Muskegon River Fishing Guide
The Muskegon River is about a 45-minute drive from the city of Grand Rapids Michigan. It is a popular destination for our charter clients when it comes to salmon, steelhead, trout and smallmouth bass fishing. From Croton Dam downstream to the town of Newaygo, it is loaded with gravel bars making it prime spawning grounds for migratory and resident fish. Downstream of Newaygo to the mouth in Muskegon, it is a classic looking river with deep holes, bends and structure that make up some prime fish habitat. We run guide trips on the Muskegon River all year long.
The Muskegon River gets a good run of King Salmon. Usually by the end of September, there are fishable numbers of salmon in the river. We fish for the Kings in the many deep holes located around the spawning gravel above Newaygo. We also like to fish for them downstream, intercepting them as they travel to the spawning grounds. Casting crankbaits and bobber fishing with fresh eggs are a couple of our top tactics when targeting Muskegon River Kings.
On the heels of the King salmon run, approximately mid- October, bright chrome steelhead make a showing in the Muskegon River. These early steelhead are aggressive, chowing down on the buffet of salmon eggs and other food sources in the river. Good steelhead fishing typically lasts throughout the fall months and winter months as well. And of course, when spring arrives, good pushes of steelhead migrate from Lake Michigan on their annual spawning run. Bobber fishing with eggs or beads is a highly utilized tactic on the Muskegon River. We also do a lot of back-bouncing on our Muskegon River guide trips. Back-bouncing is an effective technique for covering water and getting your offering down in the fish’s face.
There are also some dandy resident trout in the Muskegon River. During the fall salmon and spring steelhead runs, we catch some nice brown and rainbow trout that are feeding on the mass of eggs in the river. The eggs are a high protein food source for the resident fish. May and June are also good months to fish for trout as they take advantage of the many insect hatches and baitfish in the river.
During the summer months, the Muskegon River smallmouth bass fishing is fantastic. Good numbers of smallies and some large ones reside in the Muskegon. Muskegon River smallmouth are extremely popular with our charter clients. We target them with light tackle spinning gear and cover a lot of water on our Muskegon River smallmouth guide trips.
The scenery on the Muskegon River is amazing. It is a world class river that people from all over come to see. If you are looking for a Muskegon River guide for any season of the year, I can be reached at (616) 813-5989 or send me an email: steel-header@live.com.