Tag Archives: Michigan

Michigan Steelhead Report

By: Kyle McClelland Northern and Western Michigan offers exceptional steelhead fishing during the winter. However, this winter anglers have had to work harder than normal to catch steelhead throughout the region. Although the numbers have been down and anglers have been working harder to catch them, the size of the steelhead has been larger than […]

Michigan Salmon Run Kicking into High Gear

By: Kyle McClelland This fall’s salmon run has been one of the largest I’ve seen in my lifetime. We’ve had good numbers and large salmon. On my boat we’ve caught three Chinook over 30 pounds this year and our run isn’t over yet. I anticipate the run continuing through the second week of October and […]

Michigan Showing Off Excellent Salmon Bite

By: Kyle McClelland It’s been a great year for salmon on Lake Michigan. We’ve had good numbers and the size of the fish is the best I’ve seen in more than decade. All ports across the lake have been fishing excellent at times throughout spring and summer. The remainder of August should provide excellent fishing […]

Northern Michigan Steelhead Still Showing in the Cold

By: Chris Shaffer Northern Michigan offers good steelhead fishing. On the other hand, winter isn’t prime time. Still I requested guide Kyle McClelland of XXL Chrome Chasing to save three days in January to film Pautzke Outdoors in his backyard. He preferred to film in the spring when action was more consistent. Meanwhile, I wanted […]

Michigan’s Manistee River Producing Winter Steelhead

By: Kyle McClelland Some of our Northern Michigan steelhead rivers can be challenging to access during the winter due to snow, ice and closed roads. Fortunately, the Manistee River doesn’t carry these issues. The Manistee is the one system in the region you can always count on being fishable. It maintains a strong steelhead population […]

Michigan Salmon Run Off to Great Start

By: Chris Shaffer Fall salmon fishing can be unpredictable in Michigan. Some years rain draws the fish into Lake Michigan tributaries in early September and others dry conditions could keep large numbers of fish from beginning their spawning migration until late in the month. This season has been abnormal. There were large numbers of salmon […]

Michigan Shoreline Experiencing Epic Salmon Bite

By: Kyle McClelland This is the best salmon fishing season I’ve seen on Lake Michigan since I was born. Not only are there good numbers of salmon, but the fish are big. This season 20-30 pounders are common. We catch them every trip. We haven’t caught any bigger than 40 pounds, but some anglers have […]

Michigan/Indiana Walleye & Pike: Grabbing Live Dyed Minnows

By: Todd Hatfield While I wait for our summer steelhead run to evolve we’ve been spending a lot of time chasing large northern pike and walleye in Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan. Almost every lakefront spot, marina, harbor and river in the region has a population of pike, and many have walleye, too. This time […]

Northern Michigan Rivers Expecting Banner Salmon Run

By: Kyle McCleland Following a productive summer trolling for salmon on the Lake Michigan I’m expecting a good river season in September. All our traditional Northern Michigan rivers, and some smaller tributaries, should have salmon soon if they don’t now. The rivers aren’t on fire now, but they will be soon. We are supposed to […]