Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

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TimM
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Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#1

Post by TimM »

A few weeks ago I headed out for my annual UP / Northern WI trip. (Previous Trips here: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 ) When I feel the gnawing need to fish in the winter I spend time on Google Earth trying to find good water. I had about 15 new spots marked as possibles for this trip.

In the past few years I arrived to varied levels of flooding. Looking at river levels and the wild flowers as I drove across the central UP it was pretty clear there hadn't been a lot of rain. The western UP was slightly better but still well below ideal.

I stayed at the same resort and got the cabin with the better lake view and VCR collection. (Alas, some of the tapes from my fav 80's action movies were missing.)
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On my way I stopped at an old iron mine location and found some interesting specimens for my collection. I also got rusty iron dust all over everything.
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A trout stream crosses the road not far from the mine so I headed there next. There wasn't much flow but the water was cool. A few casts turned up a voracious hoard of creek chubs but no brookies. It was pretty hot and I didn't feel like going full waders so I moved on to another spot.
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In the second spot the water was low and marginally warm so I decided not to fish. It was a hot day and the dark conglomerate rock near the river gave off a baking heat. There were wild roses growing all along the stream and road and the whole area smelled heavenly.
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I headed to a different spot that is much favored by the tourists but there are some brookies there too. I promised myself this year that I would do a better job on the waterfalls with my 'good' camera so I suited up and hiked out with a fly rod and about 20 pounds of unwieldy SLR camera, tripod and filters. I caught some brookies between falls but lugging the extra crap upstream put a kink in the fish stalking.
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Later in the evening I hiked out to one of my favorite creeks. Based on the boot tracks I found it had been fished the day before but I still managed to catch quite a few brookies and even some nice ones in spots that are harder to get to.
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The next day I hit some water I hadn't fished in years. Before it was a small sandy meadow creek with some undercut banks. Recently, a beaver troupe came along and turned it into something else. For hiking purposes it was a trip through hell. The meadow has clumps of 'sweet grass' reeds - if you stepped between clumps before you'd stumble. Now, the water level is so high the reeds are mostly underwater and if you step between clumps it's a pants-filling demon-drop followed by the labored humiliation of extracting your leg from a sucking hole. The fishing was actually very good and I came back a few days later and hit the same area further downstream. I'm pretty sure I hit a few spots that hadn't been fished at all this year. Some decent sized fish and the shoddiest beaver dam I've ever seen:
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The next day I went to another river crossing I had identified as a possible fishing spot. The water was low and warm and staring into the deep pool I didn't even see a consolation creek chub. Pfft. I headed to another crossing point and caught a nice brookie on the first cast. I didn't have time to explore in detail and while I was debating next steps a decent size (200# estimate) black bear casually crossed the road quite a ways away. (Wish I had the SLR camera with the 400mm lens for that one.)
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zoomed in:
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I hit another favorite spot where I caught some monster fish in the previous years. The water was cool but low and I was unable to find the beautiful brookie I caught last year and the year before (Wow. :)). I did catch a few nice fish although the catch rate was a fraction of previous years.
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The poor fishing gave me a chance to explore some new areas. While I was hiking along the roadside back to my car I was surprised to see the path of of a person emerge from the ferns at the edge of the woods and head along the road. A bit further down we reached a muddy patch and I realized it wasn't a person at all but a good sized black bear.
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I was a little tired of the beaver meadows so I decided to hit some more classic water I hadn't fished in years. The river runs through a sandy area and I was worried that some bad floods in previous years might have drastically changed the river (as they have on some other rivers I frequent) but thankfully I found it in great shape. Cool water, lots of gravel, decent flow and every bit as beautiful as I remembered. Clearly a few places had been affected but I caught some sandy-light brookies and browns with some big ones hiding in the tangled wood deposited by the floods.
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I fished a few other spots and found some wolf tracks on one Poseidon Adventure. In 6 days I fished late morning and evening sessions covering 8-10 miles in waders (through woods and swamps) each day. If I could live like this I'd be in great shape. Even though it was dry the wildflowers were still in great form. Some fields looked like they were covered in snow there were so many white flowers. For the monarch fans I found a field of milkweed that was just covered in caterpillars. I only hit a fraction of my marked 'new' spots so maybe this winter I'll spend more time rod making and fly tying than Google Earthing. As I climbed in the car to head out the local firemen saw me off with a fire engine pressure test. I have some Copper Falls State Park pics but this will already be huge so I'll save those for another thread.
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nativebrownie
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#2

