Thoughts on the status of the Au Sable steelhead runs

[ausable_steelhead]

Okay guys there is a thread going on over in the NW rivers forum about low steelhead numbers. So what do you guys think is going on with the Au Sable steelhead runs? The river is obviously not producing like it used to, even a couple years back. Some guys over on the other forum have noticed, from weir numbers, that there seem to be peak years, it looks like every 5 years or so, so maybe that's what is happening. The last bad fall run, aside from this past one, was fall 02'. I know EVERYBODY remembers how frustrating that run was(though it did pick up a bit, in mid-Nov.-Dec.). The following spring was great, then fall 03' was decent, the following spring was good, then we had a great fall run in 04', then the spring run for 05' was pretty good, and then we got this years fall run, which was not. And now, we have, for me atleast, the worst spring run I have ever seen. I've heard multiple reasons for the declining run in the Au Sable river, fish going over to Georgian Bay, cormorants eating alot of the smolts, run-of the river flow, and the low water years. All,I'm sure have had an impact on the steelhead returns. But I wonder what causes some good returns, then some bad, the Au Sable seems to be very up and down the last several years. I just wonder if there is something that can be done to help stabalize the runs, I mean, you go from great fall to decent spring to crappy fall to *****tier spring, it wears quick. But either way, I'll still fish the Big Sandy, that's where I learned to steelhead fish, and where I was hooked on the sport.

[SJC]

Ausable,

It's not just the Ausable. All the rivers on this side are way down. Especialy the ones that get a good percentage of natural fish. I think that it is a combination of many things that are all working against the steelhead. The Ausable is not the same river it used to be. Its always so low and clear that it seems like most of the fish don't run until its time to spawn. I know the Ausable better now and I am a better fisherman than when I was a teenager, but I caught more fish back then just fishing the three holes I knew.
It also seems like maybe the planters that are supposed to return this year did not survive well. I say this because the other rivers around that get a shot of natural fish to supplement the plants are way down this year as well, but of the fish we have been catching there seems to be a higher percentage of natural fish than the last 2 years. Its good to see a higher percent of naturals, but they are still WAY below what they were from 4 years ago and before. On the rivers that support natural fish I think over harvest and poor stream conditions are big reasons why it sucks now. During the summer I do quite a bit of trout fishing. It used to be so thick with baby steelhead way upstream on a lot of these rivers around here that during the middle of summer that you could barely fish browns or brook trout. I took my boys to a few of these places last summer and the only thing we caught was chubs. Long stretches of crick that should have been full of old steelhead beds are now full of sand. The rivers are way lower and warmer in summer than they used to be. There are still some decent stretches but I figure that in this area there is less than half the good spawning habitat that there was ten years ago. Also if a river has been proven to support natural fish I don't think the DNR should let you keep as many fish there.

I know I'm rambling and I could go on and on but I have to get back to work. I don't know what the problem is, but if you don't think that there is a problem with the steelhead in this area then you either have not been fishing here for long or you have not been paying attention.

[Adam Peterson]

I was at the au sable saturday and was shocked at the fish I didnt see. I only saw 1 fish hooked at all three hot spots and 1 fish on a stringer below the dam. I went there thinking there would be tons of fish but i was sure wrong. I nornally fish the thunder bay and it too has been very slow all year so far. We keep on saying it will pick up next weekend but t does not seem to be hapening. They shut the gates at the dam and we thought that would help dispearse the fish but that didnt even happen, now the suckers are in full force the steelhead are surfacing but not hooking up. A couple post back I said it would be until the end of the month before they came into the river full force and i guess i might be right.

[sprigdog]

without being sarcastic or philosophical...my thoughts are THEY SUCK (so far)
i do believe we are in for one more decent push this year. my glass is always half full.

Now serious.. last night i went back in my journal quite a few years....and did some averaging.....this year, the push will show on May 1st..so all you guys who have the 234 turkey tag make sure your fishing instead of hunting...;)

[Krull]

My feeling is that the overall numbers are way down, and the main push seems to come all at once and if you do not time it right, you are SOL. We can not blame this years run or lack there of on an abnormally long / hard winter, ice on the pond, water temps, ect. These fish should be in the river right now, and they are not. I'd like to say that they are in the holes, throughout the system, and some are, but when much more acconmplished steelheaders than myself and guides who always produce are only hooking a few fish, it is trouble IMO. When the drop back fisherman are getting skunked, the fish are not there. The fall run was crap IMO, the winter fishing was horrible, the early spring season blew, and now when the gravel rakers get their chance there are still no fish. I can't decide if I am going to blow another $100 in gas this weekend I am so thouroughly disgusted. Might be time to go back to my roots and fish for some nice Browns and Bows between Mio and McKinnley...... on the bright side, Muskie opens up early June... Sturgeon mid July... Duck in October. Bring it on....

[bigwak]

My personal experience indicates that this is by far the worst year I've ever had fishing the AuSable. I've fished her for 20 yrs, almost exclusively. My records show that I've averaged somewhere between 30-45 steel caught over the last 10 yrs over 15-25 days per yr. This year, I've fished less (mainly due to my below average catch rate) and have only landed 8 fish out of about 13-14 hooked in about 15 days fished since January. My average daily catch over the last five-eight years would be somewhere in the range of 1.5-2 fish caught per day. Last year, I limited 10 of 20 days fishing. I didn't catch a limit this year.

Ominous signs. Hopefully things turn around in the lake with the aparent decrease in predators, which may allow for forage fish populations to rebound.

[ausable_steelhead]

It may just come in cycles though. This could just be a bad season, you never know. The previous fall-winter(fall04'-winter05') I caught plenty of steelhead, I was averaging 6 hook-ups in the fall, and 3-4 a day during winter, not a bad average. I'd also have my good days. This past fall, I had very few DECENT days, in fact my best fall outing was Oct. 25, my fiance' and I hooked 8 at the dam in an hour and a half, and one other one at a different location. I didn't even fish hard that day, but after that it went down, there'd be MAYBE one hooked in the morning, that's bad. I caught my first fall fish Oct. 10, and so I thought it was going to be decent, as the great fall run of 04' did the same(I caught my first that fall Oct.6). But they started getting hard to find, I mean the dam is a good bet during fall, and they were just shooting up, and hitting the coffer, just like this spring. The winter was rough, the year before, I could ALWAYS plan on atleast my limit hooked, this winter, there'd be alot of skips, and an adult here and there. I had alot of blanks this winter, something I'm not used to. But I just filed it off as a poor fall-run, and thought it'd be good come spring, wrong. This river is getting very screwy anymore.