My brothers and I recently returned home from our annual spring fishing trip to the Au Sable River in NE Michigan. Its a very special place for us and I always do a write up for a fly fishing forum a buddy of mine runs. Thought I would share it here for anyone interested in reading it. Since you have to be a member of the site, I'll repost it... Last week was our annual Au Sable River trip in northeast Michigan. Jake and Rich purchased a boat this past year and were able to join us. As in the past, I will break this down by day. Day 1 - Watching the Clock Wednesday starts out as what seems to be the slowest day of my life. In the past, Mark and I leave earlier than planned so we can fish somewhere the first evening. This year, Amara is in afternoon kindergarten and won't be home until 4. The plan is to have everything packed and ready to go when she gets home. The clock finally reaches 3pm and I head home to meet my brother. Everything goes according to plan and we are on the road by 4:30. We make good time and decide to hit one of our favorite spots in hopes of a hendrickson spinner fall. We arrive at the river to see thousands of spinners in the air. Our hopes are high and we immediately begin to suit up. This is also my first opportunity to fish a 9' 5wt Steve recently built. The evening is quite breezy, but it doesn't seem to bother the spinners too much. Then the air temperature begins to drop as the sun dips below the trees. That pretty much ended the spinner flight. To make matters worse, while casting to some smaller fish to test out the new rod, I end up breaking the tip. It was completely my fault. Not a good start to the trip. To be continued...
Day 2 - The One That Got Away After a late night around the campfire, Day 2 starts with optimism. Afterall, it can't be any worse than Day 1...at least we hope. Our normal plan is to launch around mid day and fish until dark. We kill time by telling stories and playing around the lake. Finally the time has arrived to put the boats in for the first float of the trip. It is less than ideal streamer conditions with bright sun and low/clear water. None the less, everyone is excited to fish some of Michigan's best trophy trout water. No more than 5 minutes into the first float and still in sight of the launch, Mark has a giant fish appear behind his black and chartreuse Conrad Sculpin. The fish inhales the fly and the fight is on. The big brown of at least 25" begins to shake its head violently and then run for the safety of deeper water. Our older brother Eric is on the oars and he immediately starts to head for softer water. Before we know it, the line goes slack. We are all briefly in shock. I've said this in years past and it still holds true. We can catch 20" trout in a number of rivers in Michigan, but we come to this particular water for the browns over 24". Some of you may remember the story of Eric losing a giant right at the net on Day 2. It happended again. As bummed as we were about that fish, we were still only minutes into the first float. There are not a lot of trout in this stretch so you never move a bunch of fish on streamers. The key is to capitalize on the opportunities you get. Mark couldn't have done anything different. Big fish find a way to get away...its just what they do. Some clouds finally start to roll in and we hope it puts the big fish on the hunt. Not long after the sun is hidden, Eric puts our first trout in the boat. A solid 14" fish that took an Imposter. By this time, there are hendrickson duns coming off the surface with some spinners mixed in. We find a couple decent rising fish and decide to work them over. It took a few minutes to find out what they wanted, but Eric eventually hooks another chunky 14" brown. This river is full of food and its rare to see a skinny fish. That was a good sign and we hope to find some better rising fish as evening approaches. As the day moves on, the clouds begin to thicken and the temperature begins to drop. This caused some sporadiac spinner falls and we eventually locate a good fish rising in some slack water behind a log jam. The fish rarely feed in the same spot twice and it was making it difficult to know where she would show up next. Mark stuck with it and was eventually rewarded with a nice 22" hen...slightly easing the pain of his previously lost battle. The first big brown was in the net and the mood in the boat was definitely improved. The clouds even begin to produce a brief rain. Minutes into the light rain, I see a big boil behind my tan Fathead at the head of a riffle. It is quickly followed up by a jolting strike and feel the heavy headshakes of a good fish. Mark gets the boat near the bank as I Eric grabs the net. A short time later, a beautifully colored 22" buck is in the net. Now the mood in the boat is really good. Good enough to mock Mark about the giant he lost only hours earlier. Anyone who has spend time fishing with us knows we enjoy giving each other a hard time. Its all in good fun and Mark laughs it off. Things begin to slow and we see the occasional rise on our way downstream. Most of the fish we see only once or they fed inconsistently. Finally Mark spots a decent fish and its my turn to grab the dry fly rod. The fish ignores my offering and I start to walk back to the boat. Eric hands me another rod with a different spinner pattern on it and convinces me to give it another shot. A few casts later, I hook a solid rainbow that puts up a good fight. The rest of the float is pretty uneventful, but it doesn't matter. One lost giant, two big fish in the net, and a few other solid fish. Not a bad day. To be continued...
