Fly patterns

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

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

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 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

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 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