When do salmon run in the Manistee River, Michigan?

The run corridor The mouth Tippy Dam — the run stops here The piers — 9%

The pale water is where chinook were holding on 2026-09-30 — 91% of the run was still out on Lake Michigan, which this picture does not reach. That day's gauge and lake readings were measured. Drawn 30 September 2026, north up, and it is a map of the river rather than of the lake it runs from.

Peak run · Chinook salmon as of 30 September 2026

The Manistee River is running now. As of 30 September 2026 the loudest claim on it is chinook salmon at peak run, 31 days left in the window — chinook salmon 15 August to 31 October and coho salmon 1 September to 30 November. The peaks: chinook salmon 15 August – 15 October, coho salmon 15 September – 15 November, steelhead 15 October – 15 December and lake-run brown trout 1 November – 15 January 2027. Steelhead opens 1 October, 1 day out. Windows are calendar guidance curated from MDNR run-timing prose; this river is one of the sixteen the staging estimator models, so the dates above are the estimator's statewide set rather than this river's own month range, and are approximate either way.

29.9 corridor miles · Lake Michigan · windows curated from MDNR guidance · page built 30 September 2026

Every run window on the Manistee River, in date order

The window is MDNR's curated run-timing guidance placed on this year's calendar. The stage beside it is this site's reading of that window against 30 September 2026 and nothing more — it is arithmetic on a date, not an observation of the river. This is one of the sixteen rivers the staging estimator models, so the dates below are the estimator's — one statewide set applied to all sixteen, not a window measured on this river.

Species	Window	Peak	Today
Chinook salmon	15 August – 31 October 15 Aug – 31 Oct · modelled	15 August – 15 October	Peak run 31 days left in the window
Coho salmon	1 September – 30 November 1 Sep – 30 Nov · modelled	15 September – 15 November	Peak run 61 days left in the window
Steelhead	1 October – 31 December 1 Oct – 31 Dec · modelled	15 October – 15 December	Not yetopens in 1 day
Lake-run brown trout	20 October – 31 January 2027 20 Oct – 31 Jan · modelled	1 November – 15 January 2027	Not yetopens in 20 days
Lake sturgeon	1 April 2027 – 30 June 2027 Apr–June · calendar	1 May 2027 – 31 May 2027	Not yetopens in 183 days

What opens next

Steelhead — 1 October 1 day from 30 September 2026, running to 31 December, peak 15 October – 15 December.
Lake-run brown trout — 20 October 20 days from 30 September 2026, running to 31 January 2027, peak 1 November – 15 January 2027.
Lake sturgeon — 1 April 2027 183 days from 30 September 2026, running to 30 June 2027, peak 1 May 2027 – 31 May 2027.