The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report
The miserable cold snap has finally ended. It has been a beautiful, mild winter and the cold spell lasted just long enough to thicken the blood. Mild temperatures are in front of us for a good while and after the toughening up, it’s going to feel like Spring when daytime highs reach the thirties. As much as it was appropriate to hunker down in the depths of Winter, it is time to get outdoors now.
Go outside and shake off the winter blues and cabin fever even if it’s just to go for a walk. Soak up some of that sunshine vitamin D. Jack and I’ll be hitting the hard water for bluegills and bouncing down the sled hills. Hanson Hills’ tubing run is definitely on the agenda. I see meat sizzling on the tailgate perched hibachi and snacks in the shanty. A wintertime bonfire is certainly in order. What a relief it is to see outdoor time in our future. Even big March snowstorms, like we always see, will do little to squash my premature Spring Fever.
I am so very hopeful that our mild weather continues. Maybe I’m the only one, but I am wishing for a low water Spring. That can lead to troubles in the heat of the Summer trout stream, but it’s been years since we’ve had fantastic early Spring dry fly fishing. By my count it’s been five seasons. It might well be a pipedream, but it’s my daydream.
Fish rising to Hendrickson in April and then Black Caddis coming part way through the mayfly emergence in the afternoon. Spinners at dusk. And hatches that roll out one after the other as the weeks pass through May. Sulphurs then Mahoganies and stoneflies, oh my. May feels like Spring and Spring is what trout fishing is all about for me.
Get a taste of the outdoors and catch the good fever of Spring. If it gets into the mid-thirties, think about wetting the fly line. A little melt and a bump in the water will get some trout hungry.
It’s going to be a great May. I feel it in my marrow. I see it in my dreams.
Have fun out there,
Andy