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Fly fishing near Marquette, Michigan
67 waters with a page on this site lie within 30 miles of Marquette, Michigan — Middle Branch Escanaba River, Escanaba River and Dead River among them. 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 1 fly shops. Everything below is measured or published — no ranking on this page is ours.
The water
| Water | Distance | Miles | July mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Branch Escanaba River | 16.5 mi | 53.4 | — |
| Escanaba River | 28.2 mi | 52.2 | 68.3 |
| Dead River | 14.7 mi | 45.4 | — |
| North Branch Ford River | 24.8 mi | 35.1 | — |
| Yellow Dog River | 24.5 mi | 32.4 | — |
| Carp River | 11.1 mi | 23.6 | — |
| Salmon Trout River | 27.5 mi | 20.7 | — |
| Black River | 24.2 mi | 18.6 | — |
| Green Creek | 16.6 mi | 17.9 | — |
| Bryan Creek | 20.8 mi | 16.0 | — |
| East Branch Escanaba River | 16.1 mi | 14.8 | — |
| Mulligan Creek | 25.1 mi | 14.5 | — |
| Trout Falls Creek | 29.5 mi | 13.9 | — |
| Carp Creek | 18.1 mi | 13.3 | — |
| Flat Rock Creek | 24.1 mi | 12.6 | — |
| Chandler Brook | 20.4 mi | 12.1 | — |
| West Branch Middle Branch Escanaba River | 22.5 mi | 12.1 | — |
| Big Brook | 21.1 mi | 10.8 | — |
| Little Garlic River | 18.5 mi | 10.6 | — |
| Schwartz Creek | 24.7 mi | 10.5 | — |
| Wilson Creek | 20.4 mi | 10.1 | — |
| McGregor Creek | 24.9 mi | 9.6 | — |
| Barnhardt Creek | 19.0 mi | 9.3 | — |
| Bismark Creek | 13.7 mi | 9.2 | — |
| Poplar Creek | 20.8 mi | 8.3 | — |
| Bass Creek | 20.9 mi | 8.3 | — |
| Camp Eleven Creek | 21.9 mi | 8.3 | — |
| Goose Lake Outlet | 15.3 mi | 8.2 | — |
| Morgan Creek | 12.4 mi | 7.5 | — |
| Cedar Creek | 10.9 mi | 7.2 | — |
| Halfway Creek | 15.6 mi | 7.0 | — |
| Bruce Creek | 26.7 mi | 7.0 | — |
| Wild West Creek | 24.0 mi | 6.4 | — |
| Nash Creek | 13.9 mi | 6.3 | — |
| Schweitzer Creek | 16.2 mi | 6.3 | — |
| Second River | 22.7 mi | 6.2 | — |
| Cherry Creek | 10.7 mi | 6.1 | — |
| Klippel Creek | 23.9 mi | 6.1 | — |
| Bear Creek | 18.0 mi | 5.8 | — |
| Flopper Creek | 18.3 mi | 5.8 | — |
| Peterson Creek | 11.9 mi | 5.7 | — |
| Johnson Creek | 22.8 mi | 5.6 | — |
| Little Brook | 21.7 mi | 5.5 | — |
| Lost Creek | 23.8 mi | 5.5 | — |
| Gambles Creek | 26.3 mi | 5.5 | — |
| O'Neal Creek | 15.1 mi | 5.2 | — |
| Iron River | 24.6 mi | 5.2 | — |
| Caps Creek | 28.7 mi | 5.2 | — |
| Miller Creek | 19.1 mi | 4.9 | — |
| Harlow Creek | 13.1 mi | 4.8 | — |
| Little Pup Creek | 22.3 mi | 4.6 | — |
| Little East Branch Huron River | 30.0 mi | 4.2 | — |
| Brown Creek | 20.9 mi | 4.1 | — |
| Fifteen Creek | 16.2 mi | 4.0 | — |
| Cady Creek | 22.9 mi | 3.8 | — |
| Turner Creek | 28.7 mi | 3.8 | — |
| Koops Creek | 22.9 mi | 3.5 | — |
| Deer Creek | 17.9 mi | 3.2 | — |
| Midway Creek | 13.7 mi | 3.0 | — |
| Whetstone Brook | 11.3 mi | 2.4 | — |
| Norby Creek | 12.3 mi | 2.4 | — |
| Orianna Brook | 11.4 mi | 2.2 | — |
| Westren Brook | 11.8 mi | 1.9 | — |
| Rocky Creek | 21.8 mi | 1.9 | — |
| Conway Creek | 28.8 mi | 1.5 | — |
| Uncle Tom Creek | 14.8 mi | 0.9 | — |
| Clear Creek | 21.5 mi | 0.9 | — |
Straight-line distance from the middle of town to the middle of the water. The roads are not mapped here, so this page does not give you a drive time it did not measure.
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.
Dead 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.
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
- Marquette Unit — 2.4 mi
- Heartwood Forestland — 3.3 mi
- Escanaba River State Forest - Gwinn Unit — 7.2 mi
- Echo Lake Nature Preserve — 9.9 mi
- Lake LaVasseur Flooding State Wildlife Area — 10.2 mi
- Sand River / Jeske Flooding State Wildlife Area — 13.3 mi
- Marquette County Forest — 14.5 mi
- Dukes Experimental Forest — 16.4 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Little Presque Isle Cabins (fee) | 7.4 mi | MDNR |
| Little Lake State Forest Campground (fee) | 18.3 mi | MDNR |
| Bass Lake State Forest Campground (Marquette) (fee) | 21.4 mi | MDNR |
| Anderson Lake West State Forest Campground (fee) | 22.6 mi | MDNR |
| Van Riper-Modern (fee) | 28.2 mi | MDNR |
| Van Riper-Mini Cabin (fee) | 28.3 mi | MDNR |
| Van Riper-Rustic (fee) | 28.4 mi | MDNR |
| Au Train Lake Campground (fee) | 28.5 mi | USFS |
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
- Big Bay Outfitters — 24.6 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
- Middle Branch Escanaba River
- Escanaba River
- Dead River
- North Branch Ford River
- Yellow Dog River
- Carp River