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Betsie River Lake Run — Salmon, Steelhead, Brown Trout
Peak run · Chinook salmon as of 1 October 2026
12.5 miles of run water on the Betsie River, from Lake Michigan up to Homestead Dam. 4 species run it, on windows curated from MDNR guidance.
- 12.5corridor miles
- 38NHD reaches
- 4species that run
- Lake Michiganthe lake they come from
Homestead Dam is the ceiling on the Betsie — EGLE Michigan Dam Inventory, DamName 'Homestead Dam' — and it closes 12.5 miles of Lake Michigan corridor across 38 NHD reaches. The pierheads and harbour mouth run 0.0 to 1.59, the river mouth 1.58 to 4.34, the lower river 4.11 to 9.95, and the water above the first holding water 9.95 to 12.53. Eight state boating access sites sit in the corridor, among them Frankfort Municipal, Homestead Dam, Us-31, Grace Road, Lower River Road and River Road — a denser access record than most rivers on this coast carry.
The dated windows below are the staging estimator's, and it carries the same set on all sixteen rivers it models. Chinook run 15 Aug – 31 Oct, peaking 15 Aug – 15 Oct. Coho run 1 Sep – 30 Nov, peaking 15 Sep – 15 Nov. Steelhead run 1 Oct – 31 Dec, peaking 15 Oct – 15 Dec, with a spring peak in March and April. Lake-run browns hold latest of all, 20 Oct – 31 Jan, peaking 1 Nov – 15 Jan.
The questions about this river
One page each, answered from the same records as this one.
What runs the Betsie River
Each window is calendar guidance curated from the state's own run-timing prose, not a regulation and not an observation. The stage beside it is this site's reading of that window against 1 October 2026. This river is one of the sixteen the staging estimator models, so the window is shown in the estimator's dated form. Those dates are one statewide set, the same on all sixteen rivers, and no more river-specific than the months they restate — what the estimator adds here is the daily staging read, not a sharper calendar.
- Chinook salmon — 15 Aug – 31 Oct peak 15 Aug – 15 Oct Peak run. Fish stage off the harbour through August and enter as the river cools; the run peaks in October.
- Coho salmon — 1 Sep – 30 Nov peak 15 Sep – 15 Nov Peak run. Overlaps the chinook run and holds later; peak October and November.
- Steelhead — 1 Oct – 31 Dec peak 15 Oct – 15 Dec Staging, 1 day out. Two runs on one calendar — a fall push from October that winters in the river, and the spring run that peaks March through April.
- Lake-run brown trout — 20 Oct – 31 Jan peak 1 Nov – 15 Jan Off-season. Runs with the salmon and stays after them; peak October.
The ceiling
Homestead Dam is where the run stops. Everything above it is upstream of the fishery — a fish cannot pass it, so the water above holds resident trout and not run fish, whatever the calendar says.
EGLE Michigan Dam Inventory, DamName 'Homestead Dam', River 'Betsie River'
The run water, mouth to ceiling
| Zone | What it is | River miles |
|---|---|---|
| Pier | the pierheads and the harbour mouth | 0.0–1.6 |
| Mouth | the river mouth | 1.6–4.3 |
| Lower | the lower river | 4.1–9.9 |
| Upstream | above the first holding water, up to the ceiling | 9.9–12.5 |
River miles from the harbour mouth, walked up the NHDPlus HR mainstem. Fish arrive at the bottom of this table and work up it as the river cools and rises.
Access
State boating access sites inside the corridor's box, from the MDNR Boating Access Sites record. A ramp is not a wade-in — these are where a boat and a car go, and the bank between them is a question for the public land layer on the live map.
- Crystal Lake boat launch · Crystal Lake · 122 parking spaces · restroom · fee · Dnr-Prd
- Frankfort Municipal boat launch · Betsie Lake · 56 parking spaces · restroom · fee · Municipal
- Homestead Dam canoe launch · Betsie River · 50 parking spaces · restroom · fee · Dnr-Prd
- Us-31 canoe launch · Betsie River · 21 parking spaces · restroom · fee · Dnr-Prd
- Grace Road canoe launch · Betsie River · 12 parking spaces · restroom · Dnr-Prd
- Lower River Road boat launch · Betsie River · 12 parking spaces · restroom · fee · Dnr-Prd
- River Road canoe launch · Betsie River · 4 parking spaces · fee · Dnr-Prd
- Crystal Lake Beulah Boat Launch walk in
Open the Betsie River on the live map →
The Betsie River river page — gauges, temperature and regulations by reach →
Regulations
Great Lakes tributary rules are their own rules: seasons, gear and possession on run water differ from the inland trout regulations, and they differ by river and often by reach. Michigan's regulation summary is here, and the state's own guide is the regulation.
Tackle
General guidance by species, not by river — there is no record of what a given river fishes best with, and a page that invented one would be worse than a page that says so.
- Chinook salmon Spinning: a medium-heavy 8'6"–9' rod, 15–20 lb line, heavy spoons and crankbaits off the pier, skein or spawn under a float in the river.
- Coho salmon Spinning: a medium 7'–8'6" rod, 10–14 lb line, small spoons and spinners. Coho chase, and a moving bait outfishes a still one.
- Steelhead Float fishing: a long 10'6"–13' rod, 8–12 lb main line, spawn bags, beads or jigs under a slip float — the method that covers a run without wading it.
- Lake-run brown trout Spinning: a medium 7'–8' rod, 8–12 lb line, minnow plugs and spoons fished at dusk and after dark, which is when these fish move.
Nearby run rivers
The next corridors up and down this shore, nearest first.
- Platte RiverLake Michigan · 17.3 corridor miles →
- Manistee RiverLake Michigan · 29.9 corridor miles →
- Little Manistee RiverLake Michigan · 57.3 corridor miles →
- Boardman RiverLake Michigan · 1.1 corridor miles →
- Big Sable RiverLake Michigan · 1.1 corridor miles →
- Pere Marquette RiverLake Michigan · 59.5 corridor miles →