River Conditions

Fishing Report - Nov 2 2009

Recent high water forced me to re-book a couple trips. After fishing hard Saturday and only getting one fish to take the fly,it just seemed like the right thing to do. Fishing in flood stage conditions just is'nt that fun.

The river is back to a good level and the fishing should turn on this week, I will be back on the water tomorrow and am looking forward to chasing the fresly arrived chrome !!

Look for things to get cranking in the numbers dept. this week !!!!

Fishing Report - Oct 28 2009

Ahhh...back to the Muskegon, I did a short stint back on the PM earlier this week and found the water to be in perfect shape for steelies...however our group thought it best to let the young and up and coming fishermen have their way with the remaining salmon. The King numbers are falling off, but we did find enough to play with each day. The best thing was that the river was vacant of angling pressure. I am sure there were bars of silver in the pools, we just never got around to chasing after them...the kids were having too good a time with the Salmon.

Things on the Mo are about the same.....

The keys are ....

Be patient,fish hard,cover water and most of all............. be ready when it happens, get caught napping and you might miss your chances! There are steelies available you just need to fish them. The salmon run looks to be winding down quickly.

Fishing Report - Oct 22 2009

Its official.... from here out it looks as if our full time focus will be devoted to fall steelhead ! The Salmon run is still going on both the PM and the muskegon,but the steelhead numbers are increasing daily and there is not salmon in the river that can match the excitement of catching a fall steelhead....

We are still covering good amounts of water but the fish are here and they have been very aggressive when you find them.

We still have a few days open....dont wait !

Fishing Report - Oct 14 2009

As you can see we are getting into some steelies .... they are here but you need to be wiling to cover water and fish in the right places....Steelhead this time of year are at their absolute BEST ! There is nothing better than an October Steelhead ! There are still Kings in both the PM and the Muskegon, but they are in various stages of condition, some are still quite fresh, others are quite stinky.

Fishing Report - Oct 10 2009

Both the PM and the Muskegon are still providing good catches and lots of chances at King salmon and a few steelhead for those willing to look for them and work a bit. These fall bullets are well worth the time invested once your hooked up ! Give us a call and come and get your FISH ON !!!

We still ave a few open days left in October and November, now is the time to book a day or two before they are all gone. The best fishing of the fall is right around the corner.

Fishing Report - October 5 2009

Things are still going well in the PM, there are fish spread out the system although the higher concentrations are in the middle to upper sections. There are fish in every condition,so it pays to be a little selective to avoid the nast ones.

The Muskegon is also seeing its share of salmon, although the numbers arent what they should be, they are here in fishable numbers. I have been targeting the fish with crankbaits and getting into several fish each day. Bringing these fresh fish to the net has been a different story. As the numbers improve so will the flyfishing , look for the flyfishing to be a little slow for the time being.

Short Term openings

Fishing Report - Sept 29 2009

Carefull what you wish for ....... Well we have all been hoping for rain, and we finally got it !! The middle of last week after a bit of rain we saw a big push that lasted for several days, with a lot of fish pushing into the river. Well.....these fish did not stop ! They ripped right up to and beyond the flies only water. This weekend's rain has done similar things, there have been a bunch of fish moving the last two days,they are not stopping in the pools much if at all. Making it tough to find numbers of fish except for spawners. The water has colored a bunch the last few days and rose about 6 inches.

We should have good salmon fishing on the PM for the next few weeks,and the Muskegon is sure to see its main run showing up any day now.

Fishing Report - Sept 22 2009

Finally we recieved some much needed rain on our west Michigan streams !! And the salmon trickle has turned into a decent "drip" of fresh Kings !! We have seen good to decent fish moving up the rivers the last few days with the mostly cloudy daytime weather we have seen good numbers of fresh fish moving upstream without stopping much if at all. Although the numbers are still not there, things have improved a bit, still plenty of sections with long dry areas.Hopefully things will improve even more the next day or two.....stay tuned.

It looks as if October will be a great month once again!

Fishing Report - Sept 19 2009

Things have improved a bit the last few days.....there are still many many sections of river that are very thin in numbers. The fish have been moving everyday making the section and which holes the fish are going to be in a guessing game. Look for things to improve just a little bit each day. The fly water has fish throught with the most spawning fish for those looking to sight fish.

