Michigan AuSable

June 28, 2005

Greetings from The Fly Factory on the Banks of the AuSable in uptown Grayling,

Here is the outlook for the coming weekend, and more news from the North:

6/28 THE HEX HATCH IS GETTING "MATURE", BUT SOME OF THE BIG BUGS ARE STILL POPPING! After the hatch started near Grayling on June 9, followed by a fairly dramatic cool down and pause in the hatching, the big bugs have coming off for more than a week. We're still seeing some sporadic, shorter-lived spinner falls and/or hatches on some sections of the Mainstream and South Branch and also on the Manistee. It is time to hurry North if you'd like to get into the big bugs/big fish after dark. The Isonychias, or big mahoganies, [#10-12] have spread through the river system; they Iso's hatch from gravel and the Hex hatch from the silt beds. We're still seeing some Stenonemas, or Light Cahills [#12-14]; there are several species of Stenonemas and the run in color from white to creamy yellow and orange. Also look for little yellow stoneflies [#12-14] and the big Golden Stoneflies [#8] that can bring a bigger brown the suface when skittered out of a shaded deep hole or along log jams and cover. The streams are in good shape. Water temps are consistently in the mid to high 60's, pushing 70 degrees in some areas. After the Hex: Tune up the terrestrial box! More stream conditions & hatch information are on the River Conditions / HatchLine page at TroutBums.com [url=http://www.troutbums.com/HatchLine/:9a48b]http://www.troutbums.com/HatchLine/[/url:9a48b]