Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing Charters

Had a late start of 11:00 am today, back bouncing spawn is still putting good numbers of Steelhead in the net in my boat each day.  Things have shifted to mostly dropbacks and actively spawning Steelhead and we are catching a handfull of Brown Trout each day as well.  Looks like I will put the back bouncing gear away for a couple days to fly fish with David from PM Outfitters but hopefully the bite will still be there tuesday when I am back to back bouncing.  The Muskegon River is still very high and can be dangerous for less than seasoned boaters so please be careful!!!  Tim and Adam are pictured below with a few of today's Muskegon River Steelhead.

4/30/2011  Adam with a healthy buck from today.

4/30/2011  Tim with a great hen at the end of the day.

4/30/2011  Back bouncing spawn has been producing a good bite lately.

4/30/2011  Tim with a nice Steelhead from the Muskegon River.

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.

Muskegon River Fishing Report

Had a cancellation today so guide buddy Nathan and I backbounced spawn for a short 3 hour trip this morning to see if the fish would still bite in the super high water.  The end result was Yes they will bite, you may fish a few spots and get blanked but then you run into a spot where you might hook as many as 5 fish, they are definately clumped together and when you put your bait in their face they eat, location, location , location!  We also caught a half dozen chunky little trout that have obviously been gorging on eggs.  Once again there was a mix of pre spawn fish, dropbacks and actively spawning Steelhead, as strange as the weather has been Spring Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River is going strong.  Back bouncing spawn should remain good atleast through the high water and depending on how fast the dropbacks head for Lake Michigan, even longer.  Pictured below is Nathan and myself with a few Steelhead from today.

4/28/2011  Myself with a dropback hen.

4/28/2011  A nice pre spawn hen from the Muskegon River.

4/28/2011  A tight hen that came out of a soft seam in a pool.

4/28/2011  Nathan with a good buck that fought very hard.

Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing Charters

Rain, Rain, Rain and the Muskegon River is very high, the last update I checked at 11:45 am was 7,940 cfs!!! It is adviseable to stay off the river unless you know what you are doing, if you fish please be very careful, there were full trees rolling down the river today we even saw a dock floating past that the water ripped off the bank!  On the fishing side of things backbouncing spawn was exceptional in the very high and rising water today.  Pat joined me for a half day trip and by the time we quit at noon we were just shy of 20 fish hooked!!!  There was a mix of dropbacks and fish that still have not begun to spawn, the few hens Pat kept were still tight in skein which is the only thing that will save us from having a bunch of empty spawning gravel when this water receeds, hopefully.  I am sure the dropbacks will take the free ride back to Lake Michigan because they may not have the energy to hold in this current.  Time will tell how long things will last for our Spring Steelhead season on the Muskegon River.  Pat is pictured below with a few of the pre spawn hens from this morning.

4/27/2011  Chrome Muskegon River Steelhead.

4/27/2011  Muskegon River Fishing Charters.

4/27/2011  A nice hen from this morning.

4/27/2011  Pat with a nice chrome hen.

 

Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing in the rain.

The day started out with wind and sideways rain but the fish were on the bite and stayed that way until we called it quits at 1:45.  Gary and Tyler were in my boat and Dave and Rick were with Kris, both boats somehow easily surpassed yesterday's phenominal numbers of fish hooked and landed in much less time, these guys had a great 2 days Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River and we look forward to the fall trip.  Bright colored eggs and rabbit stip hex nymphs really rocked them today.  I will be back bouncing spawn tomorrow and hopefully there are still some of those chromers in the dark water, with the rain all the water may be dark by then??  Tyler is pictured below with a couple of his many fish from this morning.

4/26/2011  A big Muskegon River Buck Steelhead.

4/26/2011  Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing has been great.

4/26/2011  A healthy Muskegon River Spring Steelhead.

4/26/2011  Tyler and his dad posing with a nice hen.

Muskegon River Fishing Report

Steelhead fishing is good on the Muskegon River right now with a decent number of fish still in the pools as long as you know where to look and good numbers of spawning fish on select gravels.  Kris and I had Dave, Tyler, Rick and Gary out for day 1 of 2 and both boats put a serious hurting on the Steelhead, beads, fry patterns and egg sucking stones were the top producers for the day.  Water level is still running high at around 4,400 cfs and there is a good amount of rain in the forecast, if we get it we may be fishing dropbacks sooner than expected but the up side to that is the bite dropback fishing is spectacular when you run into a group of fish.  I love the thought of back bouncing spawn in may!!

4/25/2011  Gary with a nice plump hen from today.

4/25/2011  A colorful Muskegon River Steelhead.

4/25/2011  Gary with a solid buck from this morning. 

4/25/2011  Rick with a nice early morning buck from the Muskegon River.

Happy Easter and Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing

What to say about the bite today but WOW!!!!  I took Steve my JV football coach and 10th grade biology teacher from Kent City Steelhead fishing until just after noon today and we landed more Steelhead than most full days over the last week.  There were a mix of bright chrome fish, slightly colored pre spawn fish and even a half dozen or so drop backs in the mix. All the fish were caught back bouncing spawn, the bites were aggressive and the fish fought hard in the 44 degree water.  With the amount of fresh tight hens we are still seeing we should have good numbers of spawning fish for weeks to come, we even boated a couple actual chrome males, not "camera flash" chrome.  Boat traffic was significantly less than the two previous days and I believe that played a part in the excellent fishing today.  Pictured below are a few shots of Steve and myself from this morning.  Happy Easter to all.

