Betsie River Fishing Report Updated 12/17/24
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Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone
Species
Steelhead
Salmon
Brown Trout
Rainbow Trout
Brook Trout
Size
Medium to Large, averaging up to 50
foot wide
Location
Northwest Michigan
Nearest Towns
Benzonia
Frankfort
Season
Varies with species
Special Regulations
Yes, be sure you check them prior to
fishing.
Access:
Fair to Good
Non-Resident License
State of Michigan
Weather
National Weather Service Link
Seasons:
The season varies with the species and location.
Spring:
Springtime is the best time for trout because of the numerous hatches. Steelhead can be caught as late as
the end of April depending on the weather.
Summer:
Summertime continues to be a good time for trout.
Fall:
Salmon first enter the river and the steelhead follow. Steelhead begin entering the Betsie River as early as middle of September. The fishing is good throughout the Fall. Trout fishing remains good during the Fall.
Winter:
All but the coldest days of Winter can be good for steelhead. The extremely cold water of January and February can make the fish sluggish but otherwise,
fishing remains good throughout the Winter.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
For Steelhead and Salmon
Fly Line:
7, 8 , 9 or 10 weight for appropriate typerod, sinking, sinking tip and floating Leaders:
10#, 12# in 9 to 15 feet lengths Tippets:
10# and 12# Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly 7, 8, 9 and 10 ft. single hand rods
Fly Reels:
For 7 to 10 weight lines
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
KISS Strike Indicators, Lanyards, etc. Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Perfect Fly Power Pack Spey Rod Series: Click Here for full description
225.00
Steelhead & Salmon Fly Selections
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
Fly Fishing The Betsie River Michigan
Although not as popular as some of Michigan’s streams, the Betsie River is one of the state’s better steelhead, salmon and trout streams. It’s a tributary of Lake Michigan. The river has a good population of both brown and rainbow trout as well as its annual runs of steelhead and salmon. It’s a beautiful river that’s a pleasure to fish.
Salmon move into the river from September through the middle of October. Steelhead follow them and start coming into the river as early as late September. They continue and remain in the river to spawn until early Spring.
Fly fishing the Betsie River for trout can be done all year but most anglers prefer the Spring and Summer months. The river is known for its prolific hatches of aquatic insects and fine trout fishing as well as its steelhead and salmon. The uppermost section of the river has plenty of trout.
The Betsie River begins from Green Lake. The very uppermost part is relatively small, but there’s plenty of trout. The river size increases from the flow of Grass Lake Creek, a small tributary. The river flows through Wallin and then picks up more water from the confluence of Little Betsie Creek.
The best areas for salmon and steelhead starts as far upstream as Wolf Road. Fishing is normally good all the way to Lake Michigan, depending on the water levels. There’s over twenty miles of good steelhead water. Most anglers consider the best steelhead fishing to be below the Route #115 Bridge.
The lower part of the river is larger, averaging up to seventy feet in width. There larger and deeper pools and runs with some shallow riffles. Access is fairly plentiful with many bridges providing access points. There are a few roads that parallel the river in some areas.
You can fish the Betsie from a small pontoon type boat or canoe or by wading. Many anglers ignore the smaller Betsie in favor of the Manistee and Boardman Rivers nearby, but that isn’t always the best approach. The Betsie has some very good runs of salmon and steelhead and an excellent population of trout.
Betsie River Fishing Report:
02/18/2020 The stream is turning out some good steelhead catches. Our Perfect Fly Pink Sucker spawn fly and steelhead nymphs are working good.
03/08/2020 The water temperature is up a little and more steelhead are being caught. This coming week looks like it could be a good one.
03/21/2020 The water is still turning out a few steelhead. The water is cold and you need to use steelhead nymphs. Sucker spawn is working good as well.
06/14/20 The river is in good shape and good numbers of trout are starting to be caught.
There are good hatches taking place.
06/27/20 The river is running a little high and stained some but trout are being caught. There are some very good hatches taking place.
07/11/20 Our customers have been catching a lot of trout. There are still some good hatches taking place.
07/24/20 We continue to get good reports from customers fishing the river for trout. There are still a lot of hatches taking place and terrestrial imitations are also working good.
