I would like to take a moment to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope every ones travel plans work out and all arrive safe and sound.

It looks like we will be having a rainy, icy, snowy Christmas in Northern Michigan. I will be returning to Key Largo Dec. 27^th and staying until mid. May. I look forward to fishing with you all this winter.

Tight lines, Capt. Dave

Fishing the last couple of weeks has been holding up well! I have still been mainly fishing with families and having a blast. It is so rewarding to see the excitement a child has on every fish! We have been mainly catching bonefish, small tarpon and snook.

I will be leaving for Michigan on Thursday and returning after Christmas. Hoping do do some skiing! And catch up with family. I will be ready for some serious fishing after a couple weeks off!

Tight LInes Capt. Dave

Happy Thanksgiving

Most of my trips this week have been family outings, so we have concentrated on rod benders. Lots of jacks, sharks and snappers. I had one fly caster this week and she was able to land a great small tarpon!

Tight lines Capt. Dave

Fishing on the flats the last couple of weeks has been a blast! We have had good weather and lots of fish around. You really can't ask for much more! Today I took the morning and did some fun fishing. It turned into a good news bad news situation. I caught a nice Permit on Fly, but I got the leader knot inside the tip of the rod while landing him. He made a last run and my rod tip went with him! I'll take it though!!

Tight lines Capt. Dave

First week In Florida Keys

I am just finishing up my first full week in the Keys and I am holding on with both hands! The wind is blowing a steady 25 knots with gust to 30. Regardless I have been getting out and catching some nice fish.

The first couple of charters I had my clients just wanted to bend the rod so we spent most of our time catching jacks, snappers and sharks. Yesterday we were more interested in catching some larger targets. By the time I rolled back into the dock it had been a great day. We landed 3 Snook and and managed to jump 5 Tarpon. Not bad on a day when the weatherman's message was " Don't even think about it!" Check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTHPuz1jAE0&layer_token=3e42527ce1933fd6

Hopefully the wind is going to die and I can start to spend some time looking for Bonefish.

Last AuSable trip for 2009

I finished up my 2009 season in Michigan saturday. It was a beautiful fall day and we saw some great color, but we spent most of our time trying to stay warm. I was fishing with Dave Mayer from San Francisco who was in Michigan visiting his brother and decided to fish the AuSable while here. The morning started out at 19-degrees and just made it into the 40's for a high. I wish we could have a little more action from the fish, but that is fishing!

I am tying up all the loose ends in Michigan and will be off to Florida the first of next week. My next post will be from the flats of South Florida!!!

Fall Newsletter

September was a beautiful month here in Northern Michigan! We really had our summer after Labor Day with temperatures in the eighties and lots of sun!!! We did a lot of fishing, hunting and kayaking on our own and still had time for some guiding. October has been another story. Cool, cloudy and lots of rain. We did need the rain, but it still takes the wind out of your sails.

Setting here looking out at the cold rain makes me start to think about the southern half of my operation. The flats at Ocean Reef are looking pretty good today! As usual I am leaving here the last of October and plan on being available for charter the first of November. Orvis is still in charge of the charter operation and with a full year under their belt at the Club I think things will be great!! I have been in contact with Truel and Peter and they will be back running the school and giving casting lessons. I can also mix a lesson with fishing on a charter as always. I am looking forward to a great winter in Key Largo and I hope to see you there!! I f you would like to arrange a charter just let me know.

What a great time of year to be in Northern Michigan!! Hunting, fishing and wonderful fall color! Opening day of bird season I fished in the morning, had some good action with streamers. Caught a great rainbow and lots of smaller fish. After lunch my hunting buddies and I headed for the woods!! They had six flushes on grouse!! On their evening swim we were blessed with five eagle sightings. Life is good!!!

It has been a while since I have checked in. I have been remodeling my kitchen and dinning room. It has been quite a job, but a fun one. After fifty years things need a redo! Between being a carpenter and a fishing guide I haven't had time for much else.

Fishing has been steady mostly hoppers and ants of late. Lots of brook trout. They are beautiful little jewels and create a lot of action. We had frost one morning this week so fall is knocking on the door. Hope we get at least a taste of Indian Summer!!!

Will be back At Ocean Reef November 1, and ready for action. Get in touch if you would like to set up some dates for this winter.

Tight Lines, Capt. Dave

Fishing on the AuSable has been going great the last couple of weeks! The cool weather we have been having is great for the trout. There has been lots of olives and trico's in the mornings with hoppers and ants in the afternoon. I just had two great days fishing with a family from Cleveland. I would start out with two in the morning, We would all meet for lunch then take two more for the afternoon float. Dad was teaching his family to enjoy the river as much as he does. It worked out great we released 25 trout in two days. One even managed an AuSable Slam; Brook, brown and rainbow in a day! Not bad for novice anglers!! The hot ticket was a beadhead nymph dropped from a hopper.

Tight lines Dave

Summer Fun!

It  has been a very strange summer in northern Michigan. We have only had a couple days reach the 80-degree mark, but we must plug along! I have been doing a lot of instruction of late and love every minute of it. I worked with two friends from Ann Arbor last week who had never fly fished before and were looking to expand there repertoire. After some instruction on the lawn we moved to the boat and finished with a half-day float. Each fellow was able to release some beautiful brook trout. It was a great time for all! We were fishing with blue winged olives and patroits.

I have been spending a lot of time with some special young people who I have taken on as my protege's. We have been working on basic fishing and fly tying skills. They are moving along at a great pace and will be ready to hit the stream soon.

Tight Lines Capt. Dave

 

Well I have been burning the midnight oil fishing the Hex Hatch this last week. I have had some great nights and some fun nights to be out fishing! The crazy bugs have been hard to predict. Last night has been the highlight so far! We caught and released four Browns over 20-inches and only fished 100-yards of river!! It was off the charts! I don't know how long it will last but I will take what I can get!

Tight Lines, Capt. Dave

I have been busy fishing every day and the weather has been beautiful. Unfortunately the cool spring weather up until now  has kept the mayfly hatch everyone is waiting for on hold! We have been using smaller mayflies and stoneflies to get the trouts attention. Fishing with a grandfather and grandson the other day we had a wonderful time and the grandson was able to catch and release his first trout! I fished with Tom Patton and Fred Fairchild from Ohio for a couple of days last week. We caught a lot of trout most on the small side, but Tom did manage to release a 16-inch rainbow. Fished last evening with Henry Smith and Stacy Leon we were looking for the Hex but all we found were stoneflies and sulfurs. Stacy caught several small trout.  Tonight has to be the night!

I have had a great week up on the old AuSable! I fished with my old friend bill VanWagner from Dallas for several days and we had a great time as always. Bill also comes to the Keys and fishes with me there. Fishing was great, but catching was a bit off. We caught lots of small trout, both browns and brookies. We failed to coral the monster we were looking for! We are just getting into the big flies we are all waiting for with hexomania just around the corner. Weather is getting warmer so it won't be long! 

Tight Lines, Capt. Dave

6/1/2009

 Finished up the season in the keys with a flurry. We had lots of great action with the "Big Three". Nothing huge, but lots of action. Then a whirl of activity to get loaded up to head north with a long, long car ride.

 Its is great to be back on the AuSable! I have washed all the salt off must of my gear and am ready for the trout! I fished for about an hour the other evening and managed to land nine beautiful browns. What a great start with sulfurs, yellow stones and caddis.

  I have lots of new things to play with this summer! A new boat, new rods, reels and a new association with Orvis! It is going to be a great relationship for all involved.

Tight lines, Capt. Dave