10/14 thru 10/18 Ausable River

[jbang]

Fished the Ausable River below Foote Dam. I did not and never will fish near the dam. Flew into DTW from Philly Thursday afternoon and after a few stops we were headed up north. We stopped at the dam on Thursday night when we arrived at about 11pm and the bank billys were chuckin the lead minnows. Woke up early Friday morning and went 1 for 9 with most fish looking dark. I did see a few fresh fish here and there. The rain started at about 11am and I had to scout out the duck hunting lakes so we pulled shoot on Salmon for the day. Saturday was spent in the duck boat and we manage to pull a few mallards, buffleheads, blue bills, and teal out of the sky. Sunday morning was another early morning but we decided to hit up Desi's for some grub before treking back into our spot on the river. All the rain had pushed in some fresh fish and they were not goin down without a fight. Many hook-ups but nothing to the hand. Drove home Sunday afternoon and listened to the Lions disappointing postgame. Flew back to Philly Monday morning and straight to work. All in all a good weekend on the river and in the swamps/lake. Sleeping in a tent in the middle of the woods sure beats the he11 out of living in the city. I somewhat regret moving away this summer due to all that hunting/fishing I left behind in MI.


weather: mostly cloudy, rainy, windy, upper 40's to lower 50's

water clarity: gin clear

water temp: about 55 degrees

water height: seemed to be down at least a foot give or take

patterns: Brown, Black, and Olive ESL's Olive being the best, every type of egg pattern you could imagine, glue egg working the best, spring wigglers, wooly buggers, and green caddis also worked well.

line: 6# leader not more than 3-4 feet

river traffic: I seen 4 other people throughout the weekend where I fish

[GONE FISHIN(LARRY)]

did you hear of any steel in the river yet? I know evrything running later than normal this year,just a thought with the recent rains and cold snap might have put some steel in the river.

[weekendredneck]

Was up there on Saturday. Went 2 for 4, both fish were somewhat fresh. Black ESL w/pink egg and purple tail was the best fly for me. Only had to deal with one snagger where we were. After a little "talk" from me and another person fishing he took off.

Larry, didn't hear of any steel yet, but I wouldn't think it would be long.

Tom

[jbang]

Larry,

I did hook into one fish that looked to have some red cheeks and did an air show but that was after it had peeled off 100 yards of line. Steel? maybe but there were some really fresh Kings in the river......it did come from some deeper dark water. One could only hope....good luck to all...I won't be back to MI or the Ausable untill spring maybe not even til next fall.

[GONE FISHIN(LARRY)]

thanks jbang,
thinking of making a run up there this weekend.

[salmonslammer]

Talked to a buddy of mine..they are getting some steel on spawn this past week....

[GONE FISHIN(LARRY)]

thanks for the info salmonslammer.