An Evening Float to the Oxbow Club

As usual, last month's trip home to Michigan was a stacked dance card of time spent with family, rounds of golf with my dad, a last minute float on the Muskegon River, days on Beaver Island, and an invite to float the South Branch of the Au Sable River with Ken Frazee and Paul Frost, who worked together to organize this year's Michi-Glass event.  I will always have a soft spot for the Au Sable River area since it is where I learned how to fly fish (way back in the mid-90's) and there is an unmistakable angling culture seeped in decades of tradition that I am drawn to.  I may not care for fly fishing for trout as I once did, but will always want to spend time on these tannic streams in northern Michigan.

We met late afternoon at Smith Bridge, which is just off M-72.  I had arrived a few minutes early, which gave me time to sort out of the back of the Outback (which was becoming a mess from a week on the road), loaded up a fly reel with a 5-weight fly line, picked a couple of fly rods to take in the boat, and grab a few beers for the cooler.  Ken and Paul arrived together and put the driftboat went into the water.  It took just a couple of minutes to sort everything out and we were on our way.

It was a shaping up to be a pleasant evening on the river but things were sort of stacked against us with a river that was still recovering from a massive flood event and a cooler than normal spring which was slowing the evening and nighttime hatches by several weeks.  I think between the three of us we had five or six glass fly rods in the boat and all took turns casting a bit.  We started with dry flies followed by a soft hackle and ended on small streamers, which did turn a few fish.  Ken had a solid brown trout rush out from a wood pile and slash at his streamer, just like he was supposed to.  There are few things better than dinner on the river and sandwiches, chips, and chocolate chip cookies on a slow flow corner of the river topped the evening off.

Just after dark we made it to the Oxbow Conservation & Fishing Club to find Paul's vehicle and trailer waiting for us.  We could hear the laughter of a group of guys having a good time playing cards on the screened porch of the club house.  We pulled the driftboat from the river and onto the trailer, sorted gear, and Ken, who's been a member at Oxbow for a number of years, invited us in for a drink.  I didn't get to be as nosy I'd as I wanted to be as the room was wall to wall natural wood panels, taxidermy arranged over the large fireplace, newspaper clippings on cork boards, framed vintage photographs, and individual lockers behind the bar where members could keep a select few bottles of spirits to be at the ready.  

Institutions like the Oxbow Club, and there are other historic clubs and lodges dotted around northern Michigan along these noteworthy rivers, are such special places and have done so much on the conservation front to protect the Au Sable River and the Manistee River, along with the surrounding branches and creeks.  The fight and commitment to the health of these rivers is admirable.   

After a drink and talking with a few members at the club house, we drove back to the parking lot at Smith Bridge so I could get my car and then made our way to Ken's home on the North Branch of the Au Sable River.  One of the neat things about Michigan in the summer is that it doesn't get dark until well after 10:00 pm but it sure messes with your head as it doesn't feel as late as it really is.  1:00 am (or even later) kind of sneaks up on you.  

Ken showed me to the guest room and gave me a quick tour of their home, where just a few weeks before, the river had jumped the bank during an incredible snow thaw and rain event which brought the river up to the doorstop of his porch.  He was at the house that weekend and watched overnight as the river continued to rise, passing through the woods and around all sides of his home.  Fortunately, it stayed inches deep but still gave them quite a scare and cleanup afterwards.     

The next morning, while Ken made us breakfast, I went through a few fly rods, which you'll hear about in the report from Michi-Glass, that I brought to leave for the event.  These were a collection of notable Japanese glass favorites in 3-weight and 4-weight and I lined up two Iwana fly reels with 406 Fly Lines so they could be test cast or even fished during the weekend of the event.  

I greatly appreciate Ken's generosity on inviting me for the overnight and also to Paul for letting me take the backseat of the driftboat.  These northern Michigan experiences are always a thrill, even if the bug hatches and trout aren't being cooperative.  There is always next time...