Fly Fishing the Muskegon River for Spring Steelhead Written by Bob Barber
It was a beautiful, sunny 50° Friday afternoon as I skipped out of work 2 hours early in order to meet my two best fishing buddies near Croton dam. As I made the 45-minute trek north from Grand Rapids I couldn’t help but ponder what may occur on this fishing excursion. To me, there is no more gratifying experience than watching a steelhead explode through the surface with your fly snugly placed in it's bottom jaw. I could hear the sound of a screaming drag echo through my ears. I could plainly see, in my mind, fly line giving way to the fluorescent orange backing as a large steelhead peeled off layer after layer. The 45-minute journey felt as if it took hours, as anticipation of pursuing bright chromers overwhelmed me.
I waited impatiently for my father and best friend to arrive, using up most of my nervous energy constructing our campsite. Soon after they arrived- my best friend halfway suited-up in his waders, as usual, we made our way down to the river. Upon arrival at the access point at Pine Avenue, we noticed there were not many other cars parked. “Must not be any fish here”, we joked. Before my father and myself could even step foot out of the truck, Matt had already reached the water with his pre-rigged rod in hand. He stopped at the first likely steelhead lie directly upstream from the boat launch. We pushed well upriver from him, fighting heavy currents and high water levels all the way.
I placed myself a good 50 yards upriver from where my father had decided he would begin working. While positioning myself at the head of a deep, long run I noticed what I thought was a porpoise. I made a cast on a slight upstream angle from where I was standing; near the completion of the drift the tip of my 9’ 8 weight rod surged directly towards the river bottom. Immediately a temperamental dime-bright steelhead broke the silence of the spring day as it burst through the surface. Minutes later a beautiful 10-pound, red striped buck was brought to hand.
Every Spring tens of thousands of Steelhead ascend the Muskegon River in search of suitable spawning grounds. The Mighty Mo, as it is sometimes affectionately referred to, is largely a boat-fished river. However, there are numerous sufficient areas for wade-in fly-fisherman to pursue and intercept these magnificent fish as well.
River Description and Access Points
The Muskegon River is one of Michigan’s longest and largest rivers. It gets its start as the outlet for Houghton Lake and travels West, discharging 230 miles later into Lake Michigan in the city of Muskegon. Andranomous trout migration is impeded 47 river miles inland at Croton Dam. The river below Croton Dam resembles a setting more commonly seen in the Pacific Northwest. In some stretches of the river the water flow is considerably swift, combining gravel riffles with very long deep runs and pools. The bottom structure is that of glacial deposits consisting primarily of gravel, cobble, boulders and sand. From Croton Dam to Muskegon Lake (confluence of the river mouth and Lake Michigan) the river is considerably wide, spanning distances between 200’ to 260’. The lower portion of the river below the town of Newaygo becomes very difficult to wade. In this section gravel gives way to sand and the river becomes very deep and is not crossable. Since this particular article is written with the wading fly fisherman in mind, our focus will be concentrated on the stretch of water between Croton Dam and Newaygo.
Croton Dam to Thornapple Avenue
Stream velocity in this section of river is considered by Michigan standards as high. A direct influence on stream velocity is the gradient of the river. The gradient of a river or stream is determined and usually stated in terms of elevation change in feet-per-mile. This section has a measured gradient of 6-10 feet drop per mile (would be represented as 6.0-10.0 ft./ Mile). Water with this sort of gradient is characterized as having riffle-pool sequences with good hydraulic diversity. Gravel shelves frequent the river in the section between Croton Dam and Thornapple Avenue. In many instances, these shallow gravel areas are quite expansive, frequently spanning the entire width of the river. Immediately following the expansive gravel shelves on the down-river side are runs and pools up to 8 feet deep. In some cases the runs and pools following the gravel shelves begin as extremely steep depressions in the river bottom, creating a hydrological back eddy offering fish a sufficient place to rest without exerting much energy.
Numerous easy access points are available to the wade-in fly-fisherman. The first access point occurs directly below Croton Dam. There is good fly-fishing to be had all the way up to the dam. The next downstream access point is at Pine Avenue. Simply follow Croton Drive to Pine Avenue, which will sneak up on you on your left-hand side as you are traveling West. You will see a small sign signifying a boat launch on the right side of the road just prior to the intersecting Pine Avenue. This section of the river is rather heavily fished due in large part to easy accessibility for both the wade-in and boat angler. Also, it is a highly productive stretch of river. Through this stretch you will find the earlier mentioned expansive gravel areas. The river here is very swift and wading can be very difficult; however, the fishing is worth the effort.
