Muskegon River Fishing Report – May 11, 2026 – Newaygo, Michigan

The Muskegon river has gone through some HUGE changes this spring, with massive flooding in mid April that closed most all Michigan rivers down for a week, followed by a short run of summer like conditions, then a return to more spring like conditions this past week.

After having reached a record high of over 15,000 cfs – average for this time of spring around 2,500 – the river has come down, cleared up and maybe we’ll see more typical spring like weather and river flows in the weeks ahead.

The spring steelhead run is all but done, am sure we have a few stragglers coming into the river, but the run is pretty much done and now it’s time for the resident Brown and Rainbow trout to take center stage.

We’ve already seen some tan Caddis hatching in the last week and that bug will be key for the next month of dry fly fishing opportunities.

Cloudy days will find the streamer or lure bite turning on and it won’t be long before Smallmouth bass enter the river for this spring spawn.

With both fly fishing and light spin tackle, we’ll be chasing a variety of fish over the next couple+ months of summer !

For now,

Jeff