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Manistee weekend fly fishing trip
87 waters in the Manistee watershed, Michigan, have a page here, the largest of them Manistee River, Little Manistee River and Pine River. May, June and July carry the most recorded hatches, 19 insects in May, 26 insects in June and 24 insects in July. In range: 8 blocks of public land with a page of their own, 8 state-forest campgrounds and 8 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
Manistee River
Nearest listed access: Shumsky Road (canoe launch), 4.2 mi, or Fish Lake (boat launch), 5.8 mi.
Little Manistee River
Nearest listed access: Harper Lake (boat launch), 0.9 mi, or Fox Bridge (canoe launch), 1.7 mi.
Pine River
Nearest listed access: Lincoln Bridge State Forest Campground (canoe launch), 2.0 mi, or Silver Creek State Forest Campground (canoe launch), 3.3 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 northern lower Michigan: May (19), June (26), July (24).
| 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 |
| Green Rock Worm / Green Weenie | April–June and September–October | #10–14 |
| Hendrickson | April–May | #12–14 |
| Little Black Caddis | April–May | #16–20 |
| Alderfly | May–June | #10–14 |
| Caterpillar | May–September | #8–14 |
| Crayfish | May–October | #4–8 |
Recorded from northern 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
- Pere Marquette State Forest - Traverse City Unit — 9.5 mi
- East Creek Reserve — 11.8 mi
- Headquarters Lake Impoundment State Wildlife Management Area — 12.3 mi
- Brown Bridge Quiet Area — 13.7 mi
- Natural Education Reserve — 15.9 mi
- Grass Lake Flooding State Wildlife Management Area — 16.3 mi
- Manistee National Forest - Cadillac Ranger District — 16.6 mi
- McKenzie Trail — 17.3 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Baxter Bridge State Forest Campground (fee) | 3.4 mi | MDNR |
| Old US-131 State Forest Campground (fee) | 8.2 mi | MDNR |
| Spring Lake State Forest Campground (fee) | 12.7 mi | MDNR |
| Hopkins Creek State Forest Campground (fee) | 12.8 mi | MDNR |
| Hopkins Creek Equestrian State Forest Campground and Trail Camp (fee) | 13.2 mi | MDNR |
| Seaton Creek Campground (fee) | 13.5 mi | USFS |
| Long Lake State Forest Campground (Wexford) (fee) | 13.6 mi | MDNR |
| Interlochen Green Lake-Rustic (fee) | 14.1 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
- Hawkins Outfitters — 20.3 mi, Traverse City
- Streamside Orvis — 20.7 mi, Traverse City
- The Northern Angler — 20.8 mi, Traverse City
- Andy's Tackle Box — 24.0 mi, Brethren
- Schmidt Outfitters — 25.5 mi, Wellston
- Johnson's Pere Marquette Lodge — 40.8 mi, Baldwin
- Ed's Sport Shop — 41.3 mi, Baldwin
- Baldwin Bait & Tackle — 41.4 mi, Baldwin
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
- Manistee watershed
- Manistee River
- Little Manistee River
- Pine River
- Bear Creek
- North Branch Manistee River
- Silver Creek