More Michigan Kings

[GMbuck]

Photos to come, but I spent 2 days with my wife catching and losing salmon up and down the Muskegon River. Wow. What a bunch of fun that was. My wife even managed to land a rainbow.

It was my first time up there. No question, that I'll be back. Lost some fish that were true hogs. Landed some nice ones as well. The fish were fresh as could be. My wife hooked a monster that jumped 11 times before finally snapping the leader because some jacka** couldn't wait 2 minutes before casting over and snagging her line. Even that couldn't put a damper on an awesome trip.:coolgleamA:

[GMbuck]

The two biggest we landed plus a pod of salmon waiting to get caught
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii201/GMbuck/IMG_0381.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii201/GMbuck/IMG_0370.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii201/GMbuck/IMG_0394.jpg

[riverdude]

WOW! Great Job GM! Looks like a bunch of fun!! :D

[GMbuck]

Thanks Dude, hope the Steelies are treating you right.

Oh and I noticed/remembered something about picture 3. That is not a pod of salmon waiting to get caught. If you look closely on the left side of the photo, you can see a taut leader. My wife has just set the hook into that monster salmon at the front of the redd. In a moment it takes off on a screaming run. That fish is twice the size of the two behind it.

[deerhunt45]

Awesome trip there GM!!! Them are some hog salmon. Appreciate you sharing the pictures :coolgleamA:

How far north did you go on the river?

[GMbuck]

Awesome trip there GM!!! Them are some hog salmon. Appreciate you sharing the pictures :coolgleamA:

How far north did you go on the river?

Thanks, we were way up river near Newaygo. Probably less than 6 miles from the Croton Dam. The dam has added a bubbler that allows bottom discharge (and increased oxygen into the river. People were raving about their hatches this summer. We heard stories about amazing dry fly fishing for rainbows and browns up tp 24".

[deerhunt45]

Thanks, we were way up river near Newaygo. Probably less than 6 miles from the Croton Dam. The dam has added a bubbler that allows bottom discharge (and increased oxygen into the river. People were raving about their hatches this summer. We heard stories about amazing dry fly fishing for rainbows and browns up tp 24".

That's a beautiful stretch of river, know it pretty well. We always put in at the Thornapple launch or Henning state park in Newaygo. Great steelhead runs there in the spring!

[GMbuck]

That's a beautiful stretch of river, know it pretty well. We always put in at the Thornapple launch or Henning state park in Newaygo. Great steelhead runs there in the spring!

The photo of the pod of salmon was taken about a nine iron or a wedge from Thornapple. It is literally right behind us!

What kind of date range is good for spring steelhead up there?

[deerhunt45]

The photo of the pod of salmon was taken about a nine iron or a wedge from Thornapple. It is literally right behind us!

What kind of date range is good for spring steelhead up there?

As early as the last week of March through April. In March, your rod guides may ice up but there are fish there. There are fish there year around while the spawning run usually heats up first of April with fresh fish arriving daily with the "run" tapering off towards the end of April. It really is a great fishery. They have a pretty good walleye run as well although walleye is closed until the end of May I believe. They also used to stock rainbow trout up there, not sure if they still do as I haven't been up there for a few. They are a lot of fun to catch on the fly.

[GMbuck]

As early as the last week of March through April. In March, your rod guides may ice up but there are fish there. There are fish there year around while the spawning run usually heats up first of April with fresh fish arriving daily with the "run" tapering off towards the end of April. It really is a great fishery. They have a pretty good walleye run as well although walleye is closed until the end of May I believe. They also used to stock rainbow trout up there, not sure if they still do as I haven't been up there for a few. They are a lot of fun to catch on the fly.

It was amazing. I'm still very new to fly fishing so lots of what I see are "firsts" for me. We had all those big salmon around us, and if you watched close you could see the smaller rainbows and browns darting around among them stealing eggs. It was like a wild aquarium. I like the sound of an April trip...

[deerhunt45]

It was amazing. I'm still very new to fly fishing so lots of what I see are "firsts" for me. We had all those big salmon around us, and if you watched close you could see the smaller rainbows and browns darting around among them stealing eggs. It was like a wild aquarium. I like the sound of an April trip...

Steelhead in the river are a LOT of fun to hook up with, much more so than salmon in my opinion. Very acrobatic...landing one even on spinning tackle is a challenge like no other :D I need to get back up there in April.

If you like to camp, Henning Park is a nice campground.

[Lance]

Great trip, thanks for sharing! You got some good ones. :)



Never fished the Muskegon before, I'd like to give it a shot one of these years. MI steelhead and Ohio are the same strain so their runs follow our timelines very closely.