Muskegon River Fishing Report – November 29, 2021 – Newaygo, Michigan

Muskegon River Fishing Report – November 29, 2021 – Newaygo, Michigan

MSU Freshman and SE Michigan resident Mathew holds a nice Muskegon river steelhead caught while fishing with dad on their annual “day before Thanksgiving” outing.

The Muskegon river early winter steelhead season is still in progress and will be for another few weeks, mother nature will dictate when river conditions really kick into “winter mode” and that’s often the determining factor in pursuing steelhead.  When river temperatures drop into the upper 30’s, fishes metabolism changes and finding fish willing to bite becomes more of a challenge.  Click HERE for current and forecasted weather for the Newaygo, Michigan area.

Overall, our steelhead fishing has been tougher than years past, as we’re into what we are all hoping is just a “cycle” in the steelhead population.  This does occur  within our great lakes big game fish populations, such as salmon, steelhead, lake run brown trout and lake trout.  Several factors can play a role, our run on invasive species such as zebra and quagga mussels are a major one, which filter water, remove plankton and essentially, greatly affect the bottom of the food chain.  Research is being done to get a better handle on this and allow biologists and fisheries management to make changes to improve such fish populations.

Steelhead eluded dad Steve that day, but he did manage to find a couple real nice Muskegon river Brown trout !

That being said, we do have steelhead in the Muskegon river and are fishing for them with both fly fishing and conventional equipment setups.  Fly fishing options include swinging or stripping streamers, indicator nymphing and bottom bouncing – aka chuck & duck.   Conventional equipment rigs include float/bobber rigs and bottom bouncing.   Which methods used depend on personal preference and river conditions.  We’ve been fortunate to have near or above “average” river flows for this time of year and river temperatures are slowly dropping…not the acrtic driven crash in water temperatures that we had last year.  Click HERE for current Muskegon river water flow data.

It won’t be too long before Old Man Winter gets ahold of Michigan and provides what’s predicted to be, a fairly snow filled winter season.  Much of this will determine what rivers can be accessed and what fish we can pursue in those rivers.  Before we know it, 2022 will have arrived and for those considering a spring steelhead, early summer trout or summer smallmouth bass and pike outing, touch base to learn about availability and other details.  For any considering getting out for a couple hours of walk in – wade fishing at your favorite local river, feel free to call with any questions about equipment, rigging or other details – 616-560-3195.

Happy Fishing !

Jeff