I'm going to be fly fishing for trout on the Ausable river over the memorial day break. I've fished it once before with a guide.

[MR AWESOME]

I'm going to be fly fishing for trout on the Ausable river over the memorial day break. I've fished it once before with a guide. This time i wont be with a guide. Any tips,suggestions, flys to use, etc. Thanks in advance.

[MR AWESOME]

Should have specified the ausable river in upstate ny.

[Bioguy01]

I grew up fishing the AuSable River, and worked at the Stewart's in AuSable Forks and would often go fishing both before and after work. If they have stocked recently there's a couple of good spots in the town of AuSable Forks where the east and west branch converge that are worth wetting a line (especially near the bridges that go over each branch). About a mile up on AuSable Drive, there's a pull-off area and a dam...that's usually a good spot too.

I don't know what the water conditions will be like this weekend, but there's a lot of rain in the forecast this week. When the water is high and fast, I used spinning tackle. Something flashy like a gold spinner or spoon has served me well during high water, but if you insist on using flies, then get a few weighted Zonkers (I prefer olive) or other patterns that are big and flashy.

If the water is normal, I like to use a beadhead softhackle hare's ear nymphs and soft hackle wet flies during the day, and in the late afternoon when the trout start rising I'll do my best to match the hatch with a dry fly pattern. Keep your rod tip high and skitter the fly on the surface and you'll be in for some fun!

You can fish the trophy section in Wilmington if you want, but that area has too many other fishermen for my liking. Fran Betters was probably one of the most famous fly fishermen in the Northeast...here's a link to his hatch pattern key (ausablewulff.com/flyhatches.html) and a link to other information about the Ausable River (ausablewulff.com/ausableriver.html)

Goodluck fishing my old stomping grounds. Hope the AuSable treats you as good as it treated me when I lived there.

[MR AWESOME]

Thanks so much bioguy. I"ll let you know how I do.

[Bioguy01]

10-4! Good luck!

[Solitario Lupo]

If you took a guide already should be easy. Just do what the guide basically did. Other than that use some stoneflies patterns, nymphs and wooly buggers. Chartreuse, white,brown, and black should be good basic colors.