<p style="font-size:0.85em;color:#666;margin-bottom:1.5em">By <a href="https://chrisizworski.com">Chris Izworski</a> &nbsp;|&nbsp; Michigan Trout Daily &nbsp;|&nbsp; April 19, 2026</p>
<p>The Sturgeon River in the western UP is running cold and clear this third week of April, which is exactly what you want it to be. The USGS gauge data is unavailable today, so you will have to trust your eyes and your instincts when you get there. What matters right now is that the water is still carrying snowmelt and holding the kind of temperature that makes brook trout aggressive without making them careless. The season is turning. The first real hatch fishing of the year is starting, and if you are planning a drive north, the decision is straightforward: the Sturgeon is worth it.</p>
<h2>What to expect on the water right now</h2>
<p>April on a coldwater UP stream means you are fishing the threshold between early season subsurface work and the emergence windows that will dominate May and June. The water temperature data from the gauge is not available today, but you can assume it is still in the 40s. That matters. It means the fish are feeding, but they are not yet in the kind of feeding frenzy that comes later. You will need to be precise with your fly choice and your drift.</p>
<p>Midges are the base layer right now. Mercury Midge and Zebra Midge in size 20 dead drifted under an indicator in the slow pools and eddies will produce fish on any day. Fish tight to the bottom. The Sturgeon has plenty of water that looks too slow to hold trout, and it does not. These pools are where your brook trout are spending energy inefficiently right now, and a dead midge presentation will find them.</p>
<p>Little Black Stoneflies are emerging along the banks, particularly where the current eases near the shore. A size 14 Little Black Stonefly dry will draw rises from fish that are watching the banks. If that does not work, drop to the nymph, size 14, and work it deep through the riffles where the insects are starting to crawl out. The Sturgeon has miles of riffle water, and the nymph game is productive and meditative.</p>
<p>Blue-Winged Olives are coming. Fish overcast days especially. The hatch is not consistent yet, but when conditions tighten and the light drops, tie on a Parachute BWO or Sparkle Dun in size 16, or go subsurface with an RS2 in size 18. Use 5X or 6X fluorocarbon tippet. These are small flies, and they demand precision.</p>
<h2>The Hendrickson watch begins</h2>
<p>The Hendrickson hatch is the reason many of us keep a calendar in April. The emergence here on the Sturgeon typically peaks in the afternoon, 2 to 4 PM, on days when the sun breaks through overcast skies and the water temperature edges into the low to mid 50s. You are not quite there yet, but you are close. If you make the drive this week, plan your day around the afternoon window. Fish the nymph, size 12 Hendrickson Nymph, through the riffles in the morning. Then move to the flats and the slower water where the duns will appear and where the fish will begin to rise. A size 12 Hendrickson Dry or Red Quill will be your answer.</p>
<h2>Other insects worth noting</h2>
<p>Early Brown Stoneflies are active. These are not yet the heavy spring creek stone hatches you might encounter downstream in the Lower Peninsula, but they are real, and they respond to wet fly work. Swing a Hare&#8217;s Ear Nymph size 12 through the riffles, or try skating a dry brown Elk Hair Caddis size 14 across the surface when you see the adults moving.</p>
<p>Grannom Caddis are starting. The Elk Hair Caddis size 14 skittered across the water will draw strikes from fish that have learned to look up. The X-Caddis size 14 fished in the film is a good alternative when the fish are being selective. If you want to work subsurface, the LaFontaine Sparkle Pupa size 14 swung through the riffles on the rise will connect you to fish that are eating the emerging pupae before they reach the surface.</p>
<h2>Access and what to know</h2>
<p>The Sturgeon flows through the Ottawa National Forest in one of Michigan&#8217;s most remote brook trout strongholds. Access points are available via Ottawa National Forest roads and US-45 crossings. The fish here are wild and beautiful, and the regulations exist to protect them. Check the current DNR regulations before you go. Artificial lures only apply in certain sections, and the special brook trout regulations are worth reading carefully.</p>
<p>Plan for a full day. Bring layers. The weather in the UP in April is not reliable, and the water is cold enough that a slip matters. The roads to the Sturgeon are reliable, and the river itself is worth the drive.</p>
<p>For live gauge data and current flow conditions, check <a href="https://trout.chrisizworski.com">https://trout.chrisizworski.com</a>.</p>


