Here’s my brother Ben from LaCrosse, WI with an absolute monster, 24″ Muskegon river brown trout. Couldn’t have happened to a better person. Ben has fished the Driftless area of Wisconsin for years and landed some beautiful brown and rainbow trout over the years but told me, “nothing like this brown!” Congrats Ben! So happy you landed this incredible Muskegon river brown trout.
Ever since the DNR raised the limit to a 15″ minimum a few years back the brown trout population on the Muskegon has grown in both size and numbers. Ben’s brown is the prime example of the quality of brown trout in the Muskegon river.
Ben’s 24″ brown trout was no planter. No, this big boy was naturally reproduced from the Muskegon river as evidence by his beautifully colored, very unique, blood red adipose fin shown above. The Michigan DNR clip the adipose fin on the stocked trout and Ben’s brown has the adipose fin in tact which proves it was a naturally reproduced Muskegon river brown trout. Incredible brown Ben! Congrats Bro!! So happy for you!!
Steelhead continue to trickle in with the recent push of water and cold weather. Steelhead can be found in pockets. New chrome hens continue to enter the river system. One spot one day has no fish. Next day they’re all over it. That’s the beauty of the Mighty Mo, it keeps producing. Last river to start the migratory runs of big game fish in Michigan and the last river to end.
post by: jon fortuna