The flagship: wild chinook, fabled flies-only water, and a legendary spring steelhead run.
The Pere Marquette holds a special place in the salmon story: it was among the first Michigan rivers with self-sustaining wild chinook, and it remains a federally designated National Scenic River with no dam between the fish and the sea.
Chinook enter through September and run hard the last week of the month into early October. Because the run is largely wild here, timing tracks water temperature and fall rains closely.
Fall steelhead arrive with and after the salmon, and the Pere Marquette is best known for its outstanding spring steelhead run in March and April.
The upper river holds a famous designated flies-only, no-kill fly water below M-37. Elsewhere the river is fished with spawn, beads, and flies from both drift boats and on foot. Know the regulation signs before you fish: the flies-only stretch has its own rules.
M-37, Gleason's Landing, Bowman Bridge, Rainbow Rapids, Walhalla, and Scottville provide launches and wade access. Bowman Bridge and Gleason's are the classic put-ins.