08/12/20 The river is still turning out some nice trout for our customers. There are still some decent hatches taking place. Stream levels are just a little above normal right now.
09/19/20 There are Chinook salmon in the river and a few are being caught by our customers. Smallmouth bass fishing is still good.
10/07/20 There are salmon in the river being caught by our customers. Steelhead should begin to come very soon. Now is the time to get your flies and gear in order.
sales@perfectflystore.com
10/22/20 There are salmon and streelhead in the river being caught by our customers. Now is a great time to be fishing it.
11/07/20 The river is in okay shape with good numbers of steelhead being caught by our customers. They are swinging, nymphing and using eggs. Send us an email for a recommended fly list.
11/21/20 The river is in good shape from a level standpoint and we continue to get some very good catch reports of steelhead from customers.
12/13/20 The river is still turning our some steelhead for our customers. They are mostly using our nymphs and egg flies but some have been caught swinging our streamers.
12/24/20 The river is still in okay shape and our customers are catching some steelhead.
01/08/21 The river is still turning out some steelhead for our customers. Both swinging and nymping is working. Shoot us an email for a recommended fly and gear list:
sales@perfectflystore.com
01/26/21 Steelhead are a little sluggish but still being caught. The water is colder and it should improve when it warms up a little. For now fish our Perfect Fly steelhead nymphs.
02/09/21 We received a couple of good reports on steelhead prior to the last cold snap. They are sluggish but can be caught.
03/17/21 We are still getting reports of steelhead being caught. The water is just warm enough. Our steelhead nymphs and eggs work best.
04/30/21 Trout are being caught in good numbers. Streams are in good shape. There are hatches of Blue-winged olives, little Black Caddis, Blue Quills, Hendricksons, Quill Gordons and little Brown stoneflies.
05/08/21 The recent cold weather slowed things down but it is warming back up and you should be able to catch plenty trout this coming week. Give us a call or send an email for a recommended fly list.
05/16/21 The river is in good shape with stream levels near normal. Our customers are reporting some good catches of trout. There are some good hatches going on. Call or email us for a fly and gear list.
05/22/21 Trout are being caught in good numbers. Good hatches and good overall conditions.
06/07/21 There are good hatches taking place and we continue to get good reports from customers. Stream levels are okay but a little low.
06/20/21 The river is a little below and normal level but clear and in good shape otherwise. There are multiple hatches taking place and we continue to get good reports from customers. Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. Please allow up to 24 hours for a response.
07/01/21 The stream is flowing at a normal level and in good shape. We received a couple of good reports this past week. There are still lots of insects hatching and terrestrials are working.
07/14/21 The stream levels are up some but in good shape and we continue to get good reports from customers fishing for trout.
07/20/21 Conditions are good and we are still getting good reports from customers fishing for trout.
07/27/21 The stream is flowing a little above normal level but in good shape. We continue to get good reports from customers.
08/03/21 The river is still in good shape from a level standpoint with good hatches taking place. We received two good reports this past week from customers.
08/12/21 Stream levels are up but should fall down fast. We have been getting good reports from customers fishing for trout.
08/20/21 The stream is down in good shape and we are getting good reports on trout. Don’t forget to get flies and gear ready for salmon and steelhead. They start coming in the river in September.
08/20/21 Trout fishing continues to be good as we received two good reports from customers fishing prior to the rain.
09/06/21 The stream is flowing near a normal level in good shape. We received a good report from a customer fishing for trout yesterday.
09/17/20 There are Chinook salmon in the river. We are getting a few good reports on salmon and trout. Smallmouth bass fishing is still good.
09/26/21 One good report on salmon came in. More on smallmouth and trout also came in. Conditions are good.
10/06/21 Salmon are in the river in good numbers.
10/18/21 Good numbers of salmon are being caught by our customers. We didn’t receive any reports on trout but it should still be very good.
10/28/21 More good reports on salmon and steelhead from customers can in. Steam conditions are good.
11/02/21 Salmon and steelhead are still being caught in good numbers. Swinging, nymphs and eggs flies are working.
11/12/21 We are still getting good reports from customers catching salmon and steelhead. The stream levels are in good shape and the water mostly clear.
11/20/21 More good reports come in from customers fishing for steelhead. Our egg sucking leech and steelhead hex nymphs are working good.
