Manistee River Trout Fishing Report

September 15th , 2019

River Report

Manistee River Trout fishing report for the remainder of September is feeling like early fall! We have had some real fall weather recently, cool nights, some cool and cloudy days intermixed with some rain. Water temps remain in the high 50’s and low 60’s and the river has taken on a very light stain. More rain would certainly contribute additional stain and would be ideal for streamer conditions. The daytime fishing has been good and improving this past week as the fish have adjusted to the cooler temperatures. Daytime trips consist of running mainly foam flies, while the small fly game has been starting to wane as most of the seasons hatches have come and gone. BWO’s a few caddis and white Miller’s are the most obvious insects on the water right now. The mighty Isonychia has started to show up again and will give us one more shot at some hatch matching opportunities for the next few weeks. Flying ants are becoming an important food source as well. The moon is coming out of a recent new moon cycle and the night fishing has been producing some great fishing as of late.

Foam Patterns

The terrestrial fishing has been holding its own this week. Lots of action and a few chances at some nicer fish. The brook trout feeding has been increasing and so have the intensity of their spawning dress, gorgeous color patterns right now! With some night time temperature drops and cooler daytime highs right now the morning bite has been a bit slower, but the fishing has been heating up when the temps begin to climb later in the morning. Hoppers , Ants, Bees, and Beetles are all getting attention, but pay close attention now as we are heading into the period of time where the Ants begin to disperse from their colonies and find their way into the river. The Ants were hatching in my front yard this weekend so its just a matter of time before we hit the first Ant hatch of the late summer. Fishing the Flying Ant hatch can be a pretty exciting day if you are lucky enough to be on the water when it happens. Right now playing with size, color, silhouette, and movement are the keys to success. Getting close to structure is also important especially in the brighter periods of the day. Learn more about how to fish foam patterns from a blog posted last summer.

Most of the hatch matching opportunities are over for us, but we still have some BWO hatches and the fall Isonychia is starting to fire up! The fall Iso can offer some pretty good fishing when its present and the next 3-4 weeks will provide us with this opportunity. This hatch will typically take place in the late morning to mid afternoon timeframe so no need to stay out super late which provides us with some great visual dry fly fishing.

Streamer and Mice

The streamer opportunities are pretty much limited to the cool early mornings at this point or a cloudy, rainy day. So far we have had very random success fishing small sparkle minnows and wet skunks. A good rain event and bump in flow has helped trigger some decent streamer days.

The night fishing has been very productive the past week as the New Moon is in the rearview window and we are currently in the waxing phase. So far this season has had lots of action and some solid fish to hand. Some recent nights have been cold, but dressing warm and being persistent has been providing some great fish in the dark this week. If you find yourself fishing in the dark right now, make sure you look up! There have been a few nights with some good meteor activity and with the cooler clear nights the star light has been intense.

Call Cherie if your interested at 231-228-7135 to book a trip.

Booking a Guide Trip

Give Cherie a call 231-228-7135 for booking information on Guide Trips and to get a hopper / mousing trip in the books for this summer. We will also be guiding on the Pine River and Pere Marquette as both are great hopper rivers. The USED GEAR page has some new gear added, check it out. Also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for additional photo’s, videos, and links to more fishing related articles.

Tight Lines,

Steve