Fishing Report - Sept 16 2009

Well...... after spending everyday for the last week on the PM , I can tell you this, If you are looking for the salmon fishing to be as you remember it in the past... you might be very upset. The fishing is very tough for most....of course there are a few spots that have decent numbers , most places only have 1-3 fish per run or pool. Guide traffic has been busy and the good spots are being camped on most hours of the day.

Rain..Rain and some good strong north or east winds would help get the rest of our fish in the systems. Until then things wont change much.

Fishing Report - Sept 9 2009

With Charters on the lake keeping me busy and a couple of dates that opened up due to cancelations I have only been on the river a couple days...there are Kings available,but the fish are very spread out. Making it hard to find any type of numbers to play with. The plug bite has been the best,simply for the fact that you are targeting FRESH fish. The fly "bite" has been slow just for the fact that the fish that are up river are getting pounded.

There are fish spread from the lake to Baldwin. Look for some much needed rain and East/North winds to help the numbers and send the fish up river.

We have a few dates open due to cancelations and would like to get you on the water this fall.

Fishing Report - Sept 1 2009

Its September and this means one thing....the return of the King !

Fresh King Salmon are beginning to run into the lower end of the rivers and streams of west Michigan. Look for rivers to get the best numbers in the next few weeks,rain and east winds will help the most to increase the numbers of fish in the systems.

We have a few dates open due to cancelations and would like to get you on the water this fall.

Fishing Report - August 21 2009

The smallie fishing continues to be going well on the river. The water has warmed up and dropped quite a bit allowing the smallies to spread out and feed in different types of water. Still the best seems to be 4-6 foot with large rocks and slower flows. Floating stick baits,poppers and flies are all hammering the smallies.

Due to cancelations I have some prime Pere Marquette salmon dates that have opened up, please contact me if you are interested in taking advantage of these prime openings.

About another week and a half remain for me in the port of Ludington on my charter boat the "Hattrick" it has been a very busy year for us on the lake. I am looking forward to the simple fishing on the river soon. www.hattrickfishing.com If you are interested in getting on the alke for a day.

Fishing Report - August 6 2009

The smallie fishing has been great the last few weeks. Good numbers of fish in the 10-15 inch range and some over 17 inches. Both flies and light spinnig gear have been equally effective on the aggressive summertime smallies. The fishing should continue to be good for them until the Salmon arrive in a month or so.

We still have a few dates open for September Salmon on the Pere Marquette river,October Kings on the Muskegon and Fall Steelhead on the Muskegon River.

Fishing Report - July 23 2009

Wow....back on the river again ! It felt good to be back in the driftboat...running a simple smallie trip down the river. Running my charterboat with a 16 +  rod spread is soooo much more complicated !

We got into several nice fish,some medium fish and some small fish....a great time was had for sure. We threw both stickbaits and streamers and the guys did very well on both. Perch and solid yellow were the hot colors today.

Fishing Report - June 25 2009

Back on the river today !

The river is for sure in its summer mode. The water temps are up and the river is dropping. Smallies seem to be a little tempermental....one minute I am scratching my head wondering why we cant get the fish to go...the next you are getting doubles. Changing baits has been the key..once you find what they want its on ! Although we didnt get any monsters we had enough decent fish to keep everyone happy.

Fishing Report - June 13 2009

Finally back on the river after many trips on the "Hattrick" www.hattrickfishing.com

Recent rains have raised the river a bit and added some much needed color to the river. We floated a middle section yesterday and found the smallie fishing to better than it has been. We had lots of chances on a quick 4 hour 1/2 day and got several respectable fish to the net. Several smaller browns and bows also came aboard. We threw small stickbaits on ultra light spinning rods and the guys had a great time.

The dry fly fishing is still there daily,but the drakes do seem to be slowing down, still plenty of caddis and Iso's for the next few weeks along with drakes to get the trout looking up. Nymphing the deep fast slots will fish the biggest fish during the middle of the day. Streamers on cloudy-rainy days are a great option.

Now is the perfect time to book a 1/2 day trip on the Muskegon ! The best dry fly fishing of the eason is going on now. You will have a chance at fish over 20" everynight.

