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Steelhead Run in Michigan

Oncorhynchus mykiss, lake-run rainbow trout — 46 Michigan rivers on this map carry a run of it, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. 46 of them are inside a window as of 1 October 2026.

Steelhead, *Oncorhynchus mykiss*, the lake-run rainbow trout, run 46 Michigan rivers across three lakes — Michigan, Huron and Superior. That is more rivers than any other lake-run fish on this state's list, and Michigan's window is written out as dates rather than months: 1 Oct – 31 Dec, peaking 15 Oct – 15 Dec, one statewide figure repeated on every named river. The longest corridors are the Pere Marquette at 59.5 miles and the Little Manistee at 57.3, then the Rifle at 55.0 — the only Lake Huron water among the longest — the Muskegon at 52.0, the Grand at 42.2, the White at 36.6, the Kalamazoo at 36.4, the Manistee at 29.9, the St. Joseph at 24.3 and the Platte at 17.3.

A chrome rainbow off the lake, the stripe faint on a fresh fish and loud on one that has wintered in the river. Five to twelve pounds, bigger on the Manistee-type rivers. Two runs sit on one calendar: a fall push that winters in the river and a spring run onto the gravel. The fall fish are the reason a January river is not empty.

Where these rivers are

46 run rivers on 3 shores, drawn one shore at a time and each river in the colour of its own run stage today. One frame over all of them would be mostly open water.

Lake Michigan — the Michigan shore26 run rivers on this shore, 26 inside a window today Peak run · First runners
Lake Superior — the Michigan shore11 run rivers on this shore, 11 inside a window today Peak run
Lake Huron — the Michigan shore9 run rivers on this shore, 9 inside a window today Peak run

Drawn 1 October 2026. The ground is the subbasin mesh the app scores in, so the coastline is where the mesh stops rather than a separate shoreline; the mark at each river is its mouth, drawn for every river including the handful whose whole run corridor is under a mile and has no line to show.

Where it runs, and when

Ranked by the rivers the staging estimator models first — the sixteen systems with a USGS temperature gauge behind them — then by corridor miles. Neither is a measure of fishing, and nothing on this page ranks a fishery.

RiverLakeWindowPeakMilesStage
Pere Marquette River Michigan 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 59.5 Staging
Little Manistee River Michigan 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 57.3 Staging
Rifle River Huron 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 55.0 Staging
Muskegon River Michigan 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 52.0 Staging
Grand River Michigan 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 42.2 Staging
White River Michigan 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 36.6 Staging
Kalamazoo River Michigan 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 36.4 Staging
Manistee River Michigan 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 29.9 Staging
St. Joseph River Michigan 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 24.3 Staging
Platte River Michigan 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 17.3 Staging
Ocqueoc River Huron 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 15.4 Staging
Black River (South Haven) Michigan 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 13.1 Staging
Betsie River Michigan 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 12.5 Staging
Au Sable River Huron 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 10.2 Staging
Boardman River Michigan 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 1.1 Staging
Thunder Bay River Huron 1 Oct – 31 Dec 15 Oct – 15 Dec 1.0 Staging
Ford River Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 107.3 Staging
Cedar River (Menominee County) Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 66.2 Staging
Carp River (Mackinac County) Huron Oct–May Apr 42.4 Staging
Sturgeon River (Baraga County) Superior Sept–May Apr–May 41.3 First runners
Days River Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 28.1 Staging
Big Iron River Superior Sept–May Apr–May 24.6 First runners
Ontonagon River Superior Sept–May Apr–May 23.7 First runners
Jordan River Michigan Oct–May Mar–May 23.2 Staging
Two Hearted River Superior Sept–May Apr–May 22.6 First runners
Chocolay River Superior Sept–May Apr–May 20.5 First runners
Trap Rock River Superior Sept–May Apr–May 19.2 First runners
Salmon Trout River Superior Sept–May Apr–May 18.4 First runners
Firesteel River Superior Sept–May Apr–May 16.4 First runners
Tahquamenon River Superior Sept–May Apr–May 16.4 First runners
Whitefish River (Delta County) Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 11.7 Staging
Swan River Huron Oct–May Apr 11.4 Staging
Pentwater River Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 10.4 Staging
Anna River Superior Sept–May Apr–May 7.6 First runners
Tawas River Huron Oct–May Apr 6.0 Staging
Rogue River Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 5.6 Staging
Brevoort River Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 5.5 Staging
Nunns Creek Huron Oct–May Apr 5.1 Staging
Falls River Superior Sept–May Apr–May 5.0 First runners
Boyne River Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 4.0 Staging
Menominee River Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 2.3 Staging
Cheboygan River Huron Oct–May Apr 1.7 Staging
Manistique River Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 1.5 Staging
Escanaba River Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 1.4 Staging
Big Sable River Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 1.1 Staging
Bear River Michigan Oct–May Mar–Apr 0.1 Staging

Stage as of 1 October 2026. It moves every day and this page does not — current conditions are here.

Identification

A chrome rainbow off the lake, the stripe faint on a fresh fish and loud on one that has wintered in the river.

Size

Five to twelve pounds, and bigger on the Manistee-type rivers.

Behaviour in the river

Two runs on one calendar: a fall push that winters in the river and a spring run onto the gravel. The fall fish are the reason a January river is not empty.

Tackle and tactics

Regulations

Great Lakes tributary rules are not the inland trout rules, and they differ by river and often by reach. Michigan's regulation summary is here; the state's own guide is the regulation.

The rest of the run

Open the lake-run map →Every run river, with where the fish are holding today.Or get BirdTrout on the App Store