Post by nativebrownie »

Have never been there - always wanted to...always... Vivid narrative and pics - especially the waters. Thank you for the effort - I can now see why this area is so special...
Appreciated - beautiful...

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McHull
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#3

Post by McHull »

Nice looking trip and Brookies!
In the night I dreamed of trout-fishing - The Maine Woods - Henry David Thoreau

billems
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#4

Post by billems »

Thanks for posting that fine photo-essay. I spent some time fishing up there, and it all looks familiar. I may return (when the weather improves).

rsagebrush
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#5

Post by rsagebrush »

Lovely, thanks for posting

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jhuskey
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#6

Post by jhuskey »

Beautiful post! I miss the quiet openness of the UP. With the relative dryness, how were the mosquitos and flies? 8)

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Hellmtflies
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#7

Post by Hellmtflies »

Excellent!

Bloodhound
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#8

Post by Bloodhound »

Great post...beautiful pics of fish, water and the area...cool seeing the bear too.

Bee
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#9

Post by Bee »

Great presentation. Having grouse hunted and fished a little in some of that north country just seeing that pictorial brings back many great memories. No wolf tracks?

mrampant
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#10

Post by mrampant »

Thanks for taking the time and effort to post up your trip.
Living in the other end of the earth; where is UP? A park I suppose?
Cheers,
Mark







/
He who shall not be able to make a trout fly, after studying these diagrams and directions, must be deficient either in brains or in manual dexterity. : Edward Fitzgibbon 1853

mrampant
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#11

Post by mrampant »

Thanks for taking the time and effort to post up your trip.
Living in the other end of the earth; where is UP? A park I suppose?
Cheers,
Mark







/
He who shall not be able to make a trout fly, after studying these diagrams and directions, must be deficient either in brains or in manual dexterity. : Edward Fitzgibbon 1853

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TimM
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#12

Post by TimM »

jhuskey wrote:
07/14/21 08:23
Beautiful post! I miss the quiet openness of the UP. With the relative dryness, how were the mosquitos and flies? 8)
In shaded / thick woods the mosquitos were pretty bad but not so bad as normal. I wore a net over my hat for a few hours in total. In the open they were almost a non factor; the flies were a non-factor as well.

I think the area is endemic for Lyme Disease (plus some other so I'm head to to in Permetherin treated pants, shirt and hat plus waders. I only found one dog/wood tick on my shirt cuff (found it after getting a strange feeling while brushing some grass) which I promptly crushed into a singularity with my forceps.

Any time I was out in tick-zone areas I came back and took a long shower with vigorous scrubbing.

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TimM
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#13

Post by TimM »

Bee wrote:
07/14/21 14:09
Great presentation. Having grouse hunted and fished a little in some of that north country just seeing that pictorial brings back many great memories. No wolf tracks?
After a long hike out to a 'new' fishing spot my eyes were full of sweat and I accidentally navigated to the wrong GPS waypoint. I navigated to a spot I had marked where a small creek runs into an forest opening and could be fished. (Instead of the spot where the creek joined a bigger creek)

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Nearby the spot above there was a coarse sand bar deposited during a flood that was crossed by several fairly recent wolf tracks. I was blind and annoyed (3/4 mile out of the way) so I didn't take any pictures but I wish I would have. I didn't see any animals on this trip but clopping through the woods in my waders I'm sure they would have buggered off well before I arrived. The little creek didn't have much for cover so I cleaned the sweat out of my eyes and headed for the bigger creek. The creek has more natural beauty than fish but there are a few sections I haven't fished that may be better.

