REPORT
Muskegon River Fishing Report:
December 14, 2024:
Muskegon River Fishing Report:
The Muskegon is up a little, at a nice water level. Water temps are around 40 and are falling with the cold temps and shorter days. Steelhead are present, and can be taken with swung flies and while nymph fishing. Bright leech patterns and sculpin patterns have both been producing fish. Trout can be taken on streamers, wet flies, and nymphs.
Fall is a great time to get out on the river!
Summer is in the past, and fall is upon us. Many of us look forward to the fishing in the fall. There are a lot of options, mostly centering around our migratory and cool water fish. Early in October, two salmon species come into the Muskegon. King salmon are super abundant, with coho salmon less so. These fish thrive on large baitfish in Lake Michigan, and both grow to size, with the kings being significantly larger. The salmon provide many anglers with fishing opportunities, and benefit the river by providing nutrients for other fish and the wildlife around the river.
Indeed, the star of the fall season is the steelhead. After a tough run last year, we begin this year with new hope, and there are indicators that this year will be a much more normal year than the last.
Our first runs of steelhead coincide with the arrival of our salmon. Like most trout, steelhead love to eat eggs, and they are found in close proximity to the salmon as the first come in. Often you will catch them close to the gravelly areas during the morning hours, only to back off into deeper water as the sun gets high. This is more pronounced in low, clear water conditions. Unlike salmon, steelhead will travel some distance to grab a fly. With this in mind, it helps to use colorful and flashy flies so that they can see it from as far away as possible. Once they lock onto a target, chrome fish are like a missile, and they gain speed as they chase your fly. They will attack your fly with some force!
As winter comes, steelhead will still seize flies, but it helps to be more subtle with some of your patterns. Winter swung fly patterns are often imitations of sculpins, shiners, and darters. These small fish are always around in the winter. It is more challenging to get a steelhead to eat a streamer as the water gets colder in mid December, but fishing baitfish patterns helps a lot. The presentation should be focused on slower water and areas where food sources are likely to be. It is in these slow areas that you might also catch some great trout during the winter months.
Both trout and steelhead take swung flies during the winter months. The Muskegon has a limited run of lake run brown trout. Historically, these fish were more abundant, but the numbers have dropped in the last decade. They provide a great bonus opportunity and can be amazingly large. We also have a great population of resident brown and rainbow trout, both of which will take a fly. Big brown trout are especially prone to sculpin and goby imitations. Though you can catch them with the swung fly technique, even in the coldest part of the winter it helps to add strips and twitches to your presentation. You can strip a streamer as you would at other times of the year, but you would want to add significant pauses to your retrieve. This will give your fly a strip and swing look to the fish that is appealing in the cold parts of the year.
If you would like to fish for trout or smallmouth bass, or would like to book a trip for other species, please contact us at info@feenstraguideservice.com. For books, DVDs, fly selections and more, visit http://swingabigfly.com.
To learn more about our guides, visit our guides page. For booking information, click here.
To see a previous program I did with Anchored Outdoors: visit https://anchoredoutdoors.com/live-with-kevin-feenstra-matching-baitfish-patterns-and-techniques/.
Kevin’s Book, Now Shipping!:
Several years ago, after the last DVD launch, I started working on a book project. The book is now complete, and is shipping. This book is about fishing baitfish patterns for migratory fish, steelhead and lake run browns. It contains a lot of information about the minnows, reading the water, fishing various types of structure, and some good fly patterns. It also features a lot of beautiful photography of our minnows and fish. The book is called “Matching Baitfish: Patterns and Techniques for Great Lakes Steelhead and Lake Run Browns“. To order through my retail site, go to matching-baitfish-by-kevin-feenstra. I am happy to sign each copy per your request.
I purchased the remaining inventory of my fly patterns, which were tied by Aqua Flies, from the Muskegon River Fly Shop. These are great, well tied flies and I am selling them individually. They can be purchased on this page http://www.swingabigfly.com/individual-flies. Because I carry an inventory of these, they will ship quickly when ordered and include free shipping.
Thanks for visiting the Muskegon River Fishing Report! Interested in seeing more photography? Check out Kevin’s instagram feed.
For bookings, please contact us at info@feenstraguideservice.com.