Back in the Thirties and Forties it wasn't unusual for a June caddis hatch to last two weeks on the South Branch of the Au Sable. On a moon-lit night agglomerated droves of spent mayflies would slide by a partially submerged log and several mammoth browns would gorge themselves until flies were packed in their mouths and gills. The last fly they took was yours.
It always amazed me that they could live with so many flies in their mouth.
A novice fisherman like myself was given many chances to make mistakes and it didn't matter if your fly dragged or if you pulled it under water. What did matter was the statistical probability that the trout was in the same location as your fly and that it grabbed your fly instead of the hundreds swirling around it.
In those days the streams ran clear as the water washed over clean stones and gravel. Sediment would collect near the banks and form black soggy beds in which watercress would flourish.
I remember Justin and Fannie Leonard spending many evenings on the South Branch with flood lights and sheets, collecting insects for their famous book. (See reference 1.) They had a language all their own, especially when talking about flies. If I were to mention mayfly, somehow it would turn into Ephemerellidae, or possibly Hexagenia. When caddis flies became the topic, Trichoptera became the word as did Plecoptera whenever stoneflies were the subject. The Leonards captured these insects in large numbers and cataloged them. They then stored them in labeled vials which in turn were placed in small boxes with a complete record on each night's catch along with the time and place.
There is no difficulty recalling the stonefly hatch. Every time you drove to town it was necessary to stay below ten miles per hour or have green egg sacks splattered all over the front of the car. Another memory is about a favorite pastime of my children. They collected dragonfly larva from bushes along the stream edge and placed them in formation on the dock to dry off. It was interesting to watch these prehistoric bombers flex and dry their wings and then fly off.
One of the challenges facing a fly fisherman in those days was to stake out a stretch of water to fish the hatch. It was very common to start fishing around 6:00 p.m. to hold a favorite spot for the evening hatch which usually began at 10:00 and often lasted after midnight. Many arguments surfaced when two fishermen wanted the same stretch. (Editor's note: Some things don't change with time.)
Gradually, over the last twenty-five to thirty years we have experienced serious changes in the river. The last good year of fishing based on our records was 1966. We first noticed the length of the hatch was decreasing. We then observed it was more difficult to find feeding browns where we thought they should be. Watercress was no longer plentiful and you had to search for it. The hordes of fishermen slowly dwindled away and now one must fish a large stretch of water to find a trophy brown.
We became very concerned and, of course, looked for the cause. We first considered the sewage which was being discharged into the river. (At that time Roscommon had a sewage problem which was resolved in the late Sixties.) We talked with DNR personnel and their reply at that time was that since the planting of fish had been stopped, the fishing pressure was so great it was depleting the fish. Nothing seemed to fit, at least to us. And we remain puzzled in the same way anglers and biologists are today.
Last year I heard about some work done by Gaylord Alexander and others on sand traps and I requested a copy of his report. He sent me three publications regarding sedimentation and sand traps. (See references 2,3, and 4.)
Careful study of these brought back several memories regarding the South Branch. I would like to tell you about one. Sometime in the late Fifties, on one of our weekly trips to our river cottage the first thing we noticed was the murky whiteness of the river. It ran that way for several hours so I poled a canoe upstream to see if I could find the cause. I found a clam digger on the edge of the stream removing river bottom and filling in adjacent lowland.
I later discovered that a local Realtor wanted to sell some property and had cut down all the trees along the river's edge, laid them down for support, and then filled the land with gravel from the river. I notified the DNR but since it took such a long time to obtain a restraining order the damage was done and irreparable. The river remained a murky white for several weeks after the digging stopped.
It turned out this was just the beginning. Farther upstream, canals had been cut in marsh areas and connected to the river. With natural erosion and irresponsible actions like these (there must be many I know nothing about) we can only guess how serious the damage has been to the South Branch.
Reference (3) points out that moving sand decreases and destroys food organisms and trout food. When the food leaves the trout leave. The report also suggests that a sandy substrate results in a lower hatch of deposited eggs and even though the fry develop normally before emergence, they can be trapped and killed by the sand.
In reference (4) I see a glimmer of hope: high water in the spring will assist in speeding the flow of sand, eventually removing it. We have observed this action over the years and apparently the river contains a massive amount of sand because it continues. The DNR constructed a sand trap nearby that is emptied each year. A substantial amount of sand is being removed. The report suggests that with proper treatment it is possible to reclaim damaged streams but that it will take a long time.
Michigan is now taking a more forceful stand against the disturbing of wetlands. I believe the general population has a better understanding about how fragile our lakes and streams are.
We are now using sand traps to contain loose sediment, and with effort remove the sediment from threatened rivers. We have made much progress in a short time. However, the damage is extensive.
The upper South Branch remains threatened with massive amounts of sand being swept along the stream bottom. Moreover, the Mason Tract, one of the most revered stretches of trout water in the state, is downstream. We continue to have hope that the river can absorb some of the sand, and with the trap doing its job, it should return to some semblance of the what it once was. Unfortunately, I don't believe this will happen in my lifetime but it will be a present to our grandchildren.
We should give credit and thanks to Gaylord Alexander and Edward Hansen for giving us direction. And we should continue to correct the enormous damage inflicted on our rivers.
References:
(1) Mayflies of Michigan Trout Streams, Justin W. Leonard and Fannie A. Leonard, Cranbrook Institute of Science, 1962, Library of Congress Cat. No. 62-9726
(2) In-Channel Sedimentation Basins - A Possible Tool for Trout Habitat Management, Edward A. Hansen, The Progressive Fish-Culturist, Vol. 35, No. 3, July 1973
(3) Sand Bed Load in a Brook Trout Stream, Gaylord R. Alexander and Edward A. Hansen, North American Journal of Fisheries Management 6:9-23, 1986
(4) Decline and Recovery of a Brook Trout Stream Following an Experimental Addition of Sand Sediment, Gaylord R. Alexander and Edward A. Hansen, Fisheries Research Report No. 1943, July 11, 1988.
Editor's Note: Duane Burdick graduated from the University of Michigan and retired after thirty-seven years with Dow Corning Corporation as a chemical engineer. Fishing the South Branch has been a means of stress release over the years. Duane and his wife Nancy have used this escape to enjoy the solitude of the river, along with the fishing. RWOL
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