March 14, 2020 The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report You all know.  So much has changed in the hours since the last report.  Last week I was talking about ice cream and sunshine and Springtime, and getting ready for the fly fishing show.  Now our Country is all but shut down in the wake of a worldwide pandemic. In a flash we went from excitedly loading the fly shop into a truck and thinking about big city restaurants, to being slack jawed and stunned and searching s...

By: Jeff Gardner   Category: Fly Fishing Community, Michigan Reports, River Reports, Tourism, Weather

The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report This has been the finest August I can remember - cool nights and warm days. Michigan has the best weather in the country right now.  And fishing is, well, really pretty good for late Summer.  Water temperatures and flows are solid, so daytime angling is alright.  Tricos and olives are hatching every morning with young trout taking notice and we’re picking up some fish throughout the rest of the daylight hours. You should be able to p...

By: Jeff Gardner   Category: Brook Trout, BWO, Dry Fly Fishing, Fishing Tips, Fly Fishing Community, Fly Fishing School, Holiday, Michigan Reports, River Reports, Streamer Fishing, Tourism, Trico, Weather

The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report Somehow the world has turned enough to put us right into August.  Understanding where Summer started to slip away is a head scratcher.  Seems like we just got started and already we’re only weeks from September. I guess it’s because everything in our trout fishing world took so long to get rolling.  Our season was significantly pushed back. We’re set to reap some benefits from that now.  Cool nights and good rainfall has ...

By: Jeff Gardner   Category: Brook Trout, BWO, Dry Fly Fishing, Fishing Tips, Fly Fishing Community, Fly Fishing School, Fly Tying, Michigan Reports, River Reports, Streamer Fishing, Tourism, Trico, Weather

The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report Well I guess we have to call the Hex Hatch finished for 2019. Sort of anyway.  Our insect hatches never turn of like a light switch; instead, they sort of linger and nag at anglers like a leaky faucet.  It’s hard not to pull on damp, mildewed waders and trudge into the currents one more time hoping for that last spit of bugs and the last late night slurps of just one more jaw snapping brown trout. Just one more last time. Just one mor...

By: Jeff Gardner   Category: Blue Gills, Brook Trout, Brown Drakes, BWO, Dry Fly Fishing, Fishing Tips, Fly Fishing Community, Fly Fishing School, Fly Tying, Hex, ISO, Michigan Reports, River Reports, Tourism, Trico, Weather

The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report Hex have blown up on the Au Sable since the last report. While it certainly isn’t over yet on the Au Sable it is well past peak emergence.  The bugs will be less consistent than they have been over the last week, but nice fish will continue to eat the big flies each night for at least some part of the hour after sunset.  The flights will be in fits in spurts now.  Some nights will last only a mere twenty minutes, but Iso’s and Cahills wil...

By: Jeff Gardner   Category: Brook Trout, Brown Drakes, Dry Fly Fishing, Fishing Tips, Fly Fishing Community, Fly Fishing School, Fly Tying, Hex, ISO, Michigan Reports, River Reports, Streamer Fishing, Tourism, Trico

June 25, 2019 The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report Hex are imminent. They have been for the last week. We saw the big fish-flies blow up  in enormous number on Lake Margrethe and have been waiting for the big mayflies to make an appearance ever since.  It normally takes about a week of eager angling before we see the glory hatch show up on the early parts of the Au Sable.  But this year has been anything but normal. It’s been over a seven days now by this ...

By: Jeff Gardner   Category: Blue Gills, Brook Trout, Brown Drakes, BWO, Dry Fly Fishing, Fishing Tips, Fly Fishing Community, Fly Fishing School, Fly Tying, Hex, ISO, Michigan Reports, River Reports, Streamer Fishing, Thunderstorms, Tourism, Weather

The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report The fishing since the last report on the Au Sable has been surprising. The hatches came off as predicted but with the unprecedented cold and high stream conditions, good catching was improbable.  We expected tough angling, but what we got was amazing. High water continued to plague the river systems and wading was nearly impossible. But the boats experienced some of the best rise activity that we’ve seen since I planted myself here nea...

By: Jeff Gardner   Category: Brook Trout, Brown Drakes, BWO, Dry Fly Fishing, Fishing Tips, Fly Fishing Community, Fly Fishing School, Fly Tying, Hex, ISO, Michigan Reports, River Reports, Tourism, Trico, Weather

The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report The rains keep falling. The rivers rise.  The hatches keep moving along. Some reaches of river have become too high and clouded to effectively fish. It can be stressful for the anglers that have planned a fishing adventure some twelve months ago and have arrived to high, cold water.  Some favorite reaches of the river are un-wadable and some stretches are unfishable even from a boat. Conditions like these can even make the guides...

By: Jeff Gardner   Category: Brook Trout, Brown Drakes, BWO, Dry Fly Fishing, Fishing Tips, Fly Fishing Community, Fly Fishing School, Fly Tying, Hex, ISO, Michigan Reports, River Reports, Streamer Fishing, Thunderstorms, Tourism, Trico, Weather

The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report June is finally here and, even though we’re running behind with a cold Spring, this week is destined to be the first of the Brown Drake hatch on the Au Sable. “...

By: Jeff Gardner   Category: Brook Trout, Brown Drakes, Dry Fly Fishing, Fishing Tips, Fly Fishing Community, Hex, Michigan Reports, River Reports, Tourism, Weather

May 31, 2019 The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report It feels like we’ve turned a corner. The last month has been has been tough for trout anglers.  Especially, for the dry fly angler.Â...

By: Jeff Gardner   Category: Brook Trout, Brown Drakes, Dry Fly Fishing, Fishing Tips, Fly Fishing Community, Fly Tying, Michigan Reports, River Reports, Tourism, Weather