Muskegon River Fishing Report – Newaygo, MI – November 14, 2015

Dan (left) and Rick, with some Muskegon river “double chrome”….interesting getting both of these in the net at nearly the same time !

The Muskegon river near Newaygo, MI is running slightly above average flows for this time of mid November, but in good condition with more water due to the rains that came through with the “wintery mix” the last couple days.

The fall steelhead season is in full swing and we’re fishing them from Newaygo, down close to the mouth in Muskegon itself.  It has been a “trickle” year for steelhead, with fish fresh out of lake Michigan showing up regularly, but none in large groups/pods.

We’re fishing them with both fly fishing and conventional gear such as open face spinning and baitcaster reels, matched to the appropriate rods for running floats/bobbers.  Fly gear options include chuck-n-duck setups, floating line+indicator rigs and either 1 or 2 handed rods for swinging streamers with sinking or sink tip lines. 

We have resident brown trout actively spawning, as well as lake run brown trout coming into the river on their annual spawning run.  Due to water temperatures having held on over the last week+ and staying above 50, we’re set up for what could be a repeat of last year, with the best overall fall steelhead fishing being late November and well into December.

Present water temperature hovering around the 50 degree mark.