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AuSable River - July 11th, 2012
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED: 
85 °
FISHING: Excellent
Hoppers, hoppers, and more hoppers make this a wonderful time to prospect for large brown trout during the middle of the day!
The only caution is that water temps can be dangerously warm, so pick your spots carefully. Look at places like the Jordan--which is technically the toughest river in America to fish (see my attached Article for the details)--or hit the headwaters of your favorite rivers.
Water temps will be cooler farther upstream--especially on Michigan's spring-fed rivers--and the trout won't be as stressed after being hooked.
Another option is the Trophy Water of the Au Sable down below the Mio Dam. The steeper gradient there speeds up water flow in a lot of places, making it more oxygenated.
There also are a lot of rainbows in the 10-12-inch class that have been planted near many of the bridges and access points. That's great fun for the kids, especially!
Another option, of course, is to hit places like Wakeley Lake, or bluegill ponds that will provide plenty of action, good casting practice, relaxation, and unharmed trout!
Tight Loops, Capt. Tony
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AuSable River - July 28th, 2011
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED: 
83 °
FISHING: Great
WHEW! Water temps are falling to normal levels after that week of 95+ daytime weather, and tricos are starting to pop in early hours.
Jim Powers, the Manistee's unofficial Riverkeeper, has been working his stretch above Yellowtrees religiously every morning and has been doing quite well.
"Nothing huge," Jim said, "but it's steady action for as long as I want to stay out there."
Hoppers, ants (big black ones seem to be everywhere right now!) and BWO duns and spinners on cloudy days all have been producing fish. Keep your eyes peeled for flying ant hatches during the next two weeks--the fish absolutely go CRAZY for winged ants!
My two-week jury duty obligation is over, so now I can get back on the water most every morning. So much for Good Citizenship (wasn't that a Merit Badge I earned more than, uh...a lot of years ago?).
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
Heart, God bless his 4-year-old soul, is doing great. He's absolutely the quintessential "Camp Dog." And the nicest part is that he not only minds his manners but finds birds, too!
He's been having a ball playing with Tug, and teaching her (mostly right from wrong) how things operate around here. She, on the other hand, has a tendency to sometimes live up to her nickname of "Thug."
She's having a blast chasing butterflies and bees, and has been VERY intent while watching Heart point mourning doves. And, I'll be danged if she hasn't already taught herself how to honor his point!
I'll be taking them to Jim Avery's game farm as soon as the weather cools off a bit, so she can get scent in her nose and feathers in her mouth! I have high hopes for her. We'll see.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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AuSable River - July 12th, 2010
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
80 °
FISHING: Excellent
The tarpon spawn is over for this season. Singles and small groups of fish will be cruising the barrier islands off Venice for the next few weeks, as well as in the backcountry mangroves in Charlotte Harbor. Ten months from now we get to do it all over again! Capt. John and I had a very good time with tarpon. That means our clients caught a respectable number of fish, lost a bunch more, and had shots at hundreds! John and I took the day off Memorial Monday and I stuck an 80-pounder and another pig that we estimated at 160! He was one large freighter.I’m also extremely grateful to report that the BigPutrid oil spill had absolutely no impact on our corner of the world. Naturally, scientists and environmentalists will be studying Life After Deepwater Horizon for a long, long time. Fortunately, containment appears imminent. In fact, today the Feds re-opened the Texas coast to shrimp trawlers. And Thursday I re-open dry fly fishing on the Manistee River! Yep. I got home last Thursday and spent a couple of days getting reacquainted with Kate, Ghost, Heart and my classic Au Sable Longboat. The gear’s been re-checked, and I’m all set to take Dave White, from Cincinnati, on a wade trip in Deward Thursday evening. He’s staying at Treetops Resort in Gaylord for some sort of conference, and believes that an evening on the water would sooth his soul. I believe he’s absolutely right.The reason I believe that is because fishing has been outstanding on both the Manistee River and the Au Sable River, according to everyone I’ve talked with. With luck, we’ll hit a spinner fall of Blue Wing Olive mayflies (Baetis) in the evening hours just before dark. It’s a good thing I visited with my ophthalmologist, Dr. Mark Johnson, before I left Venice. My new prescription will come in damn handy for tying on those size 18 and 20 olives. Of course, the REAL challenge will be tying on the tiny Tricos that Tom Spence sent me from Minneapolis. Talk about dust motes! I guess I’d better get busy and tie some before I use and abuse Tom’s samples.The good news for those among us with less-than-perfect vision is that the hoppers are flitting about all over the place. That means mid-afternoon fishing for big browns. YES! My favorite trout fishing time of the year is here. Some Isonychia are in the air, and size 16 Cahills have been spotted on the Au Sable South Branch. I’m hearing of sporadic Hex popping up here and there, so if you plan to swim deerhair mice or toss streamers after dark, stick a few of them in your vest. You could be in for a real surprise! Don’t forget that it’s only about a month until the White Flies (E. lukon) begin to swarm over the Big Water below Mio. If you’ve never hit that hatch, let me tell you it’s one that you NEED to experience. How do YOU say “A bazillion bugs!” Those big brown trout set their fins like an anchor and simply inhale hundreds of bugs without even twitching a dorsal.Then it’ll be time for Chinook! But lemme let you in on a little secret. If you sneak over to the Little Manistee real quiet early one morning, you just might find some king salmon swimming around over there right now!Another little-known late-summer Michigan phenomenon involves gigantic stoneflies. Now I ain’t sayin’ they are Pteronarcys californica and I ain’t sayin’ they ain’t. But “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…” All I DO know is that a wise man would be in Michigan come mid-August with a whole bunch of big stonefly nymphs and dries in pale yellow, olive, and gray.WOW! That just carried us right into ants (make SURE to have flying ant patterns in black and cinnamon!), beetles, crickets, and smallish muddler minnows in September. Which then carries us right into TA DAH!!! Grouse Opener on September 15.My, my. This certainly is the finest time of year to be in Michigan!ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE Ghost wakes up every morning asking if it’s time to go shoot some grouse and woodcock. She doesn’t care if it’s 42 degrees or 82 degrees. All she knows is that Life As She Knows It involves two things. Birds and Dad.And I thank God for it every day. Heart, who turned three in June, also has really dialed into the program. He’s punched out darn near all of the screens on my 36-foot-long porch trying to get at the mourning doves that eat the sunflower seeds that grosbeaks and jays scatter out of Kate’s feeders. I swear, he’s as excited as a 16-year-old boy on his first night at The Mustang Ranch. Between them, this should be a very interesting bird season!MONTANA Capt. John has been catching rainbows to 20 inches on the Madison with big stone nymphs, size 14 pheasant tail nymphs, and size 16 caddis (pick a color!). Salmonflies have been on the river from Eight-Mile Ford all the way up to Windy Point. Fish Pale Morning Duns in late morning and caddis in the evening. Look for brown drakes emerging on Henry’s Fork in the evening, and spinner falls in the morning. Tight Loops,Capt. Tony
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AuSable River - July 25th, 2009
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED: 
75 °
FISHING: Excellent
JULY 25, 2009
If you are really into catching large brown trout on tiny dry flies, you’d better start making plans to fly, drive or crawl to the pristine waters of Michigan’s lower peninsula.
Soon!
Baetis (Blue Wing Olives) in sizes 16 and 18, and Tricorythodes (White Wing Blacks) in sizes 20-24, are all OVER the place. The Au Sable River, with it’s long stretches of gravel, has been especially generous with those hatches in the past week.
The Big Bang hasn’t happened yet with grasshoppers—the weather’s still been cool and damp. BUT, the short-term forecast is calling for dry, hot weather beginning next week.
Make sure you have an ample supply of Hoppers ranging in size from 10 to 6, with the full color spectrum of yellow, tan, cream, chocolate brown, and olive. You might want to put a dab of red marabou under the wing on some of them.
And there’s no shortage of controversy over whether or not the Hoppers should have legs. Stop in any fly shop in northern Michigan and you’ll get a stern lecture from each proponent of “No legs”; “Knotted-hackle legs”; “Rubber hackle legs and the list goes on.
One thing is certain: ‘Hoppers will bring very large brown trout to the surface in the middle of the day!
Work the log jams (in Michigan the locals call them “sweepers”) and put the fly rightnext to the logs. Three inches out might bring out a Big Boy. Six inches is doubtful. A foot from the log? You might as well be eating a sandwich.
Sure, you’ll hang up the fly every now and then. But, that’s the challenge of going after The Big Boys. Rick Pope, president of Temple Fork Outfitters and a good friend for many years has a favorite phrase: “It ain’t easy being a sportsman!”
Fish during the hottest part of the day, because that’s when the Hoppers will be most active. Remember, that moist dew that feels so good on your bare feet keeps Hoppers buried under the grass and leaves.
Remember to give your pattern a very slight (and I DO mean slight) twitch as it gets to the Prime Lie—where The Biggest of The Big is holding. That spot, of course, is where the current first hits the sweeper.
The reason is obvious. Mr. Biggest wants first shot at the smorgasbord of bugs being washed downstream with the current. Lesser-sized trout will arrange themselves in the appropriate pecking order further down the log.
Ants, ant, ants. Big black ants. Small black ants. Half-black/half-red ants. Small cinnamon ants. Don’t set foot astream without them from now through the end of trout season (Sept. 30). Some black crickets in size 16 should be right alongside those ants.
And for all that’s Holy make sure you have some winged ants! The trout go absolutely CRAZY over flying ants. Sizes should mostly be 16 and 18, but some big black ants in size 14 can be mighty useful.
You also should make plans to be here in mid-to-late August. That’s when we see clouds of Ephron Lukon—better known as the White Fly.
Most of the serious action with the White Fly happens below the Mio Dam on what’s generally called the As Sable “big water.” I was there one night (yes, Virginia, another night-time hatch) and when it started, the water was as white as milk and the sky had a block of bugs six feet high.
I turned on a light for a moment and instantly was covered with Lukon. And when I got home I was scooping handfuls of them out of my vest pockets.
Interestingly enough, the most effective pattern for actually catching trout when the Lukon hatch is on is with—TA DAH!!!!—emergers. Go figure.
The hatch has a narrow window of opportunity, however. So, if you’re interested in some really exciting fishing for big browns in skinny water, stay in touch with me. Better yet, book NOW!
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
Grouse season is fast-approaching, and I’ve already booked several days in October, so do not delay in scheduling some time to hunt over Ghost and Heart.
The season is Sept. 15 through Nov. 14 for grouse, and Sept. 20 through Nov. 4 for woodcock. Resident small-game license is $15. Non-resident three-day tag is $31, or $70 for the full season. You don’t need an extra license for woodcock, but you must advise the agent that you will be hunting them.
