Muskegon River Fishing Report – June 17, 2024 – Newaygo, Michigan

Based on present weather and our short term forecast, the Muskegon river is rapidly approaching the “dog days of summer” conditions as river levels begin to drop once again and river temperatures rise.

We’re still finding some hatches to provide dry fly fishing, with streamer fishing for both resident brown and rainbow trout and smallmouth bass being the preferred option #2.

With our 5 day forecast showing highs in the 90’s and night lows in the 70’s, we may see trout fishing drop off in the near future as river temperatures are currently in the mid 60’s and sure to rise in the days ahead.

Most of the trout fishing has been with fly fishing setups, with 5 weights for dry flies and 6 or 7 weight for streamers being the most user friends and effective.

Conventional equipment fishing is primarily for smallmouth bass, with topwater fishing being the emphasis first thing in the morning and crankbait-soft plastics being better mid to late afternoon.

With most everything mother nature related being 3-4 weeks ahead of schedule since around mid April, we’re in for some interesting fishing in the weeks ahead, until we get some relief from the weather.

For the fly fisher, we should see a rapid run through various caddis and mayfly hatches here very soon, so your time is now to get in the river !!!

Good luck !

Jeff