Drenching June Steelhead

[stelmon]

Finally, after 3 weeks of trying to get up north to fish oscoda, I finally did it tuesday mournin. Between graduating and turning 18, there is just no time, lol. I left yesterday mourning around 12:45 and just got home at 1:30am wensday mornin. I was told there was still a good number of steelhead in oscoda so I thought I would check it out. What an awsome tuesday it turned out to be.

I checked out the peir in the mournin for walleye. Nothing. I fished highbanks all day and only saw 5 other fisherman. Within my first few cast, I hooked a steelie but of coarse lost it. I then switched sides and hooked a few more but lost them also. THEN, it started. It started off raining lightly, then it got worse and worse. That's when it happened. I hooked into the most wildest craziest steelhead I have ever hooked into. This fish just went buzzurks, carthwheeling and hauling butt all over. This fish was BIG and I wanted it bad. It was at least 12 lbs. I prayed my knots were good. BUT...if any of you are familiar with highbanks which I know a few of you are, you probably know about the 2 big stumps sitting side by side on the corner. The fish finally calmed down and I started slowly working it in. Then he turned around and went around the logs. I thought, Oh great, how am I going to get him around. I started menuvering my body out there to get him around but he ended up doing it himself. He then did not like it that his little trick did not work so he started cart wheeling again. He again finally calmed down and I was just playing it cool letting him tire himself out. Then he did it. He turned around and didn't go around the logs, he didn't go between me and the logs, he went THROUGH the logs. How he did, I have no clue. There is so much crap on those thingit was amazing. There was no way I was getting him out of there and my leader finally broke but man, what a fight. I ended up not getting skunked though. I did catch a really small trout. Not sure if it was a steelie or not. Then came the heavy rain and the lamprey's turned on. Yes, I said LAMPREY'S. I saw so many of them this weekend it was gross. I also caught two of them. Your supose to kill them right???

I then packed it out. As I am walking back to my truck, I hear a high pitch scream. I turn around in horror and there is a baby deer. I don't know what his problem was but as soon as I turned around, he darted away. I think he might of been curious about me but when I noticed him, he took off. I don't think lake huron would of stopped him. I wish I could of got a shot(camerea shot;)) of him. How do you do it splitshot???;)

After the rain stopped, I headed out for another few hours. Had a few on but nothing spectacular. I then called it a day.

So with what I saw yesterday, there is still a good amount of steelhead in the river. Enough to drive a few hours. But there dwindleing. Probably another week to two weeks and then you will have to start hunting for them. I didn't see any in the coffer. According to a few people, the walleye are done at the peir. There catching limits of lakers out on the lake and picking up a few salmon. The water I guess is still to cold for steelies I guess.

I was going to stay another days, but the water is so clear, it is hard to hook fish and tomarrow was supose to be nice so I thought I would just come home. Anyone wanna go fishin today??

Bring on da Kings

[northern_outdoorsman]

Cool Report! Wanna go after some Crappie In the evening?;) I can wake up arounf 2-3 PM and go get some Minnows....Call me at home around 2pm...

[Mike]

Nice job Dan. Sounds like a lot more fun than working!

Mike

[ausable_steelhead]

Stel, there are two ways you get'em around those stumps, let them run straight out from you, to the other bank, that way when they go down, they're clear of it, or you get lucky , and keep them on the inside and work them down. If they start heading for the stumps, you have to palm and try and stop them, I did this year a couple times, my first fish off the corner wrapped me there, after that, I learned how to work them around it. I can't believe there is a good amount of fish around, I thought they were done when I was there last time.

[stelmon]

Hey Don,
I just woke up at 3 o'clock. I might call ya later on if you haven't gone yet.

A_S~The first time he went around the log that is what I was trying to do but he came back up. The second time, I was screwed, lol.

[northern_outdoorsman]

LOL I just woke up at 6pm...LMAO

[Krankem]

Wow!! Middle of June, and there are not only a few stragglers, but good numbers of steelhead in the AuSable!!!???? That's pretty cool. Hey, maybe they're still secretly planting Skams in the AuSable after all :D....the one Stelmon hooked into fits the descriptions quite well!!

I figured the run would stretch out a while this year with the cold temps and all, but this is pretty late. I just checked the flow charts for the river...(Temp ~62 degrees, O2 ~8.5 mg/l, Flow ~1300ft^3)...everyone write that down for future reference! If I had't already sqandered my allowance of fishing days for this week, I would head up there and give it one last go this weekend. Trolling the big lake over the last month has me yearning for some steelhead action on a good ol' noodle rod! Fall can't arrive fast enough.

