A River Runs By It

A River Runs By It A PASSIONATE FLY FISHERMAN BUILDS HIS BUCKET-LIST SECOND HOME ON THE BANKS OF THE AU SABLE RIVER.

- Elizabeth Edwards

The Au Sable is no ordinary river. Among fishermen, the 138-mile blue ribbon trout stream is referred to in sacred prose, such as: “If God were to make a perfect trout stream it would be like this ...” Legends of industry including Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, the Dodges and the Firestones all fished the Au Sable. The international organization Trout Unlimited was founded on this river.

Change happens slowly on the Au Sable—who would want to alter perfection? Family cabins that began with a small one-room “fishing camp” serviced by a makeshift outdoor kitchen might add on slowly over the generations. One summer someone decided to enclose the front porch to make more room for fishing creels and ...a few grandchildren later it was time for a real kitchen.

If you love this river, you simply wouldn’t want to build something that didn’t fit in. Such was the case with the homeowners of this new cabin. “I’ve been coming up here to fish since I was 11—My grand father taught me to fly fish,” the homeowner says. “It’s always been on my bucket list to have a place here.”