Silvery steelhead can be caught on the Platte River from mid-February through May. Photo by Mike Gnatkowski.

One of the most popular fish sought by Michigan anglers are steelhead. It’s easy to see why. Steelhead are great fighters and a challenge to catch. They can be found in rivers and streams all the way from urban centers like Detroit, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo to near-wilderness streams in the Upper Peninsula. If catch-and-release is your thing, steelhead are hardy fish that will give it their all and still revive to fight again. If you like eating fish, a fresh-run spring steelhead is hard to beat.

Following is a sampling of spring steelhead streams and rivers that are sure to strike any angler’s fancy.

HURON RIVER

“The Huron River hosts a pretty decent steelhead run, and it seems to be getting better all the time,” said Lake Erie Management Unit fisheries biologist Jeff Braunscheidel. “With improved fish passage, now anglers are going to have more river to fish than ever.”

A recently completed fish ladder, which provides fish passage over Flat Rock Dam, has opened miles of river to spring steelhead and anglers. Access to the Huron River is excellent as the river traverses through several public parks, including Oakwoods Metropark, Willow Metropark and Lower Huron Metropark upstream of New Boston. Anadromous fish will now stack up below the dam at French Landing.

Most of the Huron River has a moderate gradient. Where you find faster water the river exhibits the riffle/pool character of a typical steelhead stream. Most of the bottom is made up of gravel and cobble, with large boulders present that provide ideal holding locations for steelhead making their way upstream.

Averaging over 100 feet wide, the Huron River offers steelheaders plenty of room. Much of the fishing pressure is restricted to the one mile or so below the Flat Rock Dam. Boat access is limited, but anglers will find excellent access via the metroparks in Flat Rock and at Rockwood.

The Huron tends to run dark and stained much of the time. Steelhead begin moving upstream once the water temperature reaches the lower 40s in March. Fresh-run fish tend to be the most aggressive, and anglers do well with dark-colored flies, spinners and plugs when the fish are newly arrived. Bobbers and fresh spawn are good ways to entice spring steelies and keep your offering from getting hooked on the bottom in the Huron. The steelies average 5 to 10 pounds, and bigger fish are common. Most are the result of annual plants of 25,000 steelhead every winter.

For more information on steelheading opportunities on the Huron River, contact the DNR’s Lake Erie Management Unit at (734) 953-0241. For information on amenities and accommodations in the area, contact the Monroe County Convention & Tourism Bureau at 1-800-252-3011.

EAST BRANCH

AU GRES RIVER

The East Branch of the Au Gres River was one of the streams I cut my steelheading teeth on. It was only a short drive from my home in Saginaw, so many spring days, and nights, were spent fishing the river.

The East Branch, as we called it, is a relatively small stream, but is open enough for easy fishing. The holes and undercut banks are relatively easy to see and the 30- to 50-foot-wide stream receives a good amount of fishing pressure. The rainbows there are often skittish and temperamental. One solution we found to the fishing pressure and the wary steelhead is to fish them at night. The fish came out of hiding then, new steelhead moved in and anglers went home. There’s some question as to whether steelhead bite at night, but we proved time and time again that they could be taken with regularity under the cover of darkness. It’s a wonder more anglers don’t catch on. There was many a morning when we would run into anglers headed to the river at first light when we were heading out with a stringer of steelhead.

The East Branch of the Au Gres River rises from several creeks in Iosco County. The river travels south for about 15 miles before it turns abruptly east, its channel diverted by Whitney Drain into Lake Huron. The mouth of the East Branch near Singing Bridge is a popular place for both surf-casters and bank-anglers hoping to intercept steelhead on their way upriver. Anglers can access the drain along Turner Road.

The section of the East Branch from the junction of Hale and Smith creeks to Whittemore Road is designated as a Blue Ribbon Trout Stream. This section offers some of the best steelheading, but much of it is private. Access can be gained at M-55 and other road crossings. Access can also be gained via state lands south of National City.

Steelhead show up in the East Branch as early as late March, but the river is notorious for hosting a late run of rainbows that often don’t make an appearance until May, long after most anglers have gone home. Steelhead are usually present in the East Branch into June.

There is plenty of good spawning gravel in the East Branch, and natural reproduction undoubtedly contributes to the 30,000 steelhead that are planted in the stream each year. Riffles, pockets, holes and undercut banks offer trout plenty of places to hide and for anglers to probe.