Muskegon River Steelhead

Mike, Bill and Linda are pictured with a few Steelhead from a productive day on the Muskegon River.

4/28/2013  Bill with a plump hen from today.

4/28/2013   Mike with one of his fish from today.

4/28/2013  Linda with a dropback hen from today.

"Spring" It's Finally Here!!!

The river was very busy today being opening day of trout season along with great weather.  Despite the heavy boat traffic the Steelhead bite was very good on both the morning and afternoon trip for us.  Out of four anglers three had never caught a Steelhead before today and one is something of a veteran in my boat,  now all three newbies have multiple fish under their belts, congrats Pat, Dan and Kevin.  Here a few from today.

4/27/2013  Pat with his first Steelhead, a nice chrome buck.

4/27/2013  Dan with a good one from this morning.

4/27/2013  Kevin with his first Steelhead this afternoon.

4/27/2013  Dan with his first ever Steelhead and there were many to follow
 as these boys put a whoopin on the Steelhead this afternoon!!!!

Spring Steelhead

Water level on the Muskegon River is on the decline currently at about 5,400 cfs. and still has a heavy stain with water temps hanging in the low 40's.  We are catching a mix of fresh chrome fish and spawned out dropbacks each day and hopefully will see another good push of chrome as water temps warm.  Boat traffic was heavy today but nearly all the fishing pressure was focused on gravel areas leaving the rest of the areas void of boats.  Ed and Warren had some very good action float fishing today, here are a few fish they put in the net.

4/26/2013  Ed with a nice bright hen from this morning.

4/26/2013  Warren with his first Muskegon River Steelhead.

4/26/2013  This hen had a belly full of eggs.

4/26/2013  Warren with one of a bunch of dropbacks from today.

Steelhead

Here is Mark and Jim with a couple Steelhead from today.

4/25/2013  Mark with a bright hen in the rain.

4/25/2013  We are still catching plenty of pre- spawn fish  like this hen.

4/25/2013  There are some smaller very chrome fish around.

4/25/2013  This little buck was mad with a hook in his mouth.

  The Muskegon River is still high, running 6,400 c.f.s. with heavy color.  The water temp is still on the cool side for this time of years at about 40*.  Boat traffic has increased significantly since the water has dropped and the launches have re-opened.  The steelhead fishing was very productive this morning and afternoon.  The pictures below are of Ed and Fritz from my morning trip and Ed and Stefan from my afternoon trip.

4-24-13 Fritz with a nice chromey.

4-24-13 Ed with an early morning steelhead.

4-24-13 Ed enjoying the afternoon bite and the afternoon sun.

4-24-13 Stefan with a nice bright hen.

Spring Steelhead

We had three boats on the water on 4/22/2013 and were the only boats out there!!!  That will never happen again.  Thanks to everyone who has fished with us the past few days for trusting our judgement on fishing the flooded Muskegon River,  while other guides cancelled trips we had fantastic fishing with the river to ourselves.  On that note, the river has dropped to 7,500 cfs but is still very heavily colored with less than a foot of visibility and water temp has risen to 40 degrees.  Don't take this as fact but it's my opinion that over the next two weeks we should see some very good Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River with fish lasting through most of May after our very slow to warm up spring water temps.  Tyler and Will are pictured with a few of the fish they put to the net on 4/22/2013.

4/22/2013  Tyler with a nice bright hen.

4/22/2013  It's been interesting netting fish in the muddy water
 because they almost need to break the surface before you can see them

4/22/2013  Tyler with another hen from the brown waters of the Muskegon River.

4/22/2013  All three boats had great action today!!!

Spring Flood 2013

Not much time for a detailed report right now but we are fishing in the flood waters and doing very well.  Dick and Bill are pictured with a few of their fish from today.

4/21/2013  Dick with a nice hen from the high muddy water of the Muskegon River.

4/21/2013  Bill with one of his Steelhead from today.

4/21/2013  Steelhead fishing should be great well into May this year with tight hens like this still around.

4/21/2013  Bill and Dick had a great day on the river.

Manistee River Steelhead

Steelhead fishing was pretty good for us on the Manistee River today.  Rick and Fred are pictured with a couple of the fish they caught.

4/19/2013  Rick with a hefty 13 lb. buck from the Manistee River.

4/19/2013  Fred with a chrome hen from a windy day on the Manistee River.

4/19/2013  Rick with another good one.

4/19/2013  Fred with one of his fish from the muddy water today.

Muskegon River Report

Muskegon River water level is up to 8,000 cfs and will likely rise more depending on how much rain we actually get with this storm that is rolling through right now.  The good news is the fishing has been outstanding for us in the high water and should continue as long as we don't see a major change in water conditions.  Ed and Fritz put a beating on the Steelhead today, below are a few of the fish they put in the net.

4/17/2013  Ed with an early morning chromer.

4/17/2013  Fritz with a good one, the fishing was on fire.

4/17/2013  Ed with a Muskegon River Steelhead.

4/17/2013  There are good numbers of these chrome hens around.

Steelhead

After another good shot of rain last night to an already swollen river system Newaygo county has issued flood warnings and is advising everyone stay off the river.  The word on the street is all boat ramps along the Muskegon River in Newaygo county are closed until the flood warning has been lifted, I guess we will find out in the morning.  The fishing was excellent today and should continue to be as long as we have access to the river.  Pictured are Dennis from this morning and Kevin from this afternoon with a sample of today's action.

4/16/2013  Kevin with one of his fish from this afternoon.  The bite was on.

4/16/2013  High water Steelheading at it's finest.

4/16/2013  Dennis with a nice buck from the morning.

4/16/2013  A nice hen from today, fishing does not get much better.

Spring Steelhead

Muskegon River water level is high but stable at 7,000 cfs with heavy color and is still on the cool side in the upper 30's.  The bite has been pretty good the last couple days since the fish have adjusted to the heavy flows and cloudy water and things should get really good if water temps ever decide to warm up.  Ed and Scott had an action packed day on the Muskegon River today and are pictured with a few of the Steelhead they caught.

UPDATE:  I just had a cancellation for tomorrow April 16 if anyone can make a trip happen on short notice.

4/15/2013  Ed with a nice hen from today.

4/15/2013  Steelhead fishing was great today.

4/15/2013  Scott with a nice bright buck from today.

4/15/2013  Scott with one of the fish he caught today.

 

High Water Steelhead

The Muskegon River is high at 7,000 cfs. and has heavy color, water temp is still cold at 36 degrees.  Steelhead fishing was pretty good today, Clark and Brandon are pictured with a few of today's fish from the high muddy water.

4/14/2013  Brandon with a nice buck from this morning.

4/14/2013  Clark with a bright hen from today.

4/14/2013  Fishing was good today.

4/14/2013  We are still catching winter fish in the cold water.  Steelhead fishing should be good well into May this year.

Muskegon River Fishing Report

The Muskegon River is running high at about 5,900 cfs. and will likely go higher after the last couple days of rain it has a good stain but is by no means muddy but that could change.  There are plenty of Steelhead in the system with a lot more to come with water temp still on the cold side in the mid to high 30's.  Below are a few pictures from the last two days.

4/10/2013  Pete with a chrome hen from this morning.

4/10/2013  Vint with a bright hen from this morning.

4/10/2013  Pete with one of his fish from this morning.

4/10/2013  Vint with a colored up buck.