Today's flows and water temps, the numbers behind the call.
Manistee, lower —— water— air Pere Marquette —— water— air Au Sable, Holy Water —— water— air All 34 rivers on the map →The Chinook are spawned out and fading, but the fall steelhead are pouring in behind them on the egg bite, the run's building fast and the last week of October is the best of the year.
The callThe kings had their run, now the chrome moves in.
Beads below the redds, 8–10mm, natural orange and peach. Or swing a small bugger through the tailouts.
Steelhead at peak: Big Manistee, Muskegon, and Little Manistee.
Big articulated streamers. Low light. Hunt the banks.
Holy Water, North Branch, Mason Tract, Boardman.
BWO Parachute #18-20, late morning to early afternoon. Mahogany Dun #14-16, early to mid afternoon.
Blue-Winged Olive at peak statewide.
Floating line, a 12-foot leader, an indicator, and a bead fished below the redds. Natural orange and peach, 8–10mm. Single-hook water below Tippy through Nov 15, so mouth-hook your fish.
Some gear links earn us a commission at no cost to you. It never changes what we recommend. Prices are approximate; the merchant shows the current one.
Check every hook against the half-inch single-hook rule before you fish below Tippy.
Steelhead
Fall steelhead below Tippy Dam
Single-hook water, egg-eating fish, and the reach that fishes best in October.
Regulations
What stays open after Sept 30
Year-round water on every trout stream we cover, river by river.
Field guide
The Hex hatch, explained
Peak dates, where to be at dark, and what to bring.
On rivers without a temperature sensor, a dated report from someone who fished it is the only thing that can move a river past “Building.” Thirty seconds, no account.
Club outings, TU chapters and shop events across the state.
Open the access map → Hatch calendar Seasons guide New to fly fishing?
I’m Chris. I built this site because I fish these rivers and could never find all the information in one place. I wanted it to be the place fly anglers check before they make the trip, with the most up-to-date conditions, what’s working, and where to go.
How this site works. Flow and temperature come straight from USGS gauges. Shop, guide and DNR reports are credited wherever we use them. The calls are mine, and when I get one wrong I say so the next week. More about the site