If spring comes early, the fish spawn early. This line provides easy mending and drifting with minimal drag, but strong enough to handle a fly rig and the heaviest of fish. I hope that you are now sold on the technique of float fishing for Steelhead. The spring spawning run on west Michigan’s Muskegon river goes well into May in certain years, with water flow and temperature helping dictate the length of the run.These fantastic game fish are essentially a big rainbow trout that are born in the river, live there for a year and then head out to the great lakes to fatten up on alewives (baitfish) and other food sources. Other size and lengths of rods would certainly work, but I’ve found these to cover most of our needs while guiding on a big river such as the Muskegon.Should you find yourself feeling the fishing itch that’s synonymous with great lakes big game fly fishing, certainly don’t hesitate calling or sending an email to ask for more specific information……..and, fish on !Call or email me for more information on Spring Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon River.
For those of us who like to fish and specifically fly fish, it’s even more appealing since this is when the rivers of Michigan “come alive”……..!Beginning in March, thousands of Michigan Steelhead search out their natal rivers to migrate up and spawn in. Catching the female on the bed can easily ruin the bed for hours. Look for a rod similar to the spinning setup for steelhead above roughly 9 feet in length and a reel in the 200 or 300 size.
During the spawning process, the females create the bedding area, known as a “redd” and the males are fighting amongst themselves for spawning rights around these same bedding areas. Switching to a float can seriously increase your chances of coming in contact with a spring steelhead. There are 3 techniques we like to use to target Michigan Steelhead on the fly. chuck-n-duck, streamer fishing with either sink tip or sinking lines and nymph fishing with a floating fly line and indicator rig. The most common setups for chasing spring Muskegon river steelhead include rods in the 9-10’ lengths and in a 7 or 8 weight. This is a must have Brule River fly for Steelhead. It’s during this time that they are available to the fly fisher, using our most common techniques; drift fish nymphing, streamer fishing, or floating line-indicator nymph fishing. During this “staging” time of their run, their bodies are not yet ready to actually spawn and they will “stage” in pools or runs close to spawning grounds. Each method can be effective on certain rivers during specific times of the year. Fly patterns to have on hand include the large and attraction grabbing nymphs & leeches for high water or low light, standard nymph patterns such as caddis, hare’s ear, scuds, PT’s, sac-fry baitfish, sparrows, my “pharaoh” pattern, as well as egg patterns in varying sizes and colors. By casting large leech type patterns in low light, or attractive nymph and egg patterns into the drop offs or pools close by, males will often smack a fly without hesitation. Spring Steelhead Patterns From The Pros. This makes sense, as northwestern steelhead are not supported by stocking programs, so reproduction rates depend entirely on the ability to breed in the wild. Now it’s up to you. Streamer patterns to have would include everything from large, gaudy, double jointed flies that look like they would be great for pike or musky, to slimmed down versions of baitfish and leech patterns. Steelhead Set Up. Center-pin reels improve line control. The females are bright silver and have small mouths. On that line I put 2-4 larger split shot. This time of year also finds the rivers running high and off-color, so attention grabbing fly patterns work best.During the actual “spawn”, the female steelhead concentrates on creating the depression in the gravel bottom where she will ultimately lay her eggs. Once this depression is completed, she lays here eggs in it, followed by the male steelhead doing his part to fertilize the eggs and the redd is then covered with loose gravel by the female. She will guard the redd until she cannot sustain in the strong currents that are part of the spawning habitat. PHOTO CREDIT: DAVE VEDDER. Spring is a great time to be outdoors here in Michigan as both plant and wild life comes alive with the warming days of April and May.
This is done by fanning the gravel with her tail.
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