Manistee River Steelhead Report

Manistee River Steelhead Report below Tippy Dam

Spring Steelhead 

Manistee River Steelhead Report

Steelhead fishing Below Tippy Dam

The Manistee River fishing report below Tippy Dam for Mid March.  With the apparent lack of snowpack, water levels started the week pretty low and clear.  However, we received a substantial rain event Monday night that made the river rise considerably.   Fishing this week started out pretty good, but as the water bump moved through the system it started to change the Steelhead behavior and made the bite more inconsistent to difficult at times.  You really had to grind it out in the high water as the fish were on the move and not slowing down. Fishing can always be challenging in high water, but new fish came with it so as things settle down there should be a bunch of new fish in the system. 

I strongly urge you to get your spring dates now!  Water temps are already over 41 and this run feels like it will peak early this year.  The next 30 day window could be the whole show for this spring. Give us a call 231-631-5701 leave a voicemail or drop us a text message and we will get right back with you.

Manistee River

Currently the Manistee River  Water Levels  are on a drop cycle after some heavy rains and the highest flows we have experienced this spring.  The river peaked late last week at 3100 cfs and is now currently sitting at 2750 cfs. This will more than likely be our peak runoff event for this spring barring any more heavy rains.  Water temps have already exceded 41 degrees and are quickly approaching the 42 degree mark.  A decent push of fish crashed the dam late last week in the high water and as the water drops we should see those fish spread out again.  The lower river is up significantly and Bear Creek was pumping some heavy color after all the rain.  

This week we saw mostly adults on the Manistee River and some rather large units that left us humbled.  Our landing ratio suffered a bit this week as the fish were pretty fresh and more robust in appearance.  Until the high water we were still seeing mostly wild fish, especially in the sections below Pine Creek.  I suspect the high water will bring a significant number of our hatchery fish home.  The hatchery fish tend to show up in larger numbers around our spring high flows with warmer water temps.  The Spring Steelhead should be spawning here pretty quick as water temps will likely hit or exceed 42 degrees this week. The forecast shows another warm up into the 50s and 60s for this week.

Egg Patterns

Once again Egg patterns this week had the highest success rates.  With the bumping flows you had to find a pattern bright enough and big enough to grab their attention.  I would expect the stones and fry patterns to take off this week as the water recedes.  Usually new fish are pretty receptive to egg patterns and then we see a trend where pressured fish will key in on other food items such as the flies I mentioned.  Color and size was more key this week as the water levels and the turbidity increased.  Both 10mm and 12mm in Tangerine, Orange, and even Chartreuse were producing throughout the week.  You still had to downsize some in the brighter sunny conditions.

Salmon Fry

March is here so bugs and salmon fry will be a main focus for the rest of this month.  The river will continue to warm up this week and the stones and salmon fry will continue to become more active.  After the Chinook Salmon run last fall, we should have a banner crop of salmon fry in the slack water this spring.

Manistee River Steelhead Report

 

Booking a Trip

Manistee River below Tippy Dam is one of the best west side steelhead rivers in the state of Michigan.  Mangled Fly guides are starting to book Spring Dates so please give us a call at (231-631-5701) or shoot us an email .  Also not too early to get your Spring Trout trip or Smallmouth Trip on the books.

We have a new sticker too check out in the shop , this sticker is pretty cool so make sure to get yours today.  Also have new this year hand tied Night Leaders for those of you that like the mousing for brown trout.  We also put together a Night Fishing Assortment that saves you a few $$’s and comes with a easy box to store them in.

Jon Ray 

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