Last July, my father in law took my wife and I to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I had a great trip, but felt like I got teased by all the awesome looking freshwater lakes and streams that I saw. As I drove home last July, my plan was hatched to return the following year - alone and with canoe in tow. I spent lots of time researching this trip and working out all the details. As the trip drew closer I started catching more grief from my wife about it, but I already had lots of it planned and paid for, I was going no matter what. My main goal was to catch Northern Pike. I like to throw spinning tackle as well as the fly. My angling time was spent right about 50/50 between the two. In all honesty, my big baitcast Musky set up is one of my favorite rods to throw. I am glad to have landed more fish with it through this trip. I threw most of the flies I tied for the trip and a bunch of flies that I swapped for over the last year. I mainly tossed a silver Johnson spoon with a grub of the back with my Musky rod. Success was had, fish were landed. The lake I camped on turned out to be a nice Smallmouth spot and I explored the region looking for Pike and Musky waters.
Traffic leaving Nashville
Stopped about half way at my father in law's in central Illinois. He greeted me with rib-eyes and cold beer. Also, filled me up with steak and eggs the next morning before driving the second half of the haul. Sweet breakfast!
The sign I have been waiting for. Only about 20 more miles down a Forest Service road to go!
2 days northbound
It stays light till about 10:30 every night this time of year. I put on about 9:30 the first night. Figured I would try a big popper since it was getting dark. This is a super cool fly I got in a swap fro a guy in MI. He calls it the Cat in the Hat. I was looking for Pike but landed a chunky Smallie and missed a really big one. Great start to the fishing!
The next day I meet up with a local who I met through another forum and we headed out to a lake he liked to fish that I had wanted to try. It was a good 2 hour drive from my campsite with the last couple miles down and REALLY rough dirt road (I need a 4WD bad!). This road was all washed out and had some huge mud holes which required careful maneuvering around. It was the kind of place that makes you think, "well we got here, let's have some fun, but remember we still have to get back out at the end of the day."
I started out casting the spoon. I landed a Pike within about 15 minutes. Sweet, a new species to my list!
I landed one more with the spoon and decided to switch to the fly. I was committed to fish this rod until I landed one on the fly. A chartreuse and white half and half turned out to work. This fish put up a great fight on my 8 weight. Sweet, a new species to my fly list!
This fish has a huge fly in its mouth, you can barely make out the end of the tail.
This lake was very full and had many trees growing up in the water. We found fish around the brush and out to water about 15 feet deep.
My buddy is not a fly angler. He threw a gold/orange spoon all day and had great results. He landed two really nice Smallies and a bunch of Pike. His largest Pike went about 35", but of course, this big fish got loose before a picture could be taken. These Northerns are violent fish once hooked. They put up a great fight and do not like to stay still boat-side. They made me realize how a Musky might feel. (if I can ever land one...)
We started heading back to the put-in. I missed a huge Pike right at the boat. This giant came out of the depths to inhale my lure but it missed. I kept reeling and it came back again. Its' gills flared and it nailed the spoon. I set the hook like Bill Dance and jerked the lure out of its' mouth. AHHH! There goes the Big One!
A few minutes later, I landed another good fish. It would turn out to be my last of the day.
On the way home, we drove through a cool metal sculpture park called Lakenenland. There were tons of super cool pieces. I took a bunch of photos, but this one was most applicable to a fishing site. Pretty funny. If you are ever in Marquette, MI, I would highly suggest checking it out. www.lakenenland.com
The next day, I decided to stay home and fish the lake that I was camping on for Smallies. I put on a fly that I use here in middle TN for Smallies. I figured I'd give these MI fish some southern cuisine. It worked like a champ, never took it off.
This shoreline produced well. Luckily it wasn't a bad paddle from my campsite.
The following day, I headed east and fished a river which supposedly held Muskies. I spotted one nice Musky swimming on the surface. I did land one nice Pike. Floated about 6 miles of river, it was very slow moving almost lake-like. It was a big day on the water.
It turned out to be the last toothy critter I would land for the trip.
I fished a couple other lakes but did not land any more noteworthy fish. I did see one very colorful, big Musky in the shallows of a nearby lake. I spooked it before I could get a good cast. Oh well, at least I saw two while Musky hunting in the UP.
After fishing for 5 days, my wife and father in law arrived and we spent the next week in a cabin on Lake Superior. I got out and fished a bit more, but we mainly did tourist activities, ate, and drank good beers that we can't buy back home.
One day we checked out the springs at Kitchi-Ti-Kipi. These are all 5 to 15 pound Lake Trout. I wanted to cast a line so bad, but they do not allow fishing in the spring. I know these fish would have slammed a fly without a second thought!
Checked out the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Pretty amazing place to go swimming.
I never tire of watching the sunset.
Can't wait to get back up there next summer. Fishing is such a great way to explore the country. Thanks for checking out my post. I hope you enjoyed my report.
Topic: Cooler Temps and Pike Waters (Read 5492 times)