Spring Steelhead, Times have changed!

Timing of our fishing opportunities has been changing the last few years. Is it global warming or just a cyclical change, we don’t know. There is however no doubt that things are different than in past years. One example is spring steelhead.

For the past few years, the spring steelhead run has been arriving earlier than we would consider our historic normal.  The February fishing on the Manistee River has been consistently very productive the last few years.  Our winters have been much milder and drier than years ago. Sure, its Northern Michigan and we do still have our share of cold spells, but there seems to be more warmups throughout the winter.  Each of these bumps in temperature will also bump up river flows and bring fresh fish in from the lake. This coupled with respectable numbers of fall and early winter holdover fish has made for good steelhead populations earlier in the season. February has become the new March, with far less angling pressure.

March has perhaps been the most consistent month of our spring steelhead season.  Numbers of pre-spawn steelhead in the river are typically very strong and spread throughout the entire river system.  Weather also is typically more consistent than February. February, while offering some great fishing, can have tough weather days and cold snaps. However, this nicer weather does generally mean an uptick in angling pressure. Another advantage to February steelhead fishing is that we offer half-day trips, the only time of year that we do that.

April is still a very viable month to target steelhead as well, though the fishing the past several years has become less consistent.  Last year we had some very good fishing in April, but the April of 2021 was tough.  It is best to be adaptable this time of year, and we are luckier than most to have a plethora of options up here.  The mild weather and warmer temps have led to some dynamite, early season streamer fishing for resident trout. There are miles and miles of productive trout water, most of which takes us out of the busier migratory fish sections.

With warmer temperatures in February, both air and water we can target this great gamefish with all our preferred fly-fishing methods. This includes bottom bouncing, indicator fishing and swinging flies. February is particularly productive due to the lack of traffic on the river. When booking February dates the reservation is weather dependent, if it’s too cold, windy or just uncomfortable we will cancel.

Give Chris or Chuck a call at 231-228-7135 and some spring dates in the book