11/29/21 The river is turning out some good catches of steelhead for our customers. Stream levels are still fine.
12/08/21 The water is cold but we still received two good report from customers fishing for steelhead. Stream levels are still near normal levels.
12/15/21 The stream is a little high. We were getting good reports from customers fishing for steelhead.
12/24/21 We didn’t receive any reports this past week but the stream is in okay shape and you should be able to catch steelhead.
01/01/22 Still no reports from anyone fishing. Stream conditions are good. Let us hear from you and Happy New Year.
01/09/22 We received two good reports from customers catching steelhead. The water is cold. Fish the deeper pools using our steelhead nymphs and egg flies.
01/17/22 We received one good report from a customer fishing for steelhead. Fish our Steelhead nymphs in the deeper pools near the bottom.
02/02/22 We didn’t receive any reports from anyone fishing this past week. Conditions for steelhead are still okay.
02/10/22 We received one good report from a customer fishing for steelhead this past week. The water is very cold. Use our steelhead nymphs and fish the deeper pools.
02/18/22 We didn’t receive any reports from anyone fishing this past week, but conditions should still be okay.
02/26/22 The streams is still in good shape except for being cold. We didn’t receive any reports from the past week but the stream has plenty steelhead.
03/06/22 We received one good report from a customer fishing for steelhead this past week.
03/22/22 The stream is a little high but okay. You should still be able to catch steelhead.
03/30/22 We didn’t receive any reports from anyone last week but you should be able to catch steelhead. Let us hear from you.
04/07/22 The stream is a little above normal level but it has brought in a lot of steelhead. We are getting good reports from customers.
04/23/22 Steelhead are still being caught. Trout fishing is getting good as well with new hatches starting to take place.
05/01/22 We received our first good report on trout fishing. Get ready for some good hatches to take place.
05/09/22 Conditions are very good, good stream levels and warmer water. Good hatches of Blue Quills, BWOs, Quill Gordons, Hendricksons/Red quills, little Black caddis and little Brown stoneflies are hatching.
05/17/22 Good reports are coming in from customers catching trout. Good hatches are taking place. Send us an email and we will send you a list of flies we recommend for any particular time frame.
05/25/22 More good reports came in from customers fishing this past week. Conditions are very good. There are multiple hatches taking place.
06/02/22 The stream is still in good shape with good hatches and we continue to get good reports from customers.
06/09/22 The stream is still flowing near a normal level in good shape. Good hatches continue to take place and dry fly fishing is good.
06/17/22 We are still getting good reports from customers fishing for trout. There are good hatches taking place.
06/24/22 The stream is still in very good shape with lots of insects hatching. We continue to get good reports from customers. This coming week should be another good one.
07/01/22 The stream is still in good shape with clear water and good levels.
07/08/22 Conditions remain good. The stream is flowing near a normal level and clear. We received one good report from customer fishing this past week. Good hatches continue to take place.
07/15/22 The stream is still in good condition with good levels. We received another good report from a customer fishing for trout this past week.
07/22/22 Stream levels are still in good shape and we continue to get good reports from customers.
08/05/22 Stream levels are normal and the water clear. We are getting good catch reports on trout. Good hatches continue to take place and our terrestrial patterns are working good.
08/12/22 There are some good hatches taking place and we continue to get good catch reports on trout.
08/26/22 Good late summer hatches are taking place. Good numbers of trout are being caught by our customers.
09/05/22 We are still getting some good catch reports from customers fishing for trout. Good hatches continue to take place.
09/19/22 Two more good reports from customers fishing for trout came in this past week.
09/26/22 The stream is in okay condition. We didn’t receive any reports from anyone fishing this past week but it should be good.
10/09/22 Kings are being caught in the lower river in good numbers. We received one good report on trout fishing as well.
10/31/22 Four good reports on salmon and steelhead came in from customers this past week. Steam conditions are good. Swinging and nymphing methods are both working good.
11/30/22 The stream is still turning out good numbers of steelhead. Our customers are using extaz eggs flies, swinging our egg sucking leeches and fishing the Hex nymphs.
12/31/22 We continue to get good reports from our customers about steelhead being caught. Sculpin patterns are also working well.
