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Big Manistee River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Big Manistee River: the tailwater below Tippy Dam, which the Michigan DNR calls one of the finest trout, steelhead and salmon areas in the state.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
1,510 cfs
Air / High
63 / 64 F
Wind
S 3 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 04125550, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Big Manistee River feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. The river is running 1,510 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind S around 3 mph, steady pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 64. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:19 AM-12:19 PM and 10:49 PM-12:49 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

SteelheadGood

Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Chinook salmonSlow

Runs enter the rivers: drift roe or sand shrimp through travel lanes, plunk a wrapped plug, or float eggs in eddies and tidewater.

Tomorrow: Similar at 65 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Michigan requires a fishing licence from age 17, from $26.00 for residents. What a Michigan licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing steelhead here? Check the size and bag limits with DNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Michigan, read off the agency, are on the Michigan seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Manistee River near Wellston, MI.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 04125550.

1,5561,7351,9141,510 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 30 years of October 23

At 1,510 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 04125550 (Manistee River near Wellston, MI) is at the 28th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 30 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 1,660 cfs; the highest was 2,640 cfs and the lowest 1,240 cfs.

p10 1,357median 1,660p90 2,316

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 04125550; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp63 F
High / Low64 / 43 F
WindS 3-5 mph
Pressure1025.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain6% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset08:09 / 18:47
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)55 F USGS
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Big Manistee River this week

The best day on Big Manistee River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:19 AM-12:19 PM and 10:49 PM-12:49 AM
Minor period
4:42 AM-5:42 AM
Sun
08:09 to 18:47
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 5 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Big Manistee River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Steelhead illustration

Steelhead

Great Lakes tributaries from fall through spring; West Coast rivers have both summer and winter runs

Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate to the Pacific or the Great Lakes to grow, then return up rivers to spawn; unlike most Pacific salmon they can survive spawning and spawn again. Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Chinook salmon illustration

Chinook salmon

Seasons follow the runs: spring, summer and fall runs on the West Coast, and late summer into fall in Great Lakes rivers

The largest Pacific salmon, caught by trolling and mooching at sea and by drifting and plunking in rivers as adults return to spawn; also stocked in the Great Lakes. Runs enter the rivers: drift roe or sand shrimp through travel lanes, plunk a wrapped plug, or float eggs in eddies and tidewater.

When to come: the Big Manistee River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Steelhead
Rainbow trout
Chinook salmon
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Big Manistee River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 65 F, wind to 5 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 6 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Michigan requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Michigan fishing license. Manistee River from Tippy Dam to the railroad bridge below M-55: Type 3 trout stream; no more than one rainbow trout in the daily possession limit year-round; special artificial-lure regulations Aug. 1 to Nov. 15 (2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations).

Access

Tippy Dam Recreation Area, 1500 Dilling Road, Brethren: fishing pier, boat launch, fish-cleaning station, rustic campground and cabin. The DNR lists a Recreation Passport as required.

About this water

Lake Michigan river in northwest Lower Michigan; the salmon and steelhead water starts at Tippy Dam in Manistee County. The linked USGS gauge, 04124000 near Sherman, is far upstream of Tippy Dam.

Fishing Big Manistee River: the full guide

Below Tippy Dam

The Michigan DNR says the water just below Tippy Dam is one of the finest trout, steelhead and salmon fishing areas in Michigan, and that in fall anglers line the banks shoulder to shoulder for Chinook salmon. The DNR’s Tippy Dam Recreation Area, at 1500 Dilling Road near Brethren, has a fishing pier, boat launch, fish-cleaning station and a rustic campground open all year.

Coho history

Bear Creek, a Manistee tributary, was one of the two streams where Michigan stocked the first Great Lakes coho in 1966. The DNR still notes a notable coho fishery in the Manistee in late October.

Special rules below the dam

From Tippy Dam downstream to the railroad bridge below M-55, the Manistee is a Type 3 trout stream under the 2026 Michigan regulations. The daily possession limit may include only one rainbow trout all year, and Michigan’s special artificial-lure rules, which limit lead-weighted lures, apply from August 1 to November 15.

Common questions

When do salmon fill the river below Tippy?

Chinook in the fall, when the DNR says anglers line the banks shoulder to shoulder; coho are notable in late October.

What are the rules below Tippy Dam?

One rainbow trout per day all year and special artificial-lure rules from Aug. 1 to Nov. 15, down to the railroad bridge below M-55.

Do I need a pass to park at Tippy Dam?

The DNR lists a Recreation Passport as required at Tippy Dam Recreation Area.

Is fishing good at Big Manistee River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Hamlin Lake18 miLittle Manistee River20 miPere Marquette River22 miBetsie River26 miPlatte River31 miGrand Traverse Bay54 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 04125550 — Manistee River near Wellston, MI
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 44.2500, -86.1500 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.