Manistee River Trout Fishing Report
March 26,2020
RIVER REPORT
I was able to spend a couple days on the Upper Manistee trout water, which was a nice change of pace from chasing migratory fish. The first day we were a little lower in the river system and the water was up a little with a really nice tea stain to it. Fish were still in winter mode and a slower strip yielded the best results. Streamers with a bit of built in weight to get depth during the retrieve out produced suspender style flies and a larger profile got more attention than smaller offerings. Yellow was the top producer, but black and white also garnered some interest. The fish that we turned were sitting in shallower tailouts and the edges of the depth changes. We also scooted a sizeable fish from shallow mid-river sand that was warming up in the warm afternoon sun.
The second day we headed up a bit higher and found significantly clearer water conditions. That coupled with the bright sun made for some tougher fishing. A little smaller profile streamer in yellow was the top fly and mottled olive also had a little interest. During the afternoon of both days there were decent numbers of little black stoneflies bouncing around and we even saw a couple smaller fish rise to them. The Upper Manistee trout fishing should only get better from here as water temps continue to rise.
Guide Matt Barthels
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Tight Lines,
Capt. Chuck Hawkins
