Au Sable River Fishing Report RSS

Well I think it safe to finally say we think the heat wave is gone! That was a hot June, July, and half of August, with evening temps finally falling the trout fishing has really picked up all across the state. Over this last weekend I was able to sneak away from the shop and head up to the Au Sable for a couple days to get some fishing in and to catch up with all the dudes over at Gates Au Sable Lodge! We spent most of our time up north trying to force a streamer bite, which we...

Wow when did Michigan become so hot... With this huge heat wave and little to no rain the fishing has become tough but not impossible. We have been really watching the water temps for the last 3 weeks with a close eye due to water temps being around 68-70 degrees or higher everyday in most rivers on the west side of the state. Remember if water temps are hotter than 68 leave the trout alone and go chase bass, the trout aren't going anywhere trust me. Now if you are able to find cool enough water up north you better have your big...

June is a month many of us cherish. We plan our lives around the behavior of winged insects and risk going a little crazy with changes in our sleep schedules. Swarms of mosquitos, waders caked with black silt, and even the occasional midge lodged underneath an eyelid…all of that discomfort seems to fade when trout start to rise.      Last week our northern rivers saw an emergence of brown drakes. Sulfurs were also seen in strong numbers but fish didn’t seem to be as interested in them. Hex have also been found and their migration up and down our...

We are at the peak of the "24/7 season." Trout fishing is good all day and all night. No matter how you approach the river, anytime of day can be productive. So much fun having all these opportunities available. Mousing, hatch matching, streamer fishing, prospecting dries, indicator nymphing, euro nymphing, trout spey, soft hackles, and even terrestrial fishing are all in play. It's an incredible time to be a fly angler in the great state of Michigan. We truly have it good, and we are excited to be smack dab in the middle of the best fishing window of the...

This has been, hands down, the strangest dry fly season in recent memory. The hatch charts and meticulously kept fishing journals can be thrown right out the window. Its late June and there are still no solid reports of hex. Dry fly windows have been short, but when the stars have aligned, there has been some great fishing.  Brown Drakes are still around on many rivers, even gray drakes, but it seems they're there one night and gone the next. Iso fishing during the day and in the evening has been productive and should continue to be for some time....