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.

Cincinatti Fly Show

We're in Ohio right now at the BUFF Fly Fishing Expo.  Lots of folks stopped by dispite the freezing rain we woke up to.  You'll hear no complaints from me . . . freezing rain means temperatures right around 32 degrees.  It felt like Spring to us Grayling boys.

Fly Contest

The tyers have certainly been busy.  It's amazing what some real winter weather does for fly production.  Two weeks ago I was in a bit of a panic about the tyers' lack of progress.  All that changed with about 16 inches of snow and subzero temperatures.  Here's a pile of  flies Sam wrapped up in only five days last week.

These are size ten drakes.  Any idea how many?  I'll give you each 3 guesses and the contest will stop on March 1st or when someone gets the correct answer.    We'll toss in a hint here or there if you need it.  I tell you now that the number doesn't land on an even dozen.  It's more that 100 and less than 1000.

Please post your guesses as a comment.  Winner gets an Old AuSable Fly Shop gift certificate.  Good Luck!

Arkansas?

Well Alex is down there in Arkansas  . . . says he's trout fishing and getting 'em pretty good.  I don't know.  Doesn't look like a trout or a drift boat to me.  But it does look pretty fun.

New Rental Cabin

I'm pretty excited.  The Old AuSable Fly Shop is currently able to offer a premium rental on the Au Sable River's "Holy Waters".  Located only 8 miles from town the cabin rests 25 feet from the river and sleeps up to four anglers (two bedrooms with a double bed each and a futon for your mother-in-law)

This cabin sits on a completely wadable stretch of river that is situated among some of the best pools in the Holy Waters.  Check out the link http://www.oldausable.com/services-86.html .

It's Show Season

The Old AuSable is kicking off the show season with "The Indiana Fly Fishing Show" this Saturday January 8th in Indianapolis.  These shows are a great way to spend a wintry Saturday afternoon, meet new folks, and re-connect with old friends . . . hope to see you there.   Here's a link http://www.freewebs.com/reelwomen/indianaflyfishingshow.htm

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 

Fly Fishing License Plates

Good friend of the shop, Tim, gave us this cool license plate to hang on the wall.  If you've got an expired fly fishing themed plate, we'd love to have it for the shop wall.  And for your efforts we'll swap you a FREE Old AuSable hat.  If it's really cool, don't be afraid to barter with us . . . who knows what you can talk us into.





Grouse Season

Well, grouse season is all but wrapped up now with the opening of firearm deer season in Northern Michigan.  I hate to see it go.  Maybe we'll go a last time or two when the season opens agian in December but we tend to leave the birds alone in the late season--they've got enough on their plate getting ready for winter.   If there's not too much snow, I'll run the pups solely for the experience.

It's alwasy bittersweet this time of year.  I just don't want to let Fall move into winter.  Rifle season is okay for a little while but it gets long for me.  And it marks the beginning of production tying, snow shoveling, wood hauling--work.  When you you make your career in  a fly shop, work isn't supposed to be involved.  You just sit around and talk fishing all day (I wish).

This fan is from a nice red-phased grouse I shot this year.  Grouse in our area are generally gray phase, so the reds can be rare.  There's a thousand theories about grouse and their populations.  I find them all weak and incomplete.  For example, some folks say that when you start seeing more red phased grouse up here that the grouse numbers are on the rise.  Maybe.  I thought the overall numbers were down this year and roughly half the birds I shot were reds.  

Then there's all the talk about the "cycle".  While there is unquestionably some sort of cycle, the reasons are unclear.  Much of the talk is a predator/prey argument.  The problem is that the predators change depending on the study/theory but the cycle remains the same.  Some talk about the bobcat numbers rising or falling, while other studies talk about gosshawks, coyotes, skunks, racoons, etc . . .     The other animals likely (I'm guessing here) rise and fall with the grouse numbers and not the other way around--kinda like the hunter numbers.  When grouse hunting is great there seems to be many more hunters.  My guess is that the grouse cycle is a very complex relationship between the bird and its habitat probably having more to do with food sources and weather.

I gonna miss chasing them this year.

Here's a great link . . . if you like grouse hunting,  you'll love the Ruffed Grouse Society .

http://www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/

http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/515/articles/introduction

Deer Season in Northern Michigan

The orange army is about to descend.  Deer hunting in Northern Michigan is a right of passage and a passion passed down through generations.  Of course, many folks hit the woods more out of tradition than anything else.  It's a time when old friends and family crowd into one room hunting cabins, each chili, and throw logs at the woodstove. 

I grew up with that.  And it has a strong pull even still.  I don't have a deer camp to go to anymore, but I make sure to visit my friends that do on deer season eve.  It's pretty much a holiday up here.  The schools even close for opening day.   We'll play cards and tell lies and just generally forget about everything that's not deer hunting.

I still like to hunt, though.  And I usually get a buck.  Which is nearly a neccessity for me cause I love eating game I've harvested. 

I spent one of these beautiful afternoons we're experiencing in the Au Sable valley scouting my area for buck activity and found this nice 9 point skull.  To me, skulls are cool.  I'd like to think it's because there's still a boy in me.  But maybe skulls are just cool.  Finding one like this means that you've missed an opportunity, but at least you know the potential exists for another one just as good to walk by on opening day.  Like a lot of things I do, the possibilties are all that really matters.  And success is just knowing you gave it a good go. 

