March 17th
Prayers for good health to you and your families and may you all have a Safe and Blessed 2025 Spring Steelhead season!!!! From now until May it will be all about the Steelhead with a Brown Trout trip or two to mix it up a bit. Welcome to Spring Steelhead 2025!!! A new Steelhead season is in front of us and we are out chasing Steelhead everyday again and things have been pretty dang good Thank God!!!! Mother nature threw a good one at us the last few days and it was a bit challenging but we powered through it and made it happen. We seen air temps in the 70’s with 30-40 mile an hour winds to 30 degrees and snow all in the last 3 days but things have settled down and is looking more normal for the next week or so. The Spring Steelhead migration is upon us and it is looking like its gonna be a good one! With the high water from the rain and snow melt last week we are seeing new Steelhead show up everyday and that will continue through April. We have been seeing a good number of chrome bucks, hens and skippers so that is a sure sign of a good things to come. We have been catching most of our Steelhead in slow woody winter water 5-7 foot deep float fishing with Center Pins and Bait Casting rods on 8-10mm beads in natural colors and an occasional fish on Spawn. Covering lots of water has been the name of the game! There are Steelhead spread out through the whole system so we have been fishing it all. All the Steelhead we have been catching(big and small) are super healthy and charged with the warming water temps!!! The river temps are starting to rise a bit, the flows are up for this time of the year and the water has a bit of winter stain to it through out the system but all in all the Manistee river is in good shape and fishing good for Steelhead. The Brown Trout fishing has been ok on the Manistee River above Tippy Dam as well but some sections are fishing better than others, temps are cold so fishing slow is key. Streamers and nymphs will all help the fly angler bring some fish to hand and jerk baits and spinners will help the gear guys and gals. The Pere Marquette River is fishing good for Brown trout and there are good numbers of Steelhead being caught down there as well. There are fish to be caught up here right now so it’s time to get out and enjoy what we have been given!!! We are taking bookings for 2025 Spring Steelhead trips as well as summer Trout, Smallmouth Bass and Pike trips at this time so keep us in mind when you are making your fishing plans and don’t miss out on the action. We are Thankful to be doing what we Love and we will be at it everyday keeping up on what’s going on, so if you have a date or dates in mind and would like to get out for a full or half day on the Big Manistee, Pere Marquette or Upper Manistee please give us a shout. Real quick I would like to put out a Big Thank You to all of you that fished with us in 2024 and looking forward to seeing you in 2025!!! Thank You Very Much and God Bless!!!!!!! Stay safe and healthy!!!! If you would like to view more pictures check us out on Facebook @ Premier Angling Guide Service. Tight Lines & High Fives!!!
Manistee River Below Tippy Dam
The flows below Tippy Dam are 2520 cfs and the water temps are in the 39-40 degrees. For the wade fisherman, the fishing above and below the coffer and down stream to the bottom of Suicide Bend has been good for Steelhead and Trout. Load your vest with all the tricks, Streamers, beads and various nymphs for the fly angler. Crank baits, spinners, spawn, beads and nymphs will help the Steelhead gear anglers get it done. Think about the future of our fishery guys if you don’t need them then put them back. Help protect the resource!! Have fun and be safe, Bent rods and tight lines!!!
To check flows and water temps on our local rivers, please click on the USGS links below:
Manistee River below Tippy Dam
Manistee River below Hodenpyle Dam
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