# NE MI Report Sept 3rd - 11th w/pics



## brookid (Aug 25, 2004)

I spent the past week up at our family cottage in NE Michigan. I've mentioned the circumstances as to why in a previous post. I was supposed to be in Montana but as my mom nears the end of her journey...home is where i needed to be. I knew parts of the week would not be pleasant. My parents are divorced and since i'm the closest sibling i drew the short straw in having to deal with her affairs...its alot for one to deal with...as a result I decided to allow myself to fish every other day to keep my sanity and time willing slip into some nearby water in the early am and late pm. 

Thank God for fly fishing...really...thank God for fly fishing...it has been an unbelievable therapy...as i sit here and type i realize how truely blessed i am to have found something, that as it turns out, is much more than just "something to do"...and thats the last i'll speak on the subject.

On to the report.....


Originally i was to meet a buddy at the Ausable on the tail end of the trip because i figured after the week i was up against i was going to need it to recharge the spirit...but it was river clean-up weekend and Gates had no rooms available...so we flip flopped an ended up starting the week there. It wasn't the best case scenario...Labor Day weekend...i could only imagine...but we hoped for iffy weather and pressed on. Well, we didn't get it...as you all well know it was beautiful and as you can imagine the river was ridiculous.

It was my buddies first time on the river and i was really hoping we'd get into some fish...we did but there is an underlaying theme to our 3 days....

We met up Saturday Morning. He got there first and was enjoying a nice trico hatch...he caught plenty but all pretty small. We then went to guides rest and fished back to the lodge...i figured it was a good stretch to get him acclimated to the river. We got into many fish...beetles,ants and olives produced the most...but again most were in that 6 to 8 inch range...in the evening we hit a stretch on the south branch and again more of the same. Sunday afternoon my guide buddy was kind enough to float us on the "trophy waters". The river traffic was pretty heavy but once we got a ways down it cleared up. We mainly threw streamers but also kept a rod rigged with a dry dropper to hit the riffles. 










We moved alot of fish that day...a couple pigs...but unfortunately didn't hook up with anything of great size. I think this brown was as good as it got for us.










We fished up till dark...white flys popped a bit but nothing crazy...my buddy took one rainbow and that was the last fish of the evening.
I had never fished this section before and i really enjoyed our afternoon. I look forward to fishing it again. Monday morning we worked from the lodge down to spite road...threw streamers and each popped a couple small brookies. We hit the trico hatch back at the lodge around 11am and again many small fish. When the hatch stopped my buddy headed back to South Bend and i started working my way to the cottage. I stopped to throw streamers at lower TU...almost got skunked but managed one decent brookie right before the bridge...from there i stopped by the North Branch on my way out of town...more of the same...lots of 6 - 8 inch brookies with a few browns thrown in...most came on hoppers, beetles and ants...all in all a good 3 days but a bit dissapointing on the size of our quarry...more on that at the end of the report...a few questions for the masses.

I'll break the rest of the trip down to the highlights of 3 streams i fished. I normally have 6 that i fish in the area but since my schedule would only allow 2 full days i had to narrow it down to 2 and fill in the gaps the other days on my "home" stream.

Stream 1: Wednesday...

I got my dad to meet me early in the am, follow me to my take out point...park my car and then drive me back to some property i have permission to access the stream from. I worked this stretch before and i knew if i fished it thoroughly it would take every bit of the day and right up till dark to get back to the bridge...i got in the water by 8am. I was really looking forward to this day...4 hours later i had nothing but 2 splashy refusals...unbelievable...the last few times i've fished this stream i've taken an arse whipping....










Shortly after a little pouting and a short lunch break i finally broke the skunk with a nice little brown on a small hopper pattern...and thats about as good as it got for the rest of the afternoon. I took a fish here and there but not exactly what i had in mind. It wasn't with out a bit of excitement however. I was quiety working up stream when i came to a home or summer home, whichever...i didn't pay much attention to it until i hear a shriek and up off a lounge chair jumps this young lady...without a stich of clothing. She franticly tries to open the sliding glass door to the deck...is so frazzled she can't...she belts out a profanity laced tirade and runs off the deck and around the corner all the while trying to cover herself up...good stuff...then i hear some laughing and laying on another chair next to her is the old man, lover, husband whatever...also sans clothing...he's laughing and says "we always figured that would eventually happen"...then he wanted to talk about how the fishing was...i felt a little uncomfortable, cut the conversation short and continued up stream...it wasn't till i was up around the next bend that i finally got a good laugh...she had a nice trunk on her! 

I was starting to loose my light as i neared my take out. I was pretty much done fishing when i noticed 2 risers just up stream. I decided i'd work them, call it a night and wade to the bridge. I got near them took one out of two started to close shop when i heard a gulp...i looked up stream and could barley see the disturbance in the water...i watch for a minute then suddenly completely out of the water jumps this nice fish. I can only assume he was trying for one of the many white millers skittering around surface of the water.
I had a hemingway caddis tied on, made a few casts and got nothing. It was decision time...i could either size up or down the caddis or go to the white wulff which had produced a few fish as dark approached. I decided to go to the wulff...managed to tie it on in almost darkness and i figured i had 3 casts...the first 2 got me nothing then it was "go time"...strip out some line and either drop it 6 inches from the bank or 6 inches on the bank and go home...we'll i accomplished the former and has it drifted back i could barely see and hear a take, lift the rod tip...fish on...nice fish on...after a nice battle and in complete darkness i bring this guy to hand....










