Muskegon River
As winter begins to settle in throughout Michigan and seemingly slow things down, the
steelhead are following suit on the Muskegon river. There are a fair number of fish
throughout the entire system, but consistent angling pressure accompanied with
dropping water temperatures, flows and small push’s of new fish entering the river have
made fishing tough. Seemingly no stretch of river is fishing better than the other. One
day you can be fishing one of the higher sections of river and find three fish only to
move 15 miles down river the next day only to find the same number of fish. The key to
catching fish for myself has been covering lots of water and being thorough in the
spots that require it. Beads have been my predominant producer in the upper river with
a mix of beads and spawn bags working best down river. However, it is always a must
to have an assortment of hair and tube jigs accompanied with wax worms this time of
year. In addition, swinging flies with a two handed rod still remains productive thanks to
higher than normal water temperatures. Some days you can have an equally as good
chance of tangling with a steelhead on a two hander as you would with a float rod.
With all of this being said, it is entirely doable to still have a phenomenal winter day of
steelhead fishing on the Muskegon. The amount of days that they are occurring are
simply just fewer than they were in November and certainly much fewer than the past
few winters. A lower return of fall fish this year than years past has simply made the
Muskegon have tougher fishing than expected. With that being said I am very hopeful
for spring run to begin showing up in February and March. February and March are
hands down my favorite months to fish the Muskegon river and I am truly looking
forward to it as should everyone else. As the saying goes you cannot catch fish from
the couch and the best way to get a report is to go to the river and find out for yourself!
Currently I am taking bookings for the Muskegon River beginning February 15th until
May 1st.
Grand River
Out of all the rivers Ripple Effect guides on the Grand River has not surprisingly shown
the best results. While fishing has not been necessarily consistent on the Grand, it has
been consistently good. One day you may go out and hook six to ten fish, only to go
out the next day and hook twenty plus. Many anglers have been fishing above the
coffers wether from shore or a boat. Both options have been successful for anglers,
however most days the boat anglers are definitely presented with more opportunity.
This is mainly due to the fact that the Grand has had high enough water to jump the
coffers nearly all winter. For shore anglers the key to success has definitely been the
ability to present something different to the fish. The most successful shore anglers this
time of year are catching fish on custom tied hair jigs under a float accompanied with
wax worms. However, beads and spawn bags can still have their days. That remains
especially true for those that still choose to wade out into the river. For myself, beads in
a variety of colors have definitely been my top producing bait above the coffers.
Constantly changing colors throughout the day is seemingly the best strategy when
deciding what colors to fish. On the lower river the spawn bag bite has been the most
consistent, but some days beads have been equally as good of a producer. Angling
pressure has been very high on the Grand all winter, but that is to be expected. Fishing
out of town is definitely the more quiet option, but there is always going to be a few
other boats out with you for the most part. When fishing the Grand it is important to
remember that you will certainly be surrounded with more anglers, but you also have a
much better shot at catching some fish than you currently would on other systems. I
am still booking Grand river trips until May 1st and fully expect fishing to continue to be
good throughout this entire winter and spring.
Kalamazoo river
In all transparency I have not been guiding on the Kalamazoo much this winter,
however I do have a few trips there next week. With that I mind I have been keeping in
contact with my friends who do consistently fish down there. It seems that the story on
the Kalamazoo this winter has been the same as nearly everywhere else. Fishing has
been slower than years past, but improves from time to time when a shot of fresh fish
move up the river. Having a variety of spawn bags, beads, tube jigs and hair jigs will
definitely be the key to success for any angler on the river. It sounds like plugging has
also been productive for those that prefer to do rod in holder instead of rod in hand. It
is certainly a great way to fish this time of year on the Kalamazoo and ensures your
hands stay warm! For the most part the fish are fairly pressured and being the one who
does something different is what will get you bit more than others. Doing so can result
in some good days of fishing, even though the number of fish in the system seems to
be lower than years past. Covering water and being thorough in the spots it matters in
will also be a huge key to success. I believe that fishing should greatly improve in
February and March on this system with the arrival of spring fish. With that being said
fishing is still consistent and I will still be running trips on the Kalamazoo until May 1st.
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