Otsego Lake, Turtle Lake, Johannesburg, Lovells, Comstock Hills, Luzerne NW, Red Oak, Mio, Fairview, McKinley, Alcona Dam Pond, Hale, Loud Dam. Fishes best in spring, early summer, and fall. From the Mio powerline to McKinley, only artificial lures and flies may be used, and only two trout may be kept each day. Likely looking cover holds trout, and there is likely looking cover everywhere. Feeding lanes are obvious, as are the numerous submerged logs, underwater structures, dropoffs, and snags.
Trees overhang the cluttered banks.
The Au Sable is still complex enough, and the trophy trout wise enough, that hiring a guide your first few times is a good idea. If you want to fish a given hatch, wait around the hatch will happen soon. Sometimes, a 10-foot leader and thin tippet is needed to fool these selective trout. The prolific hatches are the major reason the river has held up as a nationally-rated trout fishery for so long. Nymphs of the emerging hatch are effective, too.