Fly patterns

Michigan's own fly, born on the Boardman, and still the default searching dry on every river in the state. Hawkins recommends a slim-tied #10 to #12 Adams for Gray Drake spinner falls at dusk on the Pere Marquette and Muskegon, and smaller sizes pass for most gray-winged mayflies from April through October.

Dry fly

The Little Black Stonefly (Allocapnia, Taeniopteryx) is the first insect steelhead see in numbers, peaking late February through April, and Current Works ranks it among Michigan's top five steelhead flies, best on sunny days in clear water. Nymphs stir at 36 F water and crawl on shelf ice; fish a weighted #8 to #12 stone as the point fly with an egg on a tag, and #14 to #18 for the tiny winter stones. Chuck Hawkins ties it large during spring runoff.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Baetis hatch three broods in Michigan, with the biggest in early May, a second in late June and a third in September, and they run through winter on the Muskegon and Big Manistee tailwaters. Current Works lists BWOs #16 to #22 as year-round on the Upper Manistee. Fish it midday, especially on overcast, drizzly afternoons, and go down to #24 for the late-season Pseudocloeon on the Muskegon.

Dry fly

Grayling's dark all-purpose mayfly, listed by Hawkins in #10 to #16 for Mahogany and Isonychia spinners. It doubles as a Hendrickson and Black Quill dun in spring and a fall Mahogany Dun on the Pere Marquette from mid September through October. Fish it at dusk for Iso spinner falls from June through September.

Dry fly

Brown Drakes hatch at dusk into darkness for only three to seven nights per reach, moving upriver, from late May to mid June on the Au Sable, Pere Marquette and Upper Manistee (mid June to mid July in the U.P.). Fish a #8 to #12 extended-body parachute from 8 pm to midnight over sand and silt flats where the nymphs burrow.

Dry fly

The spinner fall at dusk into darkness is the best Brown Drake fishing, often on the same nights as the emergence in early June. Fish a #8 to #10 spent-wing pattern with a short leader on the South Branch Au Sable, Boardman and Pere Marquette, listening for rises after dark.

Dry fly

Developed around 2000 by Russ Maddin while at Galloup's Troutsman shop, the articulated fly that 'ushered in the age of articulated streamers,' used on the Au Sable and Manistee for big browns. Streamside sells it in Root Beer, a crayfish-brown that fishes in average flows on sunny or stained days. Strip it with a jerk-strip retrieve in April, May and the pre-spawn fall.

Streamers

A multi-color yarn rag egg that Hawkins calls 'a deadly fly' under a float on the Manistee and that 'will fool most salmon and steelhead.' Chuck Hawkins sizes it dime-sized in pinks and oranges before runoff, quarter-sized in chartreuse, orange and bright yellow during runoff, and muted afterward; Kraimer fishes a quarter-sized Clown as the attractor above a smaller realistic egg. Fish it under an 8 to 20 g float or chuck-and-duck from fall through April.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck

Tommy Lynch's wedge-headed articulated fly that 'swims differently with every strip to mimic an injured baitfish,' with a profile largest at the head and slender behind. Retrieve it with one sharp pop, three short strips, then let it swim and die out; several Pere Marquette and Upper Manistee browns over 24 inches have taken it. Best on a floating or intermediate line over structure in spring and fall.

Streamers

A leech profile with an egg hot spot, recognized as one of the most effective flies on Great Lakes tributary steelhead streams and, per Current Works, less intrusive than most patterns for selective fish. Betts fishes it for Pere Marquette fall salmon, and Michigan coho anglers swing it through runs and tailouts. Dead-drift or swing black, purple or olive bodies with chartreuse, orange, red or pink heads from September through April; #8 versions take pink salmon.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Streamers

The all-purpose adult caddis for Michigan's May through October caddis season, which Houghton's Manistee work shows peaking in early to mid July with flight heaviest an hour or two after sunset. Carry tan #14 to #16 for Hydropsyche, black #16 to #20 for the spring black caddis, and #8 to #10 orange for October Caddis. Skitter it at dusk when egg-layers are on the water.

Dry fly

A bright pink and chartreuse head over a leech body on a #2 to #4 3XL streamer hook, 'one of the most reliable Midwest swung fly patterns' and exceptional in cold winter water when steelhead are lethargic. Swing it slow and deep on a Skagit head and sink tip from November through the spring on the Muskegon, Manistee and U.P. rivers.

Swinging flies (spey / switch)

Black marabou and schlappen over peacock and orange Ice Dub with pink and copper Flashabou, on a 25 mm Senyo shank with a trailer or a Daiichi 2461. Originating on the Muskegon, it is 'great through fall' when steelhead have switched from lake alewife to river shiners and respond to flash. Swing it from October through December.