Your small-game license also will allow you to shoot squirrels and rabbits (but NOT while hunting over my setters!).
Ghost is doing great. Her hearing is off a bit, but then again so is mine! It’s really funny to watch her keep the puppy in line. He’s two years old now, but still a “puppy.”
So, when he’s into some mischief--like taking cloth napkins off the dining room table—all I do is tell her “Ghost, get him!” Like a streak of white lightning she runs up and glowers at him. Even though he’s a head taller and 10 pounds heavier than Ghost, he drops the contraband and flops down onto his back.
He’s full of fire and races the length of our 36-foot porch for hours, looking for mourning doves. Heart showed a lot of promise last fall. This is his year to shine!
He’s gonna be a good one. Maybe even a great one.
FLORIDA
Tarpon have split up into singles and pairs. The ones that I think are spawned-out old-timers who simply don’t want to make that loooong swim back to Africa.
So, look for them around some of the pilings and deeper grass flats throughout Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound. Get out real early, though, and fish until about 9am. Maybe as late as 10.
After that, it’s just too dad-limbed HOT to stay on the water. Hit some snook lights early on your way out, and maybe look for some snook and reds around the mangroves on your way back to the ramp.
My season this winter was very, very good. We hooked some cobia, Ron Boehm nailed an enormous jack crevalle, and all of the usual cast of suspects were very co-operative.
Tarpon? It was the best fishing for me and my clients in 14 years of fishing in and around the Venice area.
We saw hundreds of poons, jumped a bunch and boated our share—including two that were more than 100 pounds. Will Bouck, from Grand Rapids, and Mike Vallis, from England, both boated their first tarpon ever.
And Mike landed his with a busted rod that I had to lash together with Surflon wire and 80-pound fluoro while the fish was still thrashing around at the other end of the line!
If that gets your blood boiling, call or e-me immediately to book YOUR “Dream of A Lifetime” for next summer!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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AuSable River - September 18th, 2008
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
67 °
FISHING: Excellent
SEPTEMBER 18, 2008
MICHIGAN
Chinook salmon have flooded many of the rivers on the west side of the state, including the Boyne, where I’ll be next Tuesday with John Manley. We might even get into some steelhead, and big brown trout feeding on eggs that drift downstream from the spawning redds.
Unfortunately, the salmon fishery in Lake Huron has totally crashed because zebra mussels have devastated the grasses that provided the plankton that alewives fed upon.
No alewives, no salmon. It’s that simple. To make matters even worse, the numbers—and size—of Chinook coming out of Lake Michigan has dwindled to a fraction of its former glory.
It’s entirely possible that Michigan’s once-fabled salmon fishery might cease to exist within two or three years unless someone can find a way to control those invasive zebras!
Thank God for the hydroelectric dams that protect the upper Manistee and Au Sable rivers from invasion!
The “Sisters,” as they’re called by a lot of the locals, remain two of America’s finest trout streams—WILD TROUT streams, I must add. No plastic fish. Just big, brawling browns and gorgeous brookies.
Charles Murphy floated the Au Sable “Holy Water” with me on Tuesday. We had a small caddis hatch, and he raised several fish on size 16 olive and gray caddis patterns.
His best fish, however, came to an orange-body “Tarantula,” which is a variation on the venerable Michigan Skunk, which has a black body with white rubber legs and a white wing.
Tarantulas, which originated in the Rockies, have bodies tied in a variety of colors and incorporate Krystal Flash for some additional attraction, along with rubber legs.
Both rivers were up a bit and slightly tea-colored because of several days of hard rain, but even as we floated on Tuesday the Au Sable was clearing.
We’ve had several “Indian Summer” days recently, with more in the forecast, and both rivers are fishing extremely well during the warmest parts of the day.
I talked with Bob Linseman a few minutes ago, and he said streamers in white, black, and tan have been producing well on the Au Sable below Mio. “I’ve had reports of two 24-inch fish in the past couple of days,” he said.
“And believe it or not, a couple guys came in who were camped at The Loop and said they had White Flies (E. lukon) the past two nights!”
Which also provides a wonderful opportunity for a “Cast & Blast”—bringing us to the…
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
Grouse season opened on the 15th and we had a marvelous time! Old friends Don Schulz and Bill Ross did the gun-toting. I handled Ghost and Heart. Eric Sharp, outdoors editor for the Detroit Free Press, took photos.
Everybody met here at Blue Lakes Junction for an old-fashioned Grayling breakfast of “lumberjack” pancakes slathered with Kate’s home-made blackberry sauce, venison sausage, bacon, and strong black coffee.
Pete Stephan, a good friend who regrettably passed away several years ago, first showed me how to make “Lumberjacks.” Here’s the recipe:
2 cups of flour
2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp sugar
dash of salt
2 eggs
water
Crisco
First, preferably in a cast iron skillet, melt enough Crisco to cover the bottom a 1/4-inch deep and make it smoking hot.
Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt, and create a depression in the middle of the mixture. Whisk the eggs and pour them into the depression. Then add some water and stir everything together, adding water until the mixture is “spoonable.”
Pour a quarter-cup of the mixture into the smoky skillet for each thick “pancake” and when tiny bubbles begin to form on the surface check to make sure the bottom is golden brown. Turn them over and when the bottom is golden they’re done. Maple syrup, of course, is a good substitute of you don’t have blackberry or blueberry sauce.
