As a new fly fisherman I am thinking of a short road trip to The PM River. From what I gather so far the middle branch is about an hour further up from Muskegon Michigan.
I have never trout fished so I was wondering if anyone has any good info on this stretch of river. I am planing on wadding so I am wondering about depth of the river what flies might be good to use for the trout and or salmon that I might come across.
Also can anyone recommend a camp ground in the area, and good public access to the river, and a few good web sites that might help me gather more information on the Pere Marquette.
Go to [www.HATofMichigan.org](http://www.HATofMichigan.org)
Go to e-book page and download “You Can’t Make a Living Tying Flies”
This is primarily about steelheading but Salmon fishing is about the same.
Check in at Ed’s or the Orvis PM river lodge or Baldwin Bait and Tackle. They will tell you everything you want to know. All have websites - except maybe Ed’s.
You can tent camp at Gleason’s Landing or there is a Federal Campground at Bowman’s Bridge but the water isn’t as nice.
If the Salmon are in it will be crowded.
If not, the PM is a blue ribon brown trout stream.
Have fun - it’s my second favorite (maybe third) river in the whole world.
You may want to pick up the river guide for the PM that the Challenge Chapter of Trout Unlimited puts out. I have the one for the AuSable and it was very very useful for my first venture up there. I’m heading up that way again in September for a couple of weeks but I’m also going to be checking out the Manistee and the PM so I’ll be grabbing both of those guide books ASAP. You can probably find them through the outfitters. I know that I saw them at Gates shop when I was up there.
They give you access points and clear descriptions of each so you can at least make an educated guess at what you want to tackle and what might be a waist of gas.
I’ve never had a problem with Pay Pal and I use it quite a bit. The only problem I have has was a rod I bought through eBay, went missing in the post in May and the guy who sent it is now in Iraq so I’m sort of screwed for the time being.
Tim,
you might want to consider joining some of us in September(Saturday the 22nd. to be exact)
at the 1st Michigan Micro Fish-In. Probaly at the Rogue River in Rockford(Grand Rapids)
If you might be Intrested PM me your email addy, and whenwe get all the details figured out I’ll email them to you.
Bill
Tim;
Consider Bill’s post. You will meet a lot of fine and knowledable folks.
If you cannot make it I suggest Bear Track campgrounds on the Little Manistee just a few miles north of the PM. It is seldom crowded and makes a good base camp. Losts of wadable water.
Hey Jack,
Judging by the “tone” of your post above, you still gots dem feelins for up North. Eating grits just doesn’t automatically anoint you a “T” native.
Mark
PS: It was good to see you at the MI fish-in.
Mark;
Just imparting years of local knowledge. It was a 50 mile drive to get to the PM or the Little Manistee. Here it’s less than 20 mile to great trout waters.
That was a great gathering at Gate’s lodge sor sure.
Now, to get this back on track!!
Tim, a Google search will get you a map of the Little Manistee. I don’t think there is one available for the PM yet.
I strongly suggest a Michigan Fishing Guide. The PM can be a little tricky on what you can fish on different sections.
The access at Sulac also has (or did have) primitive camping. To the west of there is South Branch Bridge and further west is Walahalla. These are Day Use sites and require a parking sticker available at the USFS in Baldwin. If you plan to canoe or float you will need a permit for that also, again available from the USFS.
All of these access sites have good wadable water but may be crowded.
Tim if you’re coming up on a weekend give me a shout and we might be able to get together to fish. For up-to- date reports on the P.M. google" the fly shop at Baldwin bait and tackle." If you are not experienced at wading fast water with a rocky bottom the P.M. can be tough. On weekends it has a lot of canoe activity with some of the paddlers being very incompetent. Mornings and evenings the liveries are not allowed to have canoes on the water. If you come up before the salmon run bring size 8 olive hoppers,damselflies and small caddis as well as some stonefly nymphs and soft hackles plus whatever the fly shop report says is hot. Do consider joining us on the Rogue on the seventeenth. It is a much safer river to wade and it’s much faster to learn to fish rivers succesfully from people who have done it.
Pm is a great stream, and yes, the salmon have started. Fewer canoers after this coming weekend though. Try above M-37 as fewer folks canoe, and less fisherman too. Streamer are great right now, early and late.
if you go to the baldwin bait and tackle and look under “local info” there are maps, campground directorys and other useful info. If you have any questions call the shop, they will help you any way they can.
-Jeff
I’ll second that about fast water and rocky bottom. The PM is where I learned how to swim in waders :o , but the salmon fishing is excellent :lol: . Ed’s flyshop in Balwin has all the info for whats hot and any permits (parking or floating) that you might need.
The middle branch (upper river) can be a bit tight at times…depending on how far up you go. If it were me i would concentrate on the flies water between M37 & Gleasons. You can find more info from these sites.
If your not into the salmon thing i would get up there sooner than later. The salmon are in the lower river but a few are starting to push up. I was just there for 3 1/2 days. I stayed in the flies water and never saw another person, thats what i like about early salmon season. I did see about a half dozen salmon in that section…so its not to far off and it will be a zoo.
The fishing was terrific. The rain got the streamer bite going, the river got a slight stain and came up a few inches. We also had nice olives and tricos in the mornings and a fair amount of the dark ISO’s…and mousing after dark.
Hey Tim, I would recomend bringing some salmon gear with you. Even if its spinning gear, I was up there last year for the first time and had a blast battling them beast. I will be up there Sept 21-22, if you are going to be there then let me know and we can fish. I will also be bringing my 5wt for trout, but I think the salmon will keep me occupied!
Mashtom I am thinking of taking bdesavage up on his invite to the micro fish on the 22nd in the Grand Rapids area, but might be able to meet you for some salmon fishing on the 21st lets keep in touch.
If the micro fish goes down I am going for sure I have Friday Saturday and Sunday cleared with work.
Oh forgot still have to clear it with the wife LOL :lol:
Tim,