It seems like over the past week or two we have seen every kind of weather that Michigan can throw at us. Prior to our high water events we had a fair amount of fish scattered throughout the systems, but with our recent rains we have seen the river swell pretty high in most places. It has been a few years sense we have seen our rivers this high to start of our spring steelhead season. With that being said, we should see a good amount of steelhead settling into the river as the river levels drop and the water temps rise.
We have noticed a few fish starting to poke around on gravel but spawning activity has been pretty minimal. We have primarily been targeting gravel pockets and deeper holes or “winter water”. River temps have still been on the cooler side around the 34 - 37 degree mark, but with our extended forecast we should see those river temps climb higher in the next few days. A nice mixed bag of darker “hold over” fish have been caught with new “fresh” fishing starting to arrive in the systems.
With river levels being high and stained, running larger eggs in bright colors have been the ticket for finding fish. Indicator fishing has been productive as well as running a chuck and duck rig with a lot of lead to get flies down to the bottom and keeping the presentation in the fishes zone. Large indictors or bobber are a necessity right now, running them in 7gm - 10gm floats. Bigger floats require more split shot which is needed to get down in the high water. Black color streamers with bright heads and a good amount of flash have also been some what productive in the dirty water. As far as sinking lines go, the heavier the better right now. 250 grain or S3/S5/S7 fly lines are recommend for the current water conditions.
We are looking forward to seeing what spring will offer this year once the river/water levels calm down. Our extended forecast looks promising for good spring steelhead conditions. We have scattered availability for guide trips darning the month of April and the shop is loaded up with all the gear you will need for chasing spring steelhead. Please remember that spring is spawning time for our steelhead and practicing catch is release is always recommended during there spawning phases. Get outside, enjoy the river, and you might just get lucky and encounter a few steelhead in the upcoming days. We hope to see you out on the river.