Swinging flies (spey / switch)

The original yarn egg, still in every Michigan steelhead box in Oregon Cheese, Golden and Chartreuse per Current Works, with a #12 short-shank scud hook the all-around Pere Marquette size and #14 to #16 for low clear water. For salmon, Trails to Trout advises blue, black and chartreuse pre-spawn and red, pink and orange during the spawn, in #6 to #8. Cream and pale yellow versions carry through the winter and the April to May sucker spawn.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Euro / tight-line nymphing

The generalist buggy nymph for Michigan's clinger mayflies and caddis pupae, and MidCurrent lists a #10 to #14 Hare's Ear among winter steelhead nymphs. Dead-drift it under an indicator all season for trout, and as a trailer behind an egg or stonefly for steelhead.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing

A Michigan steelhead staple: the green Rhyacophila larva is 'effective on the Muskegon River for steelhead' and Current Works lists caddis #6 to #12 among its top five, bright green or chartreuse for stained water and olive or cream naturals for low clear flows. Betts names green caddis larvae with Hex nymphs and eggs on the Pere Marquette flies-only water. Fish it as the trailer behind an egg or stonefly, year-round.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Current Works' number one Michigan steelhead fly, because most steelhead rivers (Muskegon, Manistee, Pere Marquette, Au Sable, St. Marys) hold silt-burrowing Hexagenia and trout may see up to 2,000 nymphs a day outside the hatch. Fish #6 to #8 under an indicator or chuck-and-duck year-round for steelhead, in the two weeks before the June hatch for trout, and in July for St. Marys Atlantic salmon.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Hex spinners fall shortly after dark one to three nights after the duns emerge, and the spent-wing pattern is what the largest browns eat once the flat is covered in dead bugs. Fish a #4 to #8 spinner from about 10:30 pm on Au Sable, Manistee and Pere Marquette silt flats in late June and early July.

Dry fly

Chimarra aterrima emerges midday and lays eggs late afternoon from April 20 to June 30, peaking May 1 to 14, alongside the Hendricksons on the Au Sable, Upper Manistee, Boardman and Pere Marquette; on the Muskegon black caddis are extremely heavy at dusk mid May through June. Fish a #16 to #20 black adult or emerger low in the film.

Dry fly

Joe Cermele's 'mousified gurgler with good wake,' which Sipping Mayflies says to 'just buy and be done with it.' The foam lip pushes water on a slow steady strip with pauses, so fish feel it in the dark; fish it on pitch-dark nights on a stout 8 to 12 lb leader, letting it swing around toward the bank.

Mousing (night)

A Hex dun named by Hawkins for the giant Michigan mayfly, which emerges after dark once water reaches 68 F, peaking June 21 to July 7 on the Au Sable and Manistee (June 8 to 20 on the Muskegon, two to three weeks later in the U.P.). Fish it from 10 pm on a 6 ft 2X leader over silt banks, casting to the sound of rises.

Dry fly

Foam back, deer or elk hair body and rabbit-strip tail, sold in #4 and #6, the most widely stocked mouse for Michigan night fishing. Mousing runs July through September with late August and September prime; cast tight to the bank after 10:30 pm and swing or slow-strip it across shallow flats on the Au Sable, Pere Marquette and Upper Manistee at 52 to 68 F water.

Mousing (night)

The deer-hair-head sculpin archetype that every Michigan articulated streamer descends from. Slimy and mottled sculpins are the most available forage in Michigan trout streams (about 90 percent of prey in the Anna River), so a #4 to #8 Muddler fished dead-drift and stripped along the bottom works year-round; small Muddlers #8 to #12 serve brook trout, and a weighted #8 takes pink salmon.

Streamers · Swinging flies (spey / switch)

A McFly Foam or Glo Bug yarn core under a yarn veil that goes translucent when wet, imitating the milky, non-viable eggs that make up most of the drift. Tied on a Gamakatsu C14S or TMC 2457 #8 to #12 (TMC 105 #6 to #10 for salmon); natural combinations for clear water, Chartreuse over Flame and Flame over Cerise for high or stained flows. Fish it behind spawning salmon from September through November, with aging-egg colors through winter, and natural steelhead-egg shades in March and April on the Manistee, Betsie, PM, Muskegon and Au Sable.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Euro / tight-line nymphing

A U.P. steelhead guide's nymph rig runs double-bead stoneflies and Pat's Rubber Legs #8 to #10 in black and brown as the point fly ahead of an egg or caddis. For trout it is a generic big stonefly for the Pine, Upper Manistee and Sturgeon, fished deep in fast water year-round; Michigan trout sources do not name it, so treat the trout use as generic.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Old Au Sable Fly Shop names a #12 to #14 Pheasant Tail as the Hendrickson nymph, and it covers every Michigan Ephemerella and Baetis nymph before and during a hatch. A beadhead #10 is a standard trailer fly in U.P. steelhead rigs, and #12 to #20 versions take pink salmon in clear water. Fish it dead-drifted under an indicator or on a tight line in the weeks before each mayfly hatch.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Gray Drake nymphs crawl out to emerge, so the spinner is the only stage worth imitating, and this is the Michigan pattern for it. Spinner flights happen every evening from 7 pm until dark from the third week of May through July on the Muskegon and Pere Marquette, and in June on most northern rivers. Fish it over riffly current where the mating swarms drop.

Dry fly

The Au Sable guide standard for the first of the Big Five hatches, fished from the last week of April into mid May when water holds 50 to 55 F. Duns come off mid-afternoon (2 to 5 pm on the Au Sable) for one to two hours; drift it drag-free over riffles and tailouts. Carry both the dark male and lighter female shades in #12 and #14.

Dry fly

Rusty spinner for the Hendrickson fall, which happens late afternoon into dusk over riffles and is often compressed into about thirty minutes. Cool evenings suppress the fall and push it to the next morning. Fish it flush in the film below riffles from late April through mid May.

Dry fly

Grayling's all-purpose pale mayfly, an extended deer-hair body under a parachute post, sized #4 through #18 to cover Sulphurs, Cahills, Brown Drakes and the Hex. Hawkins names a large Roberts Yellow Drake as a Hex dun and spinner; fish it after dark in late June on a short 6 ft 2X leader. Every Au Sable shop stocks it.

