When a broad-shouldered winter fish violently strikes your swinging Intruder, the savage aggression has no fly-fishing match. Late Febuary and March offer some of the best Fishing the Michigan has to offer, before the crowds arrive. Also, the Early Black Stonefly hatches of late winter on rivers such as the Muskegon can have adult steelhead focused on stonefly nymphs, while the younger year class of “skippers” actually eat off the surface. In the Great Lakes, deepwater sculpins and gobies now make up a larger part of the prey profiles since alewife baitfish numbers have decreased as much as 90 percent. For many anglers a Manistee River steelhead fishing … Choosing the correct river for Michigan Spring Steelhead can pay big dividends. What makes them savagely attack your fly at times, and at other times scoff at your offerings or become totally dormant? In this article we will cover the entire range of steelhead fishing tips you need to pull in that next world record fish and become a knowledgeable steelhead … Since then, trout techniques have continued to play a role, and nymphing for steelhead was a very practical method that originated in the Great Lakes and has now been imported to hallowed swinging rivers in Oregon, California, and Washington. Michigan Salmon Fishing – The upper sections of the Manistee River, near Tippy Dam to the High Bridge Boat Launch have been fishing very for King Salmon, Coho Salmon, and Skamania Steelhead. Scuds, burrowing mayflies like Hexagenia, and chubs love this water, and they often get attacked when they move too close to steelhead. In smaller rivers, indicator nymphing with switch rods is effective and cuts down on the potential of “lining” a fish (merely drawing the fly into the fish’s mouth). Finally here, the big question is and will always be “Do steelhead really eat once they return to the rivers?” The obvious answer is that yes they do . As a general rule, the rivers in the southern portion of the Michigan warm first, getting the first migrations of Spring Steelhead. These dense, indestructible nymphs will improve your subsurface game. I wrote about chuck/swinging in Selectivity. Fishing Tips Michigan Steelheading. It took a while for these West Coast techniques to catch hold in the Great Lakes, but there’s no denying it’s the most beautiful and exciting way to catch steelhead. Hobie 360 Drive Kayak Propulsion Technology: Power and Control in Any Direction, How to Remove Wind Knots and Snarls from Leaders and Tippet, Guide Strategies for Great Lakes Winter Steelhead, Hobie MirageDrive 360 Kayak Propulsion: Amazing Control and Power. Winter steelhead hold in the same pools year after year, so concentrate your efforts on old standbys. $295 half day. You must check the state and local regulations for specific information about legal fishing methods prior to your fishing … Keep slower flows, current deflections, and the idea of “path of least resistance” forward in your mind since winter steelhead are slow creatures. Steelhead fishing … Phenomenal Spring Steelhead ~ Muskegon River. The water is clear and cold. A steelhead’s attitude becomes dour as the temperature drops, but two-handed rods and swinging flies are still effective in the right hands. @Copyright 2020 bettsguideservice.com | All Rights Reserved. Steelhead and Steelhead fishing has became one of the most sought after game fish and fishing pastimes in Michigan, rivaled by only the Chinook or King Salmon in popularity with Michigan anglers. Anglers from all over the country travel to Michigan for Manistee River steelhead fishing. Biotic prey stimulation goes on constantly for winter fish from birth, through spawning, and eventually mortality. Even if you don’t catch a fish, every winter steelheader deserves a participation trophy or at least a stiff pull from a flask of bourbon or Scotch. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve visited a pool at the crack of dawn, got skunked, and later caught a massive winter steelhead in the same pool after a slight 1- or 2-degree increase in water temperature. The steelhead drug is a very powerful one that will eradicate any semblance of self-control. Tie all you leaders before you leave home. Michigan Fishing Trips When these pools get bombarded on busy rivers like the Salmon River in New York, target tertiary lies where fish retreat. The two-handed steelhead revolution in the Great Lakes has now become a full-blown cult, and there is no turning back. Its short but sweet! TIE LEADERS AT HOME. Drift Fishing. This is most often associated with water temperature. You should know the right gear, time of year, location, technique, and much more. [Read Supinski’s story “Checkmate: A match-the-hatch chess game for Great Lakes steelhead” in the February-March 2014 issue or online at flyfisherman.com. Salmon eggs put steelhead noses to the pebbles and keep them bottom oriented. In the Great Lakes, the long, cold winters create lengthy incubation periods for fish that run in the late fall and don’t spawn until spring. Paying attention to Spring run off, and water temperatures are your best bet but this list of rivers should also help. The action was non-stop, with more fish than we could count AND multiple double headers. $495 for 3 anglers Full Day. You can’t beat Patagonia and Simms outerwear for the most brutal winter steelhead conditions. Each winter fish must be earned since you must not only put in the time, you must often overcome harsh conditions, which makes every capture of a winter steelhead so much more rewarding. In 1876, Michigan’s Daniel Fitzhugh never