Ocqueoc

[fisherman89]

any reports from the ocqueoc yet?

[dodgerdave]

went for 3 days no fish seen 1dieing no run at weir all quiet with locals

[pipthefisher]

i remember when i was 14 catching steel and salmon from that river..what happened

[Fishndude]

Zebra and Quagga Mussels happened. They out-compete Diporiea Shrimp in the Great Lakes, for food; and the shrimp are the bottom of the food chain for the lakes. Lake Huron has virtually none of the shrimp left. Alewives eat the shrimp, and Salmon eat the Alewives. No shrimp = no Alewives = No Kings. Steelhead are affected, but to a lesser degree, because they do not just feed on Alewives, like Kings do. Big problem. No solution in sight.

[jr28schalm]

any newer reports tnx

[steelieagw81]

havent got skunked yet and havent caught a king outta there

[BrikTan]

it also doesn't help that the mouth is only about 2 foot wide and 3 inches deep i was up there during opening week of bow season and it was sad to see how bad this was i mean the fish couldn't even get in if they tried to i normally see a good number of salmon in a few certain areas but this year i saw one fish i didnt even get my rod out it was pathetic i think the DNR needs to take care of this issue i mean i have seen good numbers of salmon and steel in the last few years but this problem needs a resolution BAD!

[Fishslayer5789]

What they need to do is dredge the mouth out. I know guys used to launch boats right there in the river and head out trolling. Are they unable to do that anymore?

[Steelmon]

There's a problem with the homeowner that lives right by the river mouth on the west side. He won't allow the DNR to access his property to do any work out there, because they screwed him over on some issue years back. I think he wanted to build a pier for his boat but they wouldn't allow it. I'm not really sure. It would seem that they could access it from the east side and dredge it in that direction though. I don't know all the particulars about the issue, but that's kind of close I think, maybe.

[pipthefisher]

when i was a kid that guy even brought his dog out to scare me away even tho i was in the water wading

[steelieagw81]

2 foot wide 3 inches deep? give me some of whatever your smoking, never in my life have I ever seen it like that, opener of bow mighta been 10 ft wide 3 ft deep and as of yesterday its probably 20 wide and 6-7 deep.

[ausable_steelhead]

I haven't been up there yet this fall, but fish can ascend the river if they want to. It is shallow, but not so bad that nothing can run. This was taken last November:
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m114/ausable_steelhead/100_0303.jpg

[Fishslayer5789]

That looks perfectly navigable to me. There's no reason why fish shouldn't be running up there then.

[steelieagw81]

its about four times that flow now the lady at the trading post said it rained every day in october almost. best flow ive seen in 5 years aand the best fishing in 5 years for steel anyways. skippers right now nothing of size caught about 20 on saturday about 13-16 inches, 4-18's and bout 6-10 first year planters, trying to decide if i want to hunt or fish thru deer season was gonna pick up hunting cause the fishing has stunk the last 4 years, caught more fish saturday than i have in the last 4 years combined in the fall anyway. oh yeah and not a soul to be seen.

[OH-YEAH!!!]

its about four times that flow now the lady at the trading post said it rained every day in october almost. best flow ive seen in 5 years aand the best fishing in 5 years for steel anyways. skippers right now nothing of size caught about 20 on saturday about 13-16 inches, 4-18's and bout 6-10 first year planters, trying to decide if i want to hunt or fish thru deer season was gonna pick up hunting cause the fishing has stunk the last 4 years, caught more fish saturday than i have in the last 4 years combined in the fall anyway. oh yeah and NOT A SOUL TO BE SEEN.

Bet that will change with your post.

[Streamside Custom Rod]

I was a little surprised by posts also. Complaints about low water and mussels - I found high water and some beautiful steelhead in early November!! All the Great Lakes are loaded with mussels and still lots of excellent fishing. It was also nice to see a good number of young steelhead around that looked very healthy. The mouth sure did not look anything like that picture above - at least twice that big. Here is the best steelhead I got that day and it smashed one of our goby patterns. Lake Huron is full of these and one of the top food sources. Steelhead was released.
http://www.michiganstreamside.com/nov1_report9_2009.jpg

[steelieagw81]

bet what will change with my post?

[Fishslayer5789]

bet what will change with my post?

He means that now that the report of good fishing on the OC is broadcasted on the internet, there will be a million people fishing it along with you on the deer opener.;) I would have kept that one a secret:yikes:

[Streamside Custom Rod]

He means that now that the report of good fishing on the OC is broadcasted on the internet, there will be a million people fishing it along with you on the deer opener.;) I would have kept that one a secret:yikes:
Million of anglers on the east side?? Yeah right! Right now on a average day there is 1-4 anglers in the entire steelhead section of the Au Sable and typically maybe 1 on any other east side steelhead streams.

[ausable_steelhead]

Million of anglers on the east side??

That is very true. I seen exactly one other fisherman on the Au Sable the entire time I was up there. I was even at one of (if not the) most fished places there, and seen the one dude.

