JKB. My years of MI fishing is on the opposite side of the state. We used to lease a place in Oscoda and the Ausable was my playground from late Sept. thru early Jan. Funny that you refer to the height of the river runs as the charter days. I often call them the same.

I am a fortune one in that about 12 maybe 14 years back, during those boom years I picked up a 10 pound 13 oz. river run brown in an area locally known as "high banks" about 5-6 miles inland. What an amazing creature. As luck would have it this area had some of the deeper, cleaner runs as anywhere on the river with some saddle holes going 15-18' or more. We played together for almost an hour before I waded in without waders to land him in waist high COLD water.

Those were the days when they regularly ran the hydro dams which kept the gravel beds clean. My last trip there three years back and after several years between was very disappointing. We floated the river from the dam to the mouth. We spotted only a hand full of two three groups of steelies and less and 1/3 of the beds had any exposed gravel. Without the gravel you don't get the salmon without the salmon you don't the predators. I miss that ol river every year about this time.

Prior to our leasing on the East side I did spend a couple years bouncing around on the West including Grand Haven, Ludwig, Muskeogn and parts North. I envey your close proximity to the grounds...