To check out his full-range of fishing services, go to wolfeoutfitters.com. Wade deep and cast far in low, clear water During low water periods steelhead will hold in deeper lies than normal. Covering human scent is a major key in catching salmon in Michigan rivers. Description: This week I have an interview with Frank Willets of Pere Marquette River Lodge on Michigan steelhead fishing. In late December, Erie is usually quite cold and covered with snow. To a small diameter running line (company’s such as Rio and Orvis carry this type of line) the angler attaches a ten foot section of fifteen pound test line and ends it with a swivel. But if anglers are present, you can be sure the fish are there, too. Teaching children or newbies becomes much easier when the baitcaster spool is taped. Ben Wolfe guided us on our day on the river (pictured above). Scientific Name: Oncorhynchus mykiss. Michigan’s Pere Marquette River, and the White River near Hesperia are the first to go in March and Early April. You won’t typically see the fish as you often can on the crystal-clear waters of the Platte. How to catch steelhead in the fall. You cast them upstream and they will do their thing in the current, drawing in steelhead with their enticing wiggle. For what it’s worth, the best steelheader I ever met favored a 12-foot rod with 4-pound monofilament when fishing the banks of the Platte and the Betsie. Pro Tips for Michigan Salmon Fishing… Have you ever experienced line twist when applying new monofilament line to your spinning reels? Great Lakes run Steelhead are beautiful. The green leaves turn to oranges, reds and yellows and the salmon start their annual pilgrimage into the Muskegon, Grand and White rivers as well as and other tributaries. Michigan River Steelhead Program. Sometimes at the take, there’s a flash of unseasonal silver, a flash of light in the cold winter murk. Steelhead fresh from Lake Michigan are leaping, surging, chrome-colored bullets that will aggressively take everything from Spin-Glo rigs, gold Wiggle Warts and chrome/blue Hot-N-Tots to pink colored spawn bags drifted under a bobber, hand-tied leach imitations and fuzzy, peach-colored eggs (both in size 8). Fisherman and writer Bob Butz shares the how-to of steelhead fishing in Northern Michigan. Makes casting a lot smoother & takes out line twist. All you need to do is: REGISTER at GLanglerdiary.org or download the iOS app; RECORD every river steelhead trip taken October-May; MEASURE each and every steelhead … Skein Fishing for King Salmon on the Pere Marquette & Big Manistee River below Tippy Dam is a very effective technique. Once the bait is on the hook never let it touch the floor of your boat, where it may pick up the smell of oil or gasoline. By far the easiest way to catch a winter steelhead is floating dime-sized spawn bags with a spinning or “noodle” rod with a length of eight to … The least traditional, but sometimes necessary method is what we call chuck and duck or drift fishing. The Manistee and Pere Marquette are first to receive Michigan Fall Steelhead. What these places lack in seclusion, they more than make up for in the sheer number of fish. Late November and December are great months to catch steelhead on the Manistee, Muskegon, and Pere Marquette rivers. Lousy luck has been attributed to weather that’s too hot or too cold, water that’s too clear, too muddy, too low or too high. Catching the Challenging Michigan Steelhead with Frank Willets. Above the swivel … Join us on facebook! Wintering over during November, December, January, February, March and April. Salmon have a keen sense of smell. Captain Jay Frolenko with a fresh, chrome-colored steelhead on the Manistee River near Brethren, Michigan. In Michigan we use three different methods to catch fall steelhead using fly tackle. Trophy Brown Trout spawn during December, offering shots and some very big … Fly fishing is also a better idea if you’re fishing for steelhead in colder water where the fish are likely to be closer to the bottom of the sea or river. Make the longest cast that you’re going to make, then pull out six more feet. Steelhead is a name given to migratory rainbow trout that are born in rivers but … Captain Ben Wolfe, Traverse Magazine’s “Best of 2014” winner in the Charter Captain category, is also a topnotch steelhead angler who offers fly fishing and light spin tackle trips on the Manistee, Betsie, Platte, Pere Marquette and Au Sable Rivers. Wearing nitrile gloves while handling eggs and bait certainly helps. Steelhead and Steelhead fishing has became one of the most sought after game fish and fishing pastimes in Michigan, rivaled by only the Chinook or King Salmon in popularity with Michigan anglers. 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