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River Report - December 7, 2017
The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report
The first big winter blast is here and it looks like the freeze is upon us for the foreseeable future. Part of me wants to say, “bring it on”. Part of me wants to see that first skim of black ice over lake water and rustle up my ice fishing gear and get to fondling my Vexilar and organizing my boxes of jigs.
But I’m not quite there yet. I’m not ready to pull my portable heaters from my hunting blinds just to move them to my portable fishing shanty. I’m not ready to stash my camo pants and coats and orange hats. And as much as I’m eager to pull a perch through the hard water, I’m also not ready to add extra layers and thick bibs and winter coats to the back of my hunting and fishing buggy.
There’s a lot of deer hunting left for me. I’m still deerless. I’ve got a doe tag to fill here in Crawford County and another in Alpena County (which I hope to fill in the late antlerless season). And I am still hopeful that this cold weather will put a nicely antlered buck in my sights. You always have to be hopeful to be a Michigan outdoorsman. I shot my eight point last season during the fading minutes of the rifle season. Maybe this year I can do the same thing as muzzloader season wanes or on January first when bow season ends. I’ve passed on a lot of small bucks and I hope, I hope . . .
Fishing on the river—well, you can have it. I’m sure some folks will be out there but I won’t see them. When the temperature is below thirty-two I simply don’t go. This is the time for fly fishers to seek steelhead and maybe to try for the last of the Atlantic Salmon runs which have been very good on our Eastern Rivers.
Grouse season is open until the end of December. But the DNR has found West Nile Virus in our birds ao maybe we should just leave them alone for the rest of this year. Pretty frightening.
Winter’s here and we’ll be tying flies and telling last season’s lies soon enough.
Swing by the shop if you’re in town—we’d love to see you.
If you're out of ideas for Christmas, our hottest seller has been gift certificates for guided fishing trips and lessons. At a certain age, we tend to be less concerned about "things" and more concerned about experiences.
Thank you,
Andy
But I’m not quite there yet. I’m not ready to pull my portable heaters from my hunting blinds just to move them to my portable fishing shanty. I’m not ready to stash my camo pants and coats and orange hats. And as much as I’m eager to pull a perch through the hard water, I’m also not ready to add extra layers and thick bibs and winter coats to the back of my hunting and fishing buggy.
There’s a lot of deer hunting left for me. I’m still deerless. I’ve got a doe tag to fill here in Crawford County and another in Alpena County (which I hope to fill in the late antlerless season). And I am still hopeful that this cold weather will put a nicely antlered buck in my sights. You always have to be hopeful to be a Michigan outdoorsman. I shot my eight point last season during the fading minutes of the rifle season. Maybe this year I can do the same thing as muzzloader season wanes or on January first when bow season ends. I’ve passed on a lot of small bucks and I hope, I hope . . .
Fishing on the river—well, you can have it. I’m sure some folks will be out there but I won’t see them. When the temperature is below thirty-two I simply don’t go. This is the time for fly fishers to seek steelhead and maybe to try for the last of the Atlantic Salmon runs which have been very good on our Eastern Rivers.
Grouse season is open until the end of December. But the DNR has found West Nile Virus in our birds ao maybe we should just leave them alone for the rest of this year. Pretty frightening.
Winter’s here and we’ll be tying flies and telling last season’s lies soon enough.
Swing by the shop if you’re in town—we’d love to see you.
If you're out of ideas for Christmas, our hottest seller has been gift certificates for guided fishing trips and lessons. At a certain age, we tend to be less concerned about "things" and more concerned about experiences.
Thank you,
Andy