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TimM
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#14

Post by TimM »

mrampant wrote:
07/14/21 18:21
Thanks for taking the time and effort to post up your trip.
Living in the other end of the earth; where is UP? A park I suppose?
Cheers,
Mark
The UP is short for Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Nearly all of the cities, industry and people in Michigan are in the Lower Peninsula (below the Mackinac Bridge). The Upper Peninsula has about 2/5th of the land mass but about 1/30th of the population.

Historically it there was a copper and iron mining industry but today there is a little mining left and some logging as well. People who live there are known as "Yoopers" and they have s a distinct culture. (People who live the Lower Peninsula, i.e. below the bridge, are known as "Trolls".)

There is a lot of public land and also a lot of privately owned forestry land that is open to public access. There are a lot of trout streams and ponds and if you like fishing in open water you have Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron as well. If you like to disappear into the wild it's a great place to be!

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GerardH
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#15

Post by GerardH »

Wow, great photos and journaling. I grew up in northern WI and I'm familiar with some of the areas you've chronicled, it was fun catching up with your previous installments.

Thank you for sharing!

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Greg Reynolds
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#16

Post by Greg Reynolds »

These are amazing Tim. You made my day... :)

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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#17

Post by billems »

I adore the U.P. I once spent two weeks fishing and camping up there. I met some friends that new the logging roads, and they could travel a goodly portion of it without hitting a highway. I visited places in the Ottawa National Forest, and Gogebic that I'd never heard of, yet were the most beautiful and natural settings I've ever seen. And, yes, that includes the West. Big trout aren't everything. There are few luxurious resorts or amenities up there to draw the Beautiful People, and the fish are relatively small to draw the globe trotters. And that's why it's relatively unscathed.

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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#18

Post by magpie »

The U.P. doesn't need anymore love. Crowds of tourists are loving it to death. Traffic jams, crowded sidewalks. plaid shorts are everyday events. The ability to work at home has brought lots of people and money up here. Real estate prices have skyrocketed and climate change escapees are fleeing north. Boosters and developers are amuck.

John Voelker in his wisdom, wished "The Bridge" would blow up. I just wish it was closed for good.

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TimM
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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#19

Post by TimM »

billems wrote:
07/20/21 10:19
I adore the U.P. I once spent two weeks fishing and camping up there. I met some friends that new the logging roads, and they could travel a goodly portion of it without hitting a highway. I visited places in the Ottawa National Forest, and Gogebic that I'd never heard of, yet were the most beautiful and natural settings I've ever seen. And, yes, that includes the West. Big trout aren't everything. There are few luxurious resorts or amenities up there to draw the Beautiful People, and the fish are relatively small to draw the globe trotters. And that's why it's relatively unscathed.
There are lots of great forest roads and back roads where you can drive for hours without seeing another vehicle. When I first took my wife up there she kept asking if I knew everybody because everybody was waving. I explained that we were probably the first people they had passed in the last 30 minutes. When we were kids we all packed in on the front pickup bench seat and made great sport of waving to all in perfect unison.

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In my younger (less tick concerned days) I'd often drive out for an evening fishing session and then sleep in the (open) back of my pickup truck bed to be onsite for some early morning fishing. I recall waking up one night to a cloudless and moonless sky with the stars so bright I had to squint. I sat there admiring the beauty until I had the realization the landscape looked like the first scene of an alien abduction movie. I've had a few bears wake me up but back then wolves were pretty rare. A few times I woke up to the Northern Lights and fell back asleep sitting up watching the show. (Someday I'll catch the Aurora with my 'good' camera.)

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If there were any close encounters of the Hollywood/Roswell variety the visitors were kind enough to blank my memory.

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Re: Prodigal fisherman returns - Part 5

#20

Post by scarlet>fire »

Looks like an amazing trip! Thank you for sharing it with us! Best, Chris

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