Mid-May finds us headed to different waters in pursuit of different fish as this time of year offers choices to anglers. May often means Mayflies but the cold nights have had an effect on the hatches. Once stable weather comes back anglers can look for a mix of bugs on the upper Manistee and Au […]

The first of May has me thinking its like the first of March – cold windy and snowy. Like most weather events this won’t last but this weather halted the progression into spring trout fishing. Some Hendricksons and BWOs have been seen on the upper Manistee and Au Sable Rivers but much of the time […]

As we approach the end of April it appears that spring steelhead season is also winding down. It has been a strange spring with back-and-forth weather following a relatively mild winter. It appeared that a lot of fish spawned much earlier this year than normal which is good as they were able to get the […]

The water levels from last week’s rain has pretty much moved through the system and have returned to normal level. Clarity remains good but still has a stain to it on both the Betsie and Manistee Rivers which is usually a good thing. The abnormal July-like weather with temps in the 80s and bright sun […]

Early April showers has our local rivers running high and dirty while promising May flowers. If fishing smaller rivers and wading be advised of very high water. Leading up until recent storms the water had come up with rain late last week. And with it some fresh fish. We have an assortment of steelhead in […]

As March winds down we find ourselves in a unique situation with the steelhead. Not much has changed since the last report as we still have had back and forth weather including some storm systems that have left some snow on the ground but then bright sunny days to melt it soon after. A lot […]

Despite the relatively mild winter we have had the steelhead fishing is about where it should be for this time of year. The sun has been shining a bit more lately bumping the water temperature into the upper 30s on the Manistee and into the 40s on smaller rivers like the Betsie. However some cold […]

It sure has been a see-saw winter with plenty of ups and downs dramatic shifts in weather and well not much snow on the ground. The past week we had an unusual string few of sunny days and that really knocked out any snow that was lingering. Don’t worry more is in the forecast. A […]

It sure has been a see-saw winter with plenty of ups and downs dramatic shifts in weather and well not much snow on the ground. The past week we had an unusual string few of sunny days and that really knocked out any snow that was lingering. Don’t worry more is in the forecast. A […]

Spring: Mid-March through April Fall: October through November Winter: December through February

Late April through September (Regular Season) Some rivers including sections of the Manistee are open all year (Extended Season)

July through August

Our Salmon run starts as early as Mid-August and extends well into October. Both Chinook/King and Coho/Silver Salmon

May through August

Mid-May through Mid-July

Winter officially started today but we have been dealing with winter-like fishing conditions for a few weeks now. Water temperatures are in the low to mid 30s running clear and the steelhead have seemed to find great places to hibernate as fishing has been challenging. If you head out look for the deep slow water […]

Winter officially started today but we have been dealing with winter-like fishing conditions for a few weeks now. Water temperatures are in the low to mid 30s running clear and the steelhead have seemed to find great places to hibernate as fishing has been challenging. If you head out look for the deep slow water […]

The Back Half Baitfish is a relatively easy pattern to tie with a great profile that can be used to represent numerous baitfish species in both rivers and lakes to target various fish just by changing colors. Instead of increasing your streamer pattern try fishing something natural in size.

The Back Half Baitfish is a relatively easy pattern to tie with a great profile that can be used to represent numerous baitfish species in both rivers and lakes to target various fish just by changing colors. Instead of increasing your streamer pattern try fishing something natural in size.

As November comes to an end along with the Fall season we find river and fishing conditions to be about what you’d expect for this time of year. Water levels are running on the low and clear side of things which makes stealthy presentations a little more crucial. The unprecedented warm water temps we experienced […]