Dry fly

Supinski's Muskegon chart says 'rusty spinners at dark' for Sulphurs, and the same fly covers Hendrickson, Cahill and March Brown falls over riffles at sunset. Fish it flush in the film at dusk from May through July when you see spent wings in the foam lines.

Dry fly

Galloup's heavy-headed articulated streamer: natural 'mimics everything from sculpins to juvenile trout and chub minnows' and is the go-to in clear or pressured water, olive suits clear to slightly stained flows, and Crawdad Orange is for off-color or stained water. Fish four to six inch versions with a heavy tip in spring runoff and again in October and November; MeatEater lists it for average fall flows.

Streamers

A yellow chenille and fox squirrel Hex nymph that has been a Michigan steelhead fly for more than fifty years. Schrems West Michigan TU calls it effective year-round and especially in winter on the Muskegon. Dead-drift it on the bottom in runs below gravel; the bright variants double as an attractor in stained water.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck

Current Works' Steelhead Bugger #6 sits in its Michigan top five, and U.P. guides run a beadhead Woolly Bugger #8 in black or green in the nymph rig. Dead-drift it as the point fly with an egg trailing, or swing it through tailouts; it covers leeches, sculpins and crayfish at once.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Swinging flies (spey / switch)

Loops of angora or knitting yarn imitating the 2 to 3 mm pale-yellow egg clusters of white suckers and redhorse, which spawn late April into late May (peak around May 10 in the Detroit River study) on the same gravel trout and drop-back steelhead use. Betts reports over 100,000 redhorse ascending the Muskegon in May and June with big trout feeding behind the redds, and Current Works and Betts both fish pale yellow sucker spawn for spring steelhead and walleye eggs. Fish it #10 to #14 under an indicator directly below sucker redds; the U.P. window runs into June.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Michigan Sulphurs emerge slowly through the film and trout often refuse duns, so emergers with a trailing shuck outfish the dry from mid May through July on the Au Sable, Pere Marquette and Muskegon. Fish it low in the film during the afternoon and evening emergence in 52 to 60 F water; size #16 for invaria and #18 to #20 for dorothea.

Dry fly

Current Works' first-named hopper for the mid July through September grasshopper season on the Upper and Lower Manistee, Betsie and Boardman, when 'grasshoppers and other terrestrial patterns come out of the box.' Hit the bank and plop, twitch and dead-drift it midday after the dew burns off; hang a beetle or ant behind it.

Dry fly

The morning spinner fall, 6 to 10 am, from July 20 to mid October on the Au Sable, Boardman and Pere Marquette (August 3 onward in the U.P.). Supinski's Muskegon chart says fish #24 double spinner patterns, since fish gorge on clumps. Requires 6X to 7X and a downstream drift over flat water.

Dry fly

The most-cited Michigan salmon fly: black, olive and purple buggers for Chinook and coho, 'essential' on the Pere Marquette, swung or dead-drifted into staged fish from September through October, especially in off-color water. A #8 beadhead in black, olive or pink is the standard pink salmon fly on the St. Marys and Carp in September, and #8 to #12 buggers serve brook trout and small browns all season. Downsize and slow down for trout, upsize and add a hot head for salmon.

Streamers · Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck

Black-bodied #20 to #24 midges are the main winter food on the Muskegon tailwater from November through April, with heavy hatches near springs on warm afternoons. Fish a Zebra Midge as a dropper under a small indicator or behind a scud; it also takes pink salmon in clear water and St. Marys Atlantics feeding on midges in late summer.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Developed by Kelly Galloup in the mid 1990s for the Manistee, a neutrally buoyant deer-hair sculpin that dives and darts on a sink tip. The original is a mellow sulphur yellow; Galloup's rotation runs white, black, tan, olive, yellow and chartreuse, with light colors on bright days, olive or gray under clouds and tan when the river 'turns yellow' in late afternoon. Fish #2 to #4 hardest in April and May and late September through November, and #6 through summer at dawn and dusk.

Streamers

Current Works lists the 20 Incher among its Michigan steelhead stoneflies #6 to #12, alongside Ted's Early Black Stone and Mercer's Biot Epoxy Stone. It doubles as a golden stone nymph for trout from mid May through August, fished tight to the banks where Acroneuria nymphs migrate before crawling out.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Euro / tight-line nymphing

A frog-and-mouse waking fly from the Mangled Fly night box, fished with McCoy's Mouse, gurglers and frogs for nocturnal browns from July through September. The DNR lists amphibians and small rodents in adult brown trout diets; pop and pause it along weedy edges and slow flats after dark.

Mousing (night)

Matches the Great Mahogany or Black Quill (Leptophlebia cupida), a #10 to #14 spring mayfly on Michigan charts from late April to mid June, and the Muskegon's 'Early Quills' around May 10. It emerges midday, often crawling out, so a low-floating parachute or emerger works best in the slow edges where the nymphs live.

Dry fly

Current Works reaches for black leeches (String Leech, Silvey's Tail Light, Miles Davis, Larimer's Reverse Marabou) in high, dirty water, when a dark silhouette shows better than any natural color. Betsie salmon anglers use dark leeches with flash dead-drifted or swung. Fish it during spring runoff and after fall rains.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Chuck and duck · Streamers

A pale egg with a contrasting blood dot, designed by Great Lakes guide Jeff Blood to resemble a spawn-bag cluster. Its washed-out body matches aging eggs from November through February, when most drifting eggs are milky with patches of color. Fish it #10 to #14 in clear winter water.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck

Matches the Little Mahogany (Neoleptophlebia adoptiva), a #16 to #18 mayfly that emerges midday once water has held above 50 F for a few days, from mid April into early July with a peak in the first half of May. Fish it in slower edges and eddies alongside the Hendrickson, since the two overlap on the Au Sable and Manistee.

