Its been a different kind of Spring here in Northern Michigan! When I came back from Arkansas in late March all snow/ice was gone along with all the run off. Most of April was warm and dry – sure not the best conditions for steelhead fishing. Numbers of steelhead coming in Au Sable were low with extremely clear water low water but we still were finding some nice fish and very low fishing pressure!
Here of late weather has changing with some rains and much cooler temps. All of those April steelhead have spawned and heading back to Lake Huron but fresh do continue trickle in. Last night the entire Au Sable system got a good rain and lower river came up over a foot! This should bring another small push of bright silver steelhead in from Lake Huron.
Currently there are a few Atlantic Salmon in the river. I have caught 3 this spring, got to fish for a couple of others and seen a few other caught. These fish up in river now are very aggressive and will really come to a Minnow patterns!
Most of spring Atlantics have been caught off the Oscoda piers or just inside river. It’s been so awesome watching the Atlantic Salmon fishery take off in Lake Huron and the Au Sable River – I cant wait till October!