dreamed that his California rainbow trout experiment on the Au Sable River would result in migratory winter steelhead. Pocket/boulder/pool water is a winter steelhead’s ultimate holding, resting, and thermal refuge water. Typically, the rule of thumb is to fish from South (Michigan) to North. We too often take the fly out of the fish’s mouth with quick trout-like nymph striking. With water temps often in the 30 F. range, the takes are often slow and subtle. They are as diverse as the rivers they live in, but fly fishers think of them in terms of their calendar polarities: winter steelhead enter the river between October and May, while summer steelhead migrate from May through October. Muskegon River Steelhead fishing in Michigan is very popular, with fish starting to enter the rivers in March. The Hobie MirageDrive 360 pedal propulsion system is the pinnacle of kayak control with more efficient fin designs, glide technology and allows the boat to be moved in any direction. Here are step-by-step instructions for tying the Strong Arm Merkin fly. All Fly Fisherman subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. ©2021 Outdoor Sportsman Group. The Big Manistee River and the Muskegon River usually have a fishable number of Steelhead until mid to late May, often until Memorial Day. Trout Trips. The Editor.]. Generally the St. Joseph and the Grand River kick off our Michigan Spring Steelhead. Steelhead fishing is done in rivers along the coasts and Great Lakes in the United States. Natal imprinting also has a powerful effect. Watch for fast-dropping barometric frontal systems. Probably the most resounding question I get the most often is, What is the best river to fish, and when? Bridge pools, train trestles, and lowhead dams all work to congregate steelhead, and tributary influences are sure places to find these comfortable lies. This usually means afternoons until dusk. Once steelhead settle into their “incubation pools” before they spawn, biotic riverine drift stimulation becomes much more dominant. These rivers predominately get a big push of steelhead in later march, with peak being later April. . In 1876, Michigan’s Daniel Fitzhugh never dreamed that his California rainbow trout experiment on the Au Sable River would result in migratory winter steelhead. Active spawning begins near 42 degrees. Fall Steelhead fishing available now Big Manistee River – Pere Marquette – and Muskegon River Steelhead! Most Steelhead migrations begin around 36 – 38 degrees. With winter steelhead, you obviously need to get your flies down near the fish, but controlling the swinging line speed is the most critical element for winter steelhead. Pelagic hunting strike responses have their greatest display when fresh-run steelhead just enter the rivers and their eyes are glued to the blue/green/orange UV light spectrum, which is most visible in the pelagic zones and deeper in open waters down to 200 feet. Places like this are perfect for dredging Sculpin Intruders. Here are a couple links for Fishing Reports for Michigan Spring Steelhead fishing as well. Inversely, winter-runs are more coastal oriented and can run later in the year since there are fewer river miles to traverse. Some of the best steelhead rivers in Michigan … Those moments quickly make you forget your frozen toes and fingers, and makes those moments back at the lodge—looking at your images and sipping a Scotch or bourbon by the fireplace—so much more heartwarming. There are so many baits and lures for steelhead fishing it can make an angler dizzy trying to decide what to use on a particular day. This story appeared in the 2019 Oct-Nov-Dec issue of Fly Fisherman and was originally titled “Icy Steel: Guide Strategies for Great Lakes Winter Steelhead. And bad weather often means good fishing as the snow and rain feed the rivers and draw fresh chrome up out of the Great Lakes, whether that’s on the Salmon River in the Tug Hill region of New York, Lake Erie’s Steelhead Alley, Michigan’s Muskegon or Pere Marquette, or on the Knife River on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. Winter Steelhead Fishing on the Muskegon River. Subscriber Services. sometimes. As a general rule, the rivers in the southern portion of the Michigan warm first, getting the first migrations of Spring Steelhead. Luckily, many of our rivers have good numbers of steelies in them right now. Also as juvenile parr and smolts in the river system, winter steelhead have aggressive and quick responses to food, often out-competing even browns and native brook trout for dominant feeding lies. Basically, ice cubes in your glass of water keep it cold until the ice melts. But with the new switch rod revolution, you can swing, nymph, or use a method I came up with called chuck/swinging, all in the same day with the same tackle. Since 1992 I have been analyzing every aspect of a winter steelhead’s behavioral repertoire, and have come to some firm conclusions. Fish the warmest times of day. Early-running winter fish sometimes hold in faster, shallower waters, but once water temperatures start to plummet, deeper pools and runs hold the majority of the fish. When fish are moving up river to… Runs hit their peak in April and fishing can still be good up until the end of May. If a rainbow trout fisherman had but one fly to put food on his table, it has to be an egg pattern of some sort. Time on the water is the one element that separates the true, die-hard steelheaders from the duffers, and you can’t get the time on the water if you can’t stay warm. 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