Muskegon River Fishing Report – Newaygo, MI – March 9, 2016

Muskegon River Fishing Report – Newaygo, MI – March 9, 2016

Dan, from west Michigan, with a beautiful late winter Muskegon river steelhead caught yesterday.

The Muskegon river near Newaygo, MI is running above average levels at this time due to the summer like weather that came through most of Michigan yesterday, with temperatures reaching the low 70’s.  This, coupled with the warm south winds, thawed most of the snow that was still on the ground and the resulting runoff brought river levels up to 3500 cfs, average for this time of year is around 2500.

We are catching resident Brown and Rainbow trout, as well as migratory steelhead, most of which are fish that have “wintered over” in the river.  By fishing slower runs and pools in deeper water, we’re getting fish on both fly fishing and light spin tackle gear.

With water temperatures still being on the cold side, fish can be a bit lethargic, but a couple from yesterdays outing certainly weren’t lacking energy….some pretty impressive runs for 35 degree water.

By using a combination of nymphs, small minnow patterns and egg imitations, we are finding fish consistently, just having to cover some water in doing so.  Cloudy days are best for sure, but fish can be found when the sun is out, just think “deeper”.

If the present long range forecast holds, we should see some warming water temperatures soon, which will be a trigger for the first new batch of steelhead to make it in the river from lake Michigan. 

Present water temperature is in the 34-35 degree range, but sure to slowly climb over the next week+.