During the heat of the summer, West Michigan offers the angler lots of fishing opportunities for those willing to drive a bit and move around. Three species of fish stand out for excellent fishing opportunities during July, August, and early September.
Skamania steelhead are an aggressive strain of steelhead that love live bait offerings, both crayfish and night crawlers. Tackle: 10′ med. action Spinning rods. 20 pound Powerpro braid. Style: Slip style drift rig with 8 pound flourocarbon leader. Offering/ bait: Softshell crayfish, chartreuse Wobble-glo, blue /silver Cleo spoons, large egg sucking leach fly patterns. Smallmouth bass fishing is going very well with this great summer weather. Good numbers of smallies are feeding heavily on crayfish and small baitfish minnows. The higher water level is making for some great smallmouth fishing as well. The best fishing with streamers for smallies is usually once the sun gets over the trees throughout the mid- day into the evenings.
Smallmouth bass are related to sunfish species and are extremely active during hot weather, especially during late summer. Smallmouth are an excellent choice for young people or anglers that would just like to have a blast fishing! Tackle: light to medium baitcasting or spinning reels with 20 pound PowerPro braid, or 8-10 pound monofiliment line. Smallies love topwater! Popper flies, buzzbaits, spinners, and soft plastics are all great choices for smallmouth. If you find them, usually they will bite.
Early season king salmon: Tackle: med-heavy bait casting or spinning gear. 30 pound PowerPro braided line, deep junior thunder sticks – Fire Tiger. Little Cleo casting spoons. Style: Cast thunder sticks, shad raps, or Cleo spoons across current allowing lure to move along freely in a slow and steady retrieve.
Fly fishing on the Muskegon using sink-tip fly lines and brightly colored streamers are producing great results. Casting crayfish flies patterns near the banks or any logs and structure has also been producing many nice smallies. Clouser Minnows, Smallmouth Candy, and Circus Peanuts have produced the most fish for me. Mojo flies offer a great selection of summertime smallmouth bass patterns for fly fishing the Muskegon River.
-CHAD BETTS
Betts Guide Service
(231) 519-7348
www.bettsguideservice.com
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