|

May & June offer excellent opportunities for Muskegon
River Trout. Fly Fishing floating lines with strike indicators behind
spawning Chinook produces lots of activity and nice Trout.

Stripping streamers for trophy Muskegon River Brown Trout is available
through the summer.

Chicago anglers enjoy the prolific hatches and plentiful Brown
and Rainbow Trout that the Muskegon River has to offer!
Trophy Muskegon River Brown landed stripping streamers in late June.
Sink tip fly lines.
Monster Brown Trout landed on a size 16 Copper John nymph. Summer
Trout fishing is excellent! 
Nymphing Sucker spawn Brown Trout - (6/25/09) 
22" Brown Trout taken on a McCuanes Sculpin Streamer on a 200
grain Sink-tip. (6/23/09)

Jerry with a magnificent Brown Trout taken on a Gray Drake Spinner!
Muskegon River. (5/26/09)
Muskegon River
Steelhead
Muskegon River Hatches Chart
|

Muskegon River Trout Fishing
Now offering Summertime Hatch Master's Trout Specials -
4:30pm till dark $250.00 - One or two anglers. Want to be on the
Muskegon River during the Gray Drake Spinner fall or the Caddis
emergence? Do you want to learn to catch trophy rising Browns
and Rainbows? We also teach anglers about the streamside entomology
and the bugs that trophy trout seek!
West Michigan's Muskegon River offers anglers some of the
best in trout fishing action! With expansive riffles, gravel bottoms,
and prolific hatches, it's no wonder anglers prefer the Mighty
Mo.
The Muskegon River supports large numbers of resident Browns and
Rainbow trout between 12" to 16" with some fish over
20" An average day float on the Muskegon River, anglers can
expect many nice trout to be brought to hand.

The Muskegon is truly a world-class tailwater and an excellent
trout fishery. With lots of room for a back cast, the Muskegon
River has a western river feel, and is a large and broud river.
Both wading and Drift boat trips are available.

Pine St. Riffle offers anglers a Western style trout
river in Michigan
We
fish for Trout with a variety of different techniques including
nymphing, dry flies, and one of our favorites, streamers on a
sink-tip line. The Muskegon River is loaded with salmon fry in
May and early June! Stripping streamers or casting rapalas bring
some of the largest trout of the year, some truly huge Browns!!
Starting in 2009, the new cold water bottom draw bubbler will
begin on Croton dam by Consumers Power and the Michigan DNR. This
will increase dissolved oxygen and lower river temperatures during
the extreme heat stress periods. This will greatly enhance the
trout fishery and will hopefully increase natural reproduction,
trophy size hold-over rates and provide a more consistent stream
habitat. More quality regulations will also improve the ability
to catch trophy sized trout which the Muskegon has already demonstrated
it has the capacity to do so. This is very exciting for the catch-and
release angler.
Muskegon River ~ Gray Drake Spinner
May, June,
July, and August offer some of Michigan's best dry fly fishing.
We are fortunate to have tremendous hatches on the Muskegon River.
The most prolific hatches on the Muskegon, Pere Marquette and
White Rivers include: Caddis, Sulfers, Midges, and the Gray Drake;
our largest may flies.These hatches are peak May through September.
Click here to contact
us for more information about Muskegon River guided
trout fishing. Pere Marquette River Trout trips also available in
the "Flies Only" section.
Muskegon River Tailwater Fishery
Muskegon River tailwater hatches are available during May, June,
July and August. Isonychia, Gray Drake, and Caddis are the primary
hatches during the summer months. There are also Stone flies and
Sulphers in huge numbers during these months. Some of Michigan's
largest Muskegon River Trout are caught during these prolific hatches
on dry flies.
|
|
|
Muskegon River Trout
Fishing
"Hatch fishing at it's finest!"

Hatch fishing for Trout during May, June, July and August.
There is nothing better than casting a
dry fly line to a rising 20" Brown Trout. Over the holiday weekend,
we've been rewarded with 7 Trout approaching the 20" mark and this
is just the very beginning of great fly fishing for Trout.
July offers the some of the finest dry fly fishing in the Midwest!
We have dates open for both full days
and the ever popular evening hatch trips- These trips start around 5pm
- 10pm. This is possibly the best chance to get into a trophy Muskegon
River Brown Trout.
Hatch fishing for Trout during May, June, July and August.
We are sincerely looking forward to the introduction of the "Bubbler
System" above the Croton Dam- This should make for some outstanding
Trout Fishing below the Dam in Croton. We could once again experience
Caddis Super Hatches!
Wow! What a change in weather! Cooler temperatures forecasted and the
fishing has been very good! Muskegon River Trout and Smallmouth Bass has
been great with the huge amounts on Sucker and Steelhead fry. Fry patterns
have been the flavor of the month. Both Trout and Smallmouth have been
feeding heavily on fry. Trout have also keyed up on Caddis emergers and
or fry depending on the weather.