The Sturgeon River in April: Cold Water, First Hatches, and Wild Brooks

<p style="font-size:0.85em;color:#666;margin-bottom:1.5em">By <a href="https://chrisizworski.com">Chris Izworski</a> &nbsp;|&nbsp; Michigan Trout Daily &nbsp;|&nbsp; April 19, 2026</p>
<p>The Black River near Bessemer runs cold and dark this time of year, carrying snowmelt and the particular clarity that comes before the green-up. If you&#8217;re thinking about the drive into the western UP, you should know that USGS gauge data is unavailable today, which means you&#8217;ll have to read the river itself. That&#8217;s not a handicap. It&#8217;s the way rivers worked before we had numbers, and the Black, being remote and wild, still rewards the angler who pays attention to what the water is actually doing rather than what a screen says it should be doing.</p>
<p>The Porcupine Mountains rise around this fishery, and the river flows through country that is genuinely remote. The waterfalls and scenic character that draw tourists are real, not marketing, and they&#8217;re connected to the geology that makes the fishing worth your time. This is freestone water, which means stability during snowmelt and good oxygenation. It also means the hatches have started, and if you make the drive now, in the third week of April, you&#8217;re arriving at the threshold of something.</p>
<h2>What&#8217;s Happening Now</h2>
<p>The water is still cold. Without a gauge temperature reading, you&#8217;ll need to trust what your hand and eyes tell you. Expect something in the upper 40s, maybe low 50s on a warm afternoon. That temperature bracket is the sweet spot for the hatches that sustain April trout fishing across Michigan, and the Black is no exception.</p>
<p>Midges are active in the slow water. Not the dramatic hatch fishing that brings trout to the surface in waves, but the reliable, all-day kind of fishing that produces fish if you&#8217;re willing to work. Dead drift a Mercury Midge or Zebra Midge, size 20, under an indicator in the pools and eddies where the current loses its push. Fish near the bottom. Use long fluorocarbon tippet, 5X or 6X, because this is technical fishing and the trout are not feeding aggressively. This is the foundation of April trout fishing: small flies, slow presentations, patience.</p>
<p>The Little Black Stonefly is crawling out along the banks where the water meets the terrestrial world. You can dead drift the dry, a Little Black Stonefly in size 14, along the banks where the nymphs emerge, or you can work the nymphs tight to the bottom in the riffles. Both approaches work because the hatch is in transition. The nymphs are drifting, and the adults are struggling out of their skins. Fish see both.</p>
<p>Blue-Winged Olives are coming. On overcast days, especially toward afternoon, you may see them. They&#8217;re small, size 16 or 18, and the trout will be selective if the hatch is heavy. Fish a Parachute BWO or Sparkle Dun on the surface, but be ready with an RS2 fished just subsurface in the film. Long, fine tippet is essential. This is where 5X or 6X fluorocarbon proves its worth. The rises won&#8217;t be violent. The trout will sip, and you&#8217;ll miss half of them unless you&#8217;re precise.</p>
<h2>The Hendrickson Is Coming</h2>
<p>The real event for many Michigan trout anglers is still ahead, but it&#8217;s close. The Hendrickson, Ephemerella subvaria, is the hatch that feels like a reward for winter and early spring. Peak emergence is typically 2 to 4 p.m., and when it happens on the Black, the fishing can be very good. Fish the nymphs in the riffles before the hatch comes off, using a Hendrickson Nymph in size 12, dead drifted or swung slightly. Then, when the duns begin to float, switch to the dry. A Hendrickson Dry or Red Quill, size 12, will work if you&#8217;re accurate with your cast and you wait for the rise before setting. This is classic dry fly fishing: the rise lane, the flat water, the moment when a trout commits.</p>
<p>Early Brown Stonefly adults are skittering on the surface now and then. Try skating a dry, an Elk Hair Caddis in brown, size 14, across the faster water. It&#8217;s aggressive fishing, and it connects you to the river&#8217;s rhythms in a way that indicator nymphing sometimes doesn&#8217;t.</p>
<p>Grannom Caddis will be part of the mix too. The Elk Hair Caddis, size 14, skittered across the surface, or the X-Caddis fished in the film, will take fish. The LaFontaine Sparkle Pupa, size 14, swung through the riffles on the rise, is also worth trying if the trout are looking down.</p>
<h2>Getting There</h2>
<p>Access is available at Black River Harbor Recreation Area and at multiple county road access points. The river is wild and remote, and that remoteness is part of what makes it worth the drive. Bring your topo map. Bring water and food. Bring all your small fly boxes because at this time of year, small is not optional.</p>
<p>For current flow and water temperature data as conditions change, check <a href="https://trout.chrisizworski.com">https://trout.chrisizworski.com</a>.</p>


The Black River in April: Midges to Hendricksons in Michigan&#8217;s Wild Country