Dry fly

A Galloup articulated streamer with a broad marabou and rabbit profile and a heavy head for deep, fast runs. Not named in the Michigan notes; treat it as a generic member of the Michigan-born articulated family, in black or dark olive for high or stained spring and fall water.

Streamers

Ed McCoy's high-floating Hex pattern, recommended by Hawkins alongside the All Day Dun and a large Roberts Yellow Drake. It rides through the chop of a night rise and is easy to track by sound and feel. Fish it during the late June to mid July Hex window on the Au Sable, Manistee, Pere Marquette and Rifle.

Dry fly

A Galloup articulated streamer with a rabbit-strip body and a deer-hair collar, a slimmer cousin of the Sex Dungeon from the Michigan streamer school. The notes did not find a Michigan source naming it; fish it as you would a Zoo Cougar in the April to May and late September to November streamer windows.

Streamers

Current Works names Chernobyl Ants among its Michigan terrestrials for the July and August peak, along with Club Sandwiches and Fuzzy Wuzzies. A big foam attractor that suggests hoppers, beetles and cicadas at once; plop it against the bank and twitch on the Manistee and Betsie.

Dry fly

A white-winged foam hopper that is the most common dry-dropper indicator fly in the country, though the notes found no Michigan guide naming it. Use it from July through September to float a nymph along Au Sable and Manistee banks, or in yellow during the golden stone weeks of June.

Dry fly

Current Works strips a Flashtail Clouser on sink tips for fresh Betsie and Manistee salmon, and chartreuse/white and pink Clousers are coho standards. In white and gray it doubles as a smelt or alewife imitation for St. Marys Atlantics in late June and July. Fish it with fast strips in the lowest holding water above the lake.

Streamers · Swinging flies (spey / switch)

Krystal Flash and Flashabou-winged flies (Pope's, California Neon, Pink Pop Cycle) built for coho, which respond to flash more than kings. Chartreuse is best in low light or slightly murky water. Strip or swing them for fresh chrome coho in the lower Platte, Manistee, Betsie and St. Joseph from mid September into November; the recommendation is general coho lore, not Michigan-sourced.

Streamers · Swinging flies (spey / switch)

An Au Sable guide calls crayfish 'one of the main staples of a brown trout's diet,' the Escanaba is fished with crayfish patterns, and Michigan steelhead stomachs have held crayfish. Bounce a rust or olive crayfish along the bottom of gravel runs in summer and early fall, or use Crawdad Orange streamers in stained water.

Streamers · Indicator nymphing

A Sucker Spawn tied with dyed pearl Diamond Braid instead of yarn, so it flashes in off-color water. Supinski lists 'Krystal Meth weave eggs' among PM, Muskegon, Au Sable and Platte winter staples, and Great Lakes guides rate it best in dirty water. Retail sizes #8 to #14; fish it larger and brighter as flows rise.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck

Michigan charts list the Early Brown Stonefly #10 to #14 from March 15 to May 10, 1 to 7 pm, following the black stones as the trout opener approaches. Dead-drift a brown stone nymph along the edges of riffles in April on the Au Sable and Manistee before the Hendricksons start.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing

A yolk-sac fry imitation in Chuck Hawkins' spring Great Lakes top five, dead-drifted or swung when Chinook alevins emerge from the gravel in March and April; fish also take it as a caddis larva dislodged by spawning steelhead. Michigan TU notes alevin and smelt patterns are effective in spring on rivers with a prior fall salmon run.

Indicator nymphing · Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Streamers

A single strand of Estaz chenille wound into a ball, which the Pere Marquette River Lodge says 'should be in every steelheader's fly box if you're fishing the PM,' tied in chartreuse, pink and peach. Best in dirty water; fish it #10 to #12 as the bright attractor in a two-egg rig from September through April.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck

A foam hopper and cicada that floats a heavy dropper, listed by RiverReports with the Parachute Hopper, Charlie Boy and Moorish Hopper for August on the Au Sable. Fish it hopper-dropper style along banks and under overhanging cedars from mid July through September.

Dry fly

Feenstra's rabbit-strip and flash sculpin, sold by shops as the Aqua Nuisance: a size 1 or 1/0 fly that 'shines during the fall and spring months when fish are aggressive,' in low light and stained water, for steelhead, salmon and large trout. Feenstra fishes it fall through spring and rates it best in water over 38 F. Swing it on a heavy tip through the deep runs of the Muskegon and Big Manistee.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Streamers

An articulated Hexagenia nymph from Feenstra's favorites: a size 10 rear hook of possum tufts and dirty yellow dubbing joined by 20 lb mono to a size 6 front hook with mono eyes, a brown hen-hackle leg pull and an Antron shellback. The wiggle of the two hooks does what a burrowing Hex nymph does in the drift. Spring steelhead on the Muskegon eat Hex nymphs, and it stays in play for browns through the July hatch.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing · Chuck and duck

Feenstra's articulated egg-and-fry: a size 10 rear hook wound with white grizzly marabou, joined by mono to a size 6 egg hook that carries craft eyes, a possum collar, pearl flash fins and a pink Ice Dub thorax. It reads as an egg with a fry attached, which is what drifts below spawning gravel in spring and behind salmon redds in fall. Drift it under an indicator or swing it slow on the Muskegon, Manistee and PM.