4/24/2011  Steve with an actual chrome buck Steelhead on April 24!!

4/24/2011  Another hen still tight in skein.

4/24/2011  Steve with a bright Muskegon River Steelhead.

4/24/2011  Chrome Chrome Chrome.

4/24/2011  This fat hen is getting close to spawning time.

4/24/2011  A nice hen that has not hit the gravel yet.

Easter Weekend Steelhead Fishing

Well between Good Friday and today these had to be the two busiest days on the Muskegon River I can remember,  there are plenty of fish around between the fresh ones in the dark water and spawners on gravel bars.  The number of dropbacks should be increasing daily which is an option for those that don't want to get up in the middle of the night to camp on their gravel bar.  The hens we caught back bouncing spawn today were still tight with the exception of one which had just started dropping eggs.  Ed and John are pictured below with some nice Steelhead from today.

4/23/2011  Ed with a bright hen Steelhead.

4/23/2011  John with a hard fighting Steelhead from this morning.

4/23/2011  Muskegon River Chrome!

4/23/2011  John with a male that came out of a small dark pocket near some gravel.

Muskegon River Spring Steelhead

Spring Steelhead fishing is in full swing and so was the boat traffic today, there are fresh fish in the runs and with the higher water levels if there are any waiting to come in they should be on the way.  Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River should last well into May.  Today was day two of three with the Tennessee group through PM Outfitters, today Mike and Ben joined me while Rich and Karen fished with David.  While we hooked plenty of fish today keeping them hooked long enough to net them was another story, all in all another good day on the Muskegon River chasing Spring Steelhead.  Below are a couple pictures from today, not sure why but I just did not pull out the camera much today although we did land a great double header this morning that would have made for a great picture but one slipped out of Ben's hands and into the river a little early.  I have May 4, and 9 thru 12 open for Steelhead on the Muskegon River for anyone who likes Steelheading in warm weather.

4/21/2011  Mike with one from this afternoon.

4/21/2011  Ben with a nice buck Steelhead.

Muskegon River Fishing Report

Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River is going strong with plenty of new fish in the runs and others in the shallow water getting the job done.  The water bumped up pretty good today from 3,400 to 4,800 cfs but is running pretty clear.  I am on a group trip with David from Pere Marquette Outfitters today thru friday with Rich, Karen, Ben and Mike from Tennesee.  Richard and Karen were in my boat today and did a great job hooking and landing lots of Spring Steelhead, Mike and Ben did equally well in David's boat.  Spring Steelhead fishing seems to be right on track now and should be good thru May.  Below is Rich and Karen with a few from today.  April is full but I have May 4, 9, 10, 11 and 12 open for Steelhead.

4/20/2011  Karen with a great hen Steelhead from today.

4/20/2011  Muskegon River Spring Steelhead.

4/20/2011  Muskegon River Steelhead fishing.



4/20/2011  Rich with a nice buck Steelhead.



Muskegon River Spring Steelhead

Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River was very fast and furious this morning.  Mark and Jim were into double digits by 10:30 am, we decided to take an early lunch at around 11:30 then the decision was made by them to quit so our lines never did hit the water again.  All the fish were caught back bouncing spawn and once again all were fat tight pre spawn hens aside from one drop back.  The push of fish that showed up in the last few days should be several days from spawning as their eggs are still in skein.  It looked like the gravel fishing may get good as well, or maybe it is already good I have not fished gravel yet but a couple of the boats we saw on gravel were hooking fish at a good pace.  Mark and Jim are pictured below with a few that I could convince them to pose with this morning, cold hands was the excuse??

4/19/20112  Mark with a spring steelhead from the Muskegon River.

4/19/2011  New spring steelhead are here, the next week should be great.

4/19/2011  Mark with a cookie cutter hen.

4/19/2011  Jim with one of many chrome hens from this morning.

Muskegon River Fishing Report

Fished a short 4 hour trip with my lovely wife and lovely mother in law today and the fishing was good!!  Today seemed like there were more fish on the pools and runs than most days recently, or it could just be that everyone else was looking for fish on gravel, either way I will take it.  We caught all of our fish backbouncing spawn and all the hens were still tight in skein, with the weather pattern hopefully they will stay that way and we can enjoy another couple weeks of good back bouncing for Muskegon River Spring Steelhead.  Natalie and Bambi are pictured below with a few good ones from this morning. 

 

4/18/2011  Natalie giving a little love back to the fish.

4/18/2011  Bambi with a harde fighting male Steelhead.

4/18/2011  Plenty of chrome Steelhead in the Muskegon River.

4/18/2011  Back bouncoing spawn was very productive today.

4/18/2011  Muskegon River Spring Steelhead.

4/18/2011  We had a great 4 hours on the water this morning!!

4/18/2011  Mother and daughter with a nice chrome hen.

4/18/2011  Back bouncing spawn for Steelhead on the Muskegon River.