fshng2 0 Report post Posted August 8, 2019 Fishing today would have to improve to even be considered slow. Spent this evening dodging rain that came out of nowhere. Even with the slow fishing and rain there's still no place I'd rather be . And on the plus side, I made a new buddy named Buster. Beautiful streams. Steve what WT are the fly rods you are using? I am guessing the spey is for pike and larger fish. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2019 The spey is my trout spey. It's a 12' 5/6wt that I use for pulling streamers for trout. Really helps to reach out when there's not a lot of room for a backcast. With a 400grain 23' skagit head I can reach out about 75' with a very minimal amount of room behind me (just need about 3ft for the D loop and thats it). Well I must have walked over 5 miles today. I dunno whats more sore my sciatic nerve from walking, or my bad rotator cuff from casting non stop for 6 hrs. Sucks gettin old. Was hoping to find a big smallmouth in Mio pond but they must not have got the memo. All I got were some little guys. Fishing has been rough the past two days but its much cooler tonight so water temps should drop hopefully and make things a bit better soon in the trout water. Even with the touch fishing I can't complain. The peace & solitude is just fantastic and I'm really enjoying myself in my favorite place in the world, the Au Sable. Time to ice the shoulder and get some rest to do it all over again tomorrow Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
partsman 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2019 I was up that way Wednesday, in the Mason Tract. Ive gotten into the nymphing thing and had some success with a Higas sos, nothing big but pretty good numbers, and some really nice colored brookies. Northern Michigan is so peaceful, the wind blowing through the pines, the water running downstream, a doe and her fawns coming down to the rive for a drink! I love it! Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flicted 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2019 Thanks for the reports. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2019 While I didn't get anything "big" today/this evening, I did get a nice variety of fish. Managed some walleye, bass and rock bass tonight on the spey rod. One of the rock bass was actually pretty big for an ol' rocky top. Didn't measure him but I'd say he had to go a solid 10" or better. Tomorrow will be drunk tuber day here (Saturday+summer= people I avoid on the river) so probably will sleep in late, hang out and watch a movie while tying some flies, and then hit the river around 6pm after all the tubes & canoers have already went down stream. Supposed to be dipping down to 49f for a low here tonight so hopefully the trout water is under 70f tomorrow evening so I can go back after trout again. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2019 That's what I like ... variety. And warmth, I like warmth. FORTY NINE degrees??? That's WINTER temps !!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flicted 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2019 Nice rock bass. Nice variety too. Good luck tomorrow evening. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark Knapp 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2019 Thanks for the reports Drifter. I wonder what the trout do in warmer weather. They must still be eating, are they in in-accessible waters? Would different methods work on warmer days? Maybe they are only eating at night when it's cooler? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2019 During the higher temp days the trout here will hang out tighter to cover, which here means under log jams and deeper shaded water. It's best to not fish them when the water temp reaches 70f or higher here because fighting a trout in that warm of water temps makes the lactic acid build up worse and it can kill them, so that's why I have been targeting bass the past 2 days. Water temp today is about 69f now so I will probably head out to look for trout again in a couple hours for the evening. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyty1 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2019 Steve - I can tell from your posts that you are letting of lots of the accumulated steam!! Keepup the good work and have fun! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark Knapp 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2019 During the higher temp days the trout here will hang out tighter to cover, which here means under log jams and deeper shaded water. It's best to not fish them when the water temp reaches 70f or higher here because fighting a trout in that warm of water temps makes the lactic acid build up worse and it can kill them, so that's why I have been targeting bass the past 2 days. Water temp today is about 69f now so I will probably head out to look for trout again in a couple hours for the evening. Ah... I get it now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
caloosa bug 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2019 Good stuff Steve. I’m jealous. Enjoy yourself and all that’s around you. A soak in some 70 degree stream water, and an evening with no mosquitoes with temps below 50 sound amazing right now! The fishing would be icing on the cake. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted August 11, 2019 A very enjoyable and beautiful evening on the Au Sable tonight. A nice walleye on the fly rod is always a bonus treat. Hooked into this one right before the sun started to go down. But I think the biggest treat was what a saw this afternoon. At one point I happen to glance down and not even 6ft off to my right in less than 2 ft of water was one of the Au Sable's giants. It was a brown so big I thought at first it had to be a redhorse sucker, but it was clear as day that it was a big monster male brown trout. Easily was 24" long and had to be a good 4" wide. Was way to close to even try to put a fly in front of it so I just watched it for a full 2 minutes till it finally slowly slid out into the darker water. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flicted 0 Report post Posted August 11, 2019 Chills Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted August 11, 2019 Good to hear you're enjoying the time on the water. Just looking around and noticing is a big part of fishing, if you ask me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites