Muskegon River Fishing Report – August 26, 2025 – Newaygo, Michigan

The Muskegon river is running low, very clear and quite warm for the end of August and we can attribute this to very little rain in key sections of the watershed, over the last month+. With the arrival of cooler weather the last few days AND nights, we should see river temperatures come down a bit over the next week. All that being said, there are still some hungry fish to be caught for those looking for some later summer Smallmouth bass action and pending drop in river temperatures, even some resident Rainbow and Brown trout in the upper stretches close to Croton dam.

With both fly fishing and light spin tackle equipment, we’ve still been finding some good Smallmouth down stream from Newaygo itself, any trout action would be further up river, with the first 4-5 miles below Croton dam having the best overall river conditions.

We’re not far from seeing more fall run, migratory Chinook salmon make their way close to the pier heads and up the rivers that see late August being the “kick off” for the fall salmon season. Some salmon are already being caught in the lower reaches of the Pere Marquette and Manistee river systems. The cooler weather, coupled with the “turning over” of lake Michigan, has brought cooler water closer to shore and salmon moving into some rivers that connect to lake Michigan.

From reports that I’ve been getting from fellow guides and captains who run big lake charter trips, salmon numbers are pretty good, but the overall average size could be a bit smaller this year compared to 2023 & 2024.

Current river levels on the Muskegon are at an all time August low of low 800’s cubic feet per second flow and river temperatures still hovering around the 72 degree mark.