Thanks for the report Stelmon. Good job on taking the gamble to head up there when the rest of us had called it a year. How did the fish look in general - any chrome left?

-Krankem

[Krankem]

That's NUTS!
;) In case anybody was confused, I meant the fish still being in the river, not Northern_Outdoorsman waking up at 6pm...that's definitely a very sane thing to do!!

[maxemus]

Good job Stelmon!!:D

[Hemish]

Way to go Stel! Dang, sounds about right, hang up the rod for the year and then a report like that......sonuva

I wonder the same thing as Krankem, how was the color? Black and Tan or Chrome?

[Fishndude]

It doesn't always suck to lose a fish, but I always prefer to land them. They do not plant Skamanias in the river, but I have caught a couple since they stopped running - not in a couple years, though. They do stray more than Winter Steelies (which stray a lot more than Salmon) and I have heard of some making it to the A here and there. It could have been.

If you are referring to the dead heads in the river, there are actually 3 of them, and they cost people plenty of tackle and fish every year. There are a couple more on the other side just upstream, too.

This is really late for the Winter fish to be in the river, but I am sure one of the nicest parts of the trip was a lack of competition. The Highbanks must be nice without tons of people.

[stelmon]

The colors varied. Some were silver, some had some rainbow colors on them and some were as black as could be. Some females were still digging.

[ausable_steelhead]

Well stelmon, you were right, still a surprisingly good number of fish for mid-June. We hit the river Wednsday, caught one each, and lost a few others. My first fish hooked was a chrome hen that snapped me on a screaming run dowstream. There were probably 5 guys when we started, that turned into about 12 at the end. Still chrome fish, seen at least 6-7 hens digging beds. The one fair fish I landed was the most beat-up steelhead I've ever caught, he wasn't all that dark, but every fin was rubbed raw, he had all sorts of bite marks and knicks on him, he had a bone sticking out just above his pelvic fins, and the tip of his kype was broken off! I don't think he's gonna make it. I've got a question, are hens the only one's who drop back? I was thinkin' about that, and I realized every drop-back I've ever seen has been a hen, I've never seen a drop-back that was a male, so do males spawn till they die? But overall, there is still a fair amount of fish around, and this is the latest I've ever caught a steelhead, June 11, the kings were long too, my last one was November 26th, so that's back to back seasons I caught a specie that was supposed to be done.

[stelmon]

Cool Jon...

I knew you couldn't stay away. If only I had some more time to get up there. How long do you predict the run to be. Catch any fish with a double fly rig in there mouth, lol.

[Hemish]

With the sounds of that report guys, I might have a go at some steel on the 4th of July!

I've seen plenty of zombie fish like the one you described A_S over the years. You'd figure if they were going to drop back they would of done it before that. Nasty!

[stelmon]

Originally posted by Hemish
With the sounds of that report guys, I might have a go at some steel on the 4th of July!


I very highly doubt there will be any steelies left. That river heats up really quickly and the fishing just turns off. The higher the temps gets, the faster the steel will come in, do there thing and get out or die. It's to much stress on them. Of coarse, you never know but I doubt there will be any left. Of coarse, last year I saw quite a few salmon in the river the last weekend in august only because they opened the dam the day before. Went back up the weekend after and there was none. Who knows, this is an odd year.

[jeremy L]

I've never seen a drop-back that was a male, so do males spawn till they die

Jon, i doubt it. If that was the case, you would never, or very rarely, see a male steelie over 4 or 5 pounds since most males could/would spawn before they got too big. As you know, there are alot of males that run 8-12 pounds out there, there meaning all rivers, that have spawned at least once in there life before. Maybe females take longer to recover after spawning or maybe the males leave sooner/quicker then the females.

[Fishndude]

Males typically will stay in the river and at least try to spawn until there are no hens left. They stay in the lakes for 3 years prior to spawning for the most part, and then spawn once. Some fish spawn after only 1 or 2 years in the lake, and those are the smaller fish. 3 year old fish should be 7 - 12 pounds, although I haven't seen many big fish in several years.

Most males don't drop back, and if you caught your fish at the Highbanks, they probably have been caught a bunch of times, and look worse for wear and tear. After a point, most people would let a beat up fish go instead of keeping it for the table. I don't get the people who keep those nasty Salmon in the Fall, but maybe they have some Seagull blood in them.

July 4th isn't too far away. You never know.

[Hemish]

That would be something.....steel in july. Think I'll bring my 9' Browning just in case.

[ausable_steelhead]

No Stelmon, but I did foul and land a small hen with one of my previous flies in her tail. The corner is holding solid numbers-wise.

