# Chippewa River?



## TODDFATHER (Jun 5, 2002)

Has anyone fished the Chippewa River near Mt Pleasant? I have two sons and a buddy that have recently taken an interest in fly fishing. Needless to say I'm tying my tail off trying to get these guys outfitted. My eldest son has a degree in Stream Etomology. Recently he brought over tons of samples of nymphs collected from all over michigan streams. He has quite a number that came from the Chippewa. With insect life that abundant I can't imagine it not supporting trout since the water quality is directly related to the insect life or vise versa. 

Is the Chippewa wadeable? Large enought for lets say a 8 ft 5wt? What kind of fish? Abundance? Access? The crux of this inquiry is it's practically in his back yard and would be a preferred place to fish for him as a beginner. He's given me his spin on this river but I'm interested in what you guys have to say about it. Insect life he knows, but wouldn't know a good trout stream if it was staring him in the face. If it's big enough to flycast and a fish or two can be caught I'm sure we can add another one to the ranks. 


Since the Chippewa is basically in the middle of the state I didn't know where to post this inquiry, sorry about that. Thanks for the help guys! 



Toddfather


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## outsider (Feb 16, 2002)

It'll be awhile before you will be able to do anything on the Chipp.
I crossed it yesterday ,(tuesday) and there is shore ice and only a narrow band of open water in the center, this year is the most Ice I've seen on the river in years.


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## YPSIFLY (Feb 13, 2001)

I have never fished the Chipp but here's a past thread on it:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=20386&highlight=chippewa+river

I also looked it up in Jim Bedford's Flyfisher's Guide to Michigan where it can be found on page 239.

"This large tributary to the Tittabawasse begins as the outlet of Cranberry Lake west of Clare. There are some browns and Brookies in the headwaters, but the stream is quite small. There is enough room to manuever with a fly rod upstream from M-66 and past the confluences with Rattail and Butts Creeks. M-66 crosses the river twice, and access to the upper river is available at Hoover Road."

The rest of the river looks like a mostly warmwater fishery, with the exception of steelhead planted at Winn Road, which is about 6 miles upstream from Mt. Pleasant.

Hope this helps.


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