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Labor Day 2017
The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report
The last of our best hatches is in full flight—the White Fly hatch below Mio Dam is a spectacle of nature. The White Flies, or Ephrons, emerge, mate, and spin in epic numbers on the best nights and create a blizzard of bugs that blur the opposite river bank. Unfortunately, the event requires a precise recipe of conditions to produce the fantastic fishing we all hope for and know it can create.
The rub on the White Fly hatch is that the insects prefer marginal stretches of trout rivers. The little, pale bugs like water that is just a bit too warm for optimal trout feeding. And so, the thickest emergences generally occur when the river is slightly too warm for great angling. So we hope for August and September evenings that are warm enough to allow for enough hatching bugs that get the trout interested but ones that keep the water cool enough for a fine trout feeding situation. It’s a delicate mixture and the conditions usually fall in the marginal tolerances for one of the animals we need to create the perfect casserole of circumstance. That said, this has been a special year and the stars seem to be aligned for the fantastic in the Mio stretch of the Au Sable River.
It’s worth hoping for and it’s worth trying for.
The Upper Rivers are primed for good fishing as well. We continue to have good trico hatches in the mid-morning hours and the flying ants have shown up nearly every afternoon in numbers solid enough to keep trout rising. If you’re fortunate enough to be in a reach of water that has winged ants on the water, stay where you, slow down, and take the addresses of the rising trout. The ants don’t actually “hatch” in any sort of progression that I know of, but rather a particular ant hill explodes with winged critters that are designed to re-colonize. The ants that emerge with newly formed wings are notoriously poor flyers and end up on the river not far from the nest in which they were born. A sloppy fisherman can wade away from the bounty.
Get to the river before it’s all over and swing by the Old Au Sable for our Labor Day Weekend Summer clearance sale. You’ll find the best deals on big name brands and from everything from rods and waders to clothing. It’s a must do.
We’ll have select Sage and Redington Rods and Reels for up to 30% OFF as well as select Fishpond Packs and bags for up 30% OFF. And you won’t want to miss out on deals of up to 40% OFF on select SIMMS product. It’s time to clean out lasts year’s stuff and make room for all the great new Fall gear. Buy someone a gift (maybe yourself) and help us make some elbow room.
Take care, have fun weekend and we’ll see you soon,
Andy
The rub on the White Fly hatch is that the insects prefer marginal stretches of trout rivers. The little, pale bugs like water that is just a bit too warm for optimal trout feeding. And so, the thickest emergences generally occur when the river is slightly too warm for great angling. So we hope for August and September evenings that are warm enough to allow for enough hatching bugs that get the trout interested but ones that keep the water cool enough for a fine trout feeding situation. It’s a delicate mixture and the conditions usually fall in the marginal tolerances for one of the animals we need to create the perfect casserole of circumstance. That said, this has been a special year and the stars seem to be aligned for the fantastic in the Mio stretch of the Au Sable River.
It’s worth hoping for and it’s worth trying for.
The Upper Rivers are primed for good fishing as well. We continue to have good trico hatches in the mid-morning hours and the flying ants have shown up nearly every afternoon in numbers solid enough to keep trout rising. If you’re fortunate enough to be in a reach of water that has winged ants on the water, stay where you, slow down, and take the addresses of the rising trout. The ants don’t actually “hatch” in any sort of progression that I know of, but rather a particular ant hill explodes with winged critters that are designed to re-colonize. The ants that emerge with newly formed wings are notoriously poor flyers and end up on the river not far from the nest in which they were born. A sloppy fisherman can wade away from the bounty.
Get to the river before it’s all over and swing by the Old Au Sable for our Labor Day Weekend Summer clearance sale. You’ll find the best deals on big name brands and from everything from rods and waders to clothing. It’s a must do.
We’ll have select Sage and Redington Rods and Reels for up to 30% OFF as well as select Fishpond Packs and bags for up 30% OFF. And you won’t want to miss out on deals of up to 40% OFF on select SIMMS product. It’s time to clean out lasts year’s stuff and make room for all the great new Fall gear. Buy someone a gift (maybe yourself) and help us make some elbow room.
Take care, have fun weekend and we’ll see you soon,
Andy