April means steelhead fishing at its finest in Michigan

April is synonymous with steelhead fishing in Michigan. Some streams and rivers open to fishing on April 1. Others are open year-around, still others open on the last Saturday in April. But April Fool’s Day signals the unofficial start of steelhead season – on those rivers that are open.

Little Manistee

The Little Manistee is one of those rivers that doesn’t open until April 1. The river is closed to fishing from September 1 until November 14 and from January 1 until March 31.

The Little Manistee River is the primary source of steelhead spawn for the State of Michigan. Most steelhead that run the river are naturally spawned fish, so the DNR is very protective of the resource. Rainbow trout stocked at other locations add to the mix.

Back in the day, upwards of 10,000 steelhead would run up the Little Manistee River in the spring. Today, the average run is between 2,500 and 2,700 fish – another 300 to 400 steelhead run upstream in the fall.

The weir is closed as early as mid-August and generally is taken out in mid-October to allow fish passage. The weir is put in again in mid-March. However, a February thaw or winter chinook movement may dictate the weir going in sooner.

Decades ago, the scene below the weir resembled a three-ring circus on April 1. Anglers were shoulder to shoulder trying to get a crack at the steelheads that filled runs like the Meat Hole. Participation has dwindled along with steelhead numbers, but hitting the Little Manistee River on the April 1 opener is still an annual ritual for many.

Usually, the DNR has its egg quota by mid-April, and the weir is pulled to allow fish passage. Fish that the DNR spawns continue their upstream journey.

“Likely, the females don’t go very far, but the males go way upstream,” said fisheries biologist Mark Tonello. 

Much of the land along the Little Manistee River is part of the Huron-Manistee Nation Forest and provide good access for anglers. A relatively small river, the Little Manistee can be difficult to fish with its complement of snags and logs. Successful anglers do best-floating spawn and beads under bobbers. The Little Manistee often gets a late surge of steelhead that savvy anglers have all to themselves.

MORE TROUT COVERAGE FROM OUTDOOR NEWS:

Glenn Sapir: There was something special about a New York trout opener

Dave Zeug: Lessons in civility, etiquette needed on Wisconsin’s Brule River

Is a spring steelhead season to remember coming on Lake Erie tributaries?

Sturgeon River

The Sturgeon River near Wolverine in the northern Lower Peninsula was closed until April 1 below Afton Road not too long ago, but the river is now open to year-around fishing downstream to the mouth at Burt Lake.

The Sturgeon River is classified as a Type 4 trout stream. Anglers can keep up to five trout, but only three can be longer than 15 inches. Trout species other than rainbows can’t be kept until the traditional trout opener on the last Saturday in April.  The Sturgeon River is a source of brown trout for the state stocking program for a good reason. Browns up to 24 inches are commonly caught right along with the steelhead.

Thousands of naturally reproduced rainbows spend the summer months in Burt Lake before running up the Sturgeon River in the spring. Most spawn in the upper reaches of the Sturgeon or the river’s West Branch. In recent years, the rainbows have been done spawning and headed back downstream before these stretches of the river open on the traditional trout opener on the last Saturday in April.

A cold spring will find some rainbows still on their beds. Angles target them with spawn, night crawlers, beads, and in-line spinners. Post-spawn rainbows dropping back to Burt Lake are aggressive as they recuperate.Access sites like Rondo, Fisher, and White roads are popular among anglers, but there’s good access to the entire river as it parallels Old US-27 on its way to the town of Indian River.

East Branch AuGres River

The East Branch of the AuGres River is firmly etched in my memory. I spent countless days there chasing steelhead during my high school years. It wasn’t too far from my home in Saginaw, so my buddies and I would make the short drive there several times a week during the day or night to fish.

For some reason, the AuGres got a later run of steelhead than streams on the west side of the state, and action often extended into May.

Many times, we would fish all night on the East Branch. Steelhead headed upstream and dropping back down after spawning would stack up above the old More Trout Weir, and anglers would line up at night to target the steelhead that collected there.

There are a few other deep holes where steelhead would congregate, and we’d fish all night long when we were younger. Often, other anglers would be headed down to the river at first light, and we’d be coming out with a stringer of steelhead.

In the first mile or so upstream from Lake Huron, the East Branch resembles a ditch and is aptly named Whitney Drain. In 2008 Whitney Drain underwent improvements including riffle structures (rocks) along the banks of the drain along with grassy floodplains. Where the river turns north, it starts to resemble a trout stream.

Anglers will find access at Whittemore Road near National City, and where the river bisects M-55.  It’s a relatively small stream averaging less than 30 feet in most places. Anything that resembles cover can hold fish. I remember wading downstream and spied a clump of tag alders overhanging the river. I stopped, plunked my Spring’s Wiggler ahead of the bushes, and allowed it to swing under the brush.

A spunky male steelhead about 22 inches crushed the fly and came rocketing out of the water from underneath the obscure lie. A friend used to do well on the East Branch by getting above a big bend and allowing a small Tadpolly to wiggle seductively in the current.

Fishing the East Branch of the AuGres River is a hands-on lesson on reading water.