Steelhead, steelhead, and more steelhead. That’s what’s on the agenda for anglers in November here on the Big Manistee. We start the month off bottom bouncing both with fly gear and spinning gear. With the fly gear typically we use trout beads, egg flies, and a few different nymphs such as caddis and mayflies. Various bugger patterns work well this time of the year also. When we are fishing spinning gear, we use all of the same offerings along with spawn bags. These fish are very aggressive this time of the year, so once you put something of interest in front of them, it is game on. With water temps about prime and these fish being wound up on king salmon eggs, you will be in for a delightful fight. As the month goes on and water temps start to drop we switch gears and slow things down a bit. With the dropping temps, the fish start to slow down a bit and move into different types of water, typically slower woody runs in the 5-7 foot range. When this happens these types of runs are very difficult to bottom bounce so this is when we start fishing some sort of float to help suspend our offering above the junk and make it easier to control your drift in the slower water.
You can float fish with fly gear, spinning gear and my favorite a float rod and a centerpin reel. All three ways are effective, but I would have to say once you fish a centerpin rig you will not fish floats any other way. As far as what to use under your float to entice a steelhead to bite you can use beads, spawn, weighted nymphs and wax worms help in your success. While most people are out chasing whitetails in mid-November, you will find us here at Premier Angling Guide Service watching the floats drop somewhere on the Manistee. If you are not a deer hunter and are looking to have a good time fishing and try some new stuff, give us a call, you won’t regret it. Tight Lines & High Fives!