The Au Sable River, a pristine trout stream in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Credit Gary Howe for The New York Times
A fish farm in the city of Grayling, Mi is impacting the future of the beloved trout river.
Andy Partlo co owner of the Au Sable Fly Shop said:”It’s an artificial fishery. The fishing went through this for a while and everything was fine and all of a sudden, we get this massive weed growth in the right conditions in the summer. That takes the dissolved oxygen out of the water and you get massive fish die-offs.” In those times, more trout would be stocked back into the river, he said, “so then it becomes an artificial fishery.”
The trout are wild. That is a point of pride among anglers on the Au Sable. Much of the river is considered a naturally reproducing trout fishery. There is some stocking near the town of Mio under a dam. The fish get big there. The spot is nicknamed the “trophy waters,” but purist fly anglers stick upstream to pursue the wild ones.
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