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Kalamazoo weekend fly fishing trip
19 waters in the Kalamazoo watershed, Michigan, have a page here, the largest of them Kalamazoo River, Rabbit River and Bear Creek. June, July and August carry the most recorded hatches, 19 insects in June, 21 insects in July and 18 insects in August. In range: 8 blocks of public land with a page of their own, 8 state-forest campgrounds and 5 fly shops. Everything below is measured or published — no ranking on this page is ours.
The water
| Water | Miles | July mean |
|---|---|---|
| Kalamazoo River | 130.4 | 71.3 |
| Rabbit River | 61.6 | — |
| Bear Creek | 23.5 | — |
| Swan Creek | 20.3 | — |
| Miller Creek | 18.9 | — |
| Augusta Creek | 17.7 | — |
| North Branch Rice Creek | 13.2 | — |
| Sand Creek | 11.8 | — |
| Portage Creek | 11.2 | — |
| Minges Brook | 10.7 | — |
| Silver Creek | 10.2 | — |
| Pine Creek | 10.1 | — |
| Mann Creek | 8.7 | — |
| Rice Creek | 7.1 | — |
| Dickinson Creek | 5.6 | — |
| Peach Orchard Creek | 4.0 | — |
| Big Dailey Bayou | 3.4 | — |
| Cave Creek | 3.0 | — |
| Palmer Bayou | 0.6 | — |
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
Kalamazoo River
Nearest listed access: Lower Crooked Lake (boat launch), 0.3 mi, or Prairieville Township Park (boat launch), 3.6 mi.
Rabbit River
Nearest listed access: Bear Creek 34th Street (walk in), 3.7 mi, or Bear Creek 38th Street (walk in), 5.4 mi.
Bear Creek
Nearest listed access: Bear Creek 126th Avenue (walk in), 1.6 mi, or Bear Creek 127th Avenue (walk in), 1.9 mi.
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 southern lower Michigan: June (19), July (21), August (18).
| 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 |
| Blue Quill | April–May | #16–18 |
| Cranefly | April–June and September–October | #6–10 |
| Grannom | April–May | #14–16 |
| Hendrickson | April–May | #12–14 |
| Little Black Caddis | April–May | #16–20 |
| Caterpillar | May–September | #8–14 |
| Crayfish | May–October | #4–8 |
| Light Cahill | May–July | #12–16 |
| Little Sulphur | May–July | #16–20 |
Recorded from southern lower Michigan, earliest first. The year-round records sit at the bottom because they are true and they are not news.
Public land in range
- Lux Arbor Reserve — 2.3 mi
- Augusta Creek State Fish & Wildlife Area — 5.8 mi
- W.K. Kellogg Experimental Forest — 7.4 mi
- Kalamazoo Nature Center — 9.7 mi
- Fort Custer — 9.8 mi
- Fort Custer Recreation Area — 10.3 mi
- Barry State Game Area — 11.4 mi
- Yankee Springs Recreation Area — 12.3 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fort Custer-Group Use Area (fee) | 9.6 mi | MDNR |
| Fort Custer-Modern Campground (fee) | 10.2 mi | MDNR |
| Fort Custer-Equestrian Campground (fee) | 10.5 mi | MDNR |
| Yankee Springs-Equestrian (fee) | 10.7 mi | MDNR |
| Fort Custer-Rustic Cabins (fee) | 10.8 mi | MDNR |
| Yankee Springs Deep Lake-Rustic (fee) | 11.9 mi | MDNR |
| Yankee Springs Gun Lake-Modern (fee) | 12.3 mi | MDNR |
| Yankee Springs-Group Use Area (fee) | 12.4 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
- Bob's Gun & Tackle Shop — 15.0 mi, Hastings
- Thornapple Orvis — 35.5 mi, Ada
- Nomad Anglers — 37.4 mi, Grand Rapids
- Mac Baits — 42.6 mi, Holland
- Brenners Sporting Goods — 43.0 mi, Comstock Park
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
- Kalamazoo watershed
- Kalamazoo River
- Rabbit River
- Bear Creek
- Swan Creek
- Miller Creek
- Augusta Creek