Indicator nymphing · Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Chuck and duck

Kevin Feenstra's all-purpose sculpin: a grizzly marabou tail, an emu-feather body palmered with schlappen, mallard flank fins and a possum or wool head. Devised as a smallmouth fly, it became a favorite steelhead fly that Feenstra describes as working year-round for multiple species; swing it on a sink tip in the Muskegon and Manistee.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Streamers

Feenstra's winter sculpin: purple grizzly hen, dark olive marabou, merlot and avocado Flashabou, a possum and moss-blue dubbing head. His reasoning is that sculpins take on the colour of the river bottom, and in late winter the Muskegon's bottom moss runs brown-olive to blue-green, so the fish key on olive with a purple cast. Swing it, or slow-strip and swing it for winter browns; tie it on a hook rather than a shank if you mean to strip it.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Streamers

Kevin Feenstra's articulated sculpin on a trailing hook, layered hen hackle and grizzly marabou over a pine squirrel tail, and Chuck Hawkins' post-runoff pick for drop-back steelhead: it matches the gobies, sculpins and chubs spent fish eat as they recover in April and May. Swing it, or bounce and swing it along the bottom, through runs below spawning gravel once the water clears on the Muskegon, Manistee and Grand.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Streamers

Kevin Feenstra's shank-tied sculpin, the fly he says is most often in his box: a rabbit or pine squirrel tail, an emu-feather body palmered with schlappen, Fire Tye flash, a bulky Kraken dubbing head and a marabou veil, with the trailing hook on a braid loop. Swing it with the strip free of the hook, or pierce the strip with the hook to strip it, for steelhead and large browns on the Muskegon, Manistee and Grand.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Streamers

Brown flying ants #16 to #22 fall on the Muskegon from mid August to mid September on hot afternoons, and RiverReports notes black and cinnamon flying ants on the Au Sable during late-summer mating flights. Trout key on them hard; carry winged ants on 6X for the two-week window.

Dry fly

Galloup's foam ant, named by Current Works for the mid June through September ant season, fished dry or sunk. Ants are on Michigan charts #12 to #24 from June 15 to September 30; fish it in the film along shaded banks and after wind, and as a sunken dropper when trout refuse the floating version.

Dry fly

Pteronarcys dorsata nymphs live two to four years, so the #2 to #6 nymph is available all year and is the Pine River staple, where Hawkins calls it a river of nymphs, sculpins and baitfish rather than a surface river. Bounce it through fast pockets on the Pine, Sturgeon and Upper Manistee; the adults emerge sporadically at night from mid May to June and are rarely fished.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing · Chuck and duck

Brachycentrus emerges in intense afternoon bursts once water holds in the low 50s, from late April on Michigan charts (Mother's Day caddis), a week or two later in the U.P. Swing or dead-drift a green-bodied pupa toward the surface in the hour before the adults appear, then fish it as a dropper behind an Elk Hair Caddis.

Indicator nymphing · Dry fly · Euro / tight-line nymphing

A cluster-midge dry for trout surface-feeding on winter midges near Muskegon springs and on summer evenings on northern rivers. Fish it on 6X to 7X in slow seams when fish are dimpling on clusters of adults, typically warm afternoons from December through April on the tailwaters.

Dry fly

Foam-lipped gurglers and waking flies round out the Michigan night box per Mangled Fly, pushing a wake that big browns track in the dark. A black gurgler also works for a dark Hex or big caddis after the main hatch; strip it steadily across flats from June to mid September.

Mousing (night)

Hawkins' olive streamer for cloudy days and slightly stained water on the Manistee and Boardman, part of his top ten Michigan flies with the natural Nutcracker and the ginger Little Rascal. Strip it along wood and undercut banks in April, May and the fall.

Streamers

Au Sable guides and Old Au Sable Fly Shop both recommend an emerger or floating nymph alongside the parachute during Hendricksons. Fish it in the film or as a dropper behind the dry when trout are bulging rather than breaking the surface in the first days of the hatch.

Dry fly

Michigan charts list the Green Oak Worm #8 to #12 from May 15 to July 10, when inchworms dangle from streamside oaks into the Au Sable and Manistee. Fish a chenille or foam inchworm dead-drift under overhanging branches, floating or slightly sunk.

Dry fly · Indicator nymphing

Shank or tube-tied swing flies of two to four inches, fished Intruder-style #2 to #4 by U.P. steelhead guides and #4 to 1/0 for Great Lakes salmon in chartreuse, red, orange, black and blue. Pink and orange or black and blue for steelhead aggression in fall and high water; swing on a Skagit setup with 12 to 14 ft rods.

Swinging flies (spey / switch)

The fished stage of the Isonychia on Michigan rivers, since the strong-swimming nymphs migrate to the bank to crawl out. Swing or twitch it through cobble riffles in the evening from June to September on the Au Sable, Upper Manistee, Boardman and Muskegon.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Isonychia is one of the Au Sable's Big Five, hatching in two peaks, June and September, from mid May to the end of September. The nymphs crawl out to emerge, so Michigan guides fish nymphs and spinners more than duns; use this parachute as a spinner or searching dry on evening riffles, and midday in fall.

Dry fly

Cream Stenacron and Maccaffertium mayflies hatch from early June to mid August, 2 pm to 10 pm, and carry the evening fishing after the Hex on the Upper Manistee, Au Sable and Muskegon. Fish a #12 to #14 cream parachute or Catskill tie in the last two hours of light through July and August.

