Times are tough for so many right now and sure wish everyone the best in health! For this blog here I will stick to just a fishing report. The state of Michigan shut down guiding thru April 13th. I start back up on the 14th! I do have some open in April and May for those want to chase Steelhead, Brown Trout or Atlantics. Will take every step to make sure my boat and equipment is clean and sanitized. Till that time I will sure be doing a lot of solo fishing which I do enjoy. Currently it does not feel like late March! Snow is gone and ice is leaving quickly. Been getting some good rains of late and river remains up a bit but very good clarity in the Big Waters and the lower river. Steelhead are showing up in the lower river! Not big numbers yet but some quality bright fish. No spawning yet as the river remains cool with ice on Foote Pond above the dam. Look to the deep runs and sand holes to be holding fish now. That has always been a big plus for the Au Sable that early fish are not spawning. Here a picture of Foote pond from yesterday
There are also a few Atlantic Salmon in the lower river. Love these fish and they can be very easy to catch on the first cast or very frustrating with chasing a streamer multiple times or just simply no response. Small shad patterns and goby/sculpin patterns have worked the best. Look for the Atlantics to be holding around the edges of the gravel run and around logs in some medium depth water. For these now it more like hunting!
If your looking for Big Browns now is a great time to streamer fish for them! The river is up with an ideal stain and been a lot of cloudy rainy days which is ideal. Yesterday stripping streamer we put a few nice Browns in the net and had a number of others chase in that we saw. Slop Mop in yellow and Great Lakes Deciever in olive/yellow were my top patterns. Here is couple of pics from yesterday.
With these conditions we have now look for the Hendrickson hatch to start early this and should be going hopefully by end of third week in April! Love it when we get early dry fly fishing. Maybe this year will be just the opposite of last year with our hatches!