Gates lodge Au Sable wild brookie trip

[Steeldrifter 0]

Just returned home last night from a trip with my good friend Mark to Gates Lodge on the Au Sable for some fishing for wild brook trout. We stayed at Gates on the upper river rather than at my cabin on the mid section of river. Had a wonderful couple days with a good friend catching some beautiful wild brookies on dry flies during the bwo hatch. Also moved a couple really nice browns including one that was in the upper teens/20" range that chased my streamer but would not commit to taking it. Our room at Gates had a view of the river running right by it not even 50ft away, full service Orvis shop 50ft in the other direction of the cabin door, as well river side dinning. Gates is a great place to stay, too bad Rusty passed away so young in 2009 because he was always enjoyable talking too when in the shop.

Weather was cool with night temps hitting the upper 30's but daytime fishing was very nice not only because of the fish and beautiful river but also because the fall colors are starting to pop on the river now.

Here's about a 2-3 min slideshow I put together from the trip, hope you enjoy.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

gotta love the brookies great show my friend sorry I had the youth hunt with Jasmine this weekend so we spent the daylight in the tree stand she is getting good about not shooting unless its a good clean kill shot she passed on a nice buck last night that presented itself with a Texas heart shot only buck we seen all weekend

[Spanky29ca 0]

Looks great, what a beautiful place, I love the fall

[mikechell 0]

Nice pictures. Love the music. Too cold for my blood, though.

[Kudu 0]

Cool!

[shoebop 0]

Very nice Steve. I was up on the North Branch at the same time. We got a few Brookies and some browns too. I was expecting to see BWOs but was surprised to have a hatch of Pale Evening duns.

[novabass 0]

Awesome slideshow Steve! It makes me wish I was on the Au Sable right now. I love it there.

Thanks for sharing!

[netabrookie 0]

Very nice. really great pictures of the place and the brookies. I love the music also and didn't want it to end. Maybe, someday I can get up there.....

[Steeldrifter 0]

Thanks guys, and glad you liked the music. Seems these days so many people have been influenced with the whole fast paced troutbum "extreme" fly fishing stuff that they have forgotten what fly fishing is really all about. Which IMO is relaxation, enjoying the calmness of a river and the beautiful scenery. So I felt that string guitar piece was a fitting tune for that slideshow.

[todvan 0]

Really nice - enjoyed it!

[Trouser Trout 0]

That looks like it was one heck of a trip. I always jump on the chance to get up there and try my luck on the rivers.

 

 

I happened to have one of those chances when there was a wedding to go to in Grayling last weekend, so I spent all of last Friday exploring the North Branch. You're right about one thing, the relaxation of it all has somehow got lost to the upbeat "lets get out there and fish as hard as possible" mentality. I had a great time just enjoying the outdoors, and with the leaves changing, the scenery was magnificent. I ended up catching a handful of little ones, and spent about 20 minutes throwing everything in my fly box at a 16"-18" brown that seemed to be way smarter than me.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Thanks guys, and glad you liked the music. Seems these days so many people have been influenced with the whole fast paced troutbum "extreme" fly fishing stuff that they have forgotten what fly fishing is really all about. Which IMO is relaxation, enjoying the calmness of a river and the beautiful scenery. So I felt that string guitar piece was a fitting tune for that slideshow.

I couldn't agree more. I guess the whole gonzo extreme fly fishing thing is the price we must pay for having successfully garnered the interest of the younger generation. I'm much more of the "fly fishing as meditation" school of thought myself, but I guess I'd rather see young people approaching fly fishing in a manner somewhat at odds with my own conception of it than ignoring it altogether. With very few exceptions, anyone who becomes an avid fly fisherman also becomes a de facto conservationist, and we need all of those we can get.