Go to the West Michigan Fishing Report to see what’s happening on our other area streams… Ok weather and fishing, updated on February 23rd, 2010.

Water Conditions — Temps in the mid 30’s with low and clear conditions.
USGS Real-Time Data for the Pere Marquette River at Scottville, Michigan

The lower river is consistently producing fresh steelhead, a good sign that more steelhead are starting to push into PM River from Lake Michigan.

Though the fish are bright and the weather is warming, you still need to remember that water temps in the thirties still mean that it’s winter.  The fish are not going to move far or fast for anything, not until we get over 40.  It is always a temptation to fish quicker on a warm spring day but the water temp sets the rules.

The girls with a nice PM River hen from the weekend.

Go to the West Michigan Fishing Report to see what’s happening on our other area streams… Ok weather and fishing, updated on February 23rd, 2010.

Water Conditions — Temps in the 30’s with low and clear conditions.
USGS Real-Time Data for the Pere Marquette River at Scottville, Michigan

We hit the lower river for a few hours yesterday and were impressed with some very nice fresh steelhead in the system.  Word on the river had it that some areas had suckers moving in, we were correct in thinking that there might be some steelhead mixed in.

It was a miserable morning with 15 to 25 mph winds and temps just below freezing.  My fly would freeze as soon as it was out of the water for a minute and wouldn’t unthaw until I made a couple drifts.  Every time we would talk about quitting we’d make contact with another fish.

A perfect Pere Marquette steelhead

That's Bright

These fish are back in the water to continue their spawning journey.

Go to the West Michigan Fishing Report to see what’s happening on our other area streams… Ok weather and fishing, updated on February 23rd, 2010.

Water Conditions — Temps in the 30’s with low and clear conditions.
USGS Real-Time Data for the Pere Marquette River at Scottville, Michigan

I wouldn’t want to give the wrong impression, that fishing the PM would be Mission Impossible.  There are enough fish around, it is just that we have cold, low and clear conditions, combined with stale fish… steelhead that have been in the system for weeks or months and that have learned a thing or two.  I’ll stake a shinny new quarter that the first warm spell will produce some very good to great fishing.  I’m fishing a little and tying a lot, getting ready for a couple drippy warm days.

Morlock's Spring Stone

You can find the directions and recipe for this pattern and many others on the West Michigan Fly Pattern Index page on the Indigo site.

Yep, it still looks like winter.

Go to the West Michigan Fishing Report to see what’s happening on our other area streams… Good Michigan Steelhead Fishing with Nice Winter Weather.  Updated January 25th, 2010.

Water Conditions — Temps in the low 30’s with average water levels
USGS Real-Time Data for the Pere Marquette River at Scottville, Michigan

Steelhead fishing in the lower PM River has been good.  With reports of anglers getting into fish on everything from bait and lures to nymphs and streamers.  The upper and middle sections have not been as consistent, with a few good to ok reports mixes with bad to poor.  Hopefully the past rain will move some of those lower river fish upstream.

At this time, all of the landings are open, though slick… bring a long rope, sand and shovel.  The entire river is open and ice free, though this could change overnight with some cold weather.

A quick trip to the PM River on Friday produced a couple of nice fish.

Go to the West Michigan Fishing Report to see what’s happening on our other area streams… We have snow and steelhead in west Michigan.  Updated January 2nd, 2010.

Water Conditions — Temps in the mid 30’s with average water levels
USGS Real-Time Data for the Pere Marquette River at Scottville, Michigan

Steelhead fishing on west Michigan’s Pere Marquette River is average to good considering the water temps are only a few degrees above average.  While getting into big numbers is a rare event in cold water a good angler should expect to contact a couple nice steelhead in a days fishing.  The river is absolutely gorgeous right now, with banks and tree branches buried under big fluffy pillows of white.  There is nothing like a bright colorful steelhead with snow in the background.

Winter Steelhead Tip
If you have good confidence that a spot is holding fish, either by a sighting or simply that gut feeling, then take your time.  Fish the area with several different approaches, sometimes cold water fish need to be stimulated into waking-up before their ready to eat.  It is not uncommon in the winter for the second person to fish a spot to have the most success.

A caught and released winter steelhead

We added a new page Winter Steelhead Fishing in Michigan to the Indigo site.

Go to the West Michigan Fishing Report to see what’s happening on our other area streams… Fresh Michigan steelhead with the Thanksgiving rain! Updated November 30th, 2009.

Water Conditions — Temps in the 30’s… cold
USGS Real-Time Data for the Pere Marquette River at Scottville, Michigan

With the thermometer not getting above twenty today, combined with wind and almost two feet of fresh snow, the PM River will be tough until everything stabilizes.  Under cold water situations steelhead and trout hate dropping water temps, nothing creates a worse case of “lock-jaw”.  Once the water temp stabilizes we should expect ok fishing, when it starts to rise it should be good.

I fished the lower Pere Marquette River with guide Walt Grau before the storm hit and the fishing was good, actually very good.  I made a short post on my guide page… We were finding a dependable pattern, I would have loved to get back down for another day before everything changed.  I would expect the lower river, from Indian Bridge down to be froze-up, possibly until spring.

One of the fish from Monday -- pre winter storm!

Jason Demeter from Elkhart, Indiana won the Mystery Fish contest.  Results are on the Indigo site…

Go to the West Michigan Fishing Report to see what’s happening on our other area streams… Fresh Michigan steelhead with the Thanksgiving rain! Updated November 30th, 2009.

