Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing Report – April 21, 2019 – Newaygo, Michigan

Muskegon River Steelhead Fishing Report – April 21, 2019 – Newaygo, Michigan

After a 12 month break from fishing to have some knee and hip work taken care of, Dr. Dan is BACK !…..and tangled with a number of steelhead on a recent outing, this was one of them that made it to the net !

The Muskegon river steelhead fishing report for April 21, 2019 in the Newaygo, Michigan area of west Michigan is about the spring steelhead run.

After some pretty winter like weather over the past week+, it appears as though we’re finally going to see AND keep more spring like conditions in west Michigan and the Midwest.  Click HERE for current and forecasted weather for the Muskegon area on the west Michigan shoreline of lake Michigan.

Some of this weather brought heavy rains and even 8+ inches of snow, which collectively brought river levels up and water temperatures down.  This is changing, as levels dropped a bit yesterday and temperatures have finally gotten above and appear to be staying above, the magical 42 degree mark.  Click HERE for current Muskegon river water flow data.

With both fly fishing and light spin tackle equipment, we’re catching not only migratory steelhead, but also resident Brown and Rainbow trout and even the occasional Walleye, who are also in the river on their annual spawning run.

Also worth noting is the early stone fly hatch, which prior to the jump in water levels, was bringing a few trout to the surface to feed on these flies.  Presuming that hatch holds through another week or so, we may see more trout return to the surface to feed on these #12 flies, which are a lot of fun to catch on a 5 weight fly rod …which I have on board at all times now !

Given that “spring” has taken quite a while to get here, we will likely see our steelhead run go well into May, possibly making it into the third week, lets  see what Mother Nature has in store for us over the next couple weeks ??

Before we know it, the steelhead will have completed their annual journey to natal grounds and successfully spawned and then we’re into the heart of the Muskegon river dry fly fishing.  This typically kicks off around the end of May and goes through most of June.  We have hatches that occur beyond June, but the bulk of insect activity takes place during that magical 3-4 week time frame.  Starting with Caddis, we next see Sulphurs, then Gray Drakes, some Brown Drakes and Isonychia’s.  Any given cloudy day may find good hatches of BWO’s as well.

Present water temperature is in the 44-45 degree range and should continue to slowly rise in the days ahead.