The name, as you might imagine, came from the logging era of the late 1800s and early 1900s here in northern Michigan. As you can see from the recipe, they were easily made over a fire in a remote camp,
And, once you make them, you’ll taste why they were such a favorite!
OK—back to The Hunt.
We hadn’t driven a quarter-mile from my house when I saw two grouse sneak across an opening between a small clump of trees and the riverbank.
Stopping my truck, I eased out and made a flapping motion with my arms and pointed at Don and Bill as if I was shooting a shotgun. They eased out of their truck while I fastened a beeper collar and bell around Ghost’s neck.
It took her approximately 35 seconds to lock on point. The bird flushed unseen, and so did another. Ghost took off through the tall, dense ferns, and within five more minutes she was on point again.
We drove to my intended spot and put Heart on the ground for his first-ever grouse hunt. He ran like the wind, but his beeper always was within hearing range.
Nine more grouse went up, and Don bagged one—Heart’s first grouse! Eric got a great photo, which he used in today’s paper along with an account of our adventure.
Ghost pointed two of the three woodcock we found at our next stop, but woodcock season doesn’t open until this Saturday. So, they’re still there—waiting to be turned into pate for our annual Wild Game Dinner on November 2.
The past two days have been equally spectacular. In fact, we’ve seen 24 grouse and 14 woodcock, averaging 12 birds PER HOUR! The dogs are having an absolutely marvelous time. And that, after all, is what this game is all about!
FLORIDA
I am extremely happy (for us) to report that the Venice/Sarasota/Port Charlotte area was untouched by the recent hurricanes—except for some high wind and heavy rain that kept anglers off the water.
Now that things have settled down, redfish in Lemon Bay and Charlotte Harbor are schooling up for the spawn. Big time. As in manymany fish.
Night snook fishing around lighted docks remains excellent, and there always are baby tarpon finning around in a few special places.
Look for “Gator” spotted sea trout on the deeper grass flats, and don’t miss getting outside—just off the barrier islands—for Spanish mackerel.
Kate and I will be back in Venice just before Thanksgiving, so if your plans include our part of the world don’t hesitate to get with me soon. In fact, the sooner the better.
MONTANA
Capt. John is floating the Madison, Missouri, and Yellowstone National Park every day. You can contact him through www.jacklinsflyshop.com.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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AuSable River - August 9th, 2008
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
72 °
FISHING: Excellent
AUGUST 9, 2008
MICHIGAN
Hoppers and wind. That pretty much sums up what’s happening up here in The Northern Highlands!
I’ve been doing a lot of “Rookie Schools” lately, so we’ve been doing the “education” part of angling a lot more than the “fishing” part. But when the wind lays down enough to make a decent cast the brownies and brooks are ALL OVER hopper patterns.
Smallish olive-body patterns, along with dark brown bodies, seem to be the hot item right now. Use a dubbed body with dyed deer hair for the wing with a bushy clipped deer-hair head. Don’t bother with legs.
We still aren’t seeing big hatches of caddis or blue wing olives, which is rather perplexing. But the Au Sable and Manistee rivers (The Sisters) are fishing extremely well right now. Which is no surprise.
The key is dropping that big juicy-looking bug RIGHTNEXT to the log jams. If the fly lands six or eight inches away you just wasted a cast. These big guys (I’m talking brown trout 20 inches or better) will come up during the bright sunlight, but ONLY on the edge of their prime lie.
Which is why we don’t fish tandem rigs with a beadhead nymph and a dry fly like they do out west . You’d be hung up on practically every cast. As you can imagine, that’s no fun at all—especially for the hardworking guide who has to shove that 24-foot-long Au Sable Longboat back upstream against the current.
We do hook respectable brookies and browns using nymphs and emergers, make no mistake about that. In fact, my good friend Jim Powers—who lives on the Manistee midway between M72 and CCC Bridge—uses one of my emerger patterns all season long.
I tie it in colors that suggest brown drake, green drake and hex emergers/duns. I incorporate a lot of cul du canard (CDC) feathers, so it’ll float like a dry after a couple false casts, or sting like a bee subsurface.
I never bothered to give the pattern a name, so Jim has dubbed it “Tony’s Deceiver.”
“They eat it wet, they eat it dry,” Jim said the other day. “And they eat it all season long, even way after the hex hatch is over. Like now. It’s almost the only pattern I use, and I’ve raised some BIG fish with it.
“Last week right in front of my house I stuck one that I know was over 20 inches. He threw the hook, but he was a NICE fish in the middle of the afternoon!”
Thanks for the testimonial, Jim. Hmmmmm. Maybe I’d better start using it more often myself! Better tie some up. If you want the pattern, PM-me and I’ll be happy to oblige.
I just wish this blasted WIND would lay down! I usually don’t guide on the weekends because of the heavy foot and canoe traffic, but I wouldn’t be out today for ANY amount of money.
Gaylord weather says the wind is gusting to 23, but I’m here to tell ya’ that it’s pushing 30 easy. One just hit this big log house like a mortar round had exploded outside the kitchen window. It even woke up Ghost. Which brings us to…
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
Ghost had lazer eye surgery at Michigan Veterinary Specialists in Southfield Thursday. Dr. Dan Lorimer is a canine ophthalmologist who worked on that same left eye when a blackberry thorn poked a hole in it a couple years ago.
He saw here up here in Grayling at Paul Mesak’s clinic a couple weeks ago and prescribed some drops, but it just wasn’t getting any better. Hell, it’s been six weeks since she started wincing and closing the eyelid.
