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River Report - November 4, 2016

The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report.
Hate to see October slip by.  I wish there were at least two of them.  I’d say six, but there’s no sense in getting greedy, I guess.

That said, November is no slouch of a month.  It’s just that the outdoor opportunities start to get more limited.  Maybe that’s a good thing for a scatter-brained outdoorsman like me.  Whereas October is a beehive of hunting and fishing pursuits, November forces folks to focus.

In the Crawford County streams brook trout have spawned and are pretty much absent from the bite—they are no longer a target IMG_0151species.  And in the upland bird hunting woods, woodcock seem to be disappearing.  We keep hoping we’ll get one more push of migratory birds before the season closes on Monday, November 7th, but that event has yet to happen, so grouse are the only real option left to pointing and flushing dog enthusiasts.  And in the anadromous fish waters, salmon have done their deal and no longer offer any real game fishing, so Fall-run steelhead and the occasional lake-run brown trout are the limiting options.  These are all fantastic pursuits but, again, the options are getting thinner.

Get out there soon.  Do all the great stuff that’s left and pick up the scraps of all of Fall’s last chances.  November is here and it’s not exactly what I consider Fall and it certainly isn’t winter.  November is its own animal and in Northern Michigan it is, above all things, about deer season.  We live in a place where the schools close for opening day, where people take vacations, or own a piece of property solely to hunt on November fifteenth.  It is our heritage.  We don’t even call it by any other name than Opening Day.  It’s like saying “Labron” or “Miggy”.  The day just doesn’t need more names.  It’s that big.

It’s a fun season.  I put the final touches on my blind just the other day.  My lanes are preened.  My windows open quietly.  And our deer camp plans are all laid out.  I’m ready.

So I’ll spend the next ten days sitting in my bow stand, and walking into the grouse covers, and wading knee deep in the South Branch hoping for one more heavy brown trout.

I hope you can find some time and we see you soon,

Andy