Muskegon River Facts and Information
Muskegon River Fly Fishing
The Muskegon river, near the town of Newaygo, Michigan, is less than an hour drive north of Grand Rapids and is one of best tailwater fisheries in the midwest. Resident brown and rainbow trout provide for great year round fly fishing and migratory runs of salmon and steelhead offer big game fishing like few places in the United States. Late summer finds great numbers of healthy and aggressive smallmouth bass available to the fly fisher.
Angling techniques for the Muskegon river trout fishing include dry fly, streamer and indicator nymphing. Best techniques for fall salmon fall steelhead and spring steelhead are bottom bounce nymphing, indicator nymphing and streamers.
The Muskegon river is rich with different species of fish. The most popular to the fly fisher are resident rainbow and brown trout, fall steelhead, salmon and lake run brown trout. spring walleye, steelhead, trout and summer time smallmouth bass round out a great menu of fish to chase with a fly.
The Muskegon is a big tailwater and often fished best from the comfort of a drift boat or jet sled. Drift boats allow stealth and maneuverability when conditions call for it, while a jet sled can get you to and from certain “hot spots” quickly, safely and provide you more time to fly fish.
Croton dam is a power plant complex on the Muskegon river where the tailwater begins. It flows over gravel bars, through fast runs and deep pools for nearly 20 miles, providing outstanding fish and insect habitat.
From the dam down to the Thornapple Avenue launch site is some of the best spawning gravel to be found for migratory runs of fall salmon and spring steelhead. The stretch from Thornapple to Newaygo also has quality spawning grounds, is monster trout water and contains great runs and slow moving pools for winter steelhead.
Spring (March-May) brings fresh steelhead into the river and the first hatches of the season. Big, hungry trout eagerly sip, chase and slash at the stoneflies that cover the river and cloud the skies on certain March and April days. Other hatches that follow include BWO’s and Caddis. Streamer fishing in the spring provides an opportunity for not only trophy trout, but also “drop back” steelhead, who have completed their spawn and are heading back to lake Michigan.
Summer (June-August) kicks in with more Caddis, Sulphur and Gray Drake hatches that are fished well into the evening. Once water temperatures of late July and early August rise, hatches taper off and it’s terrestrial time for trout and streamer time for Smallmouth Bass.
Fall (September-November) is a great time to be on a big river with the changing of colors in Michigan. Trophy pacific salmon enter the Muskegon in September and are targeted heavily from October – early November. Fall steehead come in once salmon begin to spawn and are fished from late October through the end of November. Trout fishing can be very good as well with streamers and indicator fishing behind salmon.
Winter (December-February) is a very tranquil time on the Muskegon river. Bald eagles soar overhead, mink scamper along the bank, muskrats swim a chaw full of grasses to their dens and flocks of feeding turkey barely acknowledge our presence, intent on scouring for sub-snow morsels. It is also a great time to swing big, articulated streamers for resident trout, steelhead and lake run brown trout. Bottom bounce nymphing in slow tailouts and pools is a great way to find a winter “biter”.
For additional information, please call (616) 656-4172 or click HERE to send us an email…..Thanks !
Special Regulations, Muskegon River
Muskegon River
From Croton Dam downstream to Thornapple Boat Launch: Type 4
· Open season - All year
· Possession Season - Last Saturday In April - September
· Tackle - All
· Daily Harvest Limit - 5/3* * 5 fish, with no more than 3 fish 15 inches or larger, and no more than 1 Atlantic salmon.
All grayling must be released immediately.
· Brook Trout 8", Brown Trout 10", Rainbow Trout 10", Splake 10", Lake Trout 24", Coho, Chinook, & Pink Salmon 10", Atlantic Salmon 15"
Muskegon River from Thornapple Boat Launch downstream to M-120: Type 3
· Open season - All year
· Possession season - All year.
· Tackle - All
· Daily Harvest Limit - 5/3* * 5 fish, with no more than 3 fish 15 inches or larger, and no more than 1 Atlantic salmon.
All grayling must be released immediately.
· Brook Trout 15", Brown Trout 15", Rainbow Trout 15", Splake 15", Lake Trout 24", Coho, Chinook, & Pink Salmon 10", Atlantic Salmon 15"
Muskegon R., from Roger's Dam downstream to below the south-bound lane of US-131 is closed to fishing Mar.16-Friday before last Sat. in April.
Note: All stretches of water not listed are Type 1 Regulations
· Open Season - Last Saturday In April - September 30th
· Possession Season - Last Saturday In April - September 30th
· Tackle - All
· Daily Harvest limit - 5/3* * 5 fish, with no more than 3 fish 15 inches or larger, and no more than 1 Atlantic salmon.
All grayling must be released immediately.
· Brook Trout - 8" Lower Peninsula 7" Upper Peninsula
· Brown Trout - 8" Lower Peninsula 7" Upper Peninsula
· Rainbow Trout - 10"
· Splake - 8"
· Lake Trout - 24"
· Coho, Chinook, & Pink Salmon -10" · Atlantic Salmon - 15"
