Michigan River Fishing Hatch Chart

Michigan has tens of thousands of miles of rivers that both cold and warm water species of fish call home. Many of them feed on the insects that also live in the river, many of which emerge from a subsurface nymph or larva, to a flying insect that fish feed on the surface. It’s this “dry fly fishing” that lures many anglers to the stream to test their skills at fly fishing.

We are truly blessed to have some epic insect hatches, especially in west Michigan that bring fish to the surface in search of floating insects that fish eat. From “blizzard” hatches of caddis and gray drakes, to the elegant emergence of a sulphur and the fly “copters” we call Hex’s, Michigan is rich with insect filled rivers and fish that reside in them.

Below is a chart that outlines what hatches and when. We certainly welcome any calls or emails with specific questions.

*Best Hatches for the Muskegon River

Common Name Latin NameGroupEmergence DatesEmergence Times
Tiny Black Stonefly #16-20Allocapnia sp., Nemoura aldipennisStonefly1/1-4/30noon-4pm
Early Black Stonefly #10-14Taeniopteryx nivalisStonefly2/21-4/30noon-4pm
*Early Brown Stonefly #12, 14Brachyptera fasciataStonefly3/15-5/101pm-7pm
Blue-winged Olive #16Baetis tricaudatusMayfly4/15-11/1noon-3pm
Dark Hendrickson #12, 14 (Hendrickson, Red Quill)Ephemerella subvaria Mayfly4/20-5/20 Peak: 5/1-710am-4pm
Little Black Caddis #16-18Chimarra aterrimaCaddis fly4/20-5/31 Peak: 5/1-14noon-10pm
Grannom (Black) Caddis #14-16Brachycentrus americanusCaddis fly4/20-7/312pm-dark
Medium Brown Stonefly #10-12Perlodia isoperlaStone fly5/10-7/31afternoons
Little Yellow Stonefly #14-18Allloperla sp.Stone fly5/15-8/15  Peak: 5/28-6/21afternoons
Giant Stonefly #2-8 (Salmonfly)Pteronarcys dorsataStonefly5/15-6/30any time
Green Oak Worm #8-12Lepidoptera sp.Terrestrial5/15-7/10     day
 * Green Caddis #10-18 (Green Rock Worm)Rhycophila fenestraCaddis fly5/1-6/30  Peak: 5/21-6/142pm-dark
March Brown #10 & 12Stenonema vicariumMayfly5/17-6/20noon-4pm
* Cinnamon Caddis #14-20Hydropsyche sp.Caddis fly5/20-9/30Peak: 5/31-6/314pm-dark
Quill Gordon #12 & 14Epeorus pleuralisMayfly5/24-7/121pm-4pm
Light Hendrickson #14Ephemerella rotundaMayfly5/3-6/20 Peak: 5/7-14noon-5pm
Slate-winged Mahogany #16 & 18 (Little Red Quill)Paraleptophlebia adoptivaMayfly5/3-7/811am-2pm
*Gray Drake #10 & 12 (Spinner Fall)Siphlonurus alternatus Mayfly5/15-7/26  Peak 5/21-6/15 9 pm – dark
Giant Michigan Mayfly #6 & 8 (Hex, Michigan )Hexagenia limbataMayfly6/10-7/1010pm-4am
Blue-winged Olive #14, 16Baetis spp.Mayfly6/15-7/12 Peak: 5/7-5/318pm-10pm
Leadwing Coachman #10Isonychia bicolorMayfly6/15-8/154pm-10pm
* Ants #12-24 (Black and Cinnamon)Hymenoptera: FormicidaeTerrestrial6/15-9/30day, evening
* Sulphur #16, 18Ephemerella dorotheaMayfly6/1-7/158pm – dark
Great Orange Sedge 8 & 10Phryganglia ptilostomisCaddis fly6/1-7/31evenings
* Brown Drake #10 & 12Ephemera simulansMayfly6/1-7/4Peak: 6/7-148pm – dark
BeetlesColeopteraTerrestrial6/1-9/30day, evening
* Tiny Blue-winged Olive #22Baetis punctiventrisMayfly6/23-9/810am-9pm
Light Cahill #12, 14Stenonema sp.Mayfly6/5-8/142pm-10pm
CricketsOrthoptera sp.Terrestrial7/1-10/15any time
Grasshoppers #6-12Orthoptera sp.Terrestrial7/1-9/30Peak: 7/15-8/30day
*Tiny White-winged Black #20-24(Trico)Tricorythodes spp.Mayfly7/20-9/1Peak: 7/21-8/76am-10am