![\"Deer](\"https:\/\/www.oldausable.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Deer-on-the-river-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Ice anglers had some tough decisions to make with daytime high temperatures pushing toward forty. Those temperatures on top of an already late start to the ice angling season made for messy conditions at best and dangerous conditions at worst.\u00a0 Ice, just recently thick enough to be considered safe, was stressed by spring-like weather.\u00a0 Many folks went anyway and many caught fish and even a lot of fish, but the lake I wanted to trudge onto was covered with slush, so I skipped it.\u00a0 The bottom line is that if you\u2019re unsure, you should err on the side of caution.\u00a0 Fishing should never be treated as an extreme sport.<\/p>\n
Much colder temps have already moved in, though, and the ice is boning up daily. The winter ice machine is back on, so I\u2019ll be chopping a hole a lot this week.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll be walking out until I\u2019m very sure that the ice on any particular body of water is safe enough for my snowmobile.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t wait to get out there. I\u2019m toying with using \u201cice flies\u201d.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been looking around the internet for the last few years and have seen all sorts of crazy stuff that folks claim knocks the lights out of panfish, but I\u2019ve always been skeptical.\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it\u2014bait is bait and fake is fake and real food usually wins.<\/p>\n
But the tide has turned for me as I now have a secret weapon. It\u2019s Dave, from the radio station\u2014Q100.3. Not only does he put together my fishing report well enough to make me sound alright, he is an ice fishing expert, and gave me the low-down on using \u201cice flies\u201d.\u00a0 Turns out, it\u2019s right up my alley.<\/p>\n
The trick is not to tie up any super special, ice specific internet fad, but to use bigger nymphs that I already have in my box from trout fishing. He says common patterns like Prince Nymphs and Pheasant Tails in size tens and twelves are the ticket.\u00a0 Especially, when fished in tandem with a teardrop and waxworm rig.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll definitely be putting that set-up to the test. If it works, never again will a greedy little bluegill rob my bait and leave my hooks hanging pointlessly naked while I stare dumbly at a motionless fishing pole.<\/p>\n
Around the shop its tie away, tie away. Donnie, Al, and I have been spending most mornings at the shop wrapping hooks.\u00a0 We\u2019re working backwards this year; starting with Hex and twisting our way back to Hendricksons.<\/p>\n
It could be an early dry fly season this year. I\u2019m actually, sort of counting on it.\u00a0 May just might be my favorite fishing month of the year and the last couple of years, they have been flat tough.\u00a0 This is the year\u2014I hope.\u00a0 I\u2019m daydreaming of green river banks and a warm May day and fish rising.<\/p>\n
Beginner fly tying classes continue through the month of February and are held on Saturdays at 10 a.m. The featured tyer this week is Al Borchers.\u00a0 His session will begin at noon.\u00a0 Al\u2019s going to share some great hex patterns as well as his secret midnight mouse.\u00a0 You\u2019ll want these bugs in your box.\u00a0 After all, with a name like Borchers, you can be sure the guy can tie.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re also gearing up for the Old Au Sable Cabin Fever Day on Saturday March 5th<\/sup>. It always a fun event.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had to suspend it the last couple of years due to the extreme winter conditions\u2014the trout were having a tough enough time.\u00a0 But it\u2019s back complete with food, fun, contests, and prizes. \u00a0So clear your calendars and save the date and stay tuned for details.<\/p>\n Hope to see you soon,<\/p>\n Andy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report. Another wild weather ride here in Northern Michigan last week kept anglers on their toes. As per the usual around here, the most versatile outdoors folks had the most fun. Ice anglers had some tough decisions to make with daytime high temperatures pushing toward forty. Those temperatures … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[148,84,7,154,5,150,68,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.oldausable.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.oldausable.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.oldausable.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oldausable.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oldausable.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oldausable.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.oldausable.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oldausable.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.oldausable.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}