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River Report - May 14, 2015
Spring keeps marching on and with it so does everything in nature. The spring fly hatches are no exception. Hendricksons continue to emerge on all reaches of the Au Sable, of course, some days are better than others and that hatch is getting a little long in the tooth. That said, the mating flights have been delayed by recent cool and even cold nights. The bugs just haven’t been able to fall to their full potential. Thousands in the air that keep flying back to the trees. It’s safe to say that they are backed up and we should see some fantastic evening fishing this week.
It will most certainly get complicated, though. The hatches are progressing. The black caddis is coming off as well as blue-winged olives, but the little mahoganies and even light Hendricksons have joined the mix. Expect the little mahoganies to be one of the most important emergences and spinner flights over the coming days. Those bugs look like small versions of Hendrickson spinner, complete with yellow egg sacs, and will be swirled into the mating cloud. If your size fourteen spinner doesn’t cut it, put on a smaller sixteen to break the code.
Add to that mating swarm light Hendricksons, black caddis, olive stoneflies, and black quills, and you’ll have quite a bug soup to deal with. It’s a good problem to have and a fun puzzle to solve.
The appearance of the light Hendrickson is a nice addition to the daytime angling, but it’s also a prelude of things to come. We’re very close to yellow bug time. As a fly fisherman, you should always be prepared for the next batch of bugs and you’d be remiss to not carry your sulphurs from here on out. You’d be wise to have Robert’s Yellow Drakes in all sizes on hand (we can help with that) for the next month. There should be fine dry fly angling from now until the next report.
But it’s even better than that. I just wrote the shop work schedule for the next two weeks and the last day of it is May 31st. That means brown drakes will be here before we know it.
Fishing seems to steadily be improving and although spotty, there has been some fantastic stuff happening.
There were so many nice fish caught this past week that I couldn’t even come close to posting them all. It sometimes pays big to get in a boat with one of our guides.
Also, all the rain we had has everything green again and the morels are popping. Set down your rod and take a stroll through the aspen along the riverbank. A hunt for those treasures when the fishing lulls can complete an already great day.
This is shaping up to be the nicest fishing week of the year so far.
Hope you can make it,
Andy
It will most certainly get complicated, though. The hatches are progressing. The black caddis is coming off as well as blue-winged olives, but the little mahoganies and even light Hendricksons have joined the mix. Expect the little mahoganies to be one of the most important emergences and spinner flights over the coming days. Those bugs look like small versions of Hendrickson spinner, complete with yellow egg sacs, and will be swirled into the mating cloud. If your size fourteen spinner doesn’t cut it, put on a smaller sixteen to break the code.
Add to that mating swarm light Hendricksons, black caddis, olive stoneflies, and black quills, and you’ll have quite a bug soup to deal with. It’s a good problem to have and a fun puzzle to solve.
The appearance of the light Hendrickson is a nice addition to the daytime angling, but it’s also a prelude of things to come. We’re very close to yellow bug time. As a fly fisherman, you should always be prepared for the next batch of bugs and you’d be remiss to not carry your sulphurs from here on out. You’d be wise to have Robert’s Yellow Drakes in all sizes on hand (we can help with that) for the next month. There should be fine dry fly angling from now until the next report.
But it’s even better than that. I just wrote the shop work schedule for the next two weeks and the last day of it is May 31st. That means brown drakes will be here before we know it.
Fishing seems to steadily be improving and although spotty, there has been some fantastic stuff happening.
There were so many nice fish caught this past week that I couldn’t even come close to posting them all. It sometimes pays big to get in a boat with one of our guides.
Also, all the rain we had has everything green again and the morels are popping. Set down your rod and take a stroll through the aspen along the riverbank. A hunt for those treasures when the fishing lulls can complete an already great day.
This is shaping up to be the nicest fishing week of the year so far.
Hope you can make it,
Andy