02/03/23 The stream is turning out some good steelhead catches. Our Perfect Fly Pink Sucker spawn fly and steelhead nymphs are working good.
02/25/23 Stream conditions are good. There is some slush ice in the water. We were getting good steelhead catch reports up until about two weeks ago.
03/09/23 The stream is flowing near a normal level and warming up just a little. There is less slush ice. We haven’t received any reports from anyone fishing it lately. Some steelhead are still in the river.
03/28/23 We finally received a couple of good reports from customers catching steelhead. They were using out Perfect Fly Estaz Egg flies.
04/08/23 We received a good report from customers fishing for steelhead and one fishing for trout this past week.
04/22/23 A few Steelhead are still being caught. Trout fishing is getting good with new Spring hatches starting to take place. Send us an email for a list of trout flies needed now.
05/01/23 We received two good reports from customers catching trout this past week. Good hatches are taking place.
05/10/23 The stream is flowing near a normal level and clear. We received two more good reports from customers fishing this past week.
05/21/23 We are getting good reports from customers fishing for trout. There are good hatches taking place and dry fly fishing is good.
06/05/23 Stream levels are just a little below normal and the water clear. We are getting good reports from customers fishing for trout. Good hatches are taking place.
06/13/23 The stream is still flowing a little below normal. Good hatches are still taking place.
06/24/23 The stream is still a flowing at a little below normal level. We received two good reports from customers this past week. Excellent hatches are taking place and dry fly fishing is good.
07/01/23 The stream is in good shape with good hatches. Trout are being caught in good numbers.
07/11/23 The stream is still flowing at a good level with good hatches. We received two good reports from customers fishing this past week. Match the hatch and you in business.
07/21/23 The stream is flowing at a normal level and clear. Good hatches are taking place.
07/31/23 The river is still in good shape with good levels. We received another good report from a customer fishing for trout this past week. Good hatches are taking place.
08/04/23 The stream is still flowing at a normal level and clear. Good hatches are still taking place. We received another good report from a local customer this past week.
08/11/23 The stream is still in good shape with good hatches coming off.
08/27/23 The river is still turning out good catches of trout from good late season hatches. Stream levels are normal and the water is clear. Get ready for salmon and then steelhead coming into the river next month.
09/11/23 The river is flowing near a normal level and clear. There are good late season hatches taking place. You should be able to catch good numbers of trout.
09/18/23 The stream is in very good shape with good hatches continuing to take place. We are still getting good catch reports on trout and it is near the time salmon and steelhead start coming into the river.
09/25/23 Stream levels are normal. Salmon are starting to come into the river.
10/02/23 We received our first salmon catch report this past week. It should get very good soon with steelhead following them.
10/09/23 More good catch reports on salmon come in from the past week. Steelhead should be starting to come into the river. Call or email us and get ready for them.
10/20/23 Steelhead are coming into the river and our steelhead nymph and streamer patterns are working well
11/02/23 The river remains in good shape and steelhead continue to come in.
11/09/23 More good reports on steelhead being caught.
11/16/23 More good steelhead reports have come in. Swinging and Nymphing methods are working.
11/27/23 We continue to get good reports on steelhead. Check our steelhead flies out. We think you will like them.
12/09/23 Our customers continue to catch good numbers of steelhead, mostly swinging our egg sucking leech patterns.
12/29/23 The Betsie is still turning out good numbers of steelhead. Our customers are using extaz eggs flies, swinging our egg sucking leech patterns and fishing the Hex nymphs.
01/12/24 The stream is in good condition flowing at normal levels and clear. We are still getting good catch reports from customers fishing for steelhead.
01/21/24 Conditions are good and goodd numbers of steelhead are being caught. Our Hexigenia steelhead nymphs and Giant black steelhead nymphs are working very good.
02/01/24 More good reports on steelhead have come in this past week. Stream levels are good and the water is clear. The steelhead nymphs above and our egg sucking leech patterns are working good.
02/12/24 We continue to get good steelhead catch reports. Our steelhead sucker spawn and our Hexigenia steelhead nymphs are working good.
02/23/24 Good conditions exist. We are still getting good reports from customers.
03/01/24 The stream is still turning out some good steelhead catches. The stream is flowing near a normal level with clear water.
