We finally received a decent amount of rain  and ideal winds late last week and with it came some much needed color to the water including some chrome. A few new steelhead moved through the system and are scattered throughout the Manistee as well a few in the Betsie River. It had been a while since the weather cooperated so it was good to see things go as planned, albeit late.

The forecast is calling for some odd weather – this week which should make the fishing comfortable which isn’t always the case in November.  70 degrees? It looks like the run will be very prolonged as fall progresses and water temperatures remain higher than normal. As it has been all season, the steelhead have been hard to land with the water temps hovering in the low 50’s so hang on tight.

Successful fly patterns  have been varied, always with an egg pattern (orange and chartreuse variations), and sometimes two when fishing near  the last of the salmon spawning on gravel. With a nymph bite starting to come on strong – caddis, buggers and big black stones  have been fished well in  conjunction with an egg pattern, also – especially when fishing the larger runs and deeper holes. With less eggs in the water this year due to low salmon numbers, look for the swing and streamer bite to be a little stronger, earlier this year.

Good luck!

Ted

Late Trout –  Brown trout fishing into late December can be some of the best streamer fishing of the year.
Fall Steelhead –  Look for the good fishing continuing in Nov. & into December for  steelhead on the Manistee.
Gift Certificates – With the holidays just around the corner consider giving or asking for some time on the water.