Cleanin' and Mousin'

The days since Kristine and I returned from Grayling have been pretty busy, so I couldn't get this up sooner. Still, it seems like we just left. The experience is fresh in mind, even though it's stale news, in a way.

We had a great time at the cleanup, as always. I'm glad to do something for the rivers, but the cleanups are a lot of fun, too. When the cleaners assemble in the morning people at Gates' Lodge, the scene resembles a family renunion. People greet others they haven't seen for a while and catch up, and conversations about fishing, the weather, past cleanups, or the upcoming bird season arise between strangers, and dogs bark and play-fight all around the lawn. Kristine and I didn't know anyone else there, but I at least had the feeling of being among friends.

And a lot of friends at that. The crowd at this year's cleanup was the largest ever, about 130 if I heard right.

At 10:00, Rusty Gates, the lodge owner and instigator of this even, halts the sprawling bull session to welcome everone, organize the group photo, and send us cleaners on our way. Small teams are assigned to stretches throughout the three branches of the Au Sable. This year, Kristine and I drew the uppermost reach of the fly-only water on the South Branch, the section from Chase Bridge to the Forest Rest access. I worked with a team that cleaned that stretch about four years ago and each person on that team filled at least two bags with trash. This year, Kristine and I only collected about half a bag apiece, and I don't think anyone else on our team found much more.



Afterward, everyone returns to the lodge for burgers and brats, sweet corn, and beer. Also a generous spread of homemade cookies. Kristine and I enjoyed a few more of those than we should have. I wasn't hungry the rest of the night.

But I didn't sit in a chair waiting for lunch to settle. Around nightfall, I drove to a favorite access on the AuSable mainstream to fish the rodent hatch--that is, tossing large, deer-hair replications of mice toward the bank and the edges of cover to entice big brown trout. This is a late summer tactic, and soon will cease producing, but it did the job last Saturday. Between about 9:10 and 9:45 I landed 4 12-15" browns and had about ten other swipes. Then the bite shut down, aside from one strike (from a fish that sounded like it probably couldn't get the hook in its mouth) around 10:30. Didn't tangle with any of the toads you hope for when you fish mammal patterns in the dark, but I still can't think of many better ways to pass a Saturday night in almost-mid-September.