Forums > Michigan Fishing > Warm Water Species Fishing > Detroit River and Lake Erie > Huron River Steelhead Discussion in ' Detroit River and Lake Erie ' started by … With 140 years of genetic and behavioral modifications, Michigan winter steelhead have the most uniquely adapted survival strategies of all Great Lakes steelhead. 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. These rivers are smaller and warm more quickly than the larger rivers, offering early Spring Steelhead fishing. Because these rivers are tail water fisheries, the reservoir that holds the water generally has a thick layer of ice on the back water. If you are not fly fishing for steelhead this fall, then lure choice will usually include live bait. Fishing for Michigan steelhead this year is going to be a fun and exciting challenge. The smaller rivers like the Pere Marquette Riverwarm faster than the Big Manistee River. 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. I wrote about chuck/swinging in Selectivity. Muskegon River No individuals have done more for the winter swinging game than the MOW boys—Mike McCune, Scott O’Donnell, and Ed Ward—who developed Skagit lines to fish heavy sinking tips and dredge deeper waters with big flies like Scott Howell’s Intruder. As a general rule, the rivers in the southern portion of the Michigan warm first, getting the first migrations of Spring Steelhead. Winter steelhead are frequently in 32- to 38-degree water, so the ultimate key for success is to slow everything down. Once a frontal system stabilizes, get out there, as the heavy snow bite is usually ferocious. Bridge pools, train trestles, and lowhead dams all work to congregate steelhead, and tributary influences are sure places to find these comfortable lies. 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 . This is most often associated with water temperature. The St. Mary’s Rapids has Steelhead well into June. What makes them savagely attack your fly at times, and at other times scoff at your offerings or become totally dormant? There are no hard, fast rules on choosing what river will be best for Michigan Spring Steelhead Fishing, however, these tips may certainly improve your odds. $295 half day. Steelhead fishing is done in rivers along the coasts and Great Lakes in the United States. These first steelhead were incidental catches when trout season opened in late April, and they were taken by spring trout fisherman on the Pere Marquette and Platte rivers who were plying the waters with nymphs and small wet flies. The action was non-stop, with more fish than we could count AND multiple double headers. When nymphing for winter steelhead, I always suggest waiting for two or three head throbs after the fish takes the fly before setting the hook firmly. 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). For this article, we will concentrate on streams that get good summer and fall runs of steelhead, and thus, usually offer the best winter fishing. 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. Watch for fast-dropping barometric frontal systems. They have adapted to quickly changing river conditions and have learned that taking advantage of big-water prey is much more profitable than long, early migrations. To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine. Steelhead fishing in Michigan is very popular, with fish starting to enter the rivers in March. Winter Steelhead Fishing Tips in Northern Michigan. Anglers from all over the country travel to Michigan for Manistee River steelhead fishing. Steelhead Salmon Trout Steelhead can be found from late October to late May in Lake Michigan and Lake Superior tributary streams and rivers. Covering human scent is a major key in catching salmon … 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. Each fish must be earned, and the joy of battling and landing a big crimson and chrome beast in the middle of winter brings on a euphoria like no other. Fall Steelhead fishing available now Big Manistee River – Pere Marquette – and Muskegon River Steelhead! Most significant of these are eggs. Warm sunny days are the best! Tips, Tricks, and Techniques For Steelhead Fishing. 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 … 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. Thus, swinging two-handers with Intruders with color motifs such as blue/chartreuse/purple are highly effective. Michigan Fishing Reports – Spring Steelhead Fishing has been going strong on the Muskegon River. Black thread (heavier thread is necessary for … I’m not sure if you’d call it feeding or merely “throat mouthing,” but they definitely take in food items. . Spring Steelhead are motivated by Mother Nature , the spawn is the primary trigger for them to migrate the river. Peak times are just after Memorial Day. Live bait is popular among spin-cast anglers who are fishing … Your email address will not be published. Some of the best steelhead rivers in Michigan are the The Pere Marquette River and Big Manistee River. Spring Steelhead are considered the crown jewel of the Great Lakes. When fish are moving up river to… Croton Dam Steelhead. The water is clear and cold. Its short but sweet! Glo-bugs, beads, Krystal Meth Weave Eggs, Sucker Spawn, and Otter Eggs are all highly effective, but with the gravel being dug and dislodged, caddis larvae and mayfly and stonefly nymphs also get into the biological drift. 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. [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. Drift the float rig set up through the holes and deep water for early season salmon on the lower Pere Marquette and Manistee River. Both strains adopt different life survival strategies including different spawning times, spatial niche preferences in river habitat, and metabolism thresholds. Size 6 Bugger Hook. Basically, ice cubes in your glass of water keep it cold until the ice melts. Keep slower flows, current deflections, and the idea of “path of least resistance” forward in your mind since winter steelhead are slow creatures. Fish the warmest times of day. The second set of rivers is a big more complicated, the Big Manistee River, and the Muskegon River located in Newaygo, are a bit more difficult to pin down. Trout Trips. Ashley with a gorgeous Spring Steelhead in Michigan Muskegon River. Most Steelhead migrations begin around 36 – 38 degrees. TIE LEADERS AT HOME. 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. This solitary winter-run lifestyle affects how you pursue the fish of a thousand casts. 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. By searching the highs and lows, we have come here to present you the best steelhead fishing tips or rainbow trout. Drift fishing sounds complicated (and it is), but in my experience, it’s probably … |   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. 