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Say "YA" to da U.P. ... eh? - June 2017 Edition :)

PostPosted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:48 am
by plant_one
Got the pleasure of spending a couple days up in beautiful Marquette, MI this weekend.

Per usual while I was up there, I planned some time to get some trout fishing in - hard to say no when you're surrounded by some of the best trout water in the Midwest :)

I ended up staying right next to a little tiny creek called Silver Creek in Harvey, MI - just on the southeast edge of town. Its a tributary of the Chocolay river and its about as clear as anything you'd see coming out of a bottle or your faucet.

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its so thick back there that you cant really cast, plus the creek was barely wider than my 7'9" fly rod in most spots so I was basically jigging for trout more than fly fishing. The prize of my morning came out from under the log in the pic above - feast your eyes on this beautiful brown!

not too shabby for "fly fishing" with only about 4' of leader out of the end eyelet on the rod ;D
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a late morning fog rolled in off lake superior so I decided to take a break from the water to have some lunch.
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afterward I wandered up to Presque Isle Park on the northern end of town by the upper ore docks. the bedrock foundations up there are like walking out on the moon!

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went for my afternoon fish down to the Escanaba river downstream in the tailwater fishery of Booney Falls area.

the mayfly hatch was full on, and I don't think I've quite ever seen so many fish rising on a stretch of the river as I have there. Its an amazing stretch of water, unusual for the UP as its more like fishing the big water of the Pere Marquette, Muskegon, or other large rivers in NW lower Michigan.

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its a unique fishery as its partly managed by the Escanaba river association which also grants public access to the river on the edge of their ground. The streambed is 100% bedrock, which was a new expierence for me, and they've done some dredging to help make the habitat better, as well as dropping in large boulders for underwater structure in the dredged areas to improve things even more. You can keep fish on this stretch of the river, but 14" minimum and only two per angler per day. I lost several more fish due to breakoff's - I had one that snapped my leader about as quick as he grabbed the fly it was so vicious! truly an exceptional trophy water fishery!

on top of the beautiful fish, I was graced with an absolutely postcard perfect sunset!
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I don't know if these panoramic shots will show up well or not, but here goes nothing

this is the river at sunset - its almost straight as an arrow here, so the "bend" is an optical illusion of the sweep panoramic shot.
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this is the point of Presque Isle park
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I do truly love being able to wander around Gods Country up there. Its out of this world!

Re: Say "YA" to da U.P. ... eh? - June 2017 Edition :)

PostPosted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 4:49 pm
by PRKL8R
That truly is some beautifull country you have there. Pictures are great.

Re: Say "YA" to da U.P. ... eh? - June 2017 Edition :)

PostPosted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 4:55 pm
by mossyoakscout
Beautiful, i love going to the UP, just don't get to do it when i want. Thanks for those postcard photos. I too live in Oakland county now, was born in West Branch, life sometimes gets in the way of living....

Re: Say "YA" to da U.P. ... eh? - June 2017 Edition :)

PostPosted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:47 pm
by plant_one
glad ya'll enjoy the pics.

the more of the UP I get to explore, the more I like it!

Re: Say "YA" to da U.P. ... eh? - June 2017 Edition :)

PostPosted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:05 pm
by Hoot
plant_one wrote:glad ya'll enjoy the pics.

the more of the UP I get to explore, the more I like it!


The view from the other end is just as beautiful as well. That's why after coming to MN on vacation for 2 weeks back in 1976, I returned to my native land (MD), got my affairs in order and a month later, came back to stay. Never grow tired of the "North Shore", though its about 3 hours drive from the area of the Twin Cities where I live. My wife and I agreed that if we could have found the same jobs up in Duluth, we would have moved there in a heartbeat. Better yet, Grand Marais. That town is flat out Mystical !

Hoot

Re: Say "YA" to da U.P. ... eh? - June 2017 Edition :)

PostPosted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:27 pm
by plant_one
we visited Grand Marias back in april when we went up steelhead fishing.... Sable falls was nothing short of amazing!

you're right though, that town is something special for sure!