Trout fishing opportunities are best up close to Croton Dam, where water temperatures have been conducive to green caddis hatches. Depending on the weather or even the cloud cover, hatches can occur both early and late in the day. Flies to match the green caddis hatch would include #18 emerger, elk hair, and tape wing caddis patterns.
Smallmouth bass are still actively feeding in preparation of the cooler weeks ahead. They are taking topwater poppers and large terrestrial patterns, as well as crayfish and baitfish patterns on sinking or sink tip lines. Spin fishing options for smallmouth bass also have both topwater and subsurface fishing involved. Topwater poppers chugged through slower runs with good depth and structure elicit fantastic strikes. Going deep with suspending crank baits, crayfish, and soft plastics will get fish as well. Open face spinning or bait caster reels spooled with #10 Seaguar Inviz X flourocarbon or 15# Seaguar Kanzen braided line, tipped with 8-10# flourocarbon are good options for fishing the clear waters of the Muskegon.Fall run chinook and coho salmon enter first, navigating their natal rivers en route to their spawning grounds.
Fall run steelhead follow, hot on the tails of salmon and the nutrients their annual spawning provides to the river and the fish that inhabit it. The fly angler seeking to get a take on a swung fly will have to patient as they can be very fussy. They sit in big pools, but they can be more willing biters than our chinook, but they will bite a swung fly. Rig of choice is the 9 foot, 9-10 weight rod, matching floating line, and type 2 or 3 sink tip, in lengths from 12-20 feet. Once closer to spawning grounds, the males can be quite aggressive and casting small flashy nymph and egg patterns with chuck-n-duck or floating line and indicator setups will get you into fish. Streamer tippet in the 15-20# range, for chuck-n-duck, you’ll need to drop to the 10# range.
The most common approach for the active spin anglers is to get early run salmon to chase down lures and spinners that are fished in the cast-retrieve manner, in deeper pools and runs in lower river stretches below Newaygo. Rods in the 7-9’ length, medium-heavy to heavy action and reels spooled with #30 braid, will have you properly equipped.
Anglers pursue fall steelhead, considered by many to be the apex of freshwater big game fishing, with several setups, from swinging 11-14’ two-handed rods with sink tips and big streamers, to floating line and indicator nymphing with nymphs and egg flies, to deep water chuck-n-duck. Spin fishing with 9-10’ rods for bottom bouncing egg flies or bait, with 8-10# test, or longer rods for fishing egg imitations or bait under floats with 8-10# as well.
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