# St. Joseph steelhead or salmon ?



## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

Anyone here ever fish from the piers at the St. Joe. river mouth in Michigan ? I just watched some youtube videos of that and thinking a possible mixed bag of steelhead , salmon , or possible whitefish could be a lot of fun. I know they have skamania steelhead that can be caught from what I hear almost year round , but I dont know when the salmon generally start showing up and being caught from the pier. If the whitefish are anything like I caught up in Alpena michigan they run around the time the salmon do. I have to drive pretty far to get to good steelhead water anyway and the St. Joe is even farther yet , but Im thinking if my chances are better it might be worth a trip. Anyone know a general figure on when the best time to go would be ?


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## Lundfish (Apr 7, 2010)

The salmon run (Kings) is generally later down South. So if they start pushing in Northern Lower Michigan by Mid September they'll be pushing good in Late September by the St. Joe mouth or in the river. You can get them now off of the pier here and there though. Look for the lake to flip. If they get a heavy Southeast wind or East wind that'll push the warm water away and the cold water in. That would be ideal for pier fishing. Pier fishing sounds like a gamble to me always but still better than sitting at home.

I was thinking of hitting up some rivers over that way for skams. Let me know if you're thinking about going and you can ride with me.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

Lundfish said:


> The salmon run (Kings) is generally later down South. So if they start pushing in Northern Lower Michigan by Mid September they'll be pushing good in Late September by the St. Joe mouth or in the river. You can get them now off of the pier here and there though. Look for the lake to flip. If they get a heavy Southeast wind or East wind that'll push the warm water away and the cold water in. That would be ideal for pier fishing. Pier fishing sounds like a gamble to me always but still better than sitting at home.
> 
> I was thinking of hitting up some rivers over that way for skams. Let me know if you're thinking about going and you can ride with me.



Thanks Lundfish , I am not sure if I can go yet. My mother in law is flying my wife and son down to florida for two weeks in early november so I am considering some things to do with all my "me time" while they are gone. Timing is everything so I dont know if it will work out then. But the idea of fishing from the pier and having the chance at multiple species seems like something worth trying. Watching youtube videos of it made me drool a little seeing the fish being caught and it looks like fun since I dont mind fishing from a pier. I know I would have to find a huge net somewhere and may have to find a more fitting rod for the challenge of fighting possible large fish in big water , so to be truthful I dont know if I will even be ready by then. But I am trying to learn as much about it as I can just in case I did have the opportunity. I have a net I could extend the handle some more on but the net portion is really on the small side for trying to thread a salmon into , and the only beefy rod I have is a catfish rod.....but if push comes to shove I may be able to make it work. I dont know if my noodle rod is sufficient for that type of fishing or not. So everything is kinda up in the air at this point , just looking for all the information I can find on it. Even just making the trip for whitefish could be worth it if I could find a situation like I had in alpena , fishing straight down from a bridge at night and slaying some huge whitefish.


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## Lundfish (Apr 7, 2010)

If you're waiting until November, the salmon will be about done coming in. There may be a coho or 2 though. Whitefish should be happening. Maybe a steelhead coming in.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

Lundfish said:


> If you're waiting until November, the salmon will be about done coming in. There may be a coho or 2 though. Whitefish should be happening. Maybe a steelhead coming in.



I wouldnt mind some coho , but from what I just read spring is when they run so not really worth going after them in november even though they can turn up. Its looking like I may be better off staying in Ohio and going to the V. if I have the chance. Hopefully I will be able to do some fishing , with all the time and the good vehicle while my wife is visiting her mother I should be able to.


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## lowhole4trowt (Feb 1, 2014)

yonderfishin said:


> I wouldnt mind some coho , but from what I just read spring is when they run so not really worth going after them in november even though they can turn up. Its looking like I may be better off staying in Ohio and going to the V. if I have the chance. Hopefully I will be able to do some fishing , with all the time and the good vehicle while my wife is visiting her mother I should be able to.


East side (or all of) of Ohio was rockin around that time last year...some of the best days before the big freezes were in November.


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## Lundfish (Apr 7, 2010)

yonderfishin said:


> I wouldnt mind some coho , but from what I just read spring is when they run so not really worth going after them in november even though they can turn up. Its looking like I may be better off staying in Ohio and going to the V. if I have the chance. Hopefully I will be able to do some fishing , with all the time and the good vehicle while my wife is visiting her mother I should be able to.


Coho don't run into the rivers in the spring. Not sure where you heard that. The run is in the Fall just after the Kings. I know the lake fisherman catch a lot in the lake in the Spring. Maybe that's what you read. Browns will be running also. I'm not sure how much of a fishery there on the southern portion of the lake.

As for Ohio, I predict a worse run this year than last. Mostly due to the stocking numbers from 2011. Then it may be even worse the next year. I'll still be on the river here and there though. Mainly for exercise and 'scenery' though.


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## lowhole4trowt (Feb 1, 2014)

Lundfish said:


> As for Ohio, I predict a worse run this year than last. Mostly due to the stocking numbers from 2011. Then it may be even worse the next year. I'll still be on the river here and there though. Mainly for exercise and 'scenery' though.


Would've been nice in a year when funds were going elsewhere to cut conny way down and distribute them amongst our more accessible streams maybe.


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

Lundfish said:


> Coho don't run into the rivers in the spring. Not sure where you heard that. The run is in the Fall just after the Kings. I know the lake fisherman catch a lot in the lake in the Spring. Maybe that's what you read. Browns will be running also. I'm not sure how much of a fishery there on the southern portion of the lake.
> 
> As for Ohio, I predict a worse run this year than last. Mostly due to the stocking numbers from 2011. Then it may be even worse the next year. I'll still be on the river here and there though. Mainly for exercise and 'scenery' though.


Last year was a pretty decent run. In april and may, I had several 6+ fish days only swinging big intruder/spey flies on the grand between Beatty Landing and Harpersfield.

In fact, I caught a fresh chromer around 24" in Gates Mills in mid October.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

Lundfish said:


> Coho don't run into the rivers in the spring. Not sure where you heard that. The run is in the Fall just after the Kings. I know the lake fisherman catch a lot in the lake in the Spring. Maybe that's what you read. Browns will be running also. I'm not sure how much of a fishery there on the southern portion of the lake.
> 
> As for Ohio, I predict a worse run this year than last. Mostly due to the stocking numbers from 2011. Then it may be even worse the next year. I'll still be on the river here and there though. Mainly for exercise and 'scenery' though.



I did some reading on the michigan sportsman forum and michigan DNR , they talk about the best time to catch them from a pier is around april/may and some articles actually stating that the run is in full swing then. One person on the michigan sportsman forum told me that too , so I dont know what to think about it.


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## yonderfishin (Apr 9, 2006)

yonderfishin said:


> I did some reading on the michigan sportsman forum and michigan DNR , they talk about the best time to catch them from a pier is around april/may and some articles actually stating that the run is in full swing then. One person on the michigan sportsman forum told me that too , so I dont know what to think about it.



I think I may have it figured out now. The references I read to the coho "run" being in april/may are wrong , thats the best time for catching them from piers apparently due to a migration pattern that starts at the southern part of lake Michigan and moves its way north , whoever is writing the stuff I read must be confusing that with a traditional salmon "run". Everything does suggest spring for catching them from a pier though.


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## ejsell (May 3, 2012)

That makes sense, we've caught them in late October in the the Betsie and Platte rivers in late October. They seem to come in shortly after or near the end of the king run there. We saw and caught a couple of fresh ones as the kings were dying after spawning the last week of October but it was obvious their run was about over.


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