Kate and I have a phrase. I “Popeyed” on this deal—“That’s all I can stand I can’t stands nomore!” So I took her to Paul, who examined her and called Dan. Bingo!
So, I drove to Southfield starting at 5am and got back home about 10pm after stopping off to give my “Second Mother”—aunt Pat, a birthday supper.
I was a week early to celebrate her 78th, but we caught up on family matters and she finally got to see Heart—the 14-month old puppy whose nickname is Conan The Barbarian.
We’re keeping Ghost and Heart separated for another day to make sure he doesn’t scratch Ghost’s bad eye while roughhousing with her. I still can’t believe she tolerates his antics. He’ll run at her, she’ll juke, and he’ll jump over her back.
Quite the little “game” they have going.
Just wait a month when Grouse Opener rolls around! I took them out for romps on the 40-foot lead this morning because it was cool and wet and they went nuts.
Heart got a special thrill when one of this year’s fawns started running up the open pipeline toward him—obviously thinking he was another deer fawn.
Suddenly the fawn stood stock still. So did Heart. So did I. Then the fawn whirled around with its white flag up and ran into the jackpines. Heart bolted forward. I held onto the lead. AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!
When calm was restored, we finished our run and drove to Lakes of the North for the morning paper.
I’ll keep you posted! It’s gonna be one doozy of a grouse/woodcock season, I can tell you THAT. I still have some prime days open in October, so let me know quickly if you can break loose.
FLORIDA
I talked with my pal K.O. Corl yesterday. He was guiding on Wednesday and found plenty of spotted sea trout and some ladyfish down in Lemon Bay.
“We looked for redfish in a couple spots,” KO said, “but never could locate a school. It was one of those days when I had a father and son on the boat, and the son was getting action but couldn’t hook the fish.
“They both finally got fish to the boat so we got some photos, but it was a challenging day.”
Tarpon have left the nearshore barrier islands, and the fishing is earlyearlyearly in the morning.
MONTANA
This is prime time for the Madison, so if you want to head west contact www.jacklinsflyshop.com and ask for Capt. Gospo!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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AuSable River - July 20th, 2008
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED: 
83 °
FISHING: Excellent
JULY 20, 2008
MICHIGAN
The Sexy Hexies are done for the year—safely burrowed into the muck awaiting their emergence late next June!
HOWEVER, the Hopper Hatch is imminent. That means big brown trout and brookies will be looking up during the middle of the day waiting for a “SPLAT” that means a tasty morsel just hit the water.
Which means you, too, should anticipate “hitting the water” real soon.
And the really good news is that I was smart enough to marry Kate
** years ago. See, SHE used her brain and called the Circuit Court in Gaylord and found that I could postpone my jury duty service.
That means I’m now open to book trips tomorrow, the 22nd, 28th and 29th. And yes, we’ve been raising fish.
We’ve had some rain—actually it’s much like southwest Florida right now. Temps in the 80s with T-storms in the forecast every afternoon. But we’ve been getting out in the mornings and have raised quite a few fish.
Ryan and Josh Martin floated the Au Sable with me on Monday from Thendara to Wakeley and they raised about 40 fish. Mostly on a #14 brown caddis with a light wing.
I had started them off with an Iso and a yellow stone but didn’t get any takers. Switched to an olive caddis for Ryan and after he raised several fish I gave Josh a brown caddis.
Bingo!
Really glad we were able to get some fish since Ryan’s now in training at the FBI Academy. Big-brother is crunching numbers for Volvo. Mom (Betty Ann—who taught them to fish) and Dad Larry are back in Hagerstown, MD after a week’s vacation in God’s Country.
Tuesday I floated Bob Osgerby and son John from Stephan’s to Wakeley with similar results. Bob hadn’t been fly fishing for mannnny years, and John had never cast a fly. We spent some time on the grass before heading out, and the brief lesson paid dividends.
John raised more than a dozen trout and boated several brookies and a brown. Bob was fishless—although he had raised several—until I literally was pushing the Longboat up to the takeout.
BAM! A brookie decided to eat the caddis practically next to the boat. Go figure.
The next day, after getting my Tahoe stuck in her yard (husband Jack helped me “Unstick”) I took Karen Harrison to the Manistee. She was unhappy with her casting that day, but still managed to raise several fish, hook some, and boat a smallish brown trout.
Thursday and Friday were errand-running and catch-up days before spending yesterday on the banks of the South Branch at the Roscommon River Festival.
Nice folks, and a fun event. I was glad that I was back from Florida and able to participate again this year.
It’s raining now, so I guess I’ll spend some time at the vise and get the fly boxes restocked!
FLORIDA
Walking the beach for snook is still a good idea, and there are a few tarpon way up near the head of Charlotte Harbor. Night snook are always a good bet around the lighted docks.
Remember that it’s very hot so plan you trips for early morning and take along plenty of water. And DRINK it!
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
Ghost is still having some problems with her left eye, but the medications I got from Dan Lorimer, canine ophthalmologist from Michigan Veterinary Specialists, seems to be working.
She’s holding the eye open most of the time now. Poor girl has had a tough time during her 11 years because she’s so darn tough.
This is her third eye injury. Scratched the cornea several years ago, and poked a hole in it (all in the left eye) with a blackberry thorn two years ago.
She also needed seven stitches in her right front “wrist” in the Upper Peninsula, drove a stick the size of a wooden match into her right paw, poked a hole in her chest on barb wire, and of course blew out her left Anterior Crusciate Ligament!
