[BIll Hartlage]

I plan on spending the last wk of October and the first wk in November in Michigan fishing for salmon and hopefully some steel. Will fish the Platt, Big Manitee, the Betsie and maybe the PM. might also visit the Muskegon. I tie Intruders , Skunks,
egg patterns and recently started tying spey and Dees. Any recommended patterns
what should I expect weather wise ? snow that early?

 

[Bill S]

I would add some prom dress/Kevin Feenstra style flies, Hoh bo speys (I know...), hex nymphs, leeches and soft hackles to the mix of flies you mentioned. Traditional Spey and dee patterns will work well, too.

Don't forget a trout rod or two. The big Browns will definitely be in play.

At least for the PM bring flies you don't mind losing because there is a ton of wood

As far as the weather goes, you should be ok, but it's really too soon to say...

 

[zOnkd]

Another thumbs up for Feenstra's patterns.

Last fall I had an extremely great week on both salmon and fall steelhead using "fire tiger" colored tube-fly intruders on the Muskegon.

Rear foxtail was chartreuse, front was orange, gold/green flash and finished with black schlappen at the front with natural silver pheasant tail accents.

 

[Deep Swing]

That's a good time to come for steelhead will be the end of the salmon run.We never get heavy snow that early, it could be cold though in the thirties so dress warm. Pray for autumn rains too. Good luck.
DS


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[borderfly]

By that time the salmon are not worthy of catching but steelhead are prime!

 

[voodoofly]

I plan on spending the last wk of October and the first wk in November in Michigan fishing for salmon and hopefully some steel. Will fish the Platt, Big Manitee, the Betsie and maybe the PM. might also visit the Muskegon. I tie Intruders , Skunks,
egg patterns and recently started tying spey and Dees. Any recommended patterns
what should I expect weather wise ? snow that early?

hi bill,
salmon fishing that time of the year is the zombie apocalypse and the steel is fresh chrome.
choose steel.
i had the most aggressive takes on pink the past few years.
fish what you have the most confidence in.
proper presentation and keeping the fly fishing is more important than any particular pattern.
weather can be everything from sunny 75F to snow squalls and 20F. mostly it's something in between.
gary

 

[Guest]

What I've experienced over the years is that the presence of salmon in late October and the number of eggs around makes indi fishing far more productive than swinging a fly for steelhead. If you want to swing flies I consider the first week of November to be the earliest I would book and a week or two later can be even better, though the weather starts coming into play then. If you don't want to indi fish then give some thought to pursuing resident trout that first week of your trip as it can also be superb on most of the rivers mentioned.