Betsie & Platte River fly fishing report -  April 6th

The Betsie is getting some good fresh steelhead moving thru the lower river.  The water is still high and dirty but fishing has been good below the old Homestead Dam.  More rain is forecasted for the coming week and that should just keep new steelhead moving into river from Lake Michigan.

The lower Platte is also getting some steelhead now.  With the lakes in the system still be full of ice water temps are staying very cold.  Best fishing has been in very lower end but look for fish to really start moving with spring like weather of late.

For information and photos of upcoming fishing - updated February 11th (click here)

April 4th - A beautiful Betsie River steelhead!  Good numbers of fresh run steelhead have been moving thru the lower Betsie up to the old Homestead Dam.  The river has been pretty high and dirty but fishing has been pretty good below dam down to US-31.  There is still snow melting back in the woods and water temps have been staying cold.  As river clears and temps come up look for the upper Betsie to really take off.  

April 4th - As you can see river is up and dirty but fishing has been pretty good of late.

Jan 12th - Tom Olenczuk with a nice big winter steelhead on the Betsie River.  River is in great shape with the water being up a bit from recent melt down.  The high water did bring some fresh fish in from Lake Michigan this week.  Fishing was a little slow today but there were a few other fish landed today on the river.

November 7th - Still some excellent Coho Salmon around!  These late run Coho can very aggressive and will hit large streamers.  Top patterns today were big black bunny leech and chartreuse/white Conrad Sculpin.  Also did find a couple of steelhead and had best luck with small pale colored egg patterns.

October 19th - Fred Isaacs with a real nice Platte River Chinook Salmon.  Windy and rain today made for some pretty good fishing.  Did see a few steelhead sitting behind salmon and one hook up on a egg pattern.  Did find a few good salmon - Chinook & Coho.

October 19th - Peak fall color today!  Just a great time of the year to fly fish Northern Michigan.

October 19th - Lots of wind & rain this afternoon on the upper Betsie River.  Salmon numbers were pretty limited but did have some good action.  Found one good steelhead and a number of Chinook Salmon.

October 10th - Joe & Larry Swantek with some nice salmon on the Betsie River.

October 8^th – Greg Macdonald with a couple of nice Betsie River salmon today.  Weather stayed very warm and bright today but new fish keep coming into river.  Cold front and some rain is forecasted for the next few days which should bring some new fish into river.

October 7^th – Gary Smith fighting salmon on the Betsie River.  Hot bright weather is not the best conditions for salmon fishing in October but still had some pretty good fishing today!

 October 7^th – Jake Wagner and Gary Smith with some nice Chinook Salmon on the Betsie River.  Extremely low water today with small nymphs working best.  Top flies were black stones and green caddis.   Good numbers of salmon in the river today with best action in the deeper holes.

October 4th - David Frizzell with a big Chinook Salmon on the Betsie River.  It did not feel like fall today more like the middle of summer!  We have had good fishing all week but numbers of fish in the river are dropping now and more are spawning.  Should have some good fishing with next rain and cooler weather.  Coming week lots of rain is forecasted and hopefully it shows up.

October 3rd - David Frizzell with a couple good salmon on the Betsie River.  Real good salmon fishing today in the upper river!  Hardly no other anglers and a bunch of fish made for a good day on the river.  Rain from early in the week brought in some nice fish and still good numbers in the pools & runs around the gravel.  Water levels are still pretty low and small flies are working the best.  Nuke eggs, green caddis, muddlers, and stones flies have been working the best of late.

September 29th - Matt Philippart with a nice big Betsie River salmon.  Good numbers of fish around today in the upper river and still a bunch that have not spawned yet.  Should have a couple more weeks of good salmon fishing.  Starting to see a few steelhead in river now but no real numbers.  Looking for steelhead best action typically starts in late October and peaks in November.

September 27th - Streamer fishing for Coho Salmon at the mouth of the Platte River on Loon Lake.  Just a beautiful portion of the Platte River system and one of first staging areas once the salmon leave the lower weir.

September 26th - Still some fresh run Chinook Salmon on the Betsie River.  With the weather turning back to fall like temps and the recent rains some new fish have moved in from Lake Michigan.  Right now there are lot of spawning salmon in the upper river but still a good number of fish out in Lake Michigan.  Look for new pushes of fresh fish for the next couple weeks with every rain.

September 22nd - Brian Henderson with a beautiful silver Chinook Salmon on the Platte River.  The Platte has been getting waves of new fish in from Lake Michigan with every cold snap and heavy north winds.

September 21st - Bruce and Marv with a couple of salmon from the upper Betsie.  Warm and sunny today with summer like weather.  Rain is needed to get some new fish into the river.

September 20th - Eric and Ken with a couple of Betsie River Salmon.  Summer like weather today is not the best conditions for salmon fishing but still had a pretty good day.  Look for big push of fish with the next rain which is forecasted for tomorrow night.

September 19th - Oscar and John with a couple of Betsie River salmon.  Nice day on the river and landed a few salmon!  John's Coho was the first one we have landed on the Betsie this year.  With all the Coho in Platte Bay this year should see a few more in the Betsie.

