On what proved a gorgeous, Chamber of Commerce day on Michigan’s Muskegon River, long time customer and friend Paul joined me for a guided...
Faced with the perennial “What should I get my husband for Christmas?’ question, Bernie’s wife decided to buy him a RiverQuest Charter...
Smallmouth bass fishing continues to be good on the Muskegon River. Whether you enjoy top-water or streamers, both are regularly taking bass...
Chris and his son Henry joined me this morning for an introduction to fly fishing experience on the Muskegon River. While today was Henry’...
Kris joined me today on the river to fish for smallmouth bass. Over the course of our early trips this year Kris had expressed a desire to f...
Bass fishing is very good on the Muskegon as the water has warmed from last weeks heat. Golby & crayfish patterns are good off intermedi...
Steelhead fishing is waning and it was a nice change of pace to strip streamers for river browns today. Water conditions are ideal while the...
Continuing the “former Jenison High School students theme,” I recently guided Scott Deemter, (the bearded one), who was a student in my ...
Former Jenison Public High School student of mine, Kevin Shrock, with his son-in-law, Ian, pose the first of numerous steelhead they hooked ...
The Kehl group has been with us for the past few days. The steelhead were very cooperative for the guys which made up for our continued poor...
After weeks of high river flows and more wind than I ever care to deal with again, today all the steelhead stars aligned for a beautiful mor...
This hen steelhead, fresh upriver from Lake Michigan, posing here with longtime friend and customer, Pat, brightened our fly fishing morning...
Probably the last steelhead trip for Kris until fall 22’. Steelhead numbers have dropped significantly as the water has receded from a sus...
I sure hope we saw the last of the snow until next winter today on the river! I’m truly over it at this point. Windy, snowy, and cold pret...
Dear friend, former colleague, and now retired Jenison Pubic Schools superintendent, Tom TenBrink, launched one cast and met this Muskegon R...
The Muskegon had begun to fall the last few days until more heavy rain blanketed the State. This rain was quite warm and will aid in warming...
Back from vacation….. The Muskegon River remains high and is slowly warming. Steelhead fishing is definitely a game of knowing the spots a...
Unseasonably cold weather has been the theme since the end of last week. Fortunately for me I was able to stay south since last post to enjo...
Cold, windy, raw day on the river today. If it weren’t for the giant low pressure system churning it’s way across Michigan it would have...
Super fun day today with 7 of our regular guests. Each dad brought a son or daughter for their chance to fly fish for spring steelhead. Cond...
Great day with new friends; dad Brian, and his son John. Both fisherman have had experience fly fishing other rivers but today was their fir...
The weather put the kibosh on every opportunity Kris had to fish during the month of February. Thankfully we were able to break the cycle an...
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! ~Steve...
The Muskegon River remains high. No major precipitation is forecasted in the near term so the river will slowly fall over the next several d...
The December sunshine was welcomed after a cold last week. The weekend storm raised the river considerably; clarity is tough as you head dow...
Dr. Westhouse joined me today for a much needed day away from it all chasing steelhead. Despite being below freezing all day the light winds...
Great start to the week with new friends Josh (above) and Bill (lower). Though accomplished fisherman, today would be their first time swing...
Brad and his wife Amy joined me for the past few days to swing flies for steelhead. As the case has been the last several years they’ve be...
Ol’man winter was surely teasing us today with gusty winds and driving snowflakes. Yes, it was chilly! Fortunately our steelhead have no i...
After having a few unplanned days off it was great to be back on the water with Kris today. The morning swing was anything but good for us t...
Kristine joined me today for another shot at fall chrome after early fall success in September. Nearing the end of the day with two terrific...
Finally felt like steelhead weather today on the Muskegon River. Cold northerly winds ran the river valley today making for some tricky cast...
Terrific group for the last three days from St. Louis. Due to COVID and a few other factors this trip was nearly 2.5 years in the making. Su...
Last couple days swinging flies has featured a tough grind for my boat. Eager fish haven’t required a lot of effort, but the rest, well, r...
When Don Graham retired as a long time RiverQuest fly fishing guide due to health challenges, the Muskegon River guide community lost one of...
We haven’t had too many forecasted all-day rains in a while so I shouldn’t complain too much. This being said, I was pleasantly happy wh...
Long time customer, Jennifer, wished to fish exclusively for steelhead today, which, of course, didn’t disappoint me! So fish hard she...
Felt great to be back in the swing of things today chasing chrome with the full two-handers. With the slow transition to the fall season I w...
First time fly rodders for steelhead and trout, 15 year old Sam and his Dad, Mark, attended a different kind of school today—one on the Mu...
Paul treated his friend and former colleague Steve to a day of guided fly fishing on the Muskegon River with me today. Since steelhead are c...
