●LIVE · MICHIGAN · 42 RIVERS COVERED
RIVER INTELLIGENCE

Read the river.

A working read for live water, future windows, and the flies worth carrying.

TALK TO THE GUIDE

Where do you want to go fishing?

START WITH A RIVER
M

Where do you want to fish? A river plus timing is enough to start; target and style will tighten the plan.

Boxes built the way the guide builds them.

Curated dozens on name-brand hooks — Gamakatsu, Daiichi, Tiemco — priced by the fly: $3 nymphs, $4 dries, $5 streamers. Want a custom box? The guide builds one in chat.

The Michigan Nymph Dozen

12 FLIES

Twelve subsurface flies that fish every trout river in the state, July or January.

  • Pheasant Tail · #16 natural×2
  • Pheasant Tail · #18 natural×2
  • Hare's Ear · #14 natural×2
  • Caddis Pupa · #16 olive×2
  • Zebra Midge · #18 black×2
  • Tungsten Stonefly · #10 golden×2
$36Opens after tie-lot inspection

The Summer Evening Dozen

12 FLIES

Caddis water at dusk, terrestrials in the heat of the day.

  • Elk Hair Caddis · #14 tan×2
  • Elk Hair Caddis · #16 olive×2
  • Parachute Adams · #14 gray×2
  • Sulphur Comparadun · #16 pale yellow×2
  • Foam Ant · #14 black×2
  • Chubby Hopper · #10 gold×2
$48Opens after tie-lot inspection

The Classic Mixed Dozen

12 FLIES

The guide's default: six nymphs, four dries, two streamers. Start here.

  • Pheasant Tail · #16 natural×2
  • Hare's Ear · #16 olive×2
  • Caddis Pupa · #16 tan×2
  • Elk Hair Caddis · #14 tan×2
  • Parachute Adams · #16 gray×2
  • Mini Sculpin · #6 olive×2
$44Opens after tie-lot inspection

The Big Water Eighteen

18 FLIES

Heavier rigs and meat for high, off-color water and the fish that hold in it.

  • Tungsten Stonefly · #10 golden×3
  • Tungsten Stonefly · #12 black×3
  • Pheasant Tail · #16 natural×3
  • Hare's Ear · #14 natural×3
  • Mini Sculpin · #6 olive×2
  • Mini Sculpin · #6 tan×2
  • Woolly Bugger · #8 olive×2
$66Opens after tie-lot inspection

A box built in chat

12 · 18 · 24

There is no pattern picker yet. Tell the guide where and when you're fishing and it builds the box — half-dozen steps from twelve.

  • Nymphs & wets$3
  • Dries & terrestrials$4
  • Streamers$5
from $36Start with the guide →

The guide is open now. Boxes open when the first tie lots clear inspection.

A field manual,
built one chapter at a time.

The stuff nobody tells you when you start, written plainly. Read on the drive up.

10Calendar

In Late September, The Calendar Closes Before The Water Does

Manistee below Tippy has fallen from seventy degrees to sixty-three and a half without a drop of rain to help it, and none is forecast. On September thirtieth the fishing season ends on roughly 1,400 Type 1 streams and all 13 Type 2 streams.

9 minREAD →
09Salmon

In Late August, The First Rain Is Not The Run

The Platte went from 141 to 205 and back to 165 inside three days, and almost nothing has entered the Pere Marquette system. Rain is one of three things a run needs, and it is the least important.

8 minREAD →
08Gauges

In Mid-August, Low Is A Comparison, Not A Number

Everyone calls mid-August low and clear. The gauges say the Au Sable and the upper Manistee are running above their medians for the date while the Pine sits under its lower quartile.

8 minREAD →
07Clock

In August, Not Every River Has A Morning

Fish early is the advice everyone repeats in August. On some Michigan reaches it is worth the alarm, and on others there is no cool hour to get up for.

8 minREAD →
06Terrestrials

In August, The Food Comes Off The Bank

The big mayflies are done and the aquatic menu thins out. Late-summer trout food grows on the bank, and a rain bump is what delivers it.

8 minREAD →
05Bass

In Late July, Warm Water Is A Smallmouth Plan

The reading that ends a trout morning sits close to the top of a smallmouth's comfort. When the river warms past trout, Michigan's warmwater rivers are the play.

7 minREAD →
04Heat

In July, The Thermometer Picks The Target

Warm water is the first read of the summer. A stream thermometer tells you whether to fish trout at first light, back off, or switch to smallmouth.

7 minREAD →
01Water

Read Flow Before You Read Flies

Rising, falling, and steady water each change where fish sit and how fast your rig needs to start working.

7 minREAD →
02Food

Hatches Are Timing Problems

The right bug at the wrong hour is still the wrong fly. Use light, temperature, water type, and rise forms before switching boxes.

7 minREAD →
03Trips

Build The Box Around The First Two Hours

A useful box starts with the water you will fish first, then keeps two clean adjustment paths ready.

6 minREAD →

Pick a river. Start the read.

Choose a river to load its local read, seasonal food, and starting box. The chat tightens it by date, target, and style.

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