Transcript

For the Yak’s lastadventure in search ofMichigan’s symbols, he

wanted to go fly-fishing forbrook trout, the state fish.

But where? He didn’t havea clue — and he didn’t knowbeans about using artificialflies to catch fish.

So he called Rusty Gates,one of Michigan’s mosttalented fly-fishermen, andon May 1, Gates took the Yakto one of his favorite hotspots for catching brookies,on the north branch of theAu Sable River near Grayling.

It was 2 p.m., and the dayhad warmed considerablysince morning. But it was stilla few degrees too chilly forHendrickson mayflies to starthatching on the water’ssurface, attracting troutfrom their hiding places.

Gates helped the Yak pull onwaders — special thigh-high boots tokeep his feet dry — and the twoventured out into the cold, shallowriver.

“This is one of the most traditional

sports,” said Gates, who grew up onthe Au Sable and learned to fly-fishfrom his late father, Calvin, when hewas 11.

“It’s always been passed down fromfather to son. But some of the guys

bring theirdaughters up, andmore and morewomen are gettinginto it.”

Gates watchedthe river intently,waiting for thetemperature to hit50 degrees so thebugs would risefrom the river like adark shadow.Patiently castinghis rod into thefast-flowingcurrent, he seemedas much a part ofthe river as the

rock he wassitting on.

“It’s way cool,”he said of fly-fishing.“And it never ends — youcan fish for 35 years andthere’s still something tolearn.”

As the trout seasonprogresses, hundreds ofdifferent kinds of insects willhatch on the river — andGates knows how to tie afly to look like every one of them. Eachis a little work of art made of fur,feathers and tying silk.

But it takes more than a good lureto catch a trout. You have to be anexpert sneak, moving slowly to thespot where you want to cast your rodwithout scaring the fish.

“A lot of times, we get down on ourknees,” said Gates, a professionalfishing guide. “You have to be patient.If you don’t get anything with one fly,

try another.”But you can’t catch

anything if the fish aren’tfeeding, and they weren’tthe day Gates and theYak tried to catch a

brookie.The two were

disappointed, but onlybriefly. As Gates says,“If they were easy to

catch, everyone would doit.”

When Gates does catch a trout, healways releases it back into the river— not just on the 16-mile stretch ofthe Au Sable where trout areprotected, but anywhere he catchesone in Michigan.

Of the state’s 38,000 miles ofrivers and streams, only 12,500 milesare cold enough to support trout.

“It’s very easy to destroy thesestreams,” said Gates.

Fifty years ago, there were so many

trout in Michigan that the limit onhow many could be caught and kept ina day was 50 fish, he said. As thetrout population declined, the limitwas cut — to 40 fish a day, then 30,20, 10 and finally to the current dailylimit of two to five fish, depending onthe stream.

Others say it’s OK to eat trout.“They’re great to have for breakfast

once in a while,” said Rich Bowman,executive director of Michigan Councilof Trout Unlimited.

But the conservation group has asaying: Limit your catch, don’t catchyour limit.

Said Bowman: “If everyone caughtwhat they could legally keep everytime they went fishing, we’d have todrastically reduce the number of fishpeople were allowed to keep.”

By Patricia Chargot

Rusty Gates, who took the Yak fishing, was named 1995 Angler of the Year by Fly Rod & Reel magazine.

The brook trout isn’treally a trout. It’s achar, a member of a

closely related fish family.Michigan has three truetrout species. The largest,the lake trout, is a native ofthe Great Lakes. The othertwo, the rainbow and thebrown trout, live in coldwaterstreams and rivers. Neitheris a Michigan native, as isthe brook trout. The Graylingtrout, another nativespecies, went extinct in theearly 20th Century after itshabitat was destroyed byloggers.PHOTOS BY PER KJELDSEN

Gates carries dozens of different flies with him.Rusty Gates made this artificial mayfly. He’ll use it to tryto trick a brook trout into thinking it’s a real mayfly.

Grayling

DETROIT FREE PRESS | WWW.YAKSCORNER.COM4 THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2002 5

Our state symbols

This is a model of a brook trout. A real brookie is about seven inches long,on average. A 10-incher would be considered a big one.

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