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River Report - July 10, 2019

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 will round out a rise that should make for some fine evenings of angling.  Just don’t dawdle on fish that rise - put them in the net quickly and move to the next trout.

The Manistee finds itself much earlier in the emergence. It has peaked but promises many more nights of good hex fishing.  As predicted, we’ll be fishing rising trout after dark deep into July.

We’ve got a bleary-eyed, weary crew of Hex-hausted guides. The boys have been covering a lot of water and late night hours in search of clattering Hex hatching banks.  This strange season has made for a long run of scraping together good early risers and long, dark nights deep into thick blankets of peak flights over wise old brown trout.  But we’ve got a book full of big brown trout addresses and the guides are eager for more, so if you haven’t had your share yet, we may just have an opening this week to get you into the Hex fish you missed in June.

Wayne and I pushed deep into the blackness the other night and had fish rising to an amazing Iso spinner fall in the evening light and worked fish on hex until we just couldn’t stay out any longer. The action was constant and all of the fish were thick and healthy.  There are a ton of brown trout in our rivers this year.  We put a hook into a bunch that night.

The brown trout to brook trout ratio is different this year. There are a lot of browns.  Anglers should focus on fishing the small light at either end of the day, fish the under the wood and shadows, and fish mice under the stars.

We’re starting to shift gears into summertime fly fishing, too. That means brook trout in the daylight on smaller, more intimate waters.  And it means new and younger anglers getting introduced into our sport. We’ve got a class scheduled for beginners on July 21st that costs $275 per angler and has students leaving with a new rod and reel outfit and solid sense of how to approach trout streams.  We also offer beginning and intermediate instructionals that are by appointment, affordable, and include all gear for your use during the class.  This is the time to give fly fishing a try or to turn a loved one into your new fishing partner.  Jack’s waders fit this year and the water is in great shape for him to give them a try.

A guide trip down one of our trout streams is a fine way to round out you vacation.

Hope to see you soon!

Andy