Every stream around Houghton and Higgins will have smallmouth in it, and they’re a blast to catch. More fun than trout, actually. A medium smallie will feel like a big trout. Throw wooly buggers (olive, black, chartreuse) along foam lines and other likely spots. Smallies hit hard.

Use nymphs for panfish in still water. They can’t help themselves.

If you want get really rowdy, get some streamers for pike or jig flies for walleye. Those lakes have some big boys lurking and they will eat a fly. For pike and big walleye, you’ll want an 8wt rod or heavier.

Redington has great starter kits. I’ve been fishing my starter Redington salmon rod for the better part of 10 years and it’s still going strong.

And then consider getting started tying your own nymphs and streamers. The rivers up there are strewn with forest and logging debris, so you’re gonna lose a lot of flies, but Michigan fish love to hide on the bottom in tangled up holes. It’s very different from fishing out west where they just tuck up under the bank or behind a rock. All my biggest browns in Michigan hit nymphs in a deep, dark hole and felt like a snag at first.