Fly patterns

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

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

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

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 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