With the official start of Spring this week, it seems that Winter is making up for some delinquency bringing us some cooler temps, wind and snow.
Steelhead fishing continues on the Manistee River below Tippy Dam and Betsie River with water conditions near ideal. It’s been a bit since we have had rain and the recent snowfall wasn’t enough to really affect levels. The mild winter brought water temperatures up to over 40 which has encouraged some early spawning in the rivers. There are still a lot of fish to come up stream over the next few weeks and these migratory fish are weather and condition dependent.
Fish are near gravel sections and others are slipping up the watersheds from the lake, preferring those soft seams to travel. The steelhead not quite ready to spawn – or those that are, on bright, sunny days – can be found in the pocket water and holes near spawning gravel.
Eggs and beads are often fished in tandem with a nymph. With the clearer water, smaller eggs have been working better and in natural shades to imitate the natural eggs in the water. Other days they take big, bright egg patterns that look like nothing in nature – that’s just the nature of steelhead fishing. Effective nymphs have been caddis, small stones, steelhead buggers and the alevin and fry bite are just starting to turn on.
Good luck.
Ted
Spring Steelhead – Just a few dates remain available in April – get your Spring fishing started right!
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