Late Ausable steel??

[stelmon]

When is the latest you have seen steel in the river. The reason I ask is my dad wants to take me fishing on this unknown lake that I have never heard of and I figure if were not catching pike after pike then we will hit the au sable sunday mourning. This should be the weekend before memorial weekend(my birthday). Would there be good numbers?

[Ladykiller]

ummmm....about 10 pm when the suns sets is that latest i've saw em.

[mickey]

I heard things are going pretty good there right now. It would be worth a shot.

[salmonslammer]

Although it varies year to year, its been my experience that the run is winding down by then. Thats not to say there are no fish in the river, but most have droped back by then. Still lots of trout and bass, pike, cats, etc, to be had though if you cant find any steelies...............

[IT pimp 2002]

They are long gone by then, we are fishing in the boat by then and that would be your best bet. Big smallies off the pier and in the back waters, with big catfish at night. Go get em!!

[mickey]

ops. my fault dan. I thought you meant this sunday

[WEEZER]

stelmon, the fish just started to hit the gravel on the Ausable about 1.5 weeks ago. I'd say that we aren't even at peak run yet.
most of the males are very dark fall runners.
Anyways I'm betting that there will be plenty of fish around on memorial weekend.
Last year my buddies went up to party at the state park and they were pissed that they didn't bring the rods.. there were quite a few fish in the river still and they were on redds.

[skinne]

i dont know how loate they will be in there but when i was up there on wensday there were lots of stellhead in the stream and a few of the locals i talked to agree with weezer that the run isnt even at its peak yet. we fished the dam and seen a few caught and lots around they just had a case of lock jaw talked to guys fishing down stream from the dam who did well.

[stelmon]

Thanks guys, we will hopefully be hitting that river then.

[Erik]

I think I would go now if I were you. As a matter of fact, I think I will go there now myself!
I'm out the door. See yah:)

[Erik]

Well I'm back. The fishing was good, but the local hospitality sure sucked! Had to cut our trip short thanks to a very rude motel manager! Guess they don't care for fishermen at the oscoda lodging facilities. No wonder most of them go out of bussiness after a year or two! From now on we will camp on the east side and to hell with supporting the local economy!
At any rate there are still fish in the river. I fished my usual haunts on the lower river, and managed to get a couple fresh females. My friend even landed his first ever Ausable steelie:) The one female was fresh in the river, (her belly was still bright white) but she had loose eggs. I think that is an indication the fish have been holding in the lake longer than usual. We never did get up to check out the gravel so I don't know how many fish are on the redds. The river is in good shape though. Best I've seen it in a long time.

[Erik]

This is the fresh one. She looks very fresh to me but she started dumping eggs when we picked her up. http://www.hunting-pictures.com/members/phish/stevesfish.jpg
BTW I tried to use the picture software here, but I couldn't get it to work.

[Shoeman]

Erik, feel free to post the negative aspects of your trip.

I'm sure, other members would be interested in the management of the Aurora.

If Steve has a problem with it, we'll delete the post.

[Getaway]

Nice fish Erik!!

Please post a little more about the hotel experience. I agree that many Oscoda businesses do not cater to fisherman.

I will absolutely NEVER...EVER go back to the KOA campground in Oscoda again. They basically ran all of the tournament fisherman out of there a couple of years ago by overcharging us and harassing us the entire time we stayed there. I was there with my family and we were having a nice meal around the campfire when the owner started harrassing us. He then put extra charges on my credit card without my authorization. I watched him throw a bunch of kids (ages 5-10) off of the hay ride because thier dad thought he had to pay the $1 after the ride, not the day before.

I did not understand what happened because we had camped there for years. Then I found out it was under "new" ownership.

[Shoeman]

That entire town is "Anti Flatlander"

From Realtors to Motels, from Restaurants to Service Industries.

After buying our house up there, we were labeled as Yuppies, with money to spend. On several occassions they tried to gouge us.
On one hand, they try to get the tourist dollars, but on the other, it's still the "old boys network" that hates outsiders. They're economic situation is very dismal, but yet, they treat tourists like hell. There are a few exceptions, like the El Cortez, the local hardware and a few drinking establishments, but in general, the attitude sucks.
Mine are first hand experiences as well.

[Getaway]

El Cortez and Scenic Resort are both good places to stay.

The only place I will camp in Oscoda is Old Orchard Park.

We have had bad experiences at all of the fast food chains (KFC is really bad). Charbenaus (sp) resturant seems to be pretty good but the resturant just north of Wellmans is terrible.

[stelmon]

you guys have to try it this way.

Buy a ASTRO van and sleep in it where ever you can. Some spots are right on the river. That is the only way we go in my opinion.

Looks like I will get some action when I go. Hopefully everyone else is out chasing other fish.

[Dead Bird]

;) I'm going up this weekend... Steelies ... Smelt .... Brookies... Is is to late for steelies??? Did I miss the smelt run??? Does the Geenbush still over serve you??? I can't wait till I find one of those unfriendly type.... I'll just show them how friendly I can be...

[northern_outdoorsman]

The "Up North Lodge" at the North end of town just past the Burger King is great to fisherman with a cleaning board and all...