Day 3 - The Streak Ends We know it will be tough to duplicate the success of Day 2. Our hope on each float is to put one 20" trout in the net. If that happens, the day is a success. Going back to last year, we have successfully accomplished that goal 4 straight floats. Day 3 starts again with sunny skies, and again, Eric moves a big fish only minutes into the float. The big brown is easily in the low 20s and it makes numerous attempts to eat the Imposter as Eric works it back to the boat. The fish eventually eats the fly, but the hook doesn't stick. We pull the boat over and decide to give it another shot. That is when I noticed the young whitetail buck skeleton in the grass. Jake and Rich decide their boat needs a little something extra. With the help of some heavy mono, their boat has a new look. In the meantime, Eric and Mark work the run where we saw the big brown. The fish doesn't show itself and we proceed down river. Day 3 is much slower than the day before. We don't move anymore big fish and don't spot any good fish rising. We decide to take a break to recharge the batteries. Mark and I are known for having a short attention span. Our curiousity leads to us turning over rocks in search of nymphs. We find a few larger golden stones and Mark captures some very cool footage. Select the HD option for a clearer video. Stonefly Video[/url] The winds finally start to calm near dark and thousands of spinners once again appear from the trees. As dark approaches, we start our search for big, rising trout. The first good one we find is feeding its way upstream and eventually gets too close to another boat. We do the right thing and proceed downstream. We find another decent fish and slide downstream into position. The trout feeds again and Mark gets the right drift. The brown eats and its followed by a few tense minutes in the dark. Finally the fish is in the net. A solid 19" brown to end the day on. To be continued...
Day 4 - Redemption Our streak of 20" fish ended on Day 3, but our hopes are high that the night's thunderstorm will add some stain to the water. Mark and Rich have to travel to town in search of pads and rotars for an impromptu break job on Rich's jeep. On their way they will cross the river. They return with the news we were hoping to hear...the water looks much better than the day before. Despite the day starting under heavy cloud cover, it quickly clears before we are on the water. We always save our favorite water for the last float of the trip. This section has more broken-up water which makes for good streamer fishing...especially on cloudy days. Despite our best efforts, the day starts slow. Our motto has always been "one cast" when fishing this river. You never know when that one cast will change the day's or trip's fortune. Any cast could bring the trout of a lifetime. We eventually reach a popular riffle which provides good cover for big trout on a sunny day. Eric finally puts our first fish in the net. Its a solid 15" brown that fell to a black Murdich Minnow. As it does on this river, things can change in a flash. Our day of slow fishing quickly ends when Eric makes a cast at the head of a deep riffle. A big, golden shadow appears behind his fly and its gaining speed. It takes a swipe at the fly, then another, as the fly approaches the boat. Eric has run out of line to strip the fly begins to work the rod around the front of the boat. The big brown makes one last effort this time he successfully inhales the black Murdich Minnow. The fish immediately heads for the safety of deep water. By the time we get the boat into the shallow water, the big buck is well downstream. Eric eventually works him over to me where I am waiting with the net. After a couple misses, we eventually have a beautifully colored 23" buck that I would guess in the 5 lb range. Technically not a giant fish for this water, but a great fish no doubt. And one more on its way home. Funny how one fish can completely change the mood of the day. We fish another hour and manage to move a couple smaller fish, but no more trout are hooked. We decide to take a break on a nice high bank. After some sandwiches and snacks, we climb back in the boats for the home stretch. The last two miles of river are some of the prettiest in the state. A big brown can be lurking anywhere and we have hooked some of our biggest fish from this water. Most have gotten away, but we have won a few times. The closer to the takeout we get, the better the water looks. We come around the bend to see Jake and Rich dragging their boat back upstream. They confirm our thoughts that Jake had moved a big fish from the bottom and he wanted another go at it. The fish doesn't show, but a short time later we find them dragging the boat upstream again. Jake has moved another big fish a couple hundred yards down river from the last. Again, the fish is a no show on the second pass. We are now in the last 1/4 mile of river and the takeout is almost in sight. I make a cast on the edge of some soft water that leads into a fast riffle. My yellow Fathead stops hard and I strip set into a solid fish. It immediately uses the fast water to its advantage and runs down river. Eric gets the boat near the bank and I do my best to steer the fish out of the swift current. Eventually, another beautifully colored buck of 22" is in the net. This one going at least 4 lbs. Mark captured this cool video of the trout returning back to its home. Again, watch in HD. Trout Video[/url] My brothers always have been, and always will be, my two best fishing partners. We have spend countless hours over our lifetimes on rivers and lakes across this state. There are no two other people in this world I would rather do this with. To be continued...
Day 5 - Time to Say Goodbye We awake late on Day 5, as we always do. Arms are sore, bodies ache, hands blistered, and skin burnt. Its always hard to say goodbye to a place we spent so much of our young lives visiting. Amara always wants to make one last walk down the hill to the lake before leaving. Looking for bluegills and bass. And she never misses an opportunity to smile for the camera. Our annual spring Au Sable trip was a good one in 2010. I'm already looking forward to next spring. Matt
Very cool! I can't believe the size of some of those trout. Pictures are great as always. I'm really enjoying the little bit of fly fishing I've been able to do so far, and while I'm not good at it, it's very addicting.
Bite Me ! Looks like you all had a blast. Family, Friends, some great fish and good weather, It don't get much better than that. Hay, that sure is a pretty net you got there!
It sure is a pretty net and its being put to good use, John! Hope to get back up there in mid June. Maybe I'll see you up there?
I'll be there for the big bugs Matt, hopefully we can get together. You cant imagine how hard it is not being there while the hennies are going on. That will change come bow season though!
The links didn't copy properly. Try this... Trout http://www.youtube.com/user/mpgrajewski#p/a/u/0/ifl5a1v51pE Stonefly http://www.youtube.com/user/mpgrajewski#p/a/u/1/CHuxiMCWjlE
Looks like it was an awesome trip. Your photography skills did those trout justice. Nice pics of some great brownies.
Thanks everyone. Its a fun trip we look forward to every year, especially since we don't get to spend as much time together as we used to.
