Pere Marquette River Fishing Report: May 2016

Steelhead season is coming to end on the Pere Marquette River. This however doesn’t mean you won’t hook one in the month May. Drop back steelhead that become very active on the feed again as they head back down to Lake Michigan can be found in certain areas of the river. These fish will take Streamers well, rather the flies are stripped or swung they cant resist a big meal before heading back out to the big water.

Trout season is in full swing now across the state. This is a great time of year to be a fly angler and an exciting time to chase resident brown, rainbow, and brook trout in Northern Michigan. The Pere Marquette River is a great place to start, with an abundant of salmon parr in the river streamer fishing can turn on as the water warms. Big aggressive brown and rainbow trout will smash schools of these baby salmon along the banks. Try smaller streamers in whites and olives to resemble these Parr.

As we come into the middle of month dry fly fishing can start to heat up with hendricksons. This is a great may fly and one of the first of the season so it can get even the biggest trout to start to look up for an easy meal. I love trout fishing in the next few months the crowds are low, and it’s just a relaxing time on the water. If interested in some summer trout fishing you can e-mail me at outfittersnorth@hotmail.com or check out outfittersnorth.com for up-to-date river reports.