All because her throttle is either FULL SPEED AHEAD or off! And you obviously can guess which is most common.
She and Heart were a big hit at the river festival. Everybody wanted to pet the dogs. And naturally the dogs loved all the attention.
Hard to believe that it’s now less than two months to Grouse Opener! Heart still has to learn “Down” but he’s really looking good. Skinny as a rail, though. He just doesn’t care about eating unless Kate or I stand right next to his dish.
Ghost, of course, is the quintessential bird dog. She quite simply is superb in the field. I still have a few days open in October if you want to walk the uplands for grouse and woodcock.
MONTANA
This is prime time on the Madison if you have a yen to head west. Contact www.jacklinsflyshop.com and ask for Capt. John.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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AuSable River - October 7th, 2007
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
80 °
FISHING: Excellent
OCTOBER 7, 2007
I had an awful lot of fun last Friday with John Paton and his son-in-law, Gary Cottone. Fortunately, they said they did, too!
John’s daughter, Patty, called me in early July and wanted to know what my schedule was like in late September or early October. “My dad fished the Au Sable River 50 years ago,” she said, “and he keeps talking about it. He’s turning 83 in August, and we decided to give him a guided trip as his birthday present.”
“Does he fly fish much?” I asked.
“No. Never,” she replied. “Is that a problem?”
“Nope. I’m a Certified Casting Instructor for the Federation of Fly Fishers, so I can handle brushing him up on his technique.”
“Great,” she said. “Because they don’t have any equipment at all.”
“They?” I said.
“Yeah,” Patty replied. “My husband will be coming along. And my mom and I wondered if we could maybe take some pictures from the riverbank while they’re fishing?”
And so it occurred on October 5, 2007, that the Paton/Cottone Family Group met me at The Fly Factory in downtown Grayling at 10:30 in the morning.
After the obligatory exchange, everybody bundled back into their respective vehicles and we headed for Guide’s Rest on the Au Sable, a mile upstream of Stephan’s Bridge.
I set out camp chairs for everyone to sit upon and they struggled into the unfamiliar armor of the fly angler. I’d gotten their measurements from Gary several days before, and dang if I didn’t hit it pretty darn close!
That’s the benefit of having been a manufacturer’s representative in the fly fishing industry for 20 years (I sold my territory about 18 months ago). I have LOTS of waders and boots stored inside old refrigerators in my garage. That’s the ONLY way to keep the mice from chewing them up!
So, we got John and Gary outfitted and headed to the river. It was one of those Perfect October Days. Sunny. Warm. Perfect.
Except the fish really weren’t hungry even when John and/or Gary put a streamer pattern in approximately the right spot. John DID get two rises, but I have a sneaking suspicion that neither of those fish had mouths large enough to enclose the bend of the hook.
We spent nearly four hours poking around the Au Sable, and then I could see it was time for John to head in.
It was great talking with him on the river, though. “I was born in Canada,” he told me,” but Dad brought the family to Detroit after my mother died. Her sister lived here in the States, and Dad thought it would be good to have her help raise the kids.
“He never naturalized, though, so I served in the Canadian Air Force during the war. I was a tail gunner on Lancasters. Flew 36 missions in Europe, some with the American Air Corps. I never saw so many planes in the air in one place in my life!”
After mustering out in 1945, John Paton came back to Detroit “and told Dad I was going to get my citizenship papers. It just seemed like I should.”
I asked John how he had come to fish the Au Sable so many years ago.
“I was an apprentice with Ford before working for Borg-Warner,” he said, “and we guys would come up for a couple of weeks in the summer. Threw our canvas (tent) out and got as brown as Indians before we finally headed home.”
“Why did you go so long before coming back?” I asked.
A shrug. “Busy, I guess. Too much to do and raising a family. Three girls. Eleven grandchildren. But this is wonderful. A really grand day.”
And, it was!
Just like today, with Dan Schoeck, Jeff Townsend, and his son, Scott.
I had struck up a conversation with Dick Ritter earlier this summer in the parking lot of McLean’s Hardware store in Grayling. The hatch of his jeep was open, and Dick was sitting next to his English setter.
“I’m a setter guy,” I said, and the conversation was launched.
Well, yesterday Dick called me. “You said you guide in Florida. One of my pals just bought a house in Venice, where you told me you live part of the year. Could you maybe come over this evening and talk with us about the fishing down there? If you’re not guiding, or busy, I mean!
“We’re having rib-eye, and we’d love to have you join us for dinner. Maybe a beer or soda, or cocktail?”
As it turned out, Kate was planning to work way-late on a copyediting job and so she shooed me off with the admonition that “if you turn down a rib-eye roast dinner I’ll KNOW you’re certifiably nuts! All I expect to eat tonight is leftovers.”
OK!
Over dinner, since Dick & Co. also are devout Setter Guys, the talk turned to grouse and woodcock. I casually offered to take some of the guys out hunting this morning, and Brother, they jumped on that point like Ghost on a woodcock!
Speaking of which, she found five of those PLUS four grouse in just under an hour. Eight of the nine are still flying, but one of the woodcock is destined to join 12 more to create the pate’ recipe I gave to them during dinner.
That makes an even 100 birds we’ve seen this season in 13 hours of hunting! Which averages our to 7.7 points/flushes per hour.