Dry fly

The smallest of Hawkins' three named streamers, a ginger fly that reads as a small sculpin or crayfish. Its size makes it the summer and low-water choice on the Boardman and Upper Manistee, following Galloup's 'when in doubt, go small' rule.

Streamers

For the fall Mahogany Duns that draw feeding fish on the Pere Marquette from mid September through October, and the Slate Wing Mahoganies of U.P. charts. Fish it on cool afternoons in slow seams; it also matches the spring Blue Quill in #16 to #18.

Dry fly

Soft-flowing marabou speys in flame orange or chartreuse are a Great Lakes steelhead swing standard, 'Spey Buggers' appear in U.P. swing boxes, and Perfect Fly lists Spey flies among St. Marys Atlantic salmon patterns. Swing them broadside on a floating or light tip from fall through spring; darker shades for clear water, bright for stain.

Swinging flies (spey / switch)

Michigan's March Brown (Maccaffertium vicarium) hatches mid May into July once water reaches the mid 50s, sporadically through the afternoon rather than in a blizzard. The same species appears as the paler Gray Fox, so carry both shades in #10 to #12. Strongest on the Upper Manistee, Muskegon and Chocolay.

Dry fly

Ed McCoy's mouse for the Au Sable, Pere Marquette and Upper Manistee, where 'the larger fish in our rivers still prefer to hunt at night' and late-summer food scarcity makes them hungry. Cast tight to banks with popping strips from July to September; McCoy stresses Michigan needs full darkness for it to work.

Mousing (night)

A small yarn egg of 6 to 8 mm for gin-clear, low water when fish demand smaller, realistic patterns. Trout hooks (Daiichi 1130, TMC 2457) #14 to #16 match the 4 to 5 mm steelhead and brown trout eggs and 2 to 3 mm sucker eggs better than a salmon-sized Glo Bug; fish it on light tippet from winter through the May sucker spawn, and on small inland streams after the October brook trout spawn.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Chuck Hawkins' natural-colored streamer, one of three he names for northern Michigan's 'big, difficult trout' where 'streamer fishing is a staple.' Fish it in clear water on the Upper Manistee and Boardman in spring and fall when a subdued fly moves more fish than a bright one.

Streamers

Pycnopsyche, about 20 mm and uniformly reddish brown, flies mostly August through October in Michigan, listed as October Caddis #8 to #14 on state charts. Skate or dead-drift a big orange-brown caddis in the evening and morning from late September into October on the Au Sable, Manistee and Pere Marquette; fall steelhead occasionally rise to it.

Dry fly

A soft translucent egg with a milking veil that closely resembles a real egg, sold in #14 in Apricot, Kiwi Opaque and Tangerine Opaque. Supinski names 'Otter Eggs' among Great Lakes winter steelhead staples; fish #14 apricot for pressured fish in low clear water from November through the May sucker spawn.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing

A lower-riding hopper named by RiverReports for August on the Au Sable, where 'August is prime terrestrial season' and hoppers show on the Pere Marquette by August. Fish it tight to grassy banks with a dead drift and an occasional twitch on flat, clear water where foam hoppers spook fish.

Dry fly

One of Chuck Hawkins' top ten Michigan flies, a parr imitation that is 'great for early spring in the Midwest' on any river with a migration of salmon parr, for steelhead, brown trout and salmon. Anna River browns selected stocked coho smolts over sculpins in May, so fish it March through June on the Muskegon, Manistee, PM and Betsie.

Streamers · Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Indicator nymphing

Pink salmon favor small bright pink or chartreuse beadhead flies with ample flash, so scale everything down: #10 to #14 nymphs and small eggs. Fish them in the St. Marys rapids, the Carp and the Chocolay from late August through early October, heaviest in odd years, in clear water; switch to bright eggs in faster water.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing · Swinging flies (spey / switch)

A Pere Marquette caddis larva named by Current Works among its Michigan steelhead caddis (with the Disco Caddis and Boogie Woogie Caddis). Fish it in tandem behind an egg on the PM's flies-only water from fall through the spring spawn.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck

Current Works fishes Rabbit Strip Leeches on sink tips with 9 to 10 weight rods for fresh salmon in the lower Betsie and Manistee, and MidCurrent lists bunny leeches with hot-spot heads #2 to #6 for aggressive steelhead. Strip or swing it through the first holding water above the lake from late August through October.

Streamers · Swinging flies (spey / switch)

Chuck Hawkins' choice for turbid spring water, an articulated rabbit-strip Hex nymph whose tail moves when the fish cannot see far. Fish it under an indicator during runoff in March and April on the Manistee and Betsie, and again in high fall water.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck

Imitates the male Hendrickson dun, which is darker and one hook size smaller than the female Light Hendrickson. Useful when fish key on the smaller males late in the Michigan Hendrickson window (early to mid May in the northern Lower Peninsula, a week or two later in the U.P.).

Dry fly

Betts reports large trout and steelhead 'feeding heavily on Chinook salmon fry along the shoreline' of the Muskegon from March into June, when salmon fry, steelhead fry and sucker fry are the bulk of the trout diet. Feenstra adds that sucker fry have a purplish hue, so lavender and pink tones work. Strip or swing a #8 to #12 fry along shallow edges.