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. There are three types of strata that steelhead gravitate to: rocky/boulder, gravel, and (less often) sandy bottoms. River bends with tailouts provide some of the most perfect steelhead lies, especially where you can see demarcation where a bubble line of moving water meets with slow water to create eddies, creases, or seams. Your email address will not be published. As you explore your home water, keep in mind what they are eating to select the best carp... You don't always catch large trout in these alpine lakes and streams, but even the small ones... How to deliver meat & potatoes to hungry trout, They've been waiting millions of years for this opportunity. The earlier warm up has the fish moving up river to different runs, closer to spawning gravel. Natal imprinting also has a powerful effect. Nymphing has clear and obvious advantages in “hatch matching” scenarios, especially in the fall when the rivers are loaded with spawning king and coho salmon. I’ve finished 37 straight days of guiding and my first day off, gone out and got the same buzz as the first day I ever fished for steelhead. On these streams, any kind of gravel or cobble bottom is a magnet for steelhead. Euro nymphing is also effective for fish holding in deeper runs and bigger rivers. The Steelhead migration lasts much longer on these two river because of the huge reservoirs that feed cold water into these two rivers. 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. Spawn skeins and cured eggs tied into bags are proven fish-getters throughout the steelhead landscape. It is a combination of deep bottom nymphing and swinging that uses a clear intermediate line instead of a narrow running line, and two weighted flies (where legal) moving broadside to the fish and along the bottom. Spring offers some of the best steelhead fishing in Michigan. Make frequent fly changes, rest the pool between each fly change, and then dissect the pool again if you believe there are fish in it. Both rivers offer excellent steelhead … Steelhead fishing in Michigan is very popular, with fish starting to enter the rivers in March. Tie all you leaders before you leave home. Scuds, burrowing mayflies like Hexagenia, and chubs love this water, and they often get attacked when they move too close to steelhead. 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. Generally fishing is allowed 30 minutes before sunrise till 30 minutes after sunset. Biotic prey stimulation goes on constantly for winter fish from birth, through spawning, and eventually mortality. You must check the state and local regulations for specific information about legal fishing methods prior to your fishing … Rivers such as the Muskegon, Manistee, White, Pere Marquette, and Grand offer some outstanding steelhead fishing in West Michigan. Sandy “sucker water” is often in the river bends and tailouts of bigger rivers. When this happens, it may be time to head to the bar. The ice keeps these rivers much colder than others. 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. Runs hit their peak in April and fishing can still be good up until the end of May. Thus, the winter steelhead chuck-and-duck method using running line is still very effective. You can’t beat Patagonia and Simms outerwear for the most brutal winter steelhead conditions. It is here that the personality of a selective rainbow trout comes out in steelhead, and they pick at food sources such as mayfly and stonefly nymphs, caddis and midge larvae, sculpins, and shiners, and scuds. Based on water temperatures, the White River in Hesperia, Rogue River in Rockford, and the Pere Marquette River located in Baldwin, are going strong by late February and early March. Winter steelhead hold in the same pools year after year, so concentrate your efforts on old standbys. So what makes these massive, broad-shouldered winter fish so special? 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. When these pools get bombarded on busy rivers like the Salmon River in New York, target tertiary lies where fish retreat. As for being a fishing guide in Western Michigan for nearly 25 years, there are always several reoccurring questions that I often get from clients that are interested in Michigan Spring Steelhead fishing. Fly Fisherman Staff | Illustrations by Joe Mahler. Winter steelhead also travel in smaller migratory pods or as singles, whereas summer fish are often schooling fish and travel in large packs like stripers. Since 1992 I have been analyzing every aspect of a winter steelhead’s behavioral repertoire, and have come to some firm conclusions. Based on Chapter 9 of The Complete Cast, Ed Jaworowski and Bernard 'Lefty' Kreh give some... "The Professor" George Daniel demonstrates how to stop the rod high, and haul the line to make... Give a Gift   These fish are sea-run rainbow trout. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets. Roe, worms, flies, yarn, spinners, spoons, beads and the … They have insatiable appetites and are not as cautious and calculating as browns, thus steelhead parr get caught more often—ask any Pere Marquette guide and they’ll tell you steelhead parr are caught 10/1 over resident browns. Compared to summer steelhead, winter steelhead move slowly in very pragmatic calculated metabolic maneuvers and slower attack speeds in frigid or freezing waters. Once steelhead settle into their “incubation pools” before they spawn, biotic riverine drift stimulation becomes much more dominant. All Rights Reserved. Typically, the rule of thumb is to fish from South (Michigan) to North. 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. Pocket/boulder/pool water is a winter steelhead’s ultimate holding, resting, and thermal refuge water. You can be a successful freshwater fly fisher with just the nine knots shown here. Fishing Lake Michigan tributaries for some giant 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. … King salmon usually suspend in Michigan rivers, so half the depth is pretty accurate for salmon fishing. Strikes are usually detected by the rod tip throbbing or stopping. The third section of Michigan Spring Steelhead rivers are your most Northern rivers, Betsie river, Platt, Borgman River, Elk Rapids, and the St. Mary’s Rapids. 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. By Bob Butz on December 27, 2016 Tagged Fish, Outdoors, Benzie County, Benzonia, Honor. $495 for 3 anglers Full Day. This is a huge time-saver … @Copyright 2020 bettsguideservice.com | All Rights Reserved. Given these developmental factors, the winter steelhead strike response is shaped more on what I call biotic stimulation than on aggression. 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. Michigan has many fine steelhead streams, and about this time of year, it seems like spring will never arrive. Steelhead Woolly Bugger. Out of all the steelhead seasons, winter is by far my favorite. Here … 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. … TIE LEADERS at HOME enter the rivers in the Great Lakes suspend. 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