As summer comes to an end, and the nights and water temperatures get colder I start thinking about the kings. Our focus now turns from brown trout and smallmouth bass to the big chrome crank-bait eaters. September is the month of the king salmon on the Big Manistee. These fish enter the river in late August and September to start the fall spawn. As they enter the river fresh from the lake, these fish hold in the deep pools and runs around or near cold water sources (springs or creeks) before making their way to the spawning gravel in late September and early October. As they make their way up the river, we target these big chrome beasts with crank baits, bobbers, and skein and for the fly angler big flashy streamers. The king salmon can be targeted throughout the 32-mile river system, from Tippy Dam to Manistee Lake. Key periods or times of the day are typically early and late (low light periods, mornings and evenings) and they tend to bite consistently on rainy or cloudy days.
As September goes on and we get towards the end of the month we start seeing a fair number of steelhead showing up in the river and that is typically the game changer going into October. This is a great time of the month for kings in the morning and steelhead in the afternoon. Gear up heavy with 8-17 pound or 12-25 pound rating rods and spool reels with 30-40 pound braid using Storm and Rapala crank baits. All-in-all it is looking like a good king season, maybe not as big as the ones that we had last year but as far as numbers the reports from the lake sound good. If this is something you have not done or it is something you have wanted to do, come on up and meet the king of September!
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