Streamers · Indicator nymphing · Swinging flies (spey / switch)

A chenille worm for high, off-color water in spring and after fall rains, when earthworms and aquatic worms wash into the drift. The DNR lists worms in brook trout diets but the notes found no Michigan guide naming it; fish it as a heavy point fly with an egg or nymph trailer during March to May runoff, including for steelhead.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing · Chuck and duck

A sleek, neutrally buoyant articulated baitfish with a small amount of flash, MeatEater's pick for low, clear fall water when big browns want a natural profile rather than a heavy head. Fish it with a slow, erratic retrieve on a floating or intermediate line in October and November and again in clear April flows.

Streamers

Scuds #18 are the Muskegon's January to April staple beside midges, and Current Works lists scuds and sowbugs first for the Big Manistee below Tippy Dam. Supinski's winter steelhead list includes scuds. Fish an olive or gray scud dead-drift in weedy tailwater runs year-round, and orange for dead or molting scuds.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing

A tungsten, articulated early black stonefly nymph from Hallowed Waters for the February through May Allocapnia and Taeniopteryx drift on the Muskegon tailwater and other alkaline groundwater rivers. Fish it on warm sunny afternoons from 1 to 4 pm when the nymphs migrate toward the banks.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Perfect Fly lists wet flies among St. Marys Atlantic salmon patterns, and Atlantics feed on caddis and midges from mid July through August. A swung soft hackle covers emerging caddis pupae and Sulphurs on any Michigan river; swing it down and across in riffles at dusk, or hang it below a dry.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Dry fly · Indicator nymphing

Muskegon trout feed heavily on spent 'quad-wing' egg-layers at dusk, and the same happens on the Au Sable and Manistee when female caddis die on the water after ovipositing. Fish a flush-floating spent pattern on 6X in the foam lines in the last light from May through September.

Dry fly

Hydropsyche and Cheumatopsyche net-spinners are the season-long caddis from May through September on every Michigan river, and the Muskegon is 'world renowned' for them. Pupal wing pads darken a day before emergence; swing a tan or olive pupa on the rise toward dusk, or hang it under an Elk Hair. St. Marys Atlantics feed on caddis pupae from mid July.

Indicator nymphing · Dry fly · Euro / tight-line nymphing

A soft silicone worm with more action than chenille, fished the same way as a San Juan in high spring water for trout and steelhead. Not named in Michigan sources; a generic runoff fly that pairs with a Clown Egg under an indicator from March through May. Silicone counts as an artificial fly only if it is attached with thread and unscented.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing · Chuck and duck

Atlantic salmon arrive in the St. Marys tailrace in late June eating smelt and juvenile salmonids, and 'stripping large baitfish imitation patterns on sink tips can provide for some exciting strikes' until the Hex hatch in mid July switches them to insects. A three to five inch white and silver baitfish also takes lower Au Sable Atlantics below Foote Dam on streamers through the winter.

Streamers · Swinging flies (spey / switch)

A buoyant palmered dry that stands in for golden stone adults during the Hex weeks (Gates reports yellow and golden stones concurrent with the June Hex), Yellow Sallies in May and June, and October Caddis in fall. It also floats a dropper nymph in fast water on the Pine and Sturgeon.

Dry fly

A low-riding no-hackle dun for the Sulphur hatch that runs mid May into July on Michigan rivers, with an afternoon emergence window of one to two hours. Carry creamy yellow through olive and orange shades to match the Au Sable's variable naturals, in #14 to #16 for E. invaria and #18 to #20 for E. dorothea. Switch to an emerger or rusty spinner when fish refuse it.

Dry fly

A weighted, rubber-legged Michigan classic that Hawkins fishes 'on a floating line near the structure' and says 'can produce at times when nothing else will.' Current Works lists Skunks among its terrestrials. Twitch it along banks and through log jams from late May through September as a cross between a drowned hopper and a small sculpin.

Streamers · Indicator nymphing

Ephoron hatches at dusk for about two hours from around August 14 through September once water reaches 65 to 70 F, on the Au Sable, White, Huron and Escanaba. FlyFishFinder lists the White Parachute, White Wulff and White Comparadun in #14 to #16; the naturals are cream with gray wings, so avoid pure white. Females never molt, so one pattern covers dun and spinner.

Dry fly

Nectopsyche, the White Miller, hatches July 1 to September 30 on northern charts and at dark in #14 on the Muskegon from mid July through October. Fish a cream #12 to #16 caddis in the afternoon and again after dark on warm summer nights.

Dry fly

A high-floating, easily seen White Fly dun for the last light and first dark of the mid August to September hatch. Fish it in riffle tails on the Au Sable from Mio downstream and on the White River when the swarms come off around sunset.

Dry fly

U.P. steelhead guides add white Zonkers and White Deaths #8 to the spring rig when smelt and shiners are in the lower rivers. Dead-drift it under an indicator or swing it through runs from April into June on Lake Superior tributaries and the St. Marys.

Streamers · Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Indicator nymphing

One of Galloup's early Manistee patterns alongside the Zoo Cougar, a heavier bottom-hugging sculpin for the deeper runs. Fish it on a full sink or heavy tip with short rod-animated strips through log jams in spring and fall, and slow in winter on the extended-season Manistee and Boardman.

Streamers

A trailing-shuck caddis that sits low in the film, matching Troutnut's advice that Chimarra and Grannom need low-floating emergers because they emerge slowly through the surface. Fish black #16 to #20 midday during the late April to June Little Black Caddis, and tan or olive through summer evenings.

Dry fly

Current Works lists the XO Beetle and Tar Baby and suggests beetles as a dropper behind a visible pattern, since black beetles are hard to see. Michigan charts run beetles June 1 to September 30; fish it under overhanging trees, log jams and undercut banks on the Au Sable where RiverReports says black beetles produce.

