Au Sable River Fishing Report RSS

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....

It's Wednesday, and the weekend is looming. Plans are forming, and reforming, by the hour. Strategizing for the hex hatch can be stressful. Seems like everyone scrambles to form a plan designed to outwit everyone else. It can be an endless loop of pivotal decisions.  "Where are we going!? What stretch are we floating!? Are the bugs happening yet!? Are we too early?! What if we try downstream farther!? But are we gonna be too far downstream!? Should we be higher up!? Where will the crowds be!? AGGHHHH!!"   "Why don’t we go way upstream, to the headwaters, and hope for...

We are still getting absolutely blasted with rain. Every few days, there's a sizable rainstorm. And there's more on the way. It has made things fairly tough, especially for the wade angler. Nonetheless, fishing has been pretty damn good, with hatches becoming steadier by the day. Grey Drakes, Brown Drakes, and Sulphers have been the main show as of late. As far as the Hex goes, they are probably another 2 weeks out. Can't predict what will happen (obviously), but they will most likely be late, just as all the bugs have been this season. The combination of heavy rains...