Gateway to Michigan's finest fly-fishing
Manistee River
Spring has officially arrived in Northern Michigan, as reflected in the forecast. With temperatures ranging from 50 to 60 degrees during the day and staying above freezing at night, the steelhead fishing on the Manistee River has remained consistent. Most days offer multiple opportunities to hook a steelhead.
This past week has been tough. Blame the moon phase, the sun, the barometer, the clearing water, the wildly fluctuating water temps…maybe all these. Maybe something, or some things, not even on that short list. It can happen in April. In fact, April is sort of notorious for throwing out a
Manistee River Fishing Report below Tippy Dam for April 16, 2025
After super high and dirty water the first week of April, the Manistee has dropped and gotten herself back in shape. The river is still holding a really nice tea stain that is
(Todd with a Massive Muskegon River Steelhead)
Here’s my great friend from Pueblo, Colorado with an absolute beast of a Muskegon river steelhead! Congrats Todd!
(Tale of the Tape!) (Todd with a beautiful chrome hen)
Here’s Todd with a beautiful chrome hen.
(Todd with a gigantic 24-Inch Muskegon River Rainbow
(John with a beautiful Muskegon River Steelhead!)
Here’s my great friend from Northern Michigan John with an awesome twisted chrome steelhead from the Muskegon river! Congrats John on such a nice steelhead!
(Dave with a winter hold over steelhead)
Not to be outdone, here’s my other great friend and John’s
The river has settled into something close to perfect spring conditions…and I’ll extend that to include the South Branch which as of right now is flowing at a very spring-like 471 CFS (and dropping). The BWOs have been hatching well and we anticipate a few rising trout in certain stretches
After a week of high and highly stained water, the river levels have returned to normal flows for this time of year and still have a bit of a stain, which also is normal for this time of year. Water temperatures are in the low 40s thanks to some cold
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We have set a date for our Spring River Clean-Up…Saturday May, 3, 2025. Stay tuned for details and please save the date!
Another crazy week in the books. The weather and water levels were all over the place last week!!! Things should stabilize this
Nothing like catching fat trout thru the hum of generators! What an awesome feeling to be back on the river. The Au Sable is looking good — tannic, water-level dropping, and a some very obese trout on the prowl. This higher water spring was exactly what we needed. The river
Hey guys, quick little river update first! We’ve had boats out every day here recently with no issues of our own, but the proper response here on “How’s the river?” is, pretty high and probably not really safe just yet for the average rower or wading angler if you are
