# Ausable Saturday!



## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

Drifted the Ausable on Saturday, weather was pretty miserable at times but it was nice being on the river. Saw some fish in the river. We put in at Rea Rd and watched a guy catch a nice fat female. He had another female on the stringer which was soon joined by the female we watched him catch..........he's probably one of the same guys complaining about how the steelhead fishing is getting worse and worse every year.......go figure. Fished out of Tawas in the afternoon with only a small laker to keep us from getting skunked. The Ausable was very clear and I was shocked to see so many people on the river.


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## bigmac (Nov 28, 2000)

I talked with a Biologist up there and I was told that the natural reproduction rate for the river is under 10% because of the low Iodine levels of the Ausable, that is why there is such an extensive planting there. Could also be from all the waders on the inside gravel run tromping around too And yes I fish the first turn too. I only keep 1 hen a year for eggs.


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## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

I have talked with DNR Biologists too and they told me there is no successful natural reproduction in the river............I guess the ones I caught grew back their fins. And 0% of females on stringers spawn. With that said I'd like to say that I have no problem with someone keeping a female for spawn, but when I see a guy loading a stringer full of fat females and then bragging about working on "his heaviest stringer of the year" its not hard to see why the fishing is on a decline. I do think there is natural reproduction and I do think there are things we all could do to increase the numbers of fish returning to the rivers in our state.



bigmac said:


> I talked with a Biologist up there and I was told that the natural reproduction rate for the river is under 10% because of the low Iodine levels of the Ausable, that is why there is such an extensive planting there. Could also be from all the waders on the inside gravel run tromping around too And yes I fish the first turn too. I only keep 1 hen a year for eggs.


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## ottertrapper (Jan 6, 2006)

Captain,

That does not mean the steelies aren't trying to spawn, but the environment is not helping, like warm river temps in the summer that will kill off the frye alone. There is probably some natural reproduction it just isn't high.


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## maxemus (Jan 13, 2002)

yea the Ausable sucks Everybody go fish the westside!


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## Chrome steel (Apr 6, 2003)

I dont care male or female I'm keeping the fish to eat. As much money I spend to fish them. If the reproduction of fish is only 10% then why not catch and keep females? there not going to reproduce anyway. Also we dont have to worry about reproduction to much we plant more fish than would survive naturaly. With the plants that happen they only clip a certain percent not even half thats why you still see both fins on most fish.


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## Krull (Mar 29, 2005)

Chrome steel said:


> I dont care male or female I'm keeping the fish to eat. As much money I spend to fish them. If the reproduction of fish is only 10% then why not catch and keep females? there not going to reproduce anyway. Also we dont have to worry about reproduction to much we plant more fish than would survive naturaly. With the plants that happen they only clip a certain percent not even half thats why you still see both fins on most fish.


I agree that people should keep what they want up to their limit. Personally, a hen for eggs and maybe one or two fish during the season is plenty of meat for me but to each their own. I will say this, it always shocks me when someone is fishing a run that has a hen on a bed and fish stacked up behind it. The joker hooks the female, strings her up, then wonders what happened to all the fish that were staged behind her. Morale of the story in my book, 9 times out of 10 you are better off releasing then Hen in my opinion unless you need the eggs for the rest of the season. In regards to Natural reproduction, I am of the opinion that life finds a way, so I have a hard time believing that some fish do not survive and flourish naturally.


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## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

Krull said:


> I am of the opinion that life finds a way, so I have a hard time believing that some fish do not survive and flourish naturally.


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## ottertrapper (Jan 6, 2006)

I took it off don't want to cause a problem really that wasn't meant to go the way it did.


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## bigmac (Nov 28, 2000)

I don't think this was supposed to go this way


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## CaptainNorthwood (Jan 3, 2006)

bigmac said:


> I don't think this was supposed to go this way


No it wasn't, guys lets not let this spin out of control.


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## Chrome steel (Apr 6, 2003)

me too.


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## bigmac (Nov 28, 2000)

Play nice boys


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## Chrome steel (Apr 6, 2003)

Sorry everyone last couple of days had been crappy for me. Its like I'm having male pms is that possible? I had been treating everyone around me bad. I'm sorry for anything I may have said to affend anyone its not normally me lets be sportman and friends.


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## Burksee (Jan 15, 2003)

maxemus said:


> yea the Ausable sucks Everybody go fish the westside!


Best post I've read in this thread yet! :lol: :yikes:


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## ottertrapper (Jan 6, 2006)

I would also like to apologize for my comments on this thread earlier. Chrome steel I am sorry for what I said not what I ment.


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## CHUCK n BUCK (Apr 6, 2004)

I also fished the Ausable last Saturday for the first time every. Don't know much about the river, but we fished below the dam. Not a single hookup. Oh well it was fun to go up there anyways...and the Ausable Inn was fun Saturday night:evilsmile !!!


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## ausable_steelhead (Sep 30, 2002)

I was up last Sunday, and talking to some of my local buddies, they said the dam had ALOT of people Saturday, which is why it sucked. The Au Sable runs later than every other river in the state, it's still early there. Right now at the dam, it's mostly winter fish, with some chrome around, but there's really not alot of fish up there, so you take a few fish, put 50 guys on them, and well you know what that's like(think HB's on a bright, sunny day on a weekend). Try in the dark, that can be good in spring.


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## dinoday (Feb 22, 2004)

ausable_steelhead said:


> Try in the dark, that can be good in spring.


Wobble-Glo


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## ausable_steelhead (Sep 30, 2002)

Anything glow .


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