Late summer/early fall is coming soon and is such a great time to fly fishing on the Au Sable River and in Northern Michigan! Early August is Smallmouth time on the lower Au Sable and late August is back to chasing trout with major white fly hatch below Mio. August is also the beginning on salmon fishing in Northwest Michigan on the Betsie River and at many of the river mouths. September is the peak of river salmon fishing on the Betsie and Platte River. Late September is great time for streamer fishing for big browns on the Au Sable River.
Early August is a great time for Smallmouth Bass on the lower Au Sable River. Excellent day time streamer fishing and some very nice dry fishing for these bass this time of year. There are a couple of different species of Hex that hatch on the Au Sable in early August and this makes for some very nice rising bass.
These later species of Hex are not a night time bug. Look for hatches and spinner falls to start about a hour before dark.
Trout also like these August Hex! This one was catch last August right around a bunch of rising Smallies.
Look for White Fly hatch to start in mid August. This bug hatches in blizzard numbers in the waters below Mio and is quite the sight. This a late evening hatch and spinner falls go well into darkness.
Big browns typically get active again by mid to late August in the Big Waters of the Au Sable River. Before the White Fly hatch starts it can be a great time to nymph fish which produced this big brown in left photo. Right photo was a nice brown caught on white fly hatch.
Mid August (some years early August) is the time for silver Chinook Salmon. For these early fish streamer fishing is the way to go. These fresh Kings will smash large baitfish patterns in the lower sections of the river and around the shoreline of Lake Michigan.
September is the month for huge numbers of salmon up in the Betsie River.
September is the month for Coho and Chinook Salmon on the Platte River. Just a great river for those looking for fresh run salmon.
Silver Kings like this one can be found all thru the month of September along with some huge pods of Coho Salmon.
September streamer fishing for Coho Salmon at the mouth of the Platte River on Loon Lake. Just a beautiful portion of the Platte River system and one of first staging areas once the salmon leave the lower weir.