Fishing Report 8/29/25
Northern Angler Fly Shop Fishing Report August 29, 2025
Labor Day weekend is upon us and the cooler temperatures, some wind and rain have pushed migratory fish up the local rivers. It is time to think about fall and that is not too difficult with the evening temperatures dipping into the 40’s and 50’s at night. Time to get out and explore the fall bird covers, get some of the best terrestrial fishing of the season and explore the many migratory fish opportunities we have here in Northern Michigan. Fall is my favorite season and I look forward to the changing of the leaves and fall steelhead!
We are starting to get our fall inventory in at the shop and have been meeting with our sales representatives from the different companies, and have cast the new rods for next year from Sage, Redington and St. Croix. Exciting gear coming out for 2026! We have some new products from Skwala and we are gearing up for swing season with great new Spey lines from Rio and Scientific Anglers. Stop by the shop when you are in the area!
Boardman River Report
The Boardman River has a decent pod of salmon in the lower section below the Union Street Dam and the DNR will be installing the weir this week to start their annual egg collection. This is always an interesting thing to check out. Seeing all the salmon in the raceways, watching the egg collection and seeing the numbers of fish the DNR processes at the weir each season.
Fishing on the upper part of the Boardman Ottaway River remains good and the further away from access points you venture, the better the fishing will be. Rubber legged terrestrials fished with a twitch still seems to be the ticket. Streamer and nymph fishing is improving with the recent rain and cooler temperatures. I definitely want to get out on the upper Boardman at least one more time before it closes on the last Saturday of September.
Upper Manistee River Report
Flying ants, hoppers, and foam flies with rubber legs continue to be productive on the Upper Manistee. Small streamers have also been doing well on the upper with a decent number of fish between 6-12 inches. Hippie Stompers, parachute hoppers, flying ants are the key dry flies to focus on and smaller conehead streamers are the ticket to go subsurface.
The brookies have been feisty and definitely getting their spawning colors of fall. Something about fishing a trout stream in the early fall makes one think of past seasons and the wonderful times spent outside in the northwoods. Such an amazing place and every now and again I have to remind myself of just how lucky we are to have these amazing resources so close to home.
Lower Manistee River Report- Below Tippy Dam
Migratory fish are moving in with the wind and weather we had this past week. Good numbers of fish for this time of year with reports of fish hitting thundersticks both really early and late in the day. Look for low-light hours to be the best. We should have good numbers of coho and kings this year based on what is happening in Lake Michigan and we are really looking forward to the fall steelhead season.
Trout fishing up by the dam should improve as river temperatures start to drop out of the 70’s, we are not there yet, but soon that should start to fire back up before the salmon crowds of fall.
Below the Hodepyl Dam trout fishing should improve and the water temperatures drop and this can be a very good fall fishery for those looking to get away from the migratory fish crowds. I hope to do some trout Spey fishing below dam before things get crazy with my fall guide season.
Betsie River
The Betsie River is seeing a good push of salmon in the lower end and up to the dam. These early fish fight hard and will soon spread out to the upper sections and will continue to fill the lower pools and runs for the next few weeks. This is an easy to wade river and is a great spot to go people watch and enjoy seeing the salmon clear the dam after a rain. This is a wild fishery that does get some of the biggest kings in the area.