Memorial day NE report w/pics.....

[brookid]

http://www.uppermidwestflyfishing.com/photos/data/500/medium/IMG_0084.JPG

Well, with the exception of one small miscue what a great weekend and the fact that i took Friday off made it all the better. I got on the road early am and arrived at my first stop, the Ausable, about 11:30am.

I missed the morning hatch and was about 8 hours early for the evening feed so after getting the scoop i continued further north to hit a smaller stream near the cabin.

http://www.uppermidwestflyfishing.com/photos/data/500/IMG_0082.JPG

This can be a tough beat to work. The water is crystal clear and in many sections like a sheet of glass. I had had my **** handed to me more than once this past summer...you raise an eyebrow and these fish duck for cover. Since is was about high noon i decided to go big and bushy to try and draw out some of the bigger fish.

http://www.uppermidwestflyfishing.com/photos/data/500/medium/IMG_0086.JPG

I went with the Matress Thrasher. To me its no more than a stimulator with legs but it fit the bill nicely. It worked well over the course of a few hours. It didn't tempt any big fish but it did fool a few decent little browns...over all not bad for a bright sunny 75 degree day.

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I finished up around 5pm which gave me time to swing by the cottage drop off my stuff and head back to the Ausable. I got there around 7pm.
I prospected around with a some caddis and stoneflies, took the odd fish here and there but not much was happening. I saw very few bugs in the air and just the occasional rise. Finally about 9ish pm things got going. The sulphurs started popping & dropping and the bigger boys moved into the feeding lanes. I'm not the most experienced night fisherman but it certainly does have its charm. Fishing mostly by sound is a unique experience. The sounds of some of these fish slurping and gulping is truely amazing.
I went with an emerger and did fairly well...i could have gone with a spinner but i had enough to keep me busy.This was the first and only pic i took that night. I was worried i'd fumble the camera in the dark and drop it in the water. This guy was on the smaller size of the evening with most fish falling in the 12 to 14 inch range.

http://www.uppermidwestflyfishing.com/photos/data/500/IMG_0091.JPG

The whole ordeal only lasted an hour or so then it got real quite.
Its always kind of a strange feeling when everything winds down and you realize your standing in a river in the middle of a forest at 11pm...makes for an interesting wade back to the car.

I got up bright and early Saturday. Today would be the start of my mini stream restoration project on my little brook trout stream. I loaded up the truck and headed down the road. I was really surprised how good the stream looked and realized i probaby wouldn't need to do as much work as i thought.My project would start upstream of an old dam i popped two years ago.

http://www.uppermidwestflyfishing.com/photos/data/500/IMG_0098.JPG

It was tough work especially when your solo. I put in 4 or 5 hours and made quite a bit of headway in what i wanted to accomplish. Before i left for the day i also wanted to check on a section just upstream where i've had problems with folks and their quad runners. They decided to remove a bridge a few years ago to more easily get across the creek. It got busted up and sent down stream..which ended up forming a dam. Then they laid bricks and cement blocks in the stream bed for traction...basically they've made a mess of the place. Its on state land so i did get the DNR involved. I got an email a week or so ago from a conservvation officer saying they took care of the problem and to check it out next time i was there. Well, its just upstream so i might as well fish my way there...back to the fishing.

While moving logs around and what not i noticed a ton of these...

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These stone flies were HUGE. This one had to be at least 3 inches long and 3/4 wide...an absolute mouthfull. I went back to the matress thrasher and took some handsome little trout brook trout.

http://www.uppermidwestflyfishing.com/photos/data/500/IMG_0112.JPG

[brookid]

Eventually i made it to the area in question and here is the damage to the bank...they've basically tore the *hit out of it

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and here is the solution on the opposite side of the creek...

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They don't cross the stream anymore...

Later that night i headed to a different stretch of the same stream i fished on Friday. I had seen sulphurs coming off so i planned to camp out till dark and see what would happen.

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I fished my way upstream to a section i wanted to concentrate on. I took a few fish here and there but overall it was a pretty tough go. I believe it was shorty after i took this guy that the miscue happened...

http://www.uppermidwestflyfishing.com/photos/data/500/medium/IMG_0088.JPG

I was bent over releasing a fish and guess what fell out of my pocket...yes, there on the bottom of the stream was my new digital camera...good grief!!! I remember thinking just after it happened that i was in for some good fishing for the rest of the trip....Murphys law. Murphy was right...the fishing was outstanding and i have not a picture to prove it.

I sat stream side till dark..i could see massive amounts of sulphurs in the air. it was just on the edge of darkness when things went nuts. The sound some of these fish were making was scary. I again stuck with the emerger and this is what i learned...fishing up stream got me refusals but if i dead drifted downstream, threw a little mend into it at the end, then swang it across and stripped it back they hammered it!