The next access point is accessible from 72nd Street. As you travel south on Pine Avenue you will encounter a 2-track type of road that is marked 72nd Street; head West on this street. Parking is very limited at the end of this stretch; however, it is far less fished. I believe that this section of river is extremely productive, but is just far less known. The water begins to differ from the Pine Avenue section in regards to velocity and gradient. This stretch of river begins to slow slightly and does not offer as many shallow gravel areas that are easily wadeable. The river begins to deepen and create some rather large holes. Although shallow gravel riffles are not as predominant in this section, there are still numerous areas in which steelhead will congregate in order to spawn.
The river continues its trend of lessening shallow gravel areas all the way to the next access point at Thornapple Avenue. You will not be able to intersect Thornapple Avenue from the before-mentioned Croton Drive. In order to get to Thornapple Avenue you will need to travel down M-82. The Thornapple access point tends to be slightly less frequented by wading anglers. However, numerous drift and Jet boats will be scattered about. The river in this stretch has a much slower velocity and increased depths. Shallow gravel areas are far less frequent than near Croton Dam, and deep holding holes far more likely to be encountered. This stretch of river is extremely productive, though it may require much longer casts and more probing of dark water.
Thornapple to Newaygo
One of the few access points available to walk-in fisherman only occurs at what is referred to as the “High Rollaways”. This point is located off the side of M-82 in a roadside park style setting. It requires prospective anglers to travel down a steep hill to the riverbank. The fish here are much less pressured than those staging near other access points. The type of water here is very similar to that described at the Thornapple access point. Fishing is still very productive as the water continues to lose velocity and become deeper.
The next defined access point occurs at Henning Park. This park is encountered while traveling west on Croton Drive as you near the town of Newaygo. The river in this section contains noticeably less gravel areas and much more sand. Here the water is very deep, and wading becomes more difficult as the range of an angler on foot is decreased. This is an excellent spot to attempt to intercept some of the early runners as it provides an ample amount of slower, deeper holding water in which steelhead are able to rest as they continue their ascent upriver.
There is also a municipal park in Newaygo that offers access to the river. Once again, the trend of deepening, slower water continues here. Though it is still wadeable, it is much more difficult to venture too far from the bank. The river bottom is mostly sand in this section. You will encounter a number of fishermen utilizing the bank as well. Most of them will be using spawn under a bobber or throwing a spinner of some sort.
The Muskegon River can be a very challenging wade that will surely test even the most seasoned veteran. During the Spring numerous factors play a part as to how difficult a task navigating the river will be for a walk-in angler. Snow melt and Spring rains may cause the water levels to fluctuate greatly.
A very important and necessary preliminary step to your fishing trip to the Muskegon should involve checking the online flow charts provided by the United States Geological Survey. The direct link to the flow chart for the Muskegon River is: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mi/nwis/uv?04121970. I have found this source of information to be very reliable in determining how wadeable the river will be at that current time. Some individuals rely on the gauge height graph contained on the same USGS website mentioned. I tend to utilize the discharge chart as opposed to the gauge height. I find it more useful to take into account the amount of water being pushed through the system as opposed to how high the river is at one particular point. The “Y” axis of the graph contains the discharge levels, measured in cubic feet-per-second (CFS); the “X” axis provides the day. This is important because trends in water flows become very apparent. You can tell when the river flow is on the rise and when it is on the decline. For wading purposes I strongly advise even the most aggressive wader to not attempt navigating the river when the CFS chart hits the 2000 mark. Attempting to access the river on foot under these conditions can be very treacherous, not to mention extremely dangerous. Usually I will not venture out to the Muskegon once the CFS level reaches 1900.
The turbidity and strong flows when the river reaches this level make for unfavorable fishing conditions, and I find it's better to spend some time at home at the vice. Constant monitoring of this particular flow-chart will also help to determine the beginning the Steelhead migration from the lake. On the same web page you will also find graphs that indicate water temperature and gauge height. Prior to my utilization of this particular website and graph, after the first couple of warm days we’d have in Spring I would drive well over an hour to the Muskegon only to find it completely un-wadeable and the temperature of the water even cooler than what it was all winter long. After an immediate warm up the snow run-off raises the water levels of the river, possibly triggering a run of fish. However, keep in mind that the run-off is more than likely cooling the water down a considerable amount as well.
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