The weather has been stunning, challenging, cold (in the mornings) and now a little warm during the day. We have more of it to come: A nice half-week of one perfect day after another. In short, the fishing has been difficult, especially so if you’re on foot. The cold mornings and sunny afternoons will do this. From the boat the action has been better, sometimes significantly better. There have been some excellent streamer days and some great nymph mornings and I even heard of a few pockets of rising trout this afternoon. They were enjoying the first good hatch of the fall BWO, size 20…and so were we.
With water temperatures just about perfect and the browns in pre-spawn mode, the streamer is always a good choice… 
A perfect Au Sable brown trout
But most of us have been fishing a dry/dropper or simple nymph rig with good success especially in the late morning and early afternoon. The action is condensing around that noon hour and that feeding window is a thing worth chasing whether you’re below Mio or way up river or somewhere in-between. By around 3 pm the trout will move off the nymph and you might find some trout rising especially on a cloudy afternoon, or you might entice them to chase a streamer. It’s not too late in the season for ants. Those flying ants can stretch into October, can mix with the last breath of the fall Iso, and can make for a trout or two willing to rise at dusk.
But these season is changing, and fast. The proof is in the dog bells at dawn around the lodge as grouse hunters ready their trucks, in the leaves that are staining red up and down the river, in the frost, and — the surest sign — in brook trout that look like this:
One thing I’ve noticed in this pre-spawn season is that the trout aren’t as equally spread through the river as they were a few weeks ago. If you aren’t getting bit…move. Even today, in the little time I had to fish, I bailed on the first stretch of river and drove to another and found enough eager brook trout to make the relocation worth it. Look for drop-offs, gravel bars, and pockets — such places seem to concentrate the trout. Fish the dry/dropper, small streamer, or even swing a soft hackle (if you are soft-hackle-curious…this is the time to swing soft hackles). This is one of the most beautiful times of the year to be on the water. It’s challenging, but in the best kind of way.
