October 25th, 2018
Late Fall Streamer Fishing on the Upper Manistee
Manistee River Trout fishing report for late October is time to break out the streamer rods and let the hunt begin again. With spring and fall providing the best streamer fishing of the season. Brown Trout are still post spawn but it’s close, we please ask you to let them spawn during this time if you see activity. These are wild fish on the Upper Manistee , NO DNR supplemental plantings so every fish is special let them be.
Streamer Fishing
I had a chance this week to spend two days on the Upper Manistee looking for pre spawn trout. We found them! While water temps were cold, 43 degrees a slow retrieve on a 250 grain sink tip did the job.
The first day was bright sunny and relatively warm in the low 50’s. It was a beautiful fall day. I was afraid it was going to be a boat ride with bright sun and low and very clear water. It took a number of fly changes to establish that they would eat a very small (one inch long) white streamer. That fly produce browns up to 17 inches and one brook trout!
Day two was rainy and windy. We went lower in the system to bigger water looking for less clarity, didn’t happen. We discovered that the Nutcracker and the Closer in both olive/white and in natural ginger colors would produce fish. We caught browns up 19 1/2 inches and brook trout to 10 inches.
While neither day were big numbers days the river did give us enough action to make for two very enjoyable days away from the steelhead venue. We didn’t see another angler in two days.
Northern Michigan Trout Fishing
Trout fishing in Northern Michigan at this time of year provides anglers with solitude. As we start to transition into winter still some great trout fishing opportunities on the Upper Manistee remain. Rivers are really quite right now, as most of the anglers are focused on Steelhead.
Booking a Guide Trip
Give Cherie a call 231-228-7135 for booking information on Guide Trips and to get a fall / winter streamer trip in the books. Our main focus with be chasing steelhead on the Lower Manistee River. Also follow us on Facebook and Twitter for additional photo’s, videos, and links to more fishing related articles.
Tight Lines,
Chuck Hawkins
Fishing smaller streamers in the fall.