Trout Species of Michigan

Most Western states are defined by their native cutthroat subspecies. Michigan is defined by its mix: a strong native brook trout fishery in cold headwaters, a deep wild brown trout tradition on the famous mainstems (the Au Sable was the site of the first Brown Trout stocking in U.S. history in 1884), and the massive Great Lakes salmon and steelhead fisheries built on Pacific salmonid introductions starting in the 1960s.

For a fly angler this means species ID matters in a different way than out West. There are no cutthroat subspecies to puzzle over, and no ESA-listed fish to worry about (no Coho ban like California, no Bull Trout regs like Oregon and Washington). What matters is knowing whether the fish in front of you is a wild brookie that deserves extra care, a stocked rainbow that may be a recent planter, or a wild brown holding a deep undercut bank — fish that built Michigan’s fly fishing reputation.

Native — Cold headwater streams statewide; UP especially

The Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) is Michigan’s official state fish and the only trout truly native to Michigan waters. Brookies thrive in the coldest, cleanest spring-fed streams — the Two-Hearted, the Fox River, the upper Pigeon, the upper Jordan, and the headwaters of the Au Sable North Branch. The Upper Peninsula holds some of the best wild brook trout fisheries in the lower 48, with extensive roadless watersheds that have never seen heavy fishing pressure.

Non-native (introduced 1884) — Au Sable, Pere Marquette, Manistee, Muskegon, statewide

The Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) is not native to Michigan, but its history here is older than its history almost anywhere else in North America. The first Brown Trout stocking in the United States took place in the Au Sable River in 1884, with eggs imported from Germany via Dr. Fred Mather. Within a generation, browns had naturalized across Michigan’s major trout rivers, and today they dominate the Au Sable, Pere Marquette, Manistee, Muskegon, and most of the Lower Peninsula’s famous mainstems. They grow larger than brookies, tolerate warmer water (up to about 75°F before serious stress), and the truly large ones — 20″+ wild browns — are the trophies that built Michigan’s fly fishing reputation.

Non-native — Pere Marquette, Manistee, Muskegon, Betsie, Boardman, Sturgeon

Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are not native to Michigan but have been established for over a century. Resident rainbows live alongside browns in many tailwaters and trout streams. The sea-run (technically lake-run, since they enter Lake Michigan or Lake Superior) form is the famous Steelhead, which runs major tributaries every fall and spring. The Pere Marquette, Muskegon (below Croton Dam), Manistee (below Tippy Dam), and Betsie are Michigan’s top steelhead rivers.

Historically native — Au Sable, Manistee, Boardman, Pigeon, Jordan, and other northern Lower Peninsula rivers

The Arctic Grayling (Thymallus arcticus) was once native to many northern Lower Peninsula rivers — most famously the Au Sable, where they were so abundant in the late 1800s that anglers reported catching them by the bushel. Logging-era habitat destruction, land clearing, sediment from clear-cuts, dams, the introduction of competing brown trout, and unregulated overharvest combined to extirpate Michigan grayling by approximately 1936. They have not existed in Michigan as a wild fish for nearly a century.

Non-native (introduced 1960s) — Manistee, Pere Marquette, Muskegon, Betsie

Coho (Silver) Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Chinook (King) Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) are Pacific salmon introduced to the Great Lakes in the 1960s by Michigan’s Howard Tanner and the Michigan DNR to control invasive alewife populations and create a major sport fishery. They are not a primary fly fishing target on most Michigan rivers — fly anglers typically swing flies or drift egg patterns downstream of spawning salmon to target the trout and steelhead that follow the runs and eat drifting salmon eggs. Coho and Chinook enter the major Lake Michigan tributaries from late August through October to spawn.