I'm guessing in the 15 - 16 range and a great way to end the evening and to salvage what i can only describe as a so so day on the water...good stuff! 

Stream 2: Friday....

Aside from my home stream this is probably my favorite in the area. I've done a bit of exploring and with a tip from the DNR i was told about one of those magical 2 track roads...along with a bit of a hike, it leads to a lightly pressured access point. I've got a system for this section. I throw my mountain bike on the rack, go to my take out lock my bike up to a tree out of harms way then head up the 2 track, fish back to the bridge and ride my bike back to the truck...only problem with this system is a like to get back to the truck before dark...not bad though.










I hit the water again around 8am and by noon i'd lost 2 fish...2 fish!
What i've learned from this day was i'd save myself a lot of grief and aggrivation if i'd just start out with a tan caddis...regardless if i see a caddis anywhere near the water...they really seem to enjoy them...1pm i wisen up, go with the caddis and immediately take 2 decent little browns of about 10 inches...similar situation happened the last time i fished this stream...
just up stream i took another brown from a tale out of a pretty non descript run...was starting to climb out of the water to get around a downed tree and i hear a slap on the water just up stream from where i took the other fish...i lay a cast short and to the right and this fish clobbers it...things where looking up! I continued to take really nice fish throughout the afternoon...its like somebody flipped a switch....










The last fish of the day was also a highlight...i was working a pool and just up stream in some calm water i see a dimple. I climb out of the stream to get around a downed tree. I walk up stream and realize i have more than enough room for a back cast and decide to throw to him from the bank...plus it was a nice vantage point becuse i was at least 2 feet above the water. I threw my fly up stream and a bit to the left of where he rose but it didn't matter...i saw the fish break on the fly and come at least 3 feet sideways to grab it...outstanding...when he felt that hook i swear this fish jumped 10 feet out of the water and almost up on the bank...i got him under control and brought this handsome rainbow of about 11 inchs to hand...fat and healthy...i'm really dissapointed with the picture...doesn't do him justice at all...










worked my way to the bridge...hoped on the bike and called it a day...i love that stream!

"home stream"....

What can i say about this little gem...it never lets me down. It doesn't have a lot of big brookies...but they are there...somewhere tonight in the 8 miles of stream sits probably more than one 14" + brookies...i've caught them before but not often. She runs low and clear and you see every take...










The fish are lightly pressured...i actually this past july ran into the first person i've seen on that stream in 15 years...and he didn't even know it existed until he ran into it running around in the woods on his quad...

I was working a section that meandered through a meadow...it was there in a bend pool that as i was lifting my fly off the water a saw a rather large figure come out from underneath a log to assult my beetle...ooohhh...i let him reposition himself, ran it by him again and he couldn't resist...he took me immediately under the log, spit the hook and left it embedded in another log deeper in the hole...i wasn't to dissapointed, even though he was the best fish i'd seen...trout 1 : me 0...i continued up stream came to a nice riffle area that was strewn with the remains of an old beaver dam...ran my beetle up the gut...saw a flash set the hook...and i got what i was looking for...a nice fat brookie...after a short tussle this guy came to hand...i'm guessing 10,11 inches...not huge but just beautiful and in his full spawning colors...i'll tell you what, when God created the brook trout he was on his game...they are just stunning...6 inches or 16 inches...good stuff!



















and that was that...as a side note...i did come back to mornings later and picked up that fish under that same log this time on a hopper...he was about the same size...

So all this brings me full circle back to the ausable...i love the river, will always look forward to fishing it but...the average size fish in all the other streams i fished were bigger than the Ausable...if you throw in the 2 days i fished it a couple weeks ago, in five days i think i can count on one hand the fish i caught over 12 inches...now granted i don't fish the big hatches...but on average i'd say the fish were in the 7 to 8 inche range...why is that?

My buddy just got back from Montana...fish averaged between 14 - 16 inches...why is that? I can't imagine they eat better, i don't think its a pressure issue...its not like nobody fishes in Montana. Is it a catch and release issue...to many stunted fish fighting for a limited food supply? I just have a hard time wrapping my brain around the "world famous Ausable" giving up so many small fish...and yes i'm opening myself up to get hammered on my fishing abilities or lack there of...but i wasn't the only one around the lodge asking the same question...just curious as to what others think...

and please keep it nice...i can see this question causing some problems...

Thanks for bearing with this long and probably last report for this year...

*Brookid*


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## NEMichsportsman (Jul 3, 2001)

Great report as always. 

I have come to look forward to your reports as it makes me feel like I am on the river instead of sitting in front of a monitor!


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## Erik (Jan 17, 2000)

Thanks for the report. I enjoyed reading it. Also I wish you well with your mother. I'm the sibling with the short straw in my family. You're not alone.
I remember when I was a young boy hearing a preacher quote the bible verse, "Honor thy father and thy mother". I guess I never really completely understood what that meant until these past few years.
Keep hanging tough. Your doin good.


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## Shupac (Apr 17, 2005)

Great report. Felt like I was along with you every step of the way.

Best wishes for your situation with your family.

As for fish size Mich. vs out west--I've heard various things, and I'm not sure which is correct. Where brookies are concerned, I know we have very high winter mortality, which limits the number that can grow for more than a few years. I also know that large fish out west are not as noctural as ours are. I remember reading that numbers of large fish in our best waters are comparable to those in good western waters, but they tend to feed more at night. Rainbows (and of course, cutthroats) fare better out west, and they are less nocturnal than browns, which we have more of here. Of course, even western browns are less nocturnal, or so I'm told.

Where's Mark Tonello when we need him?


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## brookid (Aug 25, 2004)

...I'm not even really talking about a nocternal issue...what i'm asking is where are all the 10 - 12 inch fish on the main stream? is it possible that an entire year class or two is missing?...as bizarre as that sounds.

...one would think if every fish is being released back to the river (main stream)...where did the 6- 8 inch fish of the past few years go? I can't believe pressure and being hooked a few times has turned the majority of 10 inch fish to only come out at night...

...all things being equal, the 3 or 4 midsized streams i fish in the general area
seem to have a bigger average size...and i'm sure there are some obvious factors to that but still...A river system like the Ausable should be able to sustain a 10 inch average (browns)...i would think...but i'm no fish biologist so i could be completely off base...

Just curious as to why...but maybe its a bit more complicated...hasn't anyone wondered the same thing? or are you guys the ones catching all the 10 inchers...maybe thats it!...wait a minute...

Brookid


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## Shupac (Apr 17, 2005)

I have noticed that fishes' feeding habits seem to change when they hit roughly the 8" mark. With a few exceptions, it seems that the better size fish on the AS are fairly easy to catch during hatches but not otherwise.


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## brookid (Aug 25, 2004)

hhhhhmmmm.....



brookid


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## Ole Spike (Nov 22, 2004)

Enjoyed your report. I fish the NE streams also but wasn't able to go as much as I would have liked to this summer. Your report was almost as good as if I was there myself! Have wondered myself about the size class of fish you mentioned, unfortunately I don't know why either.


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## kingfisher2 (Mar 22, 2001)

Great Read Brook! I wish you the best of luck with the family thing. I too drew the short straw and spent two years taking care of mom. 

I look forward to your next report!

Marc


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## Bassbug (Nov 13, 2002)

... I am glad to hear about your concern for your mother's health (and I wish her well). My father recently fainted, due to high blood pressure medication, and I think our family, prior to that episode, took his good health for granted. 

My twin brother and I fish the AuSable three times a year, and we have often lamented the small size of the fish. Both of us have fished in the west, and even idiots like us catch 12-13-inch fish with surprising regularity.

Previous posts (different threads) have suggested that it is the lack of nutrients in the water (from effluents - usually partially treated sewage) that leads to smaller fish. I think there's probably some truth to that, as the nutrient-rich water undoubtedly lends itself to better insect development and, subsequently, greater biomass. The AuSable watershed, however, runs through lands that are bereft of nutrients. The sandy soils that comprise this river's drainage, and its cold, fast-flowing feeder streams are not the kind of environment that is suited to growing large numbers of heavy fish. 

However, Steven Sendek, one of the fisheries experts for the DNR (I'm not sure of his exact title), has been implementing a woody-debris program, which is designed to provide more hiding places for trout, and to collect leaves, detrius, branches and other materials that might help create areas that are benificial to the river's insects. With some luck, perhaps this program may lead to better fishing conditions on the AuSable.

We all know that adding nutrients to any river system is not the answer. Perhaps the AuSable River's fish population is finally reaching it's equalibrium, as far as numbers and size of fish.

Let's be grateful for what we have - and be optimistic that the next trout that takes our fly might be the big one!!

Paul Mayes

p.s.

Dear Moderators:

-- *****ulam -- is not a referrence to anatomy, or a land of unusual attributes, but rather, a Latin word, meaning "peninsula." (See our State's Motto!!!)


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## maxemus (Jan 13, 2002)

Great post! Never read one of yours before. That's surprising  God bless with your mother.


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## brookid (Aug 25, 2004)

Bassbug you might have a good point...i say that because i've recently been reading alot about the difference in freestone vs limestone streams...i talked about it abit in a different post i made "Last Dance prt 2". I'm from Michigan and love fishing there, but out west aside, just fishing in Wisconsin this past year i couldn't believe the difference in the average size of fish i was catching. 

Limestone streams, and there are many in Wisconsin, are virtual food buffets...the fish biologist say fish can grow 6 to 7 inches a year...20" fish inside of 3 years!

again, i'm sure there are a whole lot of factors regarding the Ausable...i still love the river and look forward to fishing it every year...as the matter of fact, myself, the dog and the little lady might head up next weekend for one last go...weather permitting  

Brookid


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