I took several larger fish in the 15 to 17 range...just fat pigs, fish you never see in the day. The only problem was once you landed one that section of stream was trashed so you had to bumble through the woods in the dark...stop and listens for slurps and go back to work...by the time it wound down and i waded back to the car it was almost midnight before i got back to the cabin. It was a very long day.

Sunday morning i was greeted with rain but i pressed on with the restoration project. I dropped quite a few dead trees and secured them in the stream bed and called it a day about noon. the storm had cleared and by this time it was 80 and muggy. I went back got cleaned up and headed to another small stream on my way to hit the Asuable one more time. The small stream was uneventful with the exception of seeing a small brown drake hatch about 4pm. I won't go into details but i couldn't get a cast to where it was happening but it was someting to sit and watch these huge flies getting hammered by at least 3 different fish...one VERY large. its amazing how they loose their inhibitions during the day when 3 inch flies are floating by. I really don't like back eddys...

I continued on to the Ausable this time pacing myself. I found a nice log to sit on and i spent 2 peaceful hours waiting for the fire works. I watched the ducks and geese play, had a mink just downstream of me and i watched numerous deer crossed the river...wished i'd had a camera... :shock: The most excitement (prior to the hatch) came when a drift boat throwing streamers hooked a 22 inch brown trout and landed it literally right in front of me...what a gorgeous fish...it was huge!

The dinner bell again rang about 9:30pm and what great fun it was. I landed several fish in the mid teens and had the pleasure of being broken off by a rather large trout...this go around things went a little longer and i didn't crawl out of the river till almost 11:30...then drive an hour back to the cabin...another long day.

I slept in Monday and helped my dad put his fishing boat in the lake then headed for home...of course making one last stop at my favorite little stretch of water. The fishing was outstanding, and smack dab in the middle of the day...wish i would have had a camera.

So that was that. I was in the truck and headed for home by 5pm. The camera has started to show some life but i think i'll end up exchanging it( i bought the extended warranty just for this purpose). I leave for Ontario on Friday and i want to make sure i have something reliable along for the ride...

http://www.uppermidwestflyfishing.com/photos/data/500/medium/IMG_0118.JPG

[Whit1]

Thanks for the report and photos.

Quadrunners can raise such destructable havoc on a trout stream, all in the name of "having fun". It's a shame the damage unthinking no brain cretons can do.

The photo and story essay were great though and that's the best kind of reports we have in these river forums.

[Steve]

Awesome pictures. What brand of camera do you use? Hope you can get it fixed as it takes some really good shots.

[Shupac]

Great report.

The thought has probably occurred to you, but you might want to look into a waterproof camera. I've got one that supposedly can take a dunking in up to 15 feet of water for 30 minutes (and take pictures underwater too). I haven't tested the waterproofing yet, but it's nice to know I've got it.

[WILDCATWICK]

Well done! That new (soon to be newer!) camera sure does take good pictures. I stopped carrying expensive cameras on the water. I hade my Nikon LSR take a swim with me on some big waters in Colorado. We swam for about 1/4 of a mile downstream. After a huge bill to repair filters, lenses, and body itself I decided I would be safer using disposables on the water. I have seen some new inexpensive digital camera's that may be good on the water....at least I won't worry if dropped.

Your trip looked great. Good work on your stream! If you need a hand next time let me know. I'm looking for reasons to go up!:D With gases prices the way they are I've not gone my normal every weekend, just every other now:(

Getting some good warm water fishing in here thu. Last weekend I targed bluegills and caught a couple hundred with 5 SM bass thrown in for some added excitment.

Thanks again for shareing...it's very appreaciated.:D

[brookid]

Its a Cannon power shot A430 (or 340) something like that. I have the extended warranty so it is covered. It was just stupidity on my part. I dropped that camera out of my pocket at least 6 time walking through the woods and i kept telling myself....

I'm looking into one of those water proof pack things but i think i came up with something that will work...


As for the quads...i'm not sure where to begin...there are responsible riders but the others...:mad: ...its bad enough what they've done to my stream but what they've done to the trails getting back to the stream is a whole other issue. Its gotten so bad that they've started new trails to get around the old trails because they're so tore up. Its very steep terrain and i'm afraid over time i won't be able to get back there myself. It wasn't that many years ago that you could drive a car and or ride a bike back to the stream...not anymore...:sad:

***********************************************
WDW...i'm back up for a week in mid July...lets stay in touch...

[steeldrifter]

Nice report, and beautiful brookie:)

Sorry to hear about the new dig cam:bloos:

[troutbum64]

Brook,
great report looks like you had a great time,
as for the camera, I carry mine in a zip lock bag for just that reason, have dunked it twice and hasn't failed on me yet. Oh got to remember to seal thebag...lol
have fun on the trip and good luck