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River Report - September 3, 2015
The Old Au Sable Fly Shop Fishing Report.
You know what they say about the weather in Michigan? It’s as streaky as the Detroit Tigers offense this year - extra hot or extra cold and totally unpredictable.
But the ebbs and flows of weather can make for some great angling opportunities. We just left a deep, late Summer cool down and rainy spell that got the water conditions just right and we have now moved into a heat wave that has flying ants exploding on the banks of the Au Sable and Manistee Rivers. The cool down had also dropped the Mio water temperatures to levels in line with trout feeding parameters, and now this fresh warming trend has inspired and reinvigorated the evening white fly to hatch below the dam. In the mixing of two extremes, there can be moments of perfection.
Good hunters and fishermen drool at big, dramatic weather changes—it creates condensed activity and makes for tight windows of high chance. It’s like holding your cards for a week and just waiting to cash in when the guy across the table to make a mistake. It’s unpredictable and fleeting even at its best but it can make for some fast action.
That said, stable weather patterns like the hot spell we’re experiencing make for comfortable predictability. We’ll go back into our late Summer predator fishing mode for all fish that swim. That means very early mornings and after dark for bigger fish. And it means slower midday fishing for all species.
Which may just work out nicely for good, family folk over the holiday weekend. You can fit in an early morning excursion and still make it back for lunch with the gang.
This extended hot streak should offer just a bit more than that, though. In heat like this, you should see some short lived, pop-up thunderstorms. Those storms will create the dynamic of extremes we just talked about. When those clouds roll in and that temperature and pressure drops abruptly, fish just may get on the bite and when the storm passes and the water is stirred by the rain and the cool weather lingers a little longer, those fish will certainly look to feed. Watch the weather and be ready to jump at the chances the river provides.
It will certainly be a dynamic week of fishing.
Labor Day marks the last of the summer fishing—Fall is near. Soon, the kids will be back in school and the Au Sable will be a quiet place until next Spring. If peaceful solitude is a reason you fish, then Fall fishing is your time. Some days you’ll have the water all to yourself. It’s a fine season to take a solo mini-vacation.
Have a great week,
Andy
Reminder: The Manistee River Clean-up will be held on Saturday the 19th. UMRA is holding the event at the Ole Red Barn this year due to construction here at the Old Au Sable Fly Shop. If you’d like to volunteer, please feel free to contact me via e-mail. Andy@oldausable.com
But the ebbs and flows of weather can make for some great angling opportunities. We just left a deep, late Summer cool down and rainy spell that got the water conditions just right and we have now moved into a heat wave that has flying ants exploding on the banks of the Au Sable and Manistee Rivers. The cool down had also dropped the Mio water temperatures to levels in line with trout feeding parameters, and now this fresh warming trend has inspired and reinvigorated the evening white fly to hatch below the dam. In the mixing of two extremes, there can be moments of perfection.
Good hunters and fishermen drool at big, dramatic weather changes—it creates condensed activity and makes for tight windows of high chance. It’s like holding your cards for a week and just waiting to cash in when the guy across the table to make a mistake. It’s unpredictable and fleeting even at its best but it can make for some fast action.
That said, stable weather patterns like the hot spell we’re experiencing make for comfortable predictability. We’ll go back into our late Summer predator fishing mode for all fish that swim. That means very early mornings and after dark for bigger fish. And it means slower midday fishing for all species.
Which may just work out nicely for good, family folk over the holiday weekend. You can fit in an early morning excursion and still make it back for lunch with the gang.
This extended hot streak should offer just a bit more than that, though. In heat like this, you should see some short lived, pop-up thunderstorms. Those storms will create the dynamic of extremes we just talked about. When those clouds roll in and that temperature and pressure drops abruptly, fish just may get on the bite and when the storm passes and the water is stirred by the rain and the cool weather lingers a little longer, those fish will certainly look to feed. Watch the weather and be ready to jump at the chances the river provides.
It will certainly be a dynamic week of fishing.
Labor Day marks the last of the summer fishing—Fall is near. Soon, the kids will be back in school and the Au Sable will be a quiet place until next Spring. If peaceful solitude is a reason you fish, then Fall fishing is your time. Some days you’ll have the water all to yourself. It’s a fine season to take a solo mini-vacation.
Have a great week,
Andy
Reminder: The Manistee River Clean-up will be held on Saturday the 19th. UMRA is holding the event at the Ole Red Barn this year due to construction here at the Old Au Sable Fly Shop. If you’d like to volunteer, please feel free to contact me via e-mail. Andy@oldausable.com