Michigan has been named the top U.S. state for fly-fishing. Photo from Gibbs City, Mich. courtesy of GSankary on Flickr.
Kirk Deeter, who blogs for the Field & Stream website, recently named Michigan the top state in the U.S. for flyfishing.
Deeter credited the state for an abundance of bass, pike, steelhead, salmon, panfish and fly-fishable lakes.
He ranked New York twelfth. The only other Great Lakes states he mentioned were Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Wisconsin — and then only as an invitation to rebut his decision not to include them in the top 12.
What do you think? Was he right?
Yes, I agree with him and anyone who doesn’t agree with his article hasn’t really fished in Michigan. Michigan has numerous blue ribbon trout streams in the northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula many of which contain native brook trout. Michigan’s famous Au Sable River is one of the finest trout streams east of the Mississippi River and anglers come from all over the U.S. (and the world) to trout fish it. Michigan is blessed with so much water. Many of Michigan’s lakes and rivers contain a variety of cold and warm water fish species, so flyfishers can catch not only trout, but large Great Lakes-run trout (steelhead, browns, brookies), King, Chinook and Pink salmon, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, pike, muskie, walleye, carp, etc.
It’s too bad that the DNR doesn’t restrict motor boats on the “Holy Waters” of the AuSable River. Our most famous trout stream is becoming overrun with Zebra Mussels–the result of motor boats transporting mussel larvae to the dam(n) backwaters.
I’ve hosted several trout fishermen who have experienced other Great Lakes states’ flyfishing opportunities and very single one of them has echoed the author’s statements. The quality of our trout streams in particular is spectacular.
No, he was wrong, but perhaps didn’t know any better. Wisconsin trails only Florida in the number of non-resident fishing licenses sold in the United States. Wisconsin has a number of world record fish, including brown trout and muskie, plus hundreds of miles of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior shoreline and tributaries, the mighty Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers, world-class walleye and white bass on the Wolf and Fox, huge smallmouth bass in Chequamegon Bay and Green Bay, gigantic Great Lakes strain spotted muskies within eyesight of Lambeau Field and more inland lakes than Minnesota. Then there’s native brookies, unusual opportunities for whitefish and lake sturgeon and much, much more. So pack the fly rod and head to Wisconsin. Free Fishing Weekend is the first week of June …