# Big Manistee



## beastyboy (Aug 9, 2013)

Hey y'all,
Does anybody know how the lower river is fishing? Thanks!


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## Bob Hunter (Jan 19, 2016)

beastyboy said:


> Hey y'all,
> Does anybody know how the lower river is fishing? Thanks!


There are fish there, just need to cover lots of water. Beads and plugs have been working.


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## RobW (Dec 6, 2012)

Has the water come up or gotten any color to it since last week?


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

Yep. Flows increased substantially.


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## Bob Hunter (Jan 19, 2016)

RobW said:


> Has the water come up or gotten any color to it since last week?





RobW said:


> Has the water come up or gotten any color to it since last week?


you can go on line and check the level, discharge rate , and water temp any time.


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## RobW (Dec 6, 2012)

Thanks for the tip. Since you guys were already talking about the river, I thought I'd ask here.


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## Firdog (Dec 15, 2015)

Was there Saturday. Went 3 for 3 on beads, water was about perfect I thought


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## Banjopike (Apr 29, 2012)

Firdog said:


> Was there Saturday. Went 3 for 3 on beads, water was about perfect I thought


We're you in a boat?


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## Firdog (Dec 15, 2015)

Yes I was banjo. Didn't catch a fish till 1130. All fish were caught in slow water


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## Banjopike (Apr 29, 2012)

Firdog said:


> Yes I was banjo. Didn't catch a fish till 1130. All fish were caught in slow water


I was with a guide and we went 3 for 10. Just wondering if it was possible to do that well wading


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## ausable_steelhead (Sep 30, 2002)

Banjopike said:


> I was with a guide and we went 3 for 10. Just wondering if it was possible to do that well wading


It is very possible to hook 10 wading. I would consider 10 fish a good day from shore.


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## Banjopike (Apr 29, 2012)

ausable_steelhead said:


> It is very possible to hook 10 wading. I would consider 10 fish a good day from shore.


New to stealhead fishing. If wading which river do you think is the best

Manistee or Betsie


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## Firdog (Dec 15, 2015)

I've never fished betsie nor manistee from shore but on east side I consider 5 fish a good day


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## Taylor (Apr 11, 2016)

New to MI, went on the Manistee for my first time late last week with a guy from work and went 4 for 4, the first two right at sunrise. Bottom bouncing spawn sacks for us but several people were saying it's just about time for floats and beads. Clarity was about 3 ft with very little stain to it


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

Taylor said:


> New to MI, went on the Manistee for my first time late last week with a guy from work and went 4 for 4, the first two right at sunrise. Bottom bouncing spawn sacks for us but several people were saying it's just about time for floats and beads. Clarity was about 3 ft with very little stain to it
> View attachment 236184




Good job


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## franky (Apr 14, 2004)

Firdog said:


> I've never fished betsie nor manistee from shore but on east side I consider 5 fish a good day


I fished the east side for 5 years and seeing a fish get hooked was a good day! haha


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## ausable_steelhead (Sep 30, 2002)

Must be a couple really bad fisherman if you struggle to hook 5 steelhead on the Eastside. That's not even an average day, from shore.


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## MIfishslayer91 (Dec 24, 2013)

franky said:


> I fished the east side for 5 years and seeing a fish get hooked was a good day! haha


Where on the east side were you steelhead fishing, Saginaw river? I usually fish the west side, but in the spring I fish the east side more than the west side and do just as good.


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## Firdog (Dec 15, 2015)

Guess I am a bad fisherman. Just started steelheading about a year ago and I don't like dealing with other people on the river either so my five fish and not dealing with anybody is a good day to me.


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## Taylor (Apr 11, 2016)

wally-eye said:


> Good job


Thanks, y'all have some incredible fisheries up here. We sure didn't have anything like it in Cajun country.


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## Firdog (Dec 15, 2015)

I usually only fish the rifle fishslayer. Just got small flat bottom so have only drifted the Au sable once and big man twice.


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## ausable_steelhead (Sep 30, 2002)

Firdog said:


> Guess I am a bad fisherman.


Not at all. I didn't really mean to insult anyone, but the "east side is bad" garbage is way past old. If you need the west side to catch steelhead, so be it. Anyways, my comment wasn't meant to include you.


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## Firdog (Dec 15, 2015)

I don't think it's garbage either I actually love fishing the rifle. Also helps it's only 20 min away. But from what I've learned so far the ausable to me anyway has been a tricky river to figure out. I know a lot of guys go there and do way better then I could ever think of but some reason I can't figure it out


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## franky (Apr 14, 2004)

MIfishslayer91 said:


> Where on the east side were you steelhead fishing, Saginaw river? I usually fish the west side, but in the spring I fish the east side more than the west side and do just as good.


I fished the foote dam and unmentionable small tributaries during my spring break in high school. Wasn't able to necessarily go up there during peak times but I had never come across anyone on that river that had more than 2-3 fish. But my buddy did catch two steelhead in the hot ponds just off of the Saginaw river in one trip lol Most productive east side trip we had and we were walleye fishing


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## jmaddog8807 (Oct 6, 2009)

Firdog, lots of good guys on the AS that are more than willing to help a fellow fisherman out. Don't be afraid to ask questions when you're out. That's how ya learn, that's how I learned!


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## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

Firdog, you will want to hit the Rifle with Crawlers now if you can get some. The chrome cannot resist them. I used to use them on the river all winter long and did good.


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## Firdog (Dec 15, 2015)

Thanks for the info Robert I never would have thought to use them in the winter.


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## 357Maximum (Nov 1, 2015)

Crawlers work off the piers in the "winter" too, especially if you use a worm blower to float them a bit. You might catch a few suckers and other non target/non silver species but it do keep a man a bit warmer just catching a SOMETHING FISH occasionally. :lol:


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## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

First steelhead I ever caught was on a crawler, still one of the prettiest fish I've ever caught.


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## -Axiom- (Jul 24, 2010)

I catch most of my Skams on crawlers.


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

357Maximum said:


> Crawlers work off the piers in the "winter" too, especially if you use a worm blower to float them a bit.


I got bored with watching 12-18 lines in the water this fall and the Steelhead just not being around to hit anything. Plenty of netting colors and egg species to pick from, and one guy fishing frozen Alewives also. But hardly anyone one catching fish.

So I decided to try crawlers as well but I have had very little time to actually have a line in the water since Turkey Day weekend.

But I'm looking forward to finally fishing one crawler, one spawn, and one KO Wobbler on Monday, just to see what happens.

All I could figure out to do with the crawler was to put a bobber-stop in the middle of a 30" spawn leader and then put a big orange floater bead on with it. I have had those floaters since I was a kid but forgot what I used to do with them. I was thinking the orange might help visually attract fish at least.

And oddly, the only crawlers available at the corner gas station were the 'Green' ones. In hopes of finding a little bit more of a rugged Crawler, I gave them a try. They were fairly tough - the one that went out in the water for 90 minutes on my first try at this was still wriggling when I retrieved it in, so it went back in the little plastic container with the res. Definitely a first for me when fishing Crawlers.

I also figured that if fishing just in behind the chop, the only species likely to be cruising that shallow would be the Steelhead, so I'm not too worried about wasting time with Suckers, etc.


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## Firdog (Dec 15, 2015)

Anybody been out fishing since all this nice beautiful weather hit us.


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