# Upstream or Down



## tcmono (Mar 23, 2004)

So I'm a newbie fly fisher. Everything I've read says to fish a dry upstream (and wade upstream) and let the current bring the fly back to you. I just got back from a weekend on the Au Sable, and everyone works, and wades, DOWNSTREAM. I tried it for a bit and I couldn't get a drag free drift. So why does everyone up there go against the "experts"?


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## driften (Jun 13, 2002)

tcmono said:


> So I'm a newbie fly fisher. Everything I've read says to fish a dry upstream (and wade upstream) and let the current bring the fly back to you. I just got back from a weekend on the Au Sable, and everyone works, and wades, DOWNSTREAM. I tried it for a bit and I couldn't get a drag free drift. So why does everyone up there go against the "experts"?


I got some pretty cool downstream techniques out of a book written by a west coast (Oregon?) guide named John Judy... [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Slack-Line-Strategies-Fly-Fishing/dp/0811720756/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348241253&sr=1-2-fkmr0&keywords=john+judy+downstream+fishing"]Slack Line Strategies for Fly Fishing: John Judy: 9780811720755: Amazon.com: [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@51TG9Y34NEL[/ame]


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## jjc155 (Oct 16, 2005)

this is my rule of thumb. If the bottom does not have alot of sediment that you kick up, I fish downstream. If there is alot of sediment, I fish up stream.

I can and do, do equally well either way.

try throwing an upstream mend with ur line to help with the drift. 

J-


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## DaveW731 (Jan 12, 2001)

tcmono said:


> So I'm a newbie fly fisher. Everything I've read says to fish a dry upstream (and wade upstream) and let the current bring the fly back to you. I just got back from a weekend on the Au Sable, and everyone works, and wades, DOWNSTREAM. I tried it for a bit and I couldn't get a drag free drift. So why does everyone up there go against the "experts"?


.....I wade the AuSable downstream because it is too much work to go upstream and I can cover more water fishing downstream. Develop your mending technique and the fly will drift fine.


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## driften (Jun 13, 2002)

With pile casts, hook casts, etc, you can put a lot of slack line on the water behind the fly, allowing for a good long drag free drift. Judy discusses many of the casts that form a bunch of slack for you in the book. When I first started fly fishing, if I wasn't on the river I was in the backyard casting a flyline.


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## DLHirst (Mar 14, 2009)

I wade upstream first, usually working dries - if appropriate. Then at "halftime" I change directions and wade downstream (when I am more likely tired) fishing underwater stuff. Streamers and/or nymphs. Most likely you have kicked over a few rocks and such, so fish have their noses down looking for nymphs.
But, I should mention, my fish never seem to be as big or as numerous as others online.


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## Silverexpress (Sep 6, 2006)

Check this dude out...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaN2Y2-wNSs&feature=plcp"]Small Stream - Big Trout - YouTube[/ame]

In the end, the conditions dictate your angling style and setup. The more you know the better your chances of catching something.


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## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

DLHirst said:


> I wade upstream first, usually working dries - if appropriate. Then at "halftime" I change directions and wade downstream (when I am more likely tired) fishing underwater stuff. Streamers and/or nymphs. Most likely you have kicked over a few rocks and such, so fish have their noses down looking for nymphs.
> But, I should mention, my fish never seem to be as big or as numerous as others online.


 That is because you are fly fishing. If you want big fish use big lures or live bait.


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## driften (Jun 13, 2002)

Robert Holmes said:


> That is because you are fly fishing. If you want big fish use big lures or live bait.


I've caught some trophy size fish on flies. I've even caught Atlantics on flies. It's a matter of having your fly in the right place at the right time.

Edit: Maybe not trophies, but ones I wouldn't have a problem hanging on the wall...


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## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

> But, I should mention, my fish never seem to be as big or as numerous as others online.