Water Conditions — Temps in the low 40’s, perfect.
USGS Real-Time Data for the Pere Marquette River at Scottville, Michigan

The rise in water last week following the rains around Thanksgiving brought in a nice batch of fresh steelhead.  The lower river that was getting pretty dry, as far as steelhead numbers is again fishing good.  You just can’t beat fresh, eager, naive steelhead.  We have had fish in the net taken on everything from Storm Hot N’ Tots, Berkley Gulp Alive (soft plastics), large tube streamers and giant nuke eggs.

With the cold turn in weather that is predicted we probably don’t have to much lower river fishing left before everything freezes from Indian Bridge to Ludington.

Indigo Guide Mark Knee with a Michigan steelhead from the Pere Marquette, Mark took the steelhead on a Berkley Gulp Alive yesterday afternoon.

Mark Knee with too many steelhead flies to choose from!

Pere Marquette River steelhead with a Grau's Tracer Bullet (giant nike egg).

Tying directions and recipe for the Grau’s Tracer Bullet…

Mystery Fish Contest... FREE GUIDED TRIP

Head over to the Mystery Fish Contest post for more information…

For a fishing report summary of the other west Michigan rivers, visit the West Michigan Fishing Report “West Michigan Steelhead Numbers are OK… Conditions and Weather are perfect”… updated on 11/21/2009.

Click here for a single page pdf version of this PM River fishing Report.

Water Conditions — Temps in the 40’s, upper half clear and lower river perfect.

Fishing Conditions — Steelheading on the PM River is consistently ok.  There was a light push of fresh fish with the rains earlier in the week but they have spread-out quickly.  We are getting into fish everyday but only a couple.  So again, I would say to expect ok fishing.

Streamers have been producing better than eggs or nymphs.  The fish are spread out but aggressive and streamers allow you to cover much more water than drift fishing.  For non-fly fishers, plugs have been the top choice.

A nice fall steelhead with an experimental "Dr. Colin Kageyama" inspired streamer... more to come on this as we do more field testing.

I got my copy of What Fish See by Dr. Colin Kageyama at FlyMasters of Indianapolis.

Morlock's 4 Eyes... recipe on West Michigan Fishing Report for 11/21/2009.

A Pere Marquette River fall steelhead... perfect!

USGS Real-Time Data for the Pere Marquette River at Scottville, Michigan

Barothy Lodge is the perfect place to spend your next Michigan fly fishing vacation, located in a great section of the legendary Pere Marquette River.  Barothy Lodge is also centrally located between the Manistee River and Muskegon River.

Ludington Michigan has much to offer any visitor, especially in the fall with the beautiful fall colors and great salmon and steelhead fishing.  Visit the Ludington Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (Ludington CVB) web site to learn more about our area.

Pere Marquette River Water Conditions — Temps in the 40’s, conditions are perfect.

Pere Marquette River Fishing Report — Steelhead fishing is good through out the Pere Marquette River with water conditions perfect.  The fish seem to be eager to bite and are full of action once you hook into them.  The salmon are about gone in the river and the egg bite is not as dominate as it had been.  While eggs will continue to be a top choice large streamers have started to produce.  The lower Pere Marquette River is still high but visibility is good, though the water has a black stain.
Please remember that the PM River is an all wild steelhead fishery… the more steelhead that are harvested the less there will be for years to come.

A perfect PM River steelhead caught and released yesterday.

A pile of Glow Nuke Eggs, a good choice when you need an attention getter.

Glow Nuke Egg, just the ticket for high dark or dirty water.

You can see a recipe for the Glow Nuke Egg along with many other steelhead flies on the Indigo Guide Service web site, Click here to see the recipe for the Glow Nuke Egg steelhead fly.

Click here for a great looking pdf version of this Michigan Fishing Report… perfect for a counter top or bulletin board.

USGS Real-Time Data for the Pere Marquette River at Scottville, Michigan

Remember to check out past reports for (November 13th, 2008 — Storm Hot’N Tot and November PM Steelhead) tips, fly patterns and possibly an outlook of future fishing.

Pere Marquette Guide Report for October 30th, 2009… Halloween Edition!

Click here for a great looking single page pdf of this Michigan fishing report… perfect for your counter top or bulletin board.

Water Conditions — Temps in the 40’s, water high and dirty.

Fishing Conditions — With heavy rains last weekend the lower river became, for the most part unfishable — while the upper and middle sections were perfect.  It started raining last night and is predicted to keep going through the weekend.  This may make the upper and probably the middle sections tough to fish.  We are also having a windy day and this will add yet more leaves to the river.

Steelhead numbers are still decent with enough fish to have fun.  I am expecting very good things when the water and leaves settle.  Steelhead are holding throughout the river but fishing is still the most dependable behind the spawning salmon or in the areas where salmon have been spawning.  Kevin Morlock

Martinez's Halloween Caveman

Martinez’s Halloween Caveman
***Materials in tying order
Tube… Eumer, small
Cone… bronze, medium
Tail… barred rabbit strip
Body… Hareline Dubbin, uv polar chenille, silver
Tinsel… pearl crinkle
Collar… barred rabbit strip

Storm Hot'N Tots and fall PM River steelhead seem to just go together... especially in dirty water.

Remember to check out past reports for (November 13th, 2008 — Storm Hot’N Tot and November PM Steelhead) tips, fly patterns and possibly an outlook of future fishing.

Barothy Lodge is the perfect place to spend your next Michigan fly fishing vacation, located in a great section of the legendary Pere Marquette River.  Barothy Lodge is also centrally located between the Manistee River and Muskegon River.

Ludington Michigan has much to offer any visitor, especially in the fall with the beautiful fall colors and great salmon and steelhead fishing.  Visit the Ludington Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (Ludington CVB) web site to learn more about our area.