Pere Marquette River Steelhead

Steelhead fishing was great on the Pere Marquette River today.  Back bouncing spawn produced most of our fish but we did hit a handfull float fishing as well.  Fishing should remain great on our West michigan rivers well into the new year with these mild temps so give me a call to get in on the action.  Ed and Fritz are pictured with a few Steelhead from today.

12/29/2011  Ed had to battle this monster out of some heavy cover!!

12/29/2011  Fritz with some Pere Marquette chrome.

12/29/2011  Back bouncing spawn for Michigan Steelhead.

12/29/2011  Fritz caught this Steelhead float fishing.

Winter Steelhead

Steelhead fishing was good on the upper Muskegon River today, we had a bit of trouble landing them but there were plenty of hookups.  We found the majority of our fish holding in slow deep pools in the ultra clear water.  Winter Steelhead fishing should continue to be good into the new year so give me a call if you want to spend a day on the Muskegon River chasing these Great Lake-run Rainbow Trout.  Rick and Fred are pictured below with a few that managed to hit the net today.

12/28/2011  Fred with a Muskegon River Steelhead.

12/28/2011  Back bouncing spawn was surprisingly effective in the gin clear water.

12/28/2011  Fred with a nice buck Steelhead.

12/28/2011  Rick with a very dark Winter Steelhead.

Muskegon River Steelhead



12/26/2011  Blair with a nice buck from this morning.



12/26/2011  Muskegon River Steelhead.

12/26/2011  A colored up buck Steelhead from this afternoon.

12/26/2011  Winter Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River.

Fun Things Happening on the Pere Marquette River

Jim and I hit the Pere Marquette River today and found some nice Steelhead along with a bonus Brown Trout.  Winter Steelhead fishing should be good thru Spring with the amount of fish that came up West Michigan rivers this fall so give me a call if you want to get out and catch some Steelhead with very little angling pressure. 

For those of you that missed the Michigan Out of Doors segment last night here is a link   http://michiganoutofdoorstv.com/shows.cfm

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas.

12/23/2011  Winter Steelhead from the Pere Marquette River.

12/23/2011  A nice colored up buck from the PM.

12/23/2011  Float fishing for Steelhead on the Pere Marquette.

12/23/2011  A hefty chrome Michigan Steelhead.

12/23/2011  This Brown Trout was a nice surprise.

Muskegon River Steelhead

Steelhead fishing remains good on the Muskegon River.  Water level is low and very clear making for some spooky fish but they are still willing to bite a good presentation.  The action was hot and heavy at times today with periods of rest in between.  Ed and Fritz are pictured with a few Muskegon River Winter Steelhead. 

12/22/2011  Ed with a Muskegon River Steelhead.

12/22/2011  Back bouncing spawn has been productive for us.

12/22/2011  This fish was tucked away in a wood filled pocket.

12/22/2011  Fritz with a December chromer!!

Muskegon River Steelhead

Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River was great today. Water level has been fluctuating the last couple days but is generally on the low side and clear, temp is in the high 30's.  There is a good mix of chrome and darker fish around and they are still fighting harder than normal for this time of year.  We knew today would be good when we started out with a double header in the first 5 minutes of the morning.

12/20/2011  Bob and Sheldon with a double right out of the gate this morning.



12/20/2011  Sheldon with a nice hen from the Muskegon River.



12/20/2011  Muskegon River Steelhead. 



12/20/2011  Sheldon with a chrome hen from this morning.



12/20/2011  Back bouncing spawn produced good numbers of Steelhead today.

Muskegon River Steelhead

While this has been a very good Fall / early Winter for Steelhead, today was the first day I felt like we had to work for our fish.  We caught enough Steelhead to keep it interesting but they just did not come easy.  Mike and his son Matt are pictured below with a few nice December Steelhead from the Muskegon River.

12/19/2011  Mike with a nice buck Steelhead.

12/19/2011  Matt with a chrome hen.

12/19/2011  The bite was a bit tougher for us today but we made due.

12/19/2011  Back bouncing for Steelhead on the Muskegon River.

Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing

Steelhead fishing was great on the Muskegon River today.  The river is at a great fishing level and the fish are still fighting like it's November.  I have wednesday and friday open this coming week if anyone wants to get out on the river before Christmas and enjoy the great fishing we have had lately.  Ben and Dan are pictured below with a few of today's Steelhead.

12/18/2011  Dan with a great hen from the lower Muskegon.

12/18/2011  Ben with a nice buck from the Muskegon River.

12/18/2011  These fish were on fire today!!

12/18/2011  A bright buck from the Muskegon.









Pere Marquette River Steelhead Fishing

The Pere Marquette River fished great today for Dan and I.  With the exception of one or two Steelhead just doing the old winter twist most of the fish we hooked were on fire, jumping and running for any cover they could find, including the boat where I did have one break me off after running under the boat and jumping on the other side before I could react!!  It felt like real Winter Steelhead fishing once the snow started to come down and by the time we were done everything had just enough snow cover to make you think it actually was winter.  The PM is in great shape and should fish great this winter. 

12/17/2011  Dan clowning around after landing the big fish of the day, 13.5 lbs.
"he wanted me to call it 14 but the boga said 13.5 sorry Dan!!"

12/17/2011  Yes that is me with a fish, I actually got to fish today!!

12/17/2011  Dan with a nice Pere Marquette River Steelhead caught back bouncing spawn.

12/17/2011  Pere Marquette Chrome!!

 

December or November Steelhead??

Following yesterday's rain the water level on the Muskegon River has risen to about 2,800 cfs. and has about 4 feet of visibility which is right where I like it!!  The fishing was good and the fish fought like it was November 15 not December, they were jumping all over the river and burning line off the reel like they were shot from a cannon!!??  We caught a good mix of bright chrome Steelhead and a few that were colored up and about an equal amount of hens vs. males.  Here is Ed with a few of the nicer males he caught today.

12/15/2011  This fish took Ed for a ride.

12/15/2011  Back bouncing for Muskegon River Steelhead.

12/15/2011  Chrome Muskegon River buck.

12/15/2011  Back bouncing spawn is great in higher water.

 

December Steelhead

Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing was very good today.  Pete and Stu did a great job hooking and landing lots of Steelhead back bouncing spawn.

12/13/2011  Stu with a nice Muskegon River Steelhead.

12/13/2011  Back bouncing spawn bags tied with Salmon eggs has been the ticket.

12/13/2011  Winter Steelhead fishing is off to a great start.

12/13/2011  A chrome bullet hen from the Muskegon River.

 

Winter Steelhead Fishing

Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing is good for mid December, water temp has slipped into the upper 30's and is very clear.  Winter pools and woody areas should not be overlooked right now, fish them thouroughly and confidently.  Ed (pictured below)hit a good number of Steelhead back bouncing spawn this morning.

12/12/2011  Ed with a chrome hen from this morning.

12/12/2011  Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing.

12/12/2011  Back bouncing spawn for Steelhead on the Muskegon River.

12/12/2011  Ed with a beautifully colored Winter Steelhead on the Muskegon River.