<p style="font-size:0.85em;color:#666;margin-bottom:1.5em">By <a href="https://chrisizworski.com">Chris Izworski</a> &nbsp;|&nbsp; Michigan Trout Daily &nbsp;|&nbsp; April 19, 2026</p>
<p>The Black River in the western UP is not a river you fish because it&#8217;s convenient. You fish it because the trout there have not forgotten what wild water feels like, and because in late April, when the season finally turns, the hatches come with the kind of certainty that makes you believe again in the old rhythms. Today the water is cold but moving toward something. The gauge data is unavailable, which means you&#8217;ll need to trust your eyes and the feel of the current against your legs, the way anglers used to do before we had numbers to hide behind.</p>
<h2>Water conditions and what to expect today</h2>
<p>We don&#8217;t have flow or temperature readings for the Black today, so here&#8217;s what matters: it&#8217;s mid-April, the water has been warming for three weeks, and the freestone character of this river means it responds quickly to air temperature and overnight cold. If it was below 40 degrees last night, expect slower rises and fish deeper. If the day is overcast and mild, expect midges and Blue-Winged Olives in the slower water. The Hendricksons are close now, probably another week or two out depending on sustained warmth, but you can start fishing the nymphs in the riffles today with confidence. This is the window.</p>
<p>The best move is to drive up, check the river in person, and fish accordingly. The Black near Bessemer rewards this kind of attention. It&#8217;s not a river that forgives remoteness with easy fishing.</p>
<h2>Hatches and patterns for right now</h2>
<p>Midges are constant in April, especially in the slower pools and eddies where the Black slows enough to hold them. Dead drift a Mercury Midge or Zebra Midge, size 20, under a small indicator tight to the bottom. Use 5X tippet and watch for the kind of subtle takes that define midge fishing. A Griffith&#8217;s Gnat in the same size works when you see actual surface activity, though in April that&#8217;s more hope than expectation.</p>
<p>The Little Black Stonefly is present and emerging now. Fish a size 14 nymph, either a Little Black or a general Black Stonefly Nymph, dead drifted tight to the bottom through the riffles. If you see adults, and you will, crawl them along the banks with a dry in the same size 14. These are not selective rises. Fish them.</p>
<p>Blue-Winged Olives will show on overcast afternoons. The Black&#8217;s rocky character and pocket water create good habitat for Baetis. Fish a Parachute BWO or Sparkle Dun in size 16, or if the hatch is heavy and fish are keyed on emergers, drop an RS2 in size 18 just subsurface. Use 5X or 6X fluorocarbon tippet. The light matters here. Wait for cloud cover or late afternoon.</p>
<p>The Early Brown Stonefly is emerging now as well. Swing a Hare&#8217;s Ear Nymph, size 12, through the riffles on a dead drift or slight swing. If you see adults skittering on the surface, try a brown Elk Hair Caddis in size 14, skated slightly. These fish will come to it.</p>
<p>Grannom Caddis hatches are building. Fish an Elk Hair Caddis, size 14, skittered across the surface in the morning if the hatch is on. If fish are keyed on pupae during the emergence, swing a LaFontaine Sparkle Pupa through the riffles. If nothing is working but you see risers, try an X-Caddis in size 14 fished in the film. Caddis fishing on the Black is often about matching the behavior more than matching the exact shade of brown.</p>
<h2>Access and what you need to know</h2>
<p>The Black River Harbor Recreation Area provides formal access. Beyond that, multiple county road access points exist throughout the system near Bessemer. The river flows through the Porcupine Mountains area and the scenery is genuine wild country, not postcard scenery. Waterfalls mark the river in places. This is remote water and the remoteness is part of what keeps it good. Plan accordingly. Tell someone where you&#8217;re going. Check current DNR regulations for any special UP designations before you go.</p>
<p>The Black holds both brook and brown trout. The brookies tend to be wild and small, the browns larger and more selective. April is too early in the season for these fish to be particularly large, but they&#8217;re honest trout in honest water.</p>
<p>For current flow and temperature data, check <a href="https://trout.chrisizworski.com">https://trout.chrisizworski.com</a>.</p>


Michigan Trout Daily

The Sturgeon River in April: Cold Water, First Hatches, and Wild Brooks

The Black River in April: Midges to Hendricksons in Michigan’s Wild Country

The Black River in April: Remote Water, First Real Hatches

Michigan Trout Daily

The Sturgeon River in April: Cold Water, First Hatches, and Wild Brooks

The Black River in April: Midges to Hendricksons in Michigan&#8217;s Wild Country

The Black River in April: Remote Water, First Real Hatches

The Black River in April: Midges to Hendricksons in Michigan’s Wild Country