I personally wouldn't talk about the Oc on here, but that place is a desert too, as far as people. I'm glad to hear the mouth is wider and deeper. That pic from last fall was during a dry spell, but I still found fish around. East Michigan is very pleasant steelheading, for those willing to forgo glamorous numbers.

[steelieagw81]

I forgot to mention I floated down in a kayak and caught most fish in upstream holes where permission or boat is needed

[Treble]

There's a problem with the homeowner that lives right by the river mouth on the west side. He won't allow the DNR to access his property to do any work out there, because they screwed him over on some issue years back. I think he wanted to build a pier for his boat but they wouldn't allow it. I'm not really sure. It would seem that they could access it from the east side and dredge it in that direction though. I don't know all the particulars about the issue, but that's kind of close I think, maybe.

If you read the rules you will see that anyone is allowed to have access to any stretch of any river no matter if someone owns the land or not especially if you are in the water wading. No one owns any part of any river whether on their land or not. You can even access the bank on their property if the water is to deep to wade just as long as you are passing to a wadable area. As long as you are passing on the bank, you are not breaking the law. Dont let anyone scare you away from any fishing area. I'm not sayin go ahead and fish from shore on their property, but you are allowed to utilize the bank to access another wadable spot. Should have kicked his dog if he sicked him on ya.

[steelieagw81]

there is a new owner up there just upstream of the us23 bridge he thinks he owns it all and can tell you to get off whenever he wants, calls the cops, dnr, presque isle county seems to think they have there own set of laws for that river, I got sick of dealing with the stu pid aho emailing the dnr and talking to the dnr, so I bought a kayak and the five times I've gone down the river this fall i havent seen him, any time prior I would legally access the river by doing stated above walking wading in and out around impassables in the water I always saw him, he took pics told me i was illegally trespassing blah blah blah if you are in the water he just stand there and stare at you,everything he could do to piss you off, If you are on the other side of the river which he doesnt own he polices for the dam neighbors as well. karma is going to come back and bite him in the ars one day and would love to see it happen,

[belkowski]

when i was a kid that guy even brought his dog out to scare me away even tho i was in the water wading
was the dog a yellow lab? I also had the woman on to south side of the river do that to me, the dog just licked my hand. but wow, what a b...h. It was 20 yrs ago.

[MapleRiverSalmon]

If it was twenty years ago then I don't think it was the same dog:dizzy::lol::lol::lol:

[John Q. Public]

I did not know this, thanks for the info. Here it is from the Michigan Legislature for anyone interested:

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT
Act 451 of 1994

324.73102 Entering or remaining on property of another; consent; exceptions.


(3) On fenced or posted property or farm property, a fisherman wading or floating a navigable public stream may, without written or oral consent, enter upon property within the clearly defined banks of the stream or, without damaging farm products, walk a route as closely proximate to the clearly defined bank as possible when necessary to avoid a natural or artificial hazard or obstruction, including, but not limited to, a dam, deep hole, or a fence or other exercise of ownership by the riparian owner.

If you read the rules you will see that anyone is allowed to have access to any stretch of any river no matter if someone owns the land or not especially if you are in the water wading. No one owns any part of any river whether on their land or not. You can even access the bank on their property if the water is to deep to wade just as long as you are passing to a wadable area. As long as you are passing on the bank, you are not breaking the law. Dont let anyone scare you away from any fishing area. I'm not sayin go ahead and fish from shore on their property, but you are allowed to utilize the bank to access another wadable spot. Should have kicked his dog if he sicked him on ya.

[steelieagw81]

the guy argues threatens to call law it just aint worth it, if i lived up there its one thing but when i shoot up for the day to fish i dont want to spend half my day arguing and being harassed and stared at, I'm waiting 4 him to screw with me one more time and im calling angler harassment on him but everytime down in the kayak i havent seen him, I ve got the laws and rules printed out and they've gone with me down the river since the last time i seen him i'll leave them in the truck and see if i can run into him this time..it should work murphys law

[Fishslayer5789]

I hope he bothers you so you can nail him for angler harassment. That just bugs the crap out me when I've had to deal with it both fishing and hunting. My buddy called the dnr to report hunter harrassment and showed the officer some videos and pictures just last year. The dnr officer confronted the offender and told him he would take him straight to jail the next time it happened. Needless to say, my buddy hasn't been bothered since by that guy. It usually seems that the people who harass hunters and fisherman generally do not hunt for fish themselves but take part in illegal activities such as feeding deer in their back yards.

[Steelmon]

I don't know how my post about this guy not allowing the DNR to access his property to do work turned was translated into a wading issue :confused:.

[rwenglish1]

I am heading towards Atlanta this weekend, WHERE is this river spot located at, that you are talking about. It has been quite a few years since I have been up in that area. Thanks, rw

[Fishslayer5789]

I'm pretty sure they are talking about that last bend near the mouth of the river. It's a couple hundred yards behind the party store/boat launch if I remember correctly.