Jonathan and his son Matthew joined me today on the Muskegon River for their first fall steelhead and salmon fly fishing trip. Both avid fis...
Great day on the water with some new friends. Right spot, right time was key today and afforded both gentleman some quality opportunities at...
Finally felt like fall this morning with overnight low’s in the upper 30’s. Still no frost yet, but I’m not going to complain! Steel...
The Newaygo Chamber of Commerce must have ordered a picture perfect weather forecast for today, including a request for cooperative steelhea...
All the way from Northville, Michigan, high school senior Nate brought this pretty early run steelhead to hand. After losing another steel...
The Willet family is with us for a couple days for their annual fall Muskegon River fly fishing trip. Water flows are up after another bout ...
Finally, female Chinook salmon are getting serious about prepping their redds and getting on with their spawning chores. More salmon are in ...
Each year, for more years than I can remember, the McKay group has fly fished with us RiverQuest Charters guides. The guys love our fishery ...
Salmon fishing is slowly gaining momentum. Water temps are the root cause of the slow build into fall season as the river flow is a above av...
The heavens opened repeatedly on Muskegon River valley today as I guided two dear friends and former educational colleagues, Tom and Dave. T...
I love family fly fishing float trips, and today, Dick and son Doug and, of course, the salmon they hooked and landed made for a terrific ti...
The 2021 Chinook salmon run is getting underway, and today long time customer Paul joined me to chase them with the fly rod. And chase we di...
September Steelhead are often hard to come by on the Muskegon River. Patience and a little bit of luck always help. Kris fishes with me ofte...
Some days fishing is easy, some days it‘s just a reward to be able to be out on the water! Today was definitely the latter of the two type...
The first day of Fall actually felt the part as cool air settled over the region finally. Fall colors and fishing are slowly starting to sho...
The Muskegon River is in great shape heading towards the fall season. Water temperatures are slowly falling in the 60’s with decent flows ...
Muskegon River smallmouth bass fishing was a little odd today in my boat. The river seemed to be void of fish in some areas while others wer...
Bill & Lisa-Marie joined me this morning for a quick half day smallmouth bass trip. Water conditions are back to normal and the smallmou...
The Muskegon River is on the rise and heavily silted from the numerous rounds of thunderstorms this week. Despite these tough dirty-water co...
Summer Smallmouth bass fishing has been “hot” this week. I can honestly say it might be some of the best top-water fly fishing for bass ...
Friend and long time customer Paul dusted off his fly casting stroke on an perfect Chamber of Commerce day on Michigan’s Muskegon Rive...
Swinging Iso nymphs off trout Spey’s was the name of the game today and Jim and Gerry were rewarded with a terrific Muskegon River brown...
A smorgasbord of opportunities are available on the Muskegon River right now. Streamers, nymphs, and wet flies are all producing. The only m...
A significant cold front brought additional needed rain fall to the area last night. This will continue to help our river return to more nor...
In my 26 years of guiding the Muskegon River I have never seen the river this low–it’s honestly shocking to see it like this. I honestly...
When a son hops a plane from his home in San Francisco to fish steelhead on the Muskegon River with his Dad and four of their friends, it...
The Muskegon River remains extremely low. This is the first time in my 26 years of guiding that I’ve ever seen it this low in the spring. ...
The Muskegon River is back to being extremely low after the river fell around 600cfs today. To say our steelhead were unhappy about it would...
Roger and Al have been with me for the last several days. We’ve known and fished together for well over 25 years. The river treated both R...
Meet Jim, who, along with his wife Mary, one day decided to check out fly fishing. A referral to RiverQuest from a Kalamazoo sport shop put ...
Good start to the week—some much needed rain fall fell over the weekend and gave the Muskegon a little extra water. I don’t expect this ...
My son Ryan is a journeyman machine builder for JR Automation Technology of Holland, Michigan and works with two other journeyman machine bu...
The Muskegon River continues to be extremely low for their time of year. Negotiating the river is causing consideration for area guides. I...
“Some days are diamonds; some days are stones,” Dr. William Kamstra, Jenison High School Principal and my boss when I was an Ass...
What a day we had today—Dr. Scott and his Dad, Roger—with whom I served a number of years on the governing board of our church! Roger ha...
One of the best parts of a fly fishing guide’s time of the river is how some customers return year after year, resulting in ever deepe...
The Glaspie family joined Jay and I today for their first spring steelhead outing. High winds continue to be the common theme over the last ...
Spent the day with Kristine hoping the Mo’ would treat her a little more kindly than our past two outings. Thankfully, despite the howling...
Yes, spring steelhead are coursing Michigan’s Muskegon River, and yes, today was a bluebird, Chamber of Commerce kind of day. Yet, as ...