September 18th - Greg and Mike with a bunch of big Chinook Salmon on the Betsie River.  Big numbers of fish in the deep sand holes today with some excellent fishing.  Had excellent fishing the past two days floating with a great bunch from PA and NY.

September 17th - Steve and Carl with a double header of bright silver Kings on the Platte River.  Look for best fishing on the Platte during low light periods.  Today there was bright sun and still pretty good fishing.  Looking like a big year for Coho Salmon in Platte Bay and in the river!

September 17th - Steve and Carl with a bunch of Salmon today.  Spend the morning floating the Platte River and the afternoon floating the Betsie River.   Found some nice silver Kings and Coho Salmon on the Platte and big numbers of Kings on the Betsie.   There was a new push of Kings up the Betsie last night and fishing was excellent today!

September 16th - David Frizzell with a Betsie River salmon.  There were a few less salmon around today but still put a couple of real nice fish in the net.  Of late seems like every few days a new batch of salmon move up stream from Lake Michigan.

September 15th - David Frizzell with some bright silver salmon on the Platte River - Chinook (above) and Coho (bottom).  Excellent salmon fishing today!  With the recent fall like weather big numbers of salmon have been passed at the lower weir and are heading upstream.  Loon Lake & Platte Lake are the next stopping place and look for these Coho to show up in the Deadstream Swamp of the Platte River in the next week.  Clear sink tips with mid size streamers like flash flies, egg sucking leeches and muddlers were top producers today.  When salmon get spooky go to floating lines with egg patterns and nymphs.

September 15th - Big pods of salmon like these were common on the Platte River today!

September 13th - David Frizzell with a couple of huge salmon on the Betsie River.  Excellent fishing today with big numbers of salmon in the deep slow holes.  Landed 6 today and lost a bunch of others.  With the clear low water small flies have been working best of late.  Today nuke eggs and green caddis were by far our best flies.  Rain and cool weather is forecasted for tomorrow and look for new fish to be on the move.

September 12th - Dan and Jerry with some fresh run King Salmon on the Betsie River.  Excellent fishing today with a bunch of salmon put in the net!

September 11th - Paris and Nick casting to a big pod Coho Salmon on the Platte River.  These Coho can be very aggressive when they first enter the river.  Egg sucking leeches, flash flies, alwive patterns are all top patterns.  If fish get spooky egg patterns are also productive.

September 11th - Nick Fleezanis with a big Chinook Salmon and a Platte River Coho being released.

September 10th - Paris Fleezanis with a big chrome King Salmon.  Rain today and fall like weather has good numbers of Kings moving into the the Betsie River.  Look for excellent fishing this week!

September 9th - Bruce and Mark Jansen with a couple big Chinook Salmon on the Betsie River.  Cloudy and cool today with lots of fresh fish on the move today up the river.  Should have some excellent fishing for the coming week!

September 8th - Bruce and Mark Jansen with a huge day on the Bestie River!  Rain brought good numbers of new fish into the river.  Double digit numbers of Chinook salmon were put into the net today.  Top flies today were nuke eggs in light pale colors.

September 6th - Bob Spence with a couple of fresh run Chinook Salmon on the Betsie River.  Good numbers of fish in the river today!  Bob and Jim Jameson had hooked a bunch today but did not have the best luck getting them into the net.  Top flies today were nuke eggs and small muddlers.

September 3rd - Tim and Rob with a couple of real nice King Salmon.  Excellent day of salmon fishing today!  Landed around a dozen and lost a bunch of other fresh run fish.  Egg patterns, muddlers, green caddis, hex nymphs were the best patterns today.

September 3rd - A beautiful Betsie River rainbow trout!  There are not lots but there are some nice rainbows and browns in the Betsie River.

August 31st - Tom Olenczuk with bright silver King Salmon on the Betsie River.  After a big morning of streamer fishing down near Lake Michigan we went for a float in the upper Betsie and found a few huge groups of fresh salmon.  Hooked and landed a bunch today!  This time of year that is the perfect trip - streamer fishing the very lower river in low light periods and then float the river during mid day.

August Salmon Photos 2007 - click here

Salmon Photo Gallery - click here

Lake Huron & Lake Michigan brown trout, salmon and smallmouth photos from the 2005 & 2006 season  (click here)

Steelhead photos from the 2005 season  (click here)

Trout photos from the 2005 & 2006 season  (click here)

 Trout photos from the 2004 season  (click here)

Lake Huron brown trout photos from the 2003 & 2004 season  (click here)

Michigan fly fishing opportunities this season include:

• Streamer fishing - always good, especially Spring and Fall
• Hendrickson (late-April/early-May)
• Brown Drake (late-May/mid-June)
• Isonychia (mid-June)
• Hexagenia Limbata (mid-June/early-July)
• White Fly/Ephron (late-August)
• Terrestrials - hoppers and ants (mid-July thru mid-September)
• Salmon (August thru mid-Oct)
• Steelhead (Oct thru mid-May)