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Escanaba weekend fly fishing trip
47 waters in the Escanaba watershed, Michigan, have a page here, the largest of them Middle Branch Escanaba River, Escanaba River and Hunters Brook. June, July and September carry the most recorded hatches, 22 insects in June, 19 insects in July and 15 insects in September. In range: 8 blocks of public land with a page of their own, 8 state-forest campgrounds and 3 fly shops. Everything below is measured or published — no ranking on this page is ours.
The water
Ordered by mapped length. July mean is measured at the USGS gauges standing in each river; a dash means no gauge on it reports temperature.
A 3-day plan
Middle Branch Escanaba River
No site in the state's access file falls within twelve miles of this water's centre, so the way in is public ground and road crossings.
Escanaba River
No site in the state's access file falls within twelve miles of this water's centre, so the way in is public ground and road crossings.
Hunters Brook
No site in the state's access file falls within twelve miles of this water's centre, so the way in is public ground and road crossings.
Assembled, not written: the days are the largest waters in range, longest first, and each one carries the nearest site in Michigan's own access file — measured from the middle of the water, so it is a place to start looking rather than a landing on that river. Fish them in whatever order the weather gives you.
Hatches to hit
The months with the most recorded hatches in the Upper Peninsula: June (22), July (19), September (15).
| Insect | Months | Hook |
|---|---|---|
| Fish Eggs | October–January and April | #10–16 |
| Little Black Stonefly | January–April | #16–18 |
| Little Brown Stonefly | February–April | #12–16 |
| Blue-Winged Olive | March–May and September–November | #16–22 |
| Blackfly | April–June | #18–22 |
| Cranefly | April–June and September–October | #6–10 |
| Grannom | April–May | #14–16 |
| Green Rock Worm / Green Weenie | April–June and September–October | #10–14 |
| Hendrickson | April–May | #12–14 |
| Alderfly | May–June | #10–14 |
| Caterpillar | May–September | #8–14 |
| Crayfish | May–October | #4–8 |
| Giant Black Stonefly (Salmonfly) | May–June | #4–6 |
| Green Sedge | May–August | #12–16 |
Recorded from the Upper Peninsula, earliest first. The year-round records sit at the bottom because they are true and they are not news.
Public land in range
- Lake-36 Floodings State Wildlife Management Area — 4.6 mi
- Marquette County Forest — 12.3 mi
- Hardwood Reservoir Flooding State Wildlife Management Area — 14.4 mi
- Genes Pond Flooding State Wildlife Management Area — 17.8 mi
- Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit — 19.5 mi
- Felch Mountain Flooding State Wildlife Management Area — 19.9 mi
- Hancock Creek Flooding State Wildlife Management Area — 20.7 mi
- Delta County Forest — 21.0 mi
Blocks of ground with a page of their own, nearest first. Ownership from PAD-US as Michigan publishes it.
Camping and lodging
| Campground | Distance | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| Anderson Lake West State Forest Campground (fee) | 3.4 mi | MDNR |
| Bass Lake State Forest Campground (Marquette) (fee) | 6.3 mi | MDNR |
| Little Lake State Forest Campground (fee) | 11.7 mi | MDNR |
| Gene's Pond State Forest Campground (fee) | 17.7 mi | MDNR |
| Ski-kwe zaag’igan State Forest Campground (fee) | 26.5 mi | MDNR |
| Carney Lake State Forest Campground (fee) | 28.0 mi | MDNR |
| Little Presque Isle Cabins (fee) | 30.8 mi | MDNR |
| Van Riper-Modern (fee) | 31.9 mi | MDNR |
State-forest and state-park campgrounds from Michigan's own file. This site holds no hotel or motel data and does not pretend to: what it can tell you is where the public ground is.
Fly shops
- Caddis Shack Fly Fishing — 37.5 mi
- South Bay Outfitters — 44.7 mi, Munising
- Big Bay Outfitters — 44.9 mi
From OpenStreetMap and a curated list, across all five states on this site. Call before you drive — a shop in a file is not a shop that is open.
Before you go
- Michigan regulations
- Michigan fishing report
- Escanaba watershed
- Middle Branch Escanaba River
- Escanaba River
- Hunters Brook
- Black River
- Green Creek
- Bryan Creek