Fishing Report 8/22/25
Northern Angler Fly Shop Fishing Report August 22, 2025
There seems to be a hint of fall in the air this week with some cooler temperatures and a bit of rain and clouds. The rivers are in great condition with steady daytime and nighttime temperatures adding to the stability of trout fishing. There are migratory fish starting to trickle in to the Lake Michigan tributaries. The Betsie, Manistee and Little Manistee have some early Chinook in the typical locations and the reports from the big lake seem really promising for a strong run of salmon this year. Good numbers of fish are being caught from Ludington north with a good number of Coho and Kings being reported from the charter boats.
Cliff and I floated the upper Manistee on Tuesday. We had clouds and a drizzle all day with really solid fishing on both small streamers and chubby chernobyls. Storm had a great time pointing out the trout and we quite literally fished the same two flies all day with success. Switching back and forth from streamers to dries was super fun and we landed brookies, browns and we each landed a rainbow for the “Upper Manistee Slam.” I had an 8-10 inch trout on and while I was bringing it in a 24-25” brown literally t-boned the smaller trout and we tussled for a bit, maxing out the capacity of my 4 wt. Sage R8 Classic and as we went to net the beast he let go of the smaller brown and flipped us the fin. We nicknamed this monster “T-Bone Burnett” and I hope to tussle with this fish sometime in the future. We had the river to ourselves and it was a super fun day on the water.
Boardman River Report
Fishing continues to be good on the Boardman Ottaway River with the cooler temperatures and cloudy weather the fish are happy to be looking up for terrestrials. Hippie Stompers, Ants, Chubby Chernobyls and Hoppers have been the ticket. If you are so inclined, drop a nymph off the back of your dry and double your chances. Swinging beadhead softhackles and twitching skunks and other small streamers have been really productive as well. Get out and fish this little gem while the season remains open as there is just over a month before it closes for the fall spawning season and will not open back up until the last Saturday in April.
Upper Manistee River Report
The Upper Manistee River has been fishing well throughout the entire system. We have been all over the upper the past few weeks and each section seems to be fairly consistent and the fish are looking up. Don’t be afraid to add a few twitches to the fly and if you find something that is working, stick with that fly or something similar. Smaller streamers with floating lines have been producing fish and the nighttime rodent bite seems to be holding steady for those willing to engage in a sleep deprivation program.
Chubby Chernobyls, Flying Ants, Hoppers, Hippie Stompers have been working great. It is nice to see the Upper Manistee start to heal up from the didymo outbreak we had a couple of years back. It is important to always, clean, drain and dry if you are fishing between waterways as