Dry fly

A two-tone yarn ball tied semi-Glo Bug style that became popular around 2000, typically fluorescent orange over yellow. The orange and yellow split suggests a mixed cluster of steelhead and sucker eggs, which is why it is a late-March through May fly on the Muskegon and PM. Retail sizes #10 to #12.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck

Isoperla Yellow Sallies hatch sporadically May through June and into summer on the Upper Manistee, Jordan and Au Sable, #10 to #16 depending on the chart. Fish a small yellow stimulator-style dry in the afternoon along the banks where nymphs crawl out, or as the indicator fly over a nymph.

Dry fly

A cigar-shaped deer-hair dry that is skated or dead-drifted over holding Atlantic salmon. Generic to Atlantic salmon fishing and not named by any Michigan source for the St. Marys; a niche option for warm, low water in late summer.

Dry fly · Swinging flies (spey / switch)

A big, bright marabou attractor that a Michigan guide lists with Egg Sucking Leeches and Intruders as 'bright flies that bring out angry strikes from the salmon.' Swing or dead-drift it at the head of the pool where staged Chinook and coho hold in September and October.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Chuck and duck · Streamers

Current Works names cicadas among Michigan's summer terrestrials, sporadic rather than an annual hatch. Plop a big foam cicada against the bank during July and August when you hear them in the trees; no Michigan source gives periodical brood years.

Dry fly

A bead-chain-eyed West Coast salmon fly with a bright chenille body and long tail that sinks fast and swims hook-up. It is a generic aggression fly for Michigan Chinook and coho, swung or bounced through runs in September and October; Michigan sources do not name it.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Chuck and duck

A worm-like one to three inch larva that gets dislodged in high water, when it is most useful as a heavy point fly. Michigan sources treat crane flies mainly as yellow adults beside the Sulphurs, so this is a generic high-water nymph for spring and fall flows.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Michigan charts run crickets July 1 to October 15, and Current Works says to fish them 'after a good rainfall as they often get washed into the river.' A black foam or deer-hair cricket fished along grass banks the day after rain extends the terrestrial season into October.

Dry fly

A translucent chenille egg that George Daniel fishes in #16 'sweetcorn' during the sucker spawn, where any egg close to the natural pale-yellow color produces. Fish it as a small dropper below a heavier nymph behind sucker redds in late April and May.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Feenstra's bright-day leech: a marabou tail, olive Ice Dub body palmered with schlappen, mallard collar, bead-chain eyes and a wing of holographic gold flash topped with red, gold and green. A very bright fly for a bright, sunny day; if an aggressive fish is in the run it will draw attention in the sunlight. Swing it on the Muskegon when the low winter sun is on the water.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Streamers

A layered swing fly from Feenstra's favorites: a peach or pink rabbit tail, polar chenille through peach Estaz, and a wing of mallard flank sandwiched with grizzly marabou. The mallard turns semi-transparent in the water and the fly wobbles like a baitfish. A big-water fly for the Muskegon and Manistee when steelhead are aggressive in spring and fall.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Streamers

A classic eastern Canadian Atlantic salmon fly, swung or waked on the surface. Its use on the St. Marys is unverified; the notes found no Michigan source naming classic Atlantic patterns, so treat it as a generic option for July through October rapids fishing.

Swinging flies (spey / switch)

A classic down-wing caddis dry with a slimmer silhouette than an Elk Hair, good on flat water for the Grannom and black caddis of May and the Hydropsyche of summer. Dead-drift it in the film, then twitch as egg-laying females skitter in the last hour of light.

Dry fly

A foam beetle in metallic green and copper for the July and August Japanese beetle flight along riparian trees. The notes found no Michigan source specific to Japanese beetles, so treat it as a generic summer beetle option for the southern and mid-state rivers.

Dry fly

A multi-egg yarn or chenille cluster suggesting several 7 to 8 mm Chinook eggs washed out of a redd together. Use it #4 to #8 in high or stained October water below spawning kings and coho, keeping the hook gap under a half inch to remain a legal artificial fly on Michigan streams.

Chuck and duck · Indicator nymphing

A multi-color yarn-loop cluster in the Sucker Spawn family, suggesting a clump of eggs of mixed age. Fish it in pale yellow and cream mixes during the April to May sucker spawn and in orange mixes below salmon redds in fall, sized #8 to #12 for stained water.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck

A CDC-winged adult early black stonefly for the egg-laying flights on warm late-winter afternoons, when females beat their wings continuously on the surface. Fish it noon to 4 pm on the Muskegon and Pere Marquette from late February through April for resident trout and the occasional rising steelhead.

Dry fly

Current Works pairs sowbugs with scuds, midges, Baetis, eggs and fry as the year-round diet of trout below Tippy Dam on the Big Manistee. A flat gray sowbug #14 to #18 fished slow and deep in vegetation and gravel seams is a winter and early-spring tailwater fly.

Indicator nymphing · Euro / tight-line nymphing

A soft pheasant-rump nymph that Current Works names for nymphing Betsie and Manistee salmon on floating lines or chuck-and-duck. Its pulsing hackle reads as anything alive; dead-drift it #4 to #8 into staged kings and coho in September and October.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck

Supinski's Muskegon chart notes #16 yellow crane flies hatching along with the Sulphurs in late May and June, often confused with mayflies by anglers. Skate or dead-drift a long-legged yellow adult in the evening when fish refuse Sulphur duns on the Muskegon.

Dry fly