The fall run is a moving target. Kings push on cooling water and fresh rain, coho stack in the small rivers, and steelhead follow them in and keep coming through spring. This board reads live USGS flow and water temperature on the rivers that matter, then gives an honest call on where each run stands right now.
Loading live USGS readings...
| River | Run Status | Flow | Water Temp |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Manistee River | loading... | — | — |
| Pere Marquette River | loading... | — | — |
| Muskegon River | loading... | — | — |
| Little Manistee River | loading... | — | — |
| Platte River | loading... | — | — |
| White River | loading... | — | — |
| Au Sable River | loading... | — | — |
Run status is our read from the calendar, water temperature, and the 7-day flow trend. It is a starting point, not a guarantee. Tap any river for the full report.
Three things move Great Lakes salmon out of the lake and up a river: day length, water temperature, and flow. Day length starts the clock in late summer. Water temperature is the trigger, and chinook in particular get moving as river temperatures fall out of the 60s and into the 50s. Flow is the pull: a good rain that bumps the river sends a fresh wave of fish upstream, which is why the best fishing so often follows a fall storm.
That is what this board watches. When a river reads warm and low in early September, fish are staging at the mouth and waiting. When it cools into the 50s and the flow ticks up, it is time to go. Steelhead run colder and later, staying active into the 40s, which is why they carry the fishery through winter and peak again in spring.