Cinnamon Caddis Emerger
|
During the day-
Cinnamon Caddis and Caddis emergers have been fishing well on a floating
line either skittered of swung. Most of the suckers have finished
spawning but there are a few scattered pockets. Swinging small streamers
has also been productive, better on overcast days. |
June and July are
the the time for Dry fly fishing with the Isonychia Bicolor. (A
similar look as the Gray Drake but with a much more husky looking
body, with a burgundy or purple hue, Iso's do not spinner fall in
larger numbers but draw larger rising Trout if they are around, usually
in late evening. It can be the Muskegon's most overlooked hatch, typically
found in the middle to lower sections of the river.)
Caddis are the primary hatch in the upper sections. ( Pine
to Croton Dam) |

Isonychia Bicolor (Mahogany Dun) - July Trout Fishing
(White Gloved Howdies-Mahogany Dun)
River perfect level-2450-cfs-
63 degree water temp.
|
Muskegon River Trout - There are lots of suckers spawning and
encouraging
the bigger browns and rainbows to feed on nymphs behind sucker redds.
Excellent numbers of cinnamon caddis seen in the last couple of days,
mostly during the afternoon period. Many of stocked Trout targeting dry
fly Caddis with an occasional big fish on the surface. As water temperatures
increase, larger Trout will come up. Sulpher emergence is soon to come.
Streamer stripping with salmon fry patterns has been working well for
larger Trout - We need warmer water to get the big boys to chase streamers.
Just
a quick note: We are now
offering evening/afternoon hatch trips for Muskegon River Trout and evening
mayfly hatches. Both Gray Drakes and Isonychia offer excellent hatches
on the Muskegon River during June, July, and August.
Gray Drakes and Isonychia Bicolor are the upcoming attraction
with late May and early June being prime-time! The Gray Drake offers some
of the best dry fly fishing of the year for larger Trout!
Hot
Patterns: Gray
Drake Spinners, Spent wing drakes, Gray Drake soft-hackles, Sulpher emergers,
Sulpher duns. Sucker spawn and smaller pheasant tail
nymphs also producing good numbers of trout through out the day.
Streamer Patterns: Bi-polar
parr, small minnow patterns, Mallard spider, Steelhead & Salmon
fry patterns, Zoo Caugar (yellow or ginger)
Hatch Info: Lots of
bugs!! Prolific hatches at this time of year! Sulphers, Caddis, Gray Drakes,
and Isonychia Bicolor. If you are a fly fisherman, this is the time to
fish! Hatches and spinner falls have been very good on warm evenings.
Lots of dry fly activity just before dark, producing some of the biggest
trout of the year during the spinners falls. Sulphers are producing many
rising fish in the mid-sized range. Iso's and Drakes are producing the
big boys!
There are also some Hexes
available below Hardy Dam and below Roger's Dam providing some big browns
and some nice smallmouth on dries!!
Medium water levels and massive abundance of salmon fry also have larger
trout on the feed with streamers during the day.
Guided Trout Fishing
On Michigan's Muskegon River!! During the
months of May and June, Fly Fishing for resident Brown and Rainbows Trout
is excellent. The Muskegon River is chock full of spawning White, Hognose,
and Redhorse suckers. These spawning suckers produce vast amounts of roe
that the trout gorge on. Hence "Sucker Spawn patterns" so favored
by anglers in Lake Erie tributaries. Fishing floating lines and strike
indicators behind spawning sucker redds produces big numbers of trout
during the day. Indicator Nymphing for Muskegon River Trout.
Afternoon trout trips have been out producing morning trips: much less
angling pressure and more shade on the water. Stone flies have played
and important role in the afternoon bite!
In the evenings
of May and June, The Muskegon River is home to the famed Gray Drake Spinner
fall and the Iysonchia Bicolor, two large varieties of may flies that
tend to spinner fall just before dark. These flies attract the attention
of trophy brown on the dry fly. These trout may be selective at times,
but are certainly well worth the wait. The guides at Betts Guide Service,
wait the entire year for the six weeks of spinner falls and incredible
dry fly fishing!
Trophy Trout of May 2009

Muskegon River Brown Trout- Michigan trout guides (5/27/08) Gray
Drake Spinner 
Muskegon River Trout Guides- Mi trout fishing guides (5/25/09)
Sucker spawn patterns.

