Muskegon River Fishing Report – March 4, 2024 – Newaygo, Michigan

The Muskegon river is getting an early invitation to join the spring season about a month earlier than normal, but will it last ?

Based on historical data, this is the oddest “winter” we’ve ever has in Michigan, the United States or planet earth for that matter. We don’t really know how this spring or summer will pan out, so we’ll just take what we get and make the best of it !

The Muskegon river water temperature had been slowly coming up until about 10 days ago, then with the return of cooler day and night temperatures, river temperatures dropped and now are rebounding a bit over the last week and is currently hovering around 38-39 degrees. As we get closer to the low 40’s, we should see fish activity pick up with both migratory steelhead and resident Brown and Rainbow trout.

With both fly fishing and conventional equipment, we’ll be targeting steelhead during the annual spring spawning run from now until mid May, as well as the resident trout who will be actively feeding around those spawning steelhead.

It won’t be long….maybe sooner this year…..and we will see insect activity pick up and shortly after, the first “rising” trout of spring. This is a great and highly anticipated time for the fly fisher, as it kicks off the onset of our prime dry fly fishing season, which on the Muskegon river is from around latter June – early July, maybe longer into July if weather and river conditions allow.

For those looking to get out on their own for a bit of walk in-wade fishing, feel free to touch base with any questions about locations, rigging, flies/lures of similar.

For any considering a guided trip this spring, I don’t have much open, but do later in spring for either the last of our steelhead in mid to late May, or first of the prime hatches for trout.

More to follow…

Jeff