A little reminder that’s it’s still early spring as wet snowflakes and a stiff Northwest wind raced up and down the Muskegon River today...
Steelhead fishing on the Muskegon remains challenging—sure, there are a few more fish in the system, but combined with the ultra clear flo...
Beautiful weather is forecasted for the next few days. Certainly not “steelhead weather”, but it’s hard to complain about the vitamin ...
February days like today are pretty tough to complain about. Sunny skies, light wind, and afternoon temperatures in the mid 30’s made for ...
Merry Christmas! May all the joys of this happy season be yours this holiday season and into the New Year! Sincerely, Steve, Ryan, Jay, Tom,...
Tyler and his Dad, Jeff, have fly fished with me a number of times now, and Dad selflessly does everything he can for Tyler to hook the most...
Great finish to a shorty holiday week with the Martin Family. Jonathan and his three sons joined us for a quick steelhead trip before their ...
Pretty cool when Dad asks his three sons gathered for Thanksgiving, if they would like to chase some chrome on the Muskegon River with us at...
Peter and his son Peter joined me for their annual Spey fall steelhead trip on the Muskegon River. It couldn’t have possibly been a more b...
Tony and his daughter Kristen joined me the last two days to swing flies on the Muskegon River. I’ve fished with Tony a number of times ov...
It certainly felt seasonable today on the Muskegon River today swinging flies. The temperature hovered around 40 degrees most of the day, on...
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stretch of November weather like this before. The 70 degree weather continues…. Judging by the kaya...
The Muskegon River is ultra-clear right now. Combine this with bright skies and near 70 degree weather and Steelhead fishing has been like h...
Last couple days swinging flies with the Stewart group has made for enjoyable days on the river but tough overall steelhead fishing. We’re...
Hannah and her brother, Jace, joined RiverQuest guide, Jay Allen, and me along with their dad and longtime family friend and business collea...
Much needed rain fell over the region today. It was not a nice photography day by any means… Jay and his crew from Houston TX were ple...
The old saw “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!” must have been Nebraskans Byron and his son Alex’s mantra to...
The 2020 Chinook salmon run on Michigan’s Muskegon River is winding down, big time. Fewer and fewer may be seen with each passing day....
Nick and his wife Chelsey joined me on the Muskegon River today. While Nick has fished with me a number of times before, this trip was token...
Long-time guest and friend Jon Rudolph joined me today for one of his annual fall trips. The weather and fishing didn’t disappoint with a ...
Sheesh! What a day on Michigan’s Muskegon River today: gorgeous sunrise; then clouds; then sleet and hail; then lightning and thunder;...
Hoosier Kaden spent three days with his dad and friends in the McKay group with us fly fishing the Muskegon River for steelhead and Chinook ...
The McKay group is with us just as they have been for past nearly 20yrs this week in October. Always a group we look forward seeing each sea...
Early this year, John’s wife, Karen, called me to request a RiverQuest fly fishing trip gift certificate, which she wished to gift Joh...
Having fly fished with me for over 20 years, my dear friend and former colleague, Tom, had long hoped to get his son Trevor, who works in Wa...
Suzy and here sister Barb joined me for a fun filled day of good stories, laughter and some nice fly fishing on the Muskegon River. While we...
The fall Chinook salmon run continues to build on the Muskegon River. Nephew-in-law Travis hosted his long-time friend Jeff for whom the the...
The operational definition of a gracious host surely must be one who’s seeks the best for his or her guest, and especially so, when th...
Sunny skies and beautiful fall colors provided a pretty nice backdrop for Dr. Scott Westhouse and his father. Probing the dark water behind ...
One just has to love days like today on the river: misty, moody fog as Paul and his daughter Jen and I pulled away from the boat launch; t...
Fall fishing on the Muskegon river is slowly coming along. Some Kings, some Coho, and some steelhead are available in relatively low numbers...
What’s not to love about this time of year on the river? The Russomanno group joined guide Bill Haagsma, Captain Steve Kuieck, and me ...
Today day marks the last official day of summer as Fall officially begins tomorrow. I had the opportunity to go fishing this morning persona...
Cooler weather (at least nights) look to have us slowly transitioning away from summer fly fishing. The river temperature in the Big Rapids ...
Longtime customers and friends, Pat and Terry, and I enjoyed a simply wonderful day on the Muskegon River yesterday. No, the smallmouth were...
The Muskegon River continued to fish very well this week for smallmouth bass. No matter which section we fished it produced about the same...
Smallmouth bass fishing on the Muskegon River is very good right now. Thankfully this warm summer weather favors these fun river fish. Bill ...
Kristine has been itching to get back on the river for some top-water smallmouth bass fishing but the oppressive heat kept us hopeful for a ...
