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River Report - December 3, 2015

The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report.
What’s that saying about closing a window and opening a door, or something?  I can’t quite remember, but I do know the Whitetailed Deer rifle season sort of puts the woods on lock down, and so, its end turns the key on all sorts of all sorts of outdoor games.

Grouse season is open again in the Michigan North Woods and the mild weather means fine conditions exist to get those dogs back outside.  Mine haven’t been allowed to run in the woods for the entire deer season and simply look happy just to stretch their legs—grouse or no grouse.  The birds are starting to pod into family groups so you will likely go many steps between flushes, but once they start going up you may just startle an entire covey.  There’s no need to go on an all-day march; just take a lot of quick spins in small covers.  Keep jumping spots, but if your dogs haven’t run in a long time, I’d suggest picking a patch of wide open cover for the first one and simply let them run like gray hounds.

The Michigan pheasant season is also open in Southern Michigan for the entire month of December.  Pheasant hunting in Michigan isn’t what it once was, and you’ll have to do some digging to find out specific regulations and where to go, but a little research on your Google brain will get you moving in the right direction.  Pheasant hunting, at its peak, was a bigger deal than rifle season in Michigan.  And I can tell you it is fun just to move through fields and hedge rows.  Just going makes the trip a success.

Muzzle loader deer season is also underway.  It’s a much less intense affair than rifle hunting . . . at least for me.  There aren’t nearly the numbers of folks in the field, so I’ll often just still hunt or even float hunt.  Those methods are low odd attempts, but make for a great way to spend a morning.

Conditions are also nearly perfect for streamer fishing.  The water is up a little and stained and those hitting the stream are finding some nice brown trout.  With the stain in the water, you may just want to stray away from the black and olive offerings and try something with a little sparkle and color.  This mild weather promises plenty of trout fishing for the month to come.

It’s also time to start thinking about fly tying.  The first fly tying event at the shop will be a Mason-Griffith T.U. sponsored class and demonstration with expert fly designer Dennis Potter on December 12th.

Our Christmas sale continues this week with fantastic discounts on just about anything an angler could want, so be sure to swing by and check out our specials.

Thanks for checking in and we’ll see you soon,

Andy