelhead Fishing

Steelhead Fishing here in Michigan is great and we are set up for an epic November on the Muskegon River.  Our method of choice has been back bouncing spawn but good numbers of fish are also being taken float fishing as well as fly fishing.  If anyone is interested in getting out I have November 3, 13, 14 and 16 open right now.  Mark and Rodney joined me today and found out just how good the Steelhead fishing has been, the bites were aggressive and the fish were hot!!

10/27/2011  Mark with a nice hen that was sitting close behind some spawning salmon.

10/27/2011  Rodney "got one!"  Mark "me too"  Gotta love double headers.

10/27/2011  Rodney with one that actually took the rod out of his hand when it hit!! 
He grabbed the rod again before it was gone for good.

Fall Steelhead

Ed and Jeff joined me today for some fly fishing on the Muskegon River.  Jeff had never caught a fish on a fly rod before today so we broke him in with a few different species, he caught Steelhead a king salmon a coho salmon and a smallmouth bass.  The boys are pictured below with a couple Steelhead that were eager to eat beads behind spawning salmon.

10/9/2011  Jeff with his first ever fish on a fly rod!!

10/9/2011  Ed with a great steelhead that gave us a nice aerial show.

Arctic Char

Today was the first day of guiding here at Mission Lodge and my assignment was fishing a remote stream for Arctic Char.  Fly fishing for Char in the early season is a blast, setting up at a river mouth or outlet to a river from a lake where sockeye salmon smolt are making their way to the waters of Bristol bay.  The Char use these areas as ambush points to feed on the down migrating smolt and it's quite fun to watch as char crash the surface from below and Arctic Terns dive bomb from above, then when a fly imitating the smolt lands in the mix it's game on!!  Sam and Chase are pictured below with a couple nice Char from today.

6/18/2011  This fish had Sam into his backing before I could pull the anchor!!

6/18/2011  Char are devouring Sockeye smolt right now.

Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing

Worked a 2 boat trip with David from Pere Marquette Outfitters today, Steve and his son Noah were in my boat and this was Noah's first time fly fishing and even Steelhead fishing for that matter.  He did a great job keeping up with dad who is a seasoned Steelhead angler by landing 5 of the 11 we put in the net today.  Congrats Noah!!  Muskegon River Steelhead numbers are definately down from a week ago but on days with little or no pressure there are enough around to make a great day.  Back bouncing spawn for dropback Steelhead is still a good option for those interested, casting rapalas for trout can be fun while occasionally producing a dropback Steelhead on light gear.  Now is the time to reserve your fall Steelhead dates, these are some of the most exciting fish of the year!!  Call (616)204-4999 or e-mail jeff@muskegonriverguide.com to reserve your spot.

Steve and Noah are pictured below with a few Muskegon River Steelhead from today.

5/21/2011  Noah with a nice steelhead from this afternoon.

5/21/2011  Steve holding a big hen from the Muskegon River.

5/21/2011  Noah with his first ever Steelhead!

5/21/2011  Muskegon River Steelhead.

Muskegon River Guide Service

Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River is good for mid May but boat traffic is higher than normal for this time.  Water level has dropped considerably and is slightly colored.  There are decent numbers of dropback fish available in the pools and still quite a few Steelhead on spawning gravel.  Ed and Fritz and I hit the Muskegon River around 8:30 today, we started out back bouncing spawn for the first hour and a half and found a few hungry dropbacks and fought through the army of trout gobbling up our bait.  Around 10:00 we switched gears to fly fishing and had good action for the rest of the day putting a bunch of fish in the net including a hefty buck that was 12 lbs. on the boga grip.  I have May 15 and 16 available for Spring Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River, back bouncing spawn can produce some exciting strikes with hungry dropback Steelhead call or email to get out and enjoy some nice weather and solitude on the river.

5/9/2011 Fritz hooked this fish back bouncing spawn and it was the best fight all day.

5/9/2011  Ed with the big fish of the day 12 lbs. on the boga!!

5/9/2011  Fritz with a colorful buck steelhead.

5/9/2011  Ed with a dropback Steelhead caught back bouncing spawn.

Muskegon River Spring Steelhead

Fly fishing for Muskegon River Steelhead was great again today with Malcolm and Bill landing over 20 fish for the second consecutive day.  We landed a good number of hens that have just started to spawn, with the water temp hanging in the mid to high 40's the fish have not jumped up on gravel all at once, Steelhead fishing should last into late May.  Water levels are dropping at a snail's pace but once the river gets back to near normal flows dropbacks should hold long enough to proivide for another week or so of good back bouncing.  Muskegon River Steelhead open dates May 12, 14, 15 and 16 back bouncing spawn or fly fishing.  Malcolm and Bill from St. Louis Missourri are pictured below with a few Steelhead from this morning.

5/2/2011  May Steelhead Fishing has started out great..

5/2/2011  Muskegon River Spring Steelhead.

5/2/2011  A plump hen that can't have dropped an egg yet.

5/2/2011  Bill with a good buck from today.

   

Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing

Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River is still good despite the very high water, did I mention the water is very high?  Because it is, it hit 10,000 cfs today!!!  Backbouncing spawn is still getting it done in my boat, it's just all about covering water and the right water at that.  We are catching a higher percentage of dropbacks each day and if this water would drop they will stick around for us to have some fun with them.  Reports from the fly fishing boats were mixed, get on the right gravel and your day is made if not then you work to find fish.  I have May 10, 11 and 12 open for anyone who likes to fish warmer weather and get away from the crowds, there should be decent dropback fishing back bouncing spawn throughout the river by then.  Pictured below is Ronnie and Guy with a few Steelhead and a bonus Brown Trout from today.

4/29/2011  Guy with a nice buck Steelhead in the sunshine.

4/29/2011  A nice Muskegon River dropback Steelhead.

4/29/2011  Back bouncing Spawn has been producing good numbers of Steelhead.

4/29/2011  Ronnie's nice Brown Trout from this afternoon.

4/29/2011  Ronnie with the first fish of the morning a dropback hen.

Spring Steelhead Fishing

After being off the River Sunday, Monday and a cancellation on Tuesday and hearing reports of less than good fishing on the Muskegon River, I decided to pull the driftboat out of it's dusty corner and hit one of the area's smaller rivers to the north.  We switched gears from back bouncing spawn to fly fishing for the first time this spring.  This turned out to be a very wise choice as we had our fill of Steelhead hooked and landed by 1:00 pm and put the boat on the trailer.  There are good numbers of Steelhead in the Muskegon River but most of them seem to be piled up at the Croton Dam due to high water over the last week and a half, there are a few new fish trickling through the lower river but as of the last few trips not enough to hook more than a half dozen a day.  With any luck we will get another good shot of Spring Steelhead to spread the fishing out away from the Croton Dam. 

4/13/2011  This buck Steelhead inhaled a wiggle nymph.

4/13/2011  A bright spring buck Steelhead.

4/13/2011  Ed with the fish of the day.  10.5 lbs on the boga grip!!

4/13/2011  Ed with a nice Spring Steelhead from today.