Another Michigan trout season will soon be upon us. The opener will be the latest it can possibly be, which is April 30, but I can already picture that first brown trout putting a bend in my rod.

The Pere Marquette River has outstanding fishing for brown trout. Photo by Jim Bedford.

A bunch of Michigan’s finest trout streams will be described here, and we will start in southern Michigan and move our way north.

DOWAGIAC RIVER

The Dowagiac River has the highest flow of any southern Michigan trout stream. The river begins near Decatur, and the best trout fishing is found in the lower two thirds of the stream between M-51 and Niles.

Most of the river has been dredged and straightened, and it is mostly dependent on stocked browns. The trout grow fast and carry over well, so you have a good chance at catching some good-sized browns. You can both float and wade the Dowagiac but there will be some logjams to navigate. Fish those logjams and other wood in the water hard because it provides very important cover in the straight channel.

About two miles north of Niles there is a lowhead dam that has been drawn down. Below this dam the river is not dredged and you will find good fishing below it. There is access at the dam. Summer steelhead move out of the St. Joseph River to cool off, and there is a chance for a bonus encounter with one of these high-flying fish through most of the summer.

Access to the Dowagiac is provided by numerous road crossings. If conditions are not good on the mainstream, you can try tributaries like Pokagon Creek near Sumnerville and Dowagiac Creek upstream from LaGrange Lake.

ROGUE RIVER

The Rogue is southern Michigan’s second-largest trout stream and is located in central Kent County near the town of Rockford. It is stocked with both browns and rainbows, and there is a contribution of wild fish from its tributaries.

The best trout fishing is found between the two 12 Mile Road Bridges just upstream from Rockford. Some larger fish will be associated with the upper end of the small impoundment formed by the dam in Rockford and the deep holes in the reach above the upper 12 Mile Road Bridge.

Downstream from Rockford the Rogue is better known for its anadromous fisheries but trout do carry over here, and there is some fine habitat. Fishing is best in the first couple of miles below Rockford.

There are three more sizable tributaries to the Grand River within a half-hour drive or so from the Rogue that provide good fishing for brown trout. Coldwater Creek near Freeport, Prairie Creek up from Ionia and Fish Creek upstream from Carson City all produce browns in the 20-inch class. You will also find good numbers of brookies in the headwaters of Fish Creek. Access is mainly at road crossings.

For more information on these and other trout streams in southwest Michigan, contact the Department of Natural Resources at (616) 685-6851.

PERE MARQUETTE RIVER

Moving north but staying on the west side of the Lower Peninsula, we encounter a free-flowing stream with outstanding trout fishing.

The Pere Marquette begins near Chase and winds it way almost due west to Lake Michigan. Almost 40 miles of the mainstream between Broadway Road in Lake County to Reek Road in Mason is classified as blue-ribbon trout water. Brown trout are the primary resident trout but you may also catch an occasional brookie, especially in the upper river and the tributaries. Small rainbows are present throughout the river system and are destined to smolt and become steelhead. Occasionally these juvenile steelhead don’t migrate and become resident rainbows.

The reach between M-37 and Gleason’s Landing near Baldwin is classified as flies-only and probably offers the best trout fishing in the whole river. For a good chance at big browns and more solitude, try the water somewhere between Walhalla and the Rainbow Rapids public access site, with Upper Branch Bridge and Su Lac access sites being good places to start. The river is both floatable and wadeable.

There are several tributaries to the P.M. offering good trout fishing. The Little South Branch joins the mainstream just up from the M-37 Bridge and contains good numbers of small- to medium-sized browns along with the occasional brookie. The Baldwin River, as you might expect, flows through the town of Baldwin and joins the P.M. in the middle of the flies-only stretch. It contains a good population of brown trout and is relatively lightly fished. This makes it a good alternative when the canoe and drift-boat traffic in the flies-only water starts getting on your nerves. At the juncture of the mainstream and the Big South Branch of the Pere Marquette, both streams are pretty marginal for trout. But upstream on the Big South in its middle reaches you will find good numbers of browns.