Anglers are still having success when they can.
File photoBIG RAPIDS – Steelhead, perch and walleye fishing seems to be the big draw for anglers right now.
“They’re still fishing on the (Muskegon) river a lot,” Tanner Havens, of Frank’s Sporting Goods, in Morley, said. “They’ve been catching a number of perch, still, and guys going out (Thursday) morning were starting to attack the walleyes pretty good and doing pretty well the last couple of times they went out.
“It seemed like the first three to four groups of the day started out with walleyes early in the morning and then switched over to perch and bluegills a little bit later in the morning. They’re catching them all in the area just north of 8 Mile road.”
At Manistee, steelhead and coho were caught while using spawn bags off the pier and on the beach.
“Things are going good,” Rob Eckerson, of Pappy’s in Wellston said. “Salmon are a little past the peak at Tippy’s but it’s full of fish. Some are old and tired. A lot of people are saying they’ve never seen that many fish below the dam in recent times. Steelhead are charged in the lower river due to the best flow of the season. Temperatures are hovering right around 50. It looks like we’ll get below 50 Thursday night for a river temperature.
“People are anticipating perch fishing, but the wind has prevented that. Manistee Lake and Portage Lake had been on the list. But once again, they’re subject to wind.”
At Ludington, a couple steelhead were caught off the piers while using spawn.
“Guys were catching some steelhead on the beach just north of Manistee,” Bud Fitzgerald, of Tangle Tackle Co., in Manistee said. “The waves and wind kind of shut everything down. There were there earlier. Fish were moving up on the Big Manistee River. There’s a lot of steelhead moving through.”
