Michigan Flies

Hatches / stonefly

Tiny Black Stonefly

A

Allocapnia spp. (A. granulata, A. pygmaea, A. vivipara, A. minima in Michigan)

Also called Tiny Winter Black, Snowfly, Little Black Stonefly, Allocapnia, Capniidae.

The first insect of the year: tiny black stoneflies crawling on shelf ice and bank snow from January into April, extremely abundant in Michigan's alkaline groundwater rivers. Nymphs migrate toward shore in the drift on warm afternoons, which makes a #16-18 black stonefly nymph a top winter and early-spring steelhead and trout fly on sunny days in clear water. Adults are on the water in the afternoon and occasionally bring trout up on the Muskegon tailwater. Fish it as a point fly with an egg on a dropper for steelhead, and best around 1-4 pm.

#16–20middayafternoonnymphadultblack bodydark gray wing folded flatnearly black nymph

© Patrick Hanly · CC BY · iNaturalist · Meridian Charter Township, MI · 2022

Timing by region

  1. Southeast Lower Peninsula
    1. J
    2. F
    3. M
    4. A
    5. M
    6. J
    7. J
    8. A
    9. S
    10. O
    11. N
    12. D
    Window
    Dec 18 – Apr 16
    Peak
    —
  2. Southwest Lower Peninsula
    1. J
    2. F
    3. M
    4. A
    5. M
    6. J
    7. J
    8. A
    9. S
    10. O
    11. N
    12. D
    Window
    Dec 22 – Apr 20
    Peak
    —
  3. Northeast Lower Peninsula
    1. J
    2. F
    3. M
    4. A
    5. M
    6. J
    7. J
    8. A
    9. S
    10. O
    11. N
    12. D
    Window
    Jan 1 – Apr 30
    Peak
    —
  4. Northwest Lower Peninsula
    1. J
    2. F
    3. M
    4. A
    5. M
    6. J
    7. J
    8. A
    9. S
    10. O
    11. N
    12. D
    Window
    Jan 1 – Apr 30
    Peak
    —
  5. Upper Peninsula
    1. J
    2. F
    3. M
    4. A
    5. M
    6. J
    7. J
    8. A
    9. S
    10. O
    11. N
    12. D
    Window
    Jan 22 – May 21
    Peak
    —

Flies that match

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