Muskegon River Rainbow trout Fly Fishing - Mi trout guides (5/26/08)
Red Ass- soft hackle
Our guides excel in Fly Fishing for Muskegon River Trout. Michigan Trout
Guides on the Muskegon River for Michigan Trout and Smallmouth bass. June
affers tremendous dry fly fishing during the summer monthes. Muskegon
Trout guides offer full service guided fly fishing for anglers- Chicago
trout guides, MI guided trout fishing charters in Grand Rapids. 49505
For fishing
guide, May is a time for trout on streamers
Friday, May 20, 2008
By Howard Meyerson
Press Outdoors Editor (Grand Rapids Press, May 20th 2008)
NEWAYGO -- It was late in the day that Chad Betts let a long cast
go, dropping his fly into a shallow riffle near shore.
..The commotion that followed would have
made any fishing filmmaker proud. There was a flash and a leap and lengthy
struggle.
Betts, a 28-year-old fishing guide and my host for the day, was stripping
line in madly, working a beautiful 17-inch brown trout back to the boat.
The fish was reluctant. It dove underneath the boat and refused to give
in.
But Betts, a Newaygo native and 11-year veteran of professional guiding,
has a deft touch.
...A few more moments and it was within netting distance -- capping off
an excellent day of fishing trout on the Muskegon River.
We had boated and released roughly two dozen trout, a mix of browns and
rainbows up to 10 or so inches. Hardly big fish, but eager and fun to
catch.
Then there were the two larger, dark-speckled browns, running 15
or so and now 17 inches. Fat and sassy fish that made a day of
sitting in the cold worthwhile.
Some would have called the conditions less than stellar this day. Many
anglers steer away from fishing when a cold front comes through. And others
might have wondered why we were fishing the little shallow riffles.
But the little riffles, with just a foot of water, were where the fish
seemed to be. And though we fished both shallow and deep, the big fish
screamed out from the shallows hunting for exactly what we gave them --
streamers.
"I fish streamers in May because there are no hatches unless it
is unseasonably warm. The water is low and fish are dialed in to fry,"
said Betts, the owner of Betts Guide Service in Newaygo.
"Trout key in on bait fish( Salmon Fry)at this time of year."
And that was the game: to entice them with bits of feathers and fur that
resembled bait fish. Streamers are flies that imitate a variety of bait
fish, both large and small. They are fished below the surface using split
shot or sink-tip fly lines to get them down in a current.
The 200-grain Rio sink-tip line we were using has 24 feet of
weighted line married to a shooting flyline. Casting it requires shortening
up, making a false cast or two to get the rhythm and then let it fly.
The flies are cast accross the current into the shallows and other fishy
looking places and retrieved as it drifts by stripping line in, creating
a realistic darting action. Our trip was a relaxing mix of floating downstream
and casting to likely spots or anchoring and casting using what Betts
calls a "slip-strip" method for the retrieve.
That means a steady rhythmic alternating pattern of a strip followed by
a release of line, strip-release, strip-release.
"That gives it a natural look," Betts said.
The choice of streamers were several. We started with what Betts called
a large bunny leech streamer that ran two- to three-inches long,
a fly that seemed to get more nips at its tail than hookups. So Betts
switched us over to a shorter streamer. Most fall into to four broad categories:
the salmon and steelhead fry immitations, the general baitfish
immitations, the sculpins and things like leeches and
crawfish.
"I could live on this one," Betts said pointing to the smaller
yellow mallard flank streamer, the steelhead frypattern that he tied --
the one just retrieved from the mouth of the big trout.
It was the same pattern that hooked the other big trout of the day --
a a wholchunky, full-bellied fish that had gorged itself on steelhead
fry, regurgitated one when it hit the net and was hungry enough to still
be mouthing Betts' streamer.
We had anchored near a gravel bar mid-afternoon. Betts was busy working
the fish in the shallows. It is where the fish come to feed, he said.
Then they return to the pools to rest and digest.
"This is the time of year they go around eating fry in all the little
pockets," said Betts, who cut his teeth fishing the river as a Newaygo
High School student and eventually went to study fish biology at the University
of Michigan. Two years into his curriculum he opted to cut his education
short, succumbing instead to lure of the river and becoming a full-time
guide.
"Guiding gets in your blood. It's hard to walk away," says Betts
who guides clients over 200 days a year whether that is for trout, salmon,
steelhead or smallmouth bass.
"You may fish a river several days in a row, but you never have the
same day twice. You can't put a price on seeing a bald eagle or osprey
come by or being out and enjoying the weather."
Today, we see the eagle, not the osprey. And, of course, it never hurts
to see a client smile after hooking a couple of good size Muskegon river
brown trout.
"I've fished in Alaska and Colorado and what keeps me coming back
here is that the Muskegon River has everything. Here the seasons are all
married together. We have salmon in the fall, followed by steelhead in
the winter. When those are done we have some nice trout and when those
are done we get into smallmouth.
May, Betts says, it time for trout on streamers.
© 2009 Grand Rapids Press. Used with permission.
Muskegon River Fly Fishing
Guides for Trout, Steelhead, and Smallmouth Bass. Pere Marquette River
guides excel is Streamers for MI trout. Mi Trout guides for the Muskegon
and Pere Marquette Rivers during summer trout in West Michigan. Trout-Guide
for Streamers for trophy trout in the west Michigan area rviers including
the White, Pere Marquette, and Manistee Rivers.
|