03/15/24 We are still getting reports of steelhead being caught. The stream is flowing near a normal level and clear.
03/29/24 The stream is in good shape flowing at a normal level with clear water. Steelhead are being caught.
04/05/24 Our reports show that steelhead are still being caught. Trout fishing should be getting good soon as new hatches should be starting to take place.
04/12/24 Conditions are good. We are getting reports of trout being caught. Good hatches are taking place.
04/19/24 The stream is a little low but okay. Good hatches are taking place – BWOs, Blue Quills, Quill Gordons, Hendricksons, American March browns.
04/26/24 The stream is still flowing below a normal level and clear. We received a good report from a customer fishing yesterday. Good hatches are taking place.
05/03/24 The stream is still in good shape. Blue Quills, Blue-winged olives, Quill Gordons, Hendricksons/Red quills, little Black caddis and little Brown stoneflies are hatching.
05/10/24 Conditions remain good. Good hatches and okay stream levels. You should be able to catch good numbers of trout.
05/17/24 The stream is flowing at a normal level with clear water. Good hatches continue to take place.
05/24/24 We are still getting good reports from customers fishing for trout. There are good hatches taking place.
05/31/24 More good reports have come in from customers fishing for trout. The stream is flowing at a normal level.
06/07/24 Very good conditions exist. The stream is flowing at a normal level and clear. Good hatches are taking place.
06/14/24 Conditions remain very good. We received a good report from a customer fishing yesterday. There are good hatches taking place.
06/28/24 The conditions are still very good. Good stream levels and good hatches are taking place.
07/05/24 We received a good report from a customer fishing for trout this past week. Good hatches are still taking place.
07/12/24 The stream is flowing at a good level with clear water. Good hatches continue to take place.
07/21/24 Conditions are very good. The stream is flowing at a normal level and clear. Good hatches are taking place and we are getting some good reports from customers.
07/27/24 Good conditions continue to take place. Good hatches including Sulphurs, Tricos, Cinnamon caddis and other insects are hatching.
08/04/24 We received another good report from a customer fishing this past week. Lots of insect activity takes place late in the afternoon.
08/13/24 Good conditions continue to exist. We received another good report from a customer fishing this past week.
09/02/24 The stream is flowing at a normal level and clear. Good late season hatches continue to take place.
09/07/24 Conditions remain good. The stream is flowing a little below a normal level and clear. Salmon are coming into the river. We have two good reports from customers fishing for them.
09/14/24 Salmon fishing is good. Let us help you gear up and get the right flies for them and the upcoming steelhead season.
09/21/24 Salmon are being caught in good numbers by our customers. We received our first report on steelhead being caught.
09/28/24 Another good report from a customer fishing for salmon came in this past week. Conditions are still good for trout and salmon.
10/05/24 We continue to get good reports on both trout and salmon. Conditions remain good.
10/12/24 We received two more good reports. One for salmon and one for trout. Good hatches continue to take place.
10/20/24 The stream is flowing near a normal level and clear. We received two more good reports from customers catching salmon.
10/27/24 The stream is flowing a little below a normal level and clear. Salmon are being caught in okay numbers. Trout fishing is also still good.
11/03/24 Conditions are good. We are getting good reports from customers fishing for trout and for salmon.
11/10/24 More good reports from customers fishing for trout and salmon are coming in.
11/18/24 Conditions are good. We received two good reports from customers fishing for salmon. Steelhead are coming into the river as well.
11/25/24 We received two good reports from customers fishing for steelhead. The stream is still a little low but okay.
12/03/24 Steelhead are still being caught in good numbers. Our Perfect Fly egg sucking leech and steelhead Hex nymphs are working good.
12/10/24 We are still getting good catch reports from customers fishing for steelhead.
12/17/24 Conditions remain good. The stream is flowing near a normal level and mostly clear. We are still getting some good catch reports from customers fishing for steelhead.
Perfect Flies are designed and tied to to imitate and behave like the natural foods the trout rely on to survive as much as possible. The more your fly looks like and moves through and on the surface of the water like the real things, the higher your odds of success.
Click Here to see our Steelhead Flies: Click Here to see our Salmon Flies:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations.