May 26, 2017
The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report
We’re set up for some fantastic fishing here on the Au Sable and Manistee Rivers. Frankly, every trout stream in Michigan should show its medal this week. Water conditions are perfect. Water levels are at prime, fishable depths and water temperatures are optimal for trout feeding and for aquatic insect activity.
We now have a thick diversity of hatches. Major emergences of sulfurs, caddis, black quills, and March Browns are enhanced further by minor appearances little olive stones, golden drakes, and Mattress Thrasher stoneflies. Better still, the hatches will be bookended by solid streamer fishing in the mornings and complex spinner falls on the warmer evenings. And, of course, this first week of June will have many anglers keeping an open and keen eye popped for the glory of the Michigan Brown Drake hatch.
The Brown Drakes mark the beginning of the big bug trophy fishing in the June darkness. It would be foolish for an angler to step into the stream without a handful of drake patterns in their box. On the warm, cloudy days drakes could appear on any given afternoon. But usually the first of the drakes appear mysteriously and unexpectedly while anglers have leaders stretched out to long lengths of 6x tippet dotted at the end with a tiny, little yellow sulfur. And then, just as fishermen are diligently working smaller trout dappling to the minute pale flies, a cloud of brown drakes streams upriver at treetop levels before falling to the water and stirring the whole next class of fish. When the sulfur rise in the failing light starts showing large trout rising, be skeptical, pull your gear in and look to the skies—drakes may just be descending to the water.
There’s a lot of fine fishing happening on our bigger rivers right now and it’s just going to get better. June is an exciting time for Northern Michigan trout fishermen.
There’s also some ridiculously good, sneaky stuff happening in the Michigan fishing world. I’d nudge folks to seek some of our smaller, less publicized streams. Those creeks are lonely and can be awefully fishy. I’d also poke everyone to take to the lakes soon and go bluegill fishing—it’s red hot right now.
Drive safely and have fun,
Andy