[stelmon]

Sooooo, did you guys go out?

[Hemish]

Stel-
I made it out to the High Banks to give a look and there were a young couple *ahem* hanging out in the spot, so I passed it up. Word from the locals was that there were 2 steel spotted in the coffer below Foote, somebody said they were skamania, maybe, one caught on a spoon by a guy there I talked with on Sunday, he caught it Saturday. We fished the big bend below the dam and it was too warm and sunny, caught a rock bass on a Panther Martin that was it. So we hit the pier.

Off the pier a guy got a SALMON, yeah, a salmon on Saturday. I saw a ton of huge sheepshead, cats and smallmouth come off the pier, that's what we caught too. Only one walleye from what I saw, on a little cleo, in the early evening. Boats are taking the mixed bag (lakers, steel, chinook) out about 3-5 miles so it could be a while still for the salmon, but you never know.

Had a great time with my girl and got into some wave-running, you can see the bottom in 30-40 fow, crazy!

No steel, my Browning didn't see any action. See you guys this fall though. I did take a 16" brown and 15" bow on the Pine on the Thursday 3rd, canoeing before going to Oscoda. They tasted oh so good, laced with rosemary, bring it on. Black Panther Martin. Around noontime.

[ausable_steelhead]

Those could have been stray skams, or very late winter-runs, which wouldn't surprise me, because the locals on the big Man said there were still a few very late fish coming up, and the one I hooked on Sunday, looked like a colored, skinny, spawned out buck, so who who know's, especially with the Au Sab.

[Hemish]

True A_S, the AuSable is a strange river. Gotta love the surprises! Bring on the kings!

[ausable_steelhead]

Hey did you guys try the piers for walleyes all night, or just early evening?

[stelmon]

Sounds like a fun time

I wonder when the last run of steelhead went out. That would be interesting. About the salmon. WOW. Did you happen to ask how big it was. How was the smallie action of the peir. Were lots caught?

Thanks for the report! Woudl you be interested in a salmon outing of the peirs? Probably around late august when there in thick. Of coarse they might come in early again like a local told me last year but I think late august would be our best bet.

[ausable_steelhead]

Stel, late August is not prime time off the piers in Oscoda, that's when it start's. The second week of September is when it really start's rolling, and I think the third week is when it peak's, last year a good push came in the last week of August, and guys did catch quite a few fish, but I went up the week of the 8th, hooked two and a brown, and there were alot caught, but the next week, all hell broke loose, everybody(atleast 40 people) on the north pier caught fish, we hooked 19 that night, it was unreal, but a outing in August sound's good to me anyways.

[stelmon]

ya, I didn't mean thick. I don't know what I was talking about, lol. But I know we could catch a few if a bunch of us were out there. I also don't know if I will beable to get to that side of the state since I will be in T.C. but I know I could up until the last weekend in august. Also, the crowds aren't as bad.

Well, maybe we could throw something togather. Let me look at my schedule. If we did it though, I am not sure. Would you guys be willing to fish all night or would we be wanting campgrounds and stuff. I know I won't be needing a campground:p

[Fishndude]

the Ausable is running about 1900 cu ft/second, and the water temp dropped almost 5* since 2 days ago. If there are Spring spawners left, this should put them on the gravel and get it over with. If there are Skams around, this should pull them into the river. If there are cold on-shore winds, some Salmon might even stray into the lower river.
I would not think this level will stay high for very long. Fishing when the flow is dropping is usually good, although this river's flow can drop too quickly when they close the dam (as opposed to rivers that are just running off without a dam). It is blasting now, though.

[ausable_steelhead]

Stel, I'll be out there all night, that's the only way to do it, especially that early in the season, let's do it.

[Hemish]

I bet it'd be easy to pull it off. All night sounds good to me. Hope it works for everybody's schedule.

A_S, walleyes just in the early evening though I bet the all night guys did pretty well. I'm still amazed at the size of the walleyes I see pulled out of Oscoda, 5-7 lbrs usually.

Stel, smallie action was ok, but I remember seeing a guy last fall fishing the middle of the mouth with a tube jig and pulling in 4 lbrs while the rest of us were fishing outside the wall for salmon. Impressive.

Cool, bring on the kings. You know Stel, the west side has some amazing pier fishing action too? Try Frankfort with live alewives, amazing.

[stelmon]

Alright, I will get something going in a few days.

[ausable_steelhead]

Stel, if you can, I'd recommend the third or fourth week of August, with the weather we've been having, they will start early this year.

[stelmon]

Got it Jon....

http://www.michiganforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44299

[maxemus]

I'm in!