It’s been so dad-blamed HOT this season that we can only work the dogs for an hour or two in the mornings—sometimes only 20 or 30 minutes--for fear of heatstroke. BUT the forecast is for daytime highs around 60 starting Tuesday.
Which is precisely why I encouraged Pat Griffith, from Frankfort, to delay our hunt by a day. “Yeah,” he said, “waiting until the temperature drops sounds like a VERY good idea.” Yep. Sure does!
I’ll keep you posted,
Capt. Tony
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AuSable River - August 31st, 2007
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED: 
81 °
FISHING: Excellent
AUGUST 31, 2007
The radio in my vest crackled.
“Shoulda brought the camera,” I heard Kate say.
“OH, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I said aloud. What I said under my breath is not printable on this or any other public forum. Because I knew. I just KNEW that Kate had hooked a fine trout.
“Tellmetellmetellme,” I said. “How big?”
“Don’t know yet. Haven’t brought him to hand. But he’s a nice one.”
An hour earlier, as we were walking to the river, Kate had asked “did you bring the camera in case I catch a big one?”
“Oh, man,” I said. “It’s on my desk next to the computer. I just loaded the week’s trips, and forgot to bring it.” BIG mistake!
“Where are you?” She told me and I stuck the radio in my pocket and hustled upstream. Two bends above me, Kate was standing knee-deep in the Manistee River with her TFO 480 Finesse bent nearly double.
“Seen him yet?” I asked.
“Yeah. Nice fish. Twelve, maybe fourteen.”
“Lemme get closer so I can see,” I said, and eased down the dry pine needles on the steep bank. When I got next to Kate she raised the rod and brought that beautiful butter-yellow brown trout to hand.
“He’s hooked pretty solidly,” she said. “I’ll just cut the leader. I think I know somebody who can tie another couple of these little muddlers for me.”
With that, a beautiful, fat, honest 14-inch brown trout was released back to the bonhomie of his bar-buddies with a “y’all ain’t gonna BELIEVE what happened to me a bit ago!”
And Kate, grinning ear-to-ear, said “let’s go home. I can’t beat THAT one tonight!”
So, ninety minutes later, I’m punching these keys bragging on Big Red.
“That trout made my summer,” she said on the short drive home. “All those manuscripts I’ve been editing cut our fishing time pretty short this year, but this fish made it all worth while.”
Indeed it did!
What made this fish especially gratifying for Kate is that she hooked it in a deep run she’s been working for YEARS without getting so much as a “howdy-do.” So, when she abandoned a usually-reliable black ant for the small silver-bodied muddler, “it was my last best chance for the night.”
BINGO!
It was a surprisingly slow evening on the Manistee. I had a “Rookie School” in Deward a couple of days ago, and hooked just one fish, but that doesn’t really count because I spent most of the past week teaching rather than actually fishing.
Jeff Gappy and his lady-friend, Nicky Sooksri, spent last Sunday with me on the Au Sable and we had a very enjoyable half-day float. At least, Nicky and I did. Jeff was 1-for-14 on rises and got a bit frustrated at the low ratio of hookups.
“How many of those other 13 fish would you have caught?” he asked on the drive back to The Fly Factory in Grayling.
“Hard to say,” I replied. Some of them might have been trout that refused the fly at the last instant. But most of the time I think it was a line-management issue—too much slack line and the fish spit the fly while you were trying to set the hook.
“That’s the most common problem people have when they’re fishing out of these Au Sable longboats for the first time. It’s completely different from standing still in a trout stream.”
Nicky, a commercial loan office from suburban Detroit, had never held a fly rod until we spent a half-hour in the Fly Factory parking lot going over the basics. “I’m never going to learn this! “ she wailed. Actually, she did a pretty good job until finally putting the rod into the boat to watch Jeff.
“Baby,” she finally said, “I’m glad you already caught me, ‘cause you sure aren’t catching these fish!”
Doug Schneider was another “Rookie School” candidate the following day. We spent a lot of time working on casting, and discussing entomology before we ever suited up and hit the water in Deward.
Doug, who plays guitar when not working at his insurance business, picked up the mechanics pretty quickly. That didn’t surprise me, because I’m ALWAYS in awe of anyone who can play the guitar.
People think tossing a fly line is tough? Man. The very THOUGHT of trying to play a stringed instrument gives me the shudders!
One of the most enjoyable trips I’ve had this season (other than today’s excursion with Kate and her nice fish!) happened last Wednesday with Leo Phillips.
I’d been hanging around the Fly Factory last summer when Leo and his wife, Pat, wandered in. They started talking about Leo floating the Au Sable in a canoe nearly 50 years ago, and how beautiful he thought it was.
“Leo,” Pat said, “why don’t we do a float with Capt. Tony next summer to celebrate your 50th!”
And, so it came to pass. Except for the very unfortunate fact that Pat was having a bad reaction to some antibiotics and decided it was best to stay at Gates Au Sable Lodge rather than joining in the float.
Too bad, because she missed out on watching Leo fly fish for the very first time in his life! He did darned good, too.
When I snapped a photo of him holding a fly rod, he exclaimed “Nobody’s going to believe this.” He spent his formative years playing all sorts of team sports, but “I haven’t been fishing since I was a kid with my dad in Canada.”
Leo raised several, by the way, but didn’t bring one to the boat. Next year, though. With Pat as your witness, Leo!
And now, with Kate as my witness, it’s time to get Ghost and the 11-week-old English setter puppy, Heart, curled up into their crates and snuggle up in mine!