[Shoeman]

Gotta love the Tavern :)

[northern_outdoorsman]

Ya mean the Beer Stop? Still don't know th actual name...LOL:p

[Erik]

We decided at the last minute to make the trip up to the ausable. When we got there sat morning around 10:30 we found a place that still had vacancies. We quick booked us a room, set our clothes inside, and headed for the river. We had a great time fishing and afterwards we were looking forward to relaxing back at our room. We picked us up a 12 pack and a few fixens to go with our fresh fish on our way back. When we got there I told my friend to pull up in front of our room and I would unhook the boat so we could park it and it wouldn't take up too much room. No sonner than we jumped out of the truck this guy comes storming out yelling profanities at us about how we can't park there. Now we never argued or raised our voices or anything. We never planed on parking there to begin with. I asked the guy why he was yelling at us and he says we are disturbing his other guests. I'm like how can that be seeing as how we just pulled up and haven't even unloaded our stuff? So then I asked him where he wants us to park the boat? Keep in mind the whole time this guy is red in the face mad and he gives me this smart response like I should already know without him having to tell me. Something like "over there for christ sake". My response to him is "dude, did someone **** on your cheerios this morning or what. Your being a jerk". His reply to me is, "you don't like it leave". "In fact just pack your **** and get out". I'm like "well give me money back then". He says, "I don't have to give you ****". With that he turns around and storms back into his office and slams the door. My friend looks at me and says, "what just happend"? "I think we just got kicked out" I said. "Wait here a minute and I'll see if I can reason with the guy". I rang the bell to the office and the guy answers it, "I just dialed 911, you guys are outta here". I'm like "for what"? "I haven't done anything" The guys says "I saw your buddy get out of the truck with beer and you guys are drunk and disorderly". Then he slams the door in my face. I was so pee owed it wasn't even funny. We packed our stuff and left as I did not wish to have a confrontation with the law. At that point I figured it was the only way to make things worse.
We drove around a bit afterthat and tried to salvage our trip, but sleeping two adults in a truck and the fact that we were both so peeed off we couldn't sleep anyway we just decided to come home. To top things off real nice, because we had to throw our stuff in the truck and leave, one of my rods got broke:mad:
A trip I won't soon forget I promise!

[foersterhunter]

Sorry to hear that about the Oscoda area guys.You know business should be thankful that us down staters would want to spend our money there.Maybe we should send letters to the chamber of commerince.Would there be any way we from the web site could get a petition going and then sending it to the chamber of commerince.

[Getaway]

Hey Erik,
He is officially on my "special delivery" list. I have a couple of buisness owners (KOA campground is #1) who receive a free delivery from the Getaway fishing team. The delivery usually consists of a several day old lake trout placed in a discrete place on thier property.

The KOA got one in the pool!

[sideshow]

They dont like anyone that they dont precieve as a money maker or a flatlander.. I live 40 minutes away from them and they are all A@@'s to me still. Including the guys at wellmans.. thats a place that takes a while to get a nice welcome at. Other than that I dont do business up there... to close to my house.. if your not from there your flatlander.. bobby "hey dude" brown at wellmans is one cool guy though.. he warms up to ya after seeing you a few dozen times a winter.

sideshow

[HATCHBOMB]

That's some nerve those a-holes have. They would be shoveling $*!t if it weren't for the money brought to town by "flatlanders." So next time that happens, make sure you leave a few urine bombs spread throughout the room...Rediculous...

HATCHBOMB

[IT pimp 2002]

I would be curious to know the hotel that was treating Eric so bad. The cops are in cahoots with the locals and if you ever get on the bad side, you are marked for life. My family used to be the original owners at the Greenbush Tavern and in my opinion it has gone down hill. Jim the owner has lost interest and it shows in quality and $$. He tried to sell 2-3 times and it always falls through. I think he wants like $750K for a business that is supported by flat landers. You have the power to expose the businesses that are unfriendly and poor in service. Most of them do not even know that forums like this exist, so use it to help fellow, paying sportsman, and also to let us know WERE you were treated like crap. What was tha name of the hotel???????????

[Shoeman]

Read my first post in this thread.

[maxemus]

My family has had a cottage on the north end of Oscoda. I've been going up there for years and because of the cottage never had to look for a place. I have stayed in the KOA and motel 8 by the mouth and haven't had a problem. On the other hand the restaurant north of wellmans that i've had problems with is Stella's Kitchen. One waitress for fifty people. Waited 45min. then left. Good food at Whilstes(?) and micro brew!! Also last time i went to the Greenbush tavern the service was also slow and the food sh#t. I'm sorry you guys have had bad experiences and i hope it dosen't continue. BOYCOTT THE AURORA!!

[stelmon]

The AURORA is that bad. We were thinking of staying there last time we were up there. Thanks for the up to date info on them.

Is the walleye in there good now, or no?

[Shoeman]

I believe the point is made.

NE Michigansportsman (Joel) knew right away which place it was. Appearently the Manager has a track record that's not too cool.

Let's close this thread before we get in trouble.