Sturgeon River (Cheboygan County)

The bigger early black stone, #10-14, emerging from late February through April on warm afternoons and the first insect that Michigan steelhead see in numbers. Nymphs crawl to shore to emerge and drift heavily beforehand, so a weighted black stonefly nymph such as the Sly Stone Wiggle drifted along the banks is the main fly; on the Muskegon and Pere Marquette it fishes from mid-February. When females return to lay eggs on sunny afternoons, trout and even steelhead will take a #12-14 black CDC-wing adult skated on the surface. The Upper Manistee lists early black stones as its April hatch.

Michigan's large golden stoneflies emerge from mid-May through early August by crawling out on shore at night and around dawn, so the nymph is the fished stage. Nymphs spend two or more years in the riffles and migrate to slower bank water before emergence; a #6-8 golden stonefly nymph fished tight to the banks in June is a proven big-trout fly, and Hawkins' Mattress Thrasher covers the adult. Egg-laying adults on summer evenings can bring up big fish where they are locally abundant. Paragnetina media is common in Michigan collections but no source gives it separate dates.

The first of the Au Sable's Big Five, starting the last week of April and peaking the first two weeks of May on the northern rivers. Duns emerge mid-afternoon (roughly 2-5 pm on the Au Sable) for one to two hours, and spinners return to the riffles late afternoon to dusk, often compressed into a half hour; cool evenings push the spinner fall to the next morning. Fish a Pheasant Tail or dark-wingcase nymph before the hatch, then an emerger or Regan's Hendrickson Parachute (#14) during it, and a rusty spinner at dusk. The male dun is the darker Red Quill, tied a size smaller.

Michigan's signature spinner-only hatch: nymphs crawl out on shore to emerge, so the dun stage is not imitated and the whole game is the dusk spinner fall over riffled water. Most important on the Pere Marquette and Muskegon, where spinner flights occur every evening from the third week of May into July, but Gray Drakes occur on most Michigan trout streams including the Boardman and Pine. Fish Ed McCoy's Real McCoy Gray Drake Spinner or a slim-tied #10-12 Adams from 7 pm to dark, and watch for trout targeting mating doubles. Swim a gray Siphlonurus nymph through slow water near wood earlier in the day.

The third of the Au Sable's Big Five: short-lived, blizzard-like hatches from about 8 pm to midnight in the first half of June on the northern rivers, late May on the Pere Marquette and Muskegon. Each reach gets three to seven nights before the hatch moves upstream, so the trick is being on the right stretch. Duns emerge at dusk and the spinner fall into darkness is the best fishing; Brown Drakes and Sulphurs drive the evening rise on the South Branch. Fish a #10 Brown Drake dun or spinner, or a Robert's Yellow Drake, and a burrowing-nymph pattern over sand and silt before dark.

Michigan's biggest hatch and the last of the Au Sable's Big Five: 4-8 duns emerging in the dark from silt banks on muggy nights from about 10 pm, with spinner falls one to three nights after the first duns. Peak on the Au Sable Holy Water is June 20-28 (Mio Trophy Water is the classic Hex water), Manistee June 25-July 5, Pere Marquette June 10-25, Muskegon tailwater June 8-20, and the U.P. two to three weeks later (Superior Flies peak July 5-21). Fish a Hex dun or spinner such as Robert's Yellow Drake, McCoy's All Day Dun or a Boondoggle Hex on a short 6-foot 2X leader, and a Hex wiggle nymph or Spring Wiggler year-round; trout in prime habitat may see up to 2,000 nymphs a day outside the hatch. Watch water temperature from June 10 and expect the hatch within days once the Au Sable holds 62-65 F.

The all-summer caddis of Michigan rivers, from May through September and heaviest in early-to-mid July, when the Manistee system's caddis abundance peaks an hour or two after sunset. The Trails to Trout chart splits it into Spotted Sedge (#12-16, from May 1) and Cinnamon Caddis (#14-18, from May 20); both are net-spinners that emerge slowly through the film, so a sparkle pupa or soft-hackle swung at dusk is often the best fly. Larvae are available year-round in the riffles and are a steelhead and trout staple. For the egg-laying flights at dark fish a #14-16 tan elk-hair caddis; on the Muskegon the cinnamon caddis (#16) starts mid-May and the tan/olive caddis fishes into August on the Upper Manistee.