Till next time—
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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AuSable River - July 28th, 2007
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
81 °
FISHING: Excellent
JULY 28, 2007
MICHIGAN
It’s been “Rookie Week” for me. Which is great! I love teaching beginners the nuances of fly fishing because it’s so rewarding to watch them develop into competent casters in only an hour or two.
But first let me tell you about the Roscommon River Festival in which I was invited to participate. This was the first year it was held, right on the banks of the Au Sable South Branch in downtown Roscommon.
What a pleasure! The folks putting it on really went all out for the vendors—even driving my truck several blocks away to the parking area. And they couldn’t have been nicer all day, getting my truck at the end of the event and even helping me load up.
I was a manufacturer’s rep in the fly fishing industry for 20 years, and can’t remember when I was treated so well! The turnout was good despite the on-off rain and drizzle all day. I’ve been invited back for next year’s Festival, and definitely plan to participate.
Now, back to the Newbies.
James Salem, concierge at Treetops Resort in Gaylord, called several weeks ago and asked if I could do a casting clinic for John Davis and his family members. “Yes, James, I can.”
So a week ago I met the Davis Clan at one of the remote ponds on Treetops property and we set about the business of learning to fling a fly line.
John, Jim, and Tom comprised the adult portion of the group. Then came nine-year-old Rachel—our lone female—and young cousins Justin, Austin, Alex, John, and Chris.
The day dawned overcast, with gray cumulous clouds building in the northwest. I pulled up the radar and it looked good after the one squall moved through. At least, that’s what I was hoping.
Sure enough, after a brief sprinkle that ended just as the group pulled up in a Treetops van, it was hot, sunny and a bit muggy the rest of the morning.
I did the usual introduction/demonstration, then worked with each caster as the others watched and (hopefully) absorbed the information.
By noon, when everyone was hungry and ready for lunch before heading home, the fledglings looked pretty good. Amazingly enough, RACHEL was throwing the nicest line, followed by Austin—who’s 13.
All seemed to enjoy the day, and plan of getting back for more fly fishing and possibly a day of upland gunning for grouse and woodcock in October.
A few days later it was Dave Gillhouse and his 19-year-old son, Mike. We had planned on a full day float down the Au Sable, but when we stopped at Stephan’s Bridge for lunch I was concerned about the billowing clouds and decided to call Kate.
“I was JUST getting ready to call you,” she said. “We just had torrential rain and pea-sized hail here in Deward. And the radar is showing a lot of heavy weather that should hit you in about an hour.”
Hummm. An hour. And once we leave Stephan’s it’s FOUR hours to Wakeley Bridge.
“Guys,” I said, “I’m an aircraft pilot as well as a Coast Guard-licensed Charter Captain. And the first rule in aviation is the safety of your passengers. We’re going home!”
So, I walked the quarter-mile to Gates Au Sable Lodge and one of Rusty Gates’ clients in the fly shop drove me to the truck. Sure enough, just as we got back to The Fly Factory it started POURING rain.
“Good call,” Dave said.
“Yeah,” Mike added. “Sitting out there in that stuff wouldn’t have been ANY fun at all!”
We did, however, finish our float two days later and Mike caught some browns and brookies. Dad never had fly fished and was content to watch Mike. And Mike got an education in not snapping his wrist, which had been the cause of countless line-leader-fly jumbles and tangles.
Two days later, I had Martin Pool and His Three Sons—Alex, Mike, and Joe. All three so new that I fitted Mike and Joe with waders and boots, which I loaned to them so they’d keep their feet dry the next few days before going home to Swanton, Ohio.
We went through the whole “school” routine, and they did pretty well. It was fun to watch the distinct personalities.
Dad and Alex were really working hard to learn the art.
Mike was the “naturalist”—reveling in eating raspberries and blueberries, and examining the flora and looking for fauna.
Joe? Well let’s just say he’s “all boy and full of life!”
Steve Walker wanted a full day on the Au Sable, so we did Thendara Landing to Wakeley and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. The Tricos were hatching and falling and the fish were eating and life was good.
Steve needed a little time to become accustomed to casting from a moving boat, but eventually settled into the pattern and boated a couple of Kodak-Moment Fish.
Yesterday it was back to Rookie School with Dennis McCarthy and Greg Elliott. They grew up together in Maumee, Ohio, but now Dennis lives in downtown Chicago and Greg’s in Cleveland.
They have a pal who’s addicted to fly fishing, so they decided this was the time for them to learn. They both worked hard and picked up the basics of casting pretty fast.
Then we headed to the water for the wading lessons and instruction in where to cast, why to cast there, and how to re-tie flies and tippet after “landing” tag alders and cedar trees.
“I never realized there was so much to it,” Greg said several times. “But I really like it. We’ll have to get the gear and just do it!”
And, really, that says it all!
OH! An update on Ghost’s new little brother: Manistee River Heart, as he will be called, is six weeks old as of Thursday. After my *#th High School Reunion on the 11th, we’ll drive to Woodburn, Indiana, to visit with good friends Rex Farver and JD & Ellen Korte before getting the pup on the 13th.
What a madhouse it’s going to be around here this October! Ghost—queen of the house—along with the new puppy, and Rex’ setter Abner, who will join us for my guide trips. THREE setters in the house. Ouch!
By the way, the grouse population looks like it going to be EXCELLENT this season! I have a few days left in October, so check your schedule and let’s compare open dates.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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