Steve83 Loc: Flint, mi

Hi, I'm new to the site. Wanting to introduce my son to steelhead fishing in Muskegon river.
Any tips, suggestions, etc. is appreciated.

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

Good morning, Steve. Welcome to the Forum. That's a good idea but wait until next Spring. Good luck.

Steve83 Loc: Flint, mi

Thanks. Why do you suggest waiting for Spring? My understanding is that the steelhead fun starts late November/early December.
Thanks again for the info.

Oneshot64 Loc: Michigan

Steelhead are running and I might suggest using a float style rig with spawn. I've also caught them on rigs that resemble perch rigs. They run through winter up until the ice goes out

Steve83 Loc: Flint, mi

Thanks for the suggestions. We ventured around Newsygo on the Muskegon. Does anyone have any success from shore? We saw several people in waders and lots of boats, but nobody had anything this weekend (Dec 3/4). Talked to a DNR guy at one of the access points and he said the only fish he saw were some small browns right at the slack water side of the Croton dam.
It was nice exploring the area and learning new fishing techniques. Hopefully one of these times we'll see some fish.

rstringer Loc: Michigan

Welcome Steve,

You might want to try Tippe Dam. It's famous for salmon and (so I've heard) steelhead.
This past salmon season was absolutely great there and all through surrounding counties.
At Tippe Dam, I suggest fishing from the north shore. It's a 5 minute walk from the parking lot to the shoreline. You can fish from shore or go wading. Google search for pictures and see for yourself. There's a small pier to fish from just off the north-end of the parking lot (again, north side of the dam.) There is a nice cleaning station at near end of the parking lot.

Fishing on the south side will be great also. But, you'll have to deal with the infamous Tippe Dam stairs. I have not been on that side to see for myself, but I've heard it takes about 15 minutes to walk down and of course longer coming up, especially if you're hauling fish. There are a few rest stops/platforms on the stairs if needed.

Good luck!

Steve83 Loc: Flint, mi

Thanks for the info. I'm sure we'll get up that way some time. We figured out with our last trip we need to dial in our fishing technique. Had some suggestions from a DNR officer on our trip to Muskegon. Really enjoyed our weekend around Newaygo. Just need to end up with some fish.