Manistee River

Updated 4/16/07

REPORT: Manistee below Tippy(Compliments of Hawkins Outfitters):

Sunny days, big crowds and dwindling numbers of fish made this weekend tough. Water temps are warming and hopefully some changes in wind direction will move some new fish into the system. This weekend saw fish eating small grapefruit, tangerine and clown eggs along with small black stones and green caddis patterns. With the stones hatching, caddis being dislodged by spawning steelhead I expect the nymph bite to continue. The hot streamers early in the week were fry patterns like the Little Rascal and some strip hex patterns. I look for that to continue but also have some of the browns start looking for big stuff. The hatchery trucks are dumping fish in. You know browns, they think that the state grows those little guys for them to munch on. Try Nutcrackers, Mad Pups, Swimming Jimmies etc. You may get surprised. Have a great week and pray for more fish. Hawk

Updated 3/15/07
REPORT: Manistee above Tippy(Compliments of Hawkins Outfitters)

Todd joined me for a day of trout fishing on the Manistee today and although the morning was very slow we hit a window of opportunity later in the day that paid big dividends. The river was up and moving and had great color for what we had planned, streamer fishing!! The forecast was supposed to be warmer and mostly cloudy and instead it was very cold and sunny in the morning making it difficult for us to get a decent number of fish moving. Water temps at the days start were 39 degrees and climbed up to 42 degrees by days end. By mid afternoon the clouds began to build and this gave us a two hour window of some pretty good trout fishing for a couple of hours. We tried a variety of flies, but the little rascals in yellow, tan and white worked the best. The white nutcracker also produced some action later in the day. Stripping the fly painfully slow was the most productive and when the fish grabbed it you knew it! Look for the fishing to only get better as the spring progresses, but all in all it was worth the trip especially for Todd as he got some shots of his life time fish to date. Nice Job Todd that will be a tough one to beat this summer. Tight Lines, Ed

For the recent report on the Manistee above Tippy Dam from Hawkins Outfitters, click here.

CONDITIONS: Click here for current river flows.

PATTERNS:

COMMENTS: Steelhead dates available! Please call(231)349-5573 or email for more information.

Tight Lines,

Fred

You saw it at silversideguide.com first, check out pictures of today's catch as soon as we land them!

4/15 Bob with a fresh hen.

4/3 Mike w/ some bright fish from the Manistee.

3/29 Manistee steelhead pictures