Fly Fishing Muskegon River. Kevin Feenstra

      Muskegon River (West-Central Michigan)

       Location: The Muskegon is located in west-central Michigan, in the state’s Lower Peninsula. The river is about an hour north of Grand Rapids, and approximately a 4-hour drive from Chicago or 6 hours from Cleveland.

      The Muskegon is one of the Midwest’s great fishing rivers. It is a long river, flowing for 228 miles from its source in northeast Michigan to its mouth. The river is peppered with dams, with the most famous tailwater stretch below Croton Dam in Newaygo, Michigan. Below that dam, it flows for 46 miles. The river system has a long logging history, and remnants from its past can be seen in the tailwater stretches of the river. The river contains a high percentage of gravel and rock as its substrate, and this makes it excellent habitat for many species of fish and their forage.

      This tailwater stretch of the river is truly a special place. The fishing is seasonal, with great trout fishing in the spring months, followed by excellent warmwater fishing for smallmouth bass during the summer. The grand finale comes in the fall, when fresh migratory steelhead and king salmon enter from Lake Michigan. The King salmon spawn and die by November, however, the steelhead remain in the river until spring. A significant run of steelhead arrives in November, with fresh fish trickling in through the winter months, meeting up with another heavy run of fish in March and April. The several species available, coupled with the fact that it generally runs clear, makes this a year-round fishery that always has great potential.

      The river is renowned for its trout fishing in the spring and early summer. Starting in March and April, chunky trout are caught behind the spawning steelhead. Late-winter stoneflies also

      provide some good fishing. As the days get longer and we progress into May, the real fun begins. Streamer and wet-fly fishing is the first to pick up, as brown and rainbow trout gorge on salmon and steelhead fry. By mid-May, caddis are hatching. This is followed by the first emergences of Sulphur mayflies. The hatch everyone waits for on the Muskegon is the Gray Drake, which has a fantastic but unpredictable spinner fall. Below the riffles and gravel areas, anglers will find plump 13-to 15-inch trout with the occasional big fish of 20 inches or

      more. The Gray Drakes are followed by wonderful Isonychia emergences and spinner falls. The Isos make for good dry-fly fishing. These bugs also make for some excellent wet-fly fishing with emergent dun patterns. As summer closes in, Blue-winged Olive hatches peak, typically around July 4.