:lol: Are you sure you're a fisherman? This sounds just a touch too honest

Seriously though, the A.S. is very heavily pressured and a lot of the big fish are nocturnal from May until November. Look at it from the fishes pint of view; there is somebody going by most days every few minutes. How many people did you pass? All of them had already passed (and fished to) the same fish you were after. A big fish can wait until dark, chomp on some eight inchers and call it a day. The pressure is a double edged sword on our most famous streams, it can bug the heck out of you when you are working a good fish but it also raises the level of the accomplishment when you get him. If you fish him upstream or down depends on you but also on where he is; let the conditions dictate how you go after him. Think of it like the difference between taking a big buck on state land with a long bow or with a rifle. Is the added difficulty worth it? Sometimes. Other times you go to one of the less famous streams or an unmentionable and catch the easier fish. Anglers make a huge difference on the behavior of fish so use that to hone your skills and challenge yourself as much as you want.


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## Silverexpress (Sep 6, 2006)

kzoofisher said:


> Quote:
> 
> But, I should mention, my fish never seem to be as big or as numerous as others online.
> 
> ...


What you've describe reminds me of the Ausable at Gates Lodge. 


_Posted from Michigan-sportsman.com App for Android_


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## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

Silverexpress said:


> What you've describe reminds me of the Ausable at Gates Lodge.
> 
> 
> _Posted from Michigan-sportsman.com App for Android_


Yes it does. With the canoes and kayaks etc it's that way from Grayling to 4001 in the summer. You can get some quiet weekdays but the fish are pretty shellshocked. The North and South Branches aren't much better.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

I use flies a little bit in the early spring actually on spinning gear. I guess it depends on how bad that you want to catch fish as to how long you will be using a fly rod. When you really want to catch them send me a pm.


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## fishinDon (May 23, 2002)

kzoofisher said:


> :lol: Are you sure you're a fisherman? This sounds just a touch too honest
> 
> Seriously though, the A.S. is very heavily pressured and a lot of the big fish are nocturnal from May until November. Look at it from the fishes pint of view; there is somebody going by most days every few minutes. How many people did you pass? All of them had already passed (and fished to) the same fish you were after. A big fish can wait until dark, chomp on some eight inchers and call it a day. The pressure is a double edged sword on our most famous streams, it can bug the heck out of you when you are working a good fish but it also raises the level of the accomplishment when you get him. If you fish him upstream or down depends on you but also on where he is; let the conditions dictate how you go after him. Think of it like the difference between taking a big buck on state land with a long bow or with a rifle. Is the added difficulty worth it? Sometimes. Other times you go to one of the less famous streams or an unmentionable and catch the easier fish. Anglers make a huge difference on the behavior of fish so use that to hone your skills and challenge yourself as much as you want.


Thank God for easy fish. They keep me coming back.


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## Bull Market (Mar 12, 2005)

Robert Holmes said:


> I use flies a little bit in the early spring actually on spinning gear. I guess it depends on how bad that you want to catch fish as to how long you will be using a fly rod. When you really want to catch them send me a pm.


If you want to catch fish, go to spinners, spawn or worms. If you want to learn HOW to fish, and want a challenge, stick with the fly gear. Not an opinion, just fact.


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## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

fishinDon said:


> Thank God for easy fish. They keep me coming back.


Oh yeah, it's what makes hex season so popular, all the big ones get stupid. I cheated this summer and night fished quite a bit and the difference was amazing. On stretches where I'm lucky to get one or two fish over 15" during the day I would land half a dozen bigger than that at night and lose one or two more bigger ones. The fight is a challenge in the dark since the upper river is so much smaller than the hex water and even with a 10# leader there is sometimes nothing you can do to keep one out of the logs. But everything else is as easy as a trout pond. It's a little bit maddening to know that you just hooked a pig from a log jam that you have sat and watched and taken smaller fish from many times. That pig was always under there and next year I'm going to wait him out even if it means I never cast at all.
I do enjoy talking to people who say there are only dinks in that water. Nope, there's lots of big ones but most of us don't have the patience or the skill or the luck to draw them out during the day.


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