Michigan’s 5 Best Rivers for Fly Fishing

Michigan is known for its big old lakes, and its rivers are often forgotten. But that’s where I go to find a singular solitude and a multitude of fish.

Michigan’s fly fishing peaks unfold with the change of seasons. Match the hatch, and you’ll catch plenty.

Au Sable River

One of my favorite memories is fishing on the Au Sable River, while staying at the North Branch Outing Club near Grayling. Trout swim beneath the sunlight filtering through canopies of cedar and pine. The historic lodge has hosted famous visitors, like Henry and Edsel Ford, Thomas Edison, the Dodge Brothers, and even European royalty.

Each bedroom is packed with old photos and vintage decor. Attached to the lodge is an old fly shop, very Orvis-focused, with an elderly Englishman working behind the counter. Be careful, or you’ll find yourself in here for hours, chatting longer and spending more than you planned. This place is iconic, and the fishing is incredible. If you catch a reservation in the fall, they’ll even take you grouse hunting with double-barreled shotguns.

In this river, you’ll find bright yellow-spotted brown trout and skinny boats made out of old logs. Have a cigar. Drink a beer. The river is long and this can easily become quite the day trip. But you won’t go hungry: The club is also famous for their charcuterie boards.

Pere Marquette River

Venturing west, the Pere Marquette River winds through the Manistee National Forest, with riffles and pools teeming with wild steelhead and aggressive resident trout. Fly fishing here is always an adventure, and you can fish it year-round.

There are always fish to be caught: salmon, steelhead, sturgeon. The river is divided into sections, each fishing differently. The upper Manistee is loaded with trout. Below the Tippy Dam, you’ll find migratory fish. Come in the spring to chase steelhead on egg pattern flies. In the summer, you can target brown and rainbow trout, or find hidden pockets to catch walleye, smallmouth bass, and pike.

Early fall is the best time to visit, but you’ll need to book ahead—people crawl out of the hills for salmon season. Coho and King Salmon take over the river to spawn, turning the water into a frenzy of orange eggs and hungry brown trout. The salmon, in their final act, swim upstream to die, their bodies are decaying, but they are still aggressive. During the fall, steelhead trout return to feast on the eggs left behind by the salmon, and the cycle continues.