The April 1st new "Michigan Trout Opener"  was a great success.  Friday kept mostly sunny but the AuSable River Brown Trout came out to play anyway.  The water clarity was just stained enough to get the trout biting.  It seems like every boat landed at least one nice fish.


And check out the weather for this weekend.

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/Forecast.aspx?location=USMI0349

Early Spring Stoneflies

Every year we get two different black stones that show up with the warmer weather.  One is small--like a sixteen.  But the other is big.  I like it on a 2XL #14 or a standard 12.  That's probably over sizing it, but the trout don't seem to care.

When you're fishing the stonefly, be sure to twicha nd skitter it.  Work it in all the same places you would a streamer.  Fish the wood piles and the bubble lines.  Drop a nymph off this beefy critter.  It makes a fine bobber.

I like fishing  the stone best upstream as a single fly.  Really focusing on the secondary and tertiary bubble line behind logs. 

However you use it, it can be a great way to get your first dry fly fish of the year.

Have Fun.

New Open Water

Here's the skinny on the New Michigan Trout Fishing Regulations as they pertain to Catch and Release Fly Fishing in our waters.

Starting April 1, 2011 we can fish flies on the Au Sable River from Burton's Landing all the way down to the power lines by Rainbow Resort (remember Rainbow Resort is a private launch).  And we can fish from Mio to McKinley below the damn.  Now a lot of this water is also open to Catch and Release fishing in the off-season with artificial lures as well, but I'm just talking about what we can do with flies for this entry.

The Manistee has some cool off-season opportuntiy, too.  You can catch and release fish there from the bridge at County Rd 612 all the way M-115.  Again, quite a bit of this is also open to artificial lures, so if that's your game, just check the reg's.

That's just so much water.  What a great trout fishing opportunity the Michigan DNR has created for all the Michigan trout fishermen and women.

Take Advantage of Relative Warm-ups in the Winter

Here's a nice fish Alex caught while nymphing earlier today on one of our Northern Michigan steelhead streams.

Good fly fishermen (all outdoorsfolk really) become psuedo scientist in a number of different fields.  Of course, you should know as much about your quarry as possible.  But that snowballs quickly into what the critters eat, where they live, when they move etc . . .  It's all important.  For winter fishing and hunting, we study the weather.  It's the most dominant force for the the next few months and the key to everything.

Pushing 32 degrees, today was the second day of a relatively warm spell with bad weather rolling in over the next 24 hours.  Those are good days.

 

Tying Season . . . Who Can Admit They've Done This?

Hard to pass on a good squirrel tail--plus it's kinda fun having other drivers think your crazy.

I guess attending the FFF Fly Tying Expo in Holt last weekend really put me in the mood for tying season.  That show always serves as a sort of unofficial kick-off.  Lots of fly tyers from around the region were in attendance and it was great to talk everyone.  It's a very social show and that's why I go.

Anyway, it got the juices flowing in my tying fingers.  I dusted off the vice and tied Quigleys until 3am last night.  I'm a little rusty after the long break, so I didn't get many tied for the amount of time I spent behind the wheel.  But, hey, winter has started and I've already started passing the time.  We've also posted the schedule for tying classes @ http://www.oldausable.com/services-154.html