Fishing Report - May 26 2009

I spent a coupld days on the river this weekend with some die hard blackhawks fans...Sorry.... GO WINGS!!! The good news for them was that the Gray Drakes were going hot and heavy by 8pm on Sat evening and we had plenty of chances at very LARGE browns. These guys went from never casting dry flies to getting the fly to the fish, mending,drifting and hooking up some hogs! Only bringing a few fish to the boat...landing the big fish on light tippests was another story. Sunday we ran a AM trip and had good flyfishing first thing and then threw stickbaits for smallies and trout to fishing the day. Most of the smallies were on the smaller side, except this great 17 1/2 inch bronzeback.

Now is the perfect time to book a 1/2 day trip on the Muskegon ! The best dry fly fishing of the eason is going on now. You will have a chance at fish over 20" everynight.

Fishing Report - May 21 2009

The last of the remaining steelhead are finishing up their spring duties.....But the trout fishing is begining to take off ! There is decent evening activity up top with caddis,grey drakes and sulphurs. The salmon fry are providing the streamer fishermen with good chances at large trout during the mornings and cloudy days. Nymphing around gravel bars has also been working well.

I have been up in Ludington getting the Hattrick ready and spending a few days on the big lake. The spring fishing in Ludington has been nothing short of AWESOME ! Big kings have been the catch. If you are interested in booking a charter please contact me .We are running some great spring specials right now.

www.hattrickfishing.com for my charter info.

5 hour trout trips are only $200 on the Muskegon river.

Fishing Report - May 3 2009

May Steelhead still going strong !

 Recent rains have brought the river up once again and the fishing has been good for the conditions. There seem to be plenty of fish in certain areas and those spots are filled with several boats, it seems everyone is getting along pretty good though.

 We should have decent fishing through this week and then we will have to wait and see from there.

I have openings this week for either full or 1/2 day trips if you would like to get out and fish for some May steelies.

Fishing Report - April 28 2009

April showers have finally arrived

The fishing in the river remains pretty steady with a good amount of fish pressing up on the gravel. There are a freshies in the runs along with dropbacks. The higher water has given the fish a bit of cover and the fishing has taken off once again, I had my best day of flyfishing on the 27th in several weeks.

 Pictured is Greg with a nice steelie and 2 great browns measured at 18" and 19" both fat and healthy.

A good friend was fishing the harbor at Muskegon today and they did very well on fresh spring steelhead. This should be a pretty good sign for the upcoming month of May.

We still have openings for both full and 1/2 day trips for steelhead  and combo trips for steelies and trout.

Fishing Report - April 21 2009

Finally some steelhead weather.... 

Recent cloudy rainy days have improved the fishing quite a bit, we are seeing more fish spawning, but no huge numbers anywhere, they seem to be spread out pretty well. The best times have been early and late, with the mid-day bite the toughest.

Fishing Report - April 17 2009

Got sunblock ??

The fishing continues to be a struggle the last few days with our sunny bright days ! Where are our April showers?

We are hooking just  several fish daily and you have to really work for most of those. Gone this week are the easy ones. Make every cast count and be ready to deal with tough lock jawed fish until we get some clouds and rain.

Fishing Report - April 15 2009

Peak ? Prime time ? Judging by the calender it should be right about the peak right now.... judging by the fishing you would not guess that the last few days. There are a good number of fish in the system and with the right conditions the fishing is about normal. The biggest factor by far has been pressure on the fish and the SUN !! The sun does not help at all ! Water temps are in the low 40's and this has the fish spread throughout every bit of possible water type.. pools,runs,pockets,flats, and gravel bars.

The bite the last few days has been fair at most, today we fly angled for some spring chrome and ended up hooking only 3 fish and put 2 in the boat. Not anywhere near the fishing we had several weeks ago.

Fishing Report - April 9 2009

Due to a recent MAJOR increase in fishing pressure and clear bright days the fishing has gotten a little tougher. The morning bite has been about the same with several fish coming rather quickly most days ..but the after 10 am bite has gotten tough. The key has been to fish lesser known spots and to pretty much skip the prime time holes and runs unless you know you are the first or second boat in that spot.

Look for low light times to be the best until we get some clouds or more water in the river.