With that in mind, I'll spend the last days before deer season looking for one more grouse and fishing for one more trout.  Hopefully, I'll tag out quick and spend all the rainy days of November fishing the Au Sable alone.   

Johnny on the Spot

My friend John is a streamer junkie and cloudy days in the spring, summer, or fall you can find him on the Au Sable River in Northern Michigan.  He fishes the marabou black ghost almost exclusively.  I'm not sure if he was stripping the ghost on this day, but I'd bet it was tied on for at least a little bit.  He caught 3 monsters that day.  "Best Day Ever" was the title of the e-mail he sent me.  He also mentioned something about the possibility of retirement  . . . amazing what a great day on the stream can do.

Fly fishing got me out of grad school and it's gotten lots of my friends out of marriages.  Oh the power of the trout.  Be careful.

Ice in the Guides

This is a terrible picture.  But it's ice in my rod guides.  Lots of ice.  And it's blurred because I was shivering.  Alex and I went out in 25 degree weather to chase browns on the AuSable.  It had to be closer to 15 by the time we got off the water at dark.

I have to say it was worth it though.  We both caught really nice trout.  I'll talk about that trip and post pic's on Thursday's fishing report. 

But ice in the guides.  I hate ice in the guides.  I am haunted by the damned ice in my guides. The only aspect that's good about ice in the guides is that it means you're being hardcore  insane  . . . well you're doing something that involves fishing.  So there's that.

But what can we do about ice in the guides?  Short answer, "Not Much".  There's an ice off paste product out there.  But, frankly, if you've got extra money laying around, you'd be just as well off to send me the $4.99 and I'll send you an empty bag "full of hope".  For 3 bucks more I'll throw in the "dreams". 

You can try Vaseline.  I never have but suspect like most Vaseline applications you should probably lock the door, keep it to yourself, and hope no one finds out.

I heard folks talk about inventing something like a battery operated wire that runs up the rod . . . million dollar idea really.  Brilliant!  Smart like opening a fly shop.

You can swoop and swish your rod under the water and that works a little but your rod tip scrapes the rocks and the stripping guide feels left out.  Nope, fact is that like lots of life's unpleasantries you just gotta suck it up and deal.  Chip the ice out and bitch.  Then remember you're fishing . . . so there's that.

  

Wieners on the Porch

Is there anything better than a Coney Dog by Michigan's,  Au Sable River on a bright, sunny fall afternoon.  Probably, yes.  Probably lots.  Like fishing, kayaking, hunting, etc . . . But hey we've got a week full of beautiful weather and you just gotta enjoy it anyway you can.  Soon there'll be snow.  I'm gonna do my best to get plenty of outside time in while the gettin's good.  Even if it means sitting on the shop's porch eating a hot dog. 

If you let it, life gets in it's own way. 

Turn off the big screen and go outside.

And other such sayings . . .

Man, I'm thinking I should have used "hot dogs" in the the title . . . could get some sketchy followers.  Yikes.

The Famous Lovell's Riverside Tavern

Lovell's Tavern made Outdoor Life's "25 Greatest Fishing Bars"

It's always cool when something/someone from our area gets recognized.  Nancy and Roger have done a great job up there.  If you're ever fishing on the AuSable's North Branch, Lovell's Riverside Tavern is the place to find a bacon cheeseburger and a beer.   The locals are crazy enough to be fun and interesting but not nuts enough to be scary . . . a perfect blend I'd say.   Sorta feels like home to me.  Here's a link to the article.
http://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/gallery/fishing/2010/10/best-fishing-bars?photo=14#node-1001333069

Get Enlighted...Read a Book

 

Its easy to be an armchair angler with the multitude of fly fishing and fly tying books that have been published over the years. The amount of information and expertise is endless. There's a title out there for anything and everything that you could possibly want to know about the sport. 

Here at the Old Au Sable Fly Shop, you'll find a collection of reading material that will provide you with insight to what you seek. If there's a title you're looking for that we don't have...let us know and we'll get it ordered for you. There's nothing better than curling up with a good fishing book at the end of the day.

Books teach and allow us to chase our dreams!

Stay in Touch

Although the waders aren't seeing as much stream time, the season isn't over at the Old Au Sable Fly Shop in Grayling. Lots of activity on the water, in the woods and around the shop. If the boys aren't in the woods with the dogs chasing birds, then its on the water chasing trout. With an extended season on some of the "Flies Only" water and the somewhat decent weather we've had...there's always a chance to wet a line.

But even if you've decided to hang up your waders for the season...think  about some other activities that  you might find  beneficial, useful and fun. Its a great way to expand your fly fishing experience.

• Don't wait till next season to inspect your gear and tackle. Before you put it away for winter, check your rods for wear and tear. 

• Clean your reels and lube the gears. Nows a good time to clean those lines and prepare them for storage.Check your fly boxes and get them organized. Make a list of what you need to replenish.

• If you had leaks in your waders this past season, nows a good time to try to repair.

• If you tie your own flies or are thinking about starting, research what materials you'll need for the patterns that you want to tie. Think about participating in a tying class. 

• Think about joining an angling club or organization. If you already are a member, get involved and do volunteer work.

• Stay informed and educated about the sport. There's a wealth of information in the form of books, periodicals and of course the internet.

• Thinking about a special trip next year? Start your planning now. 

Yep, the season really never ends. Stay in touch...www.oldausable.com  We're here to help you and answer your questions!