Northern Michigan TR
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I took my family up for our annual trip to see our in-laws up in Northern Michigan over the week before and after labor day this year. Had a really great time and got to experience a lot of different types of weather, scenery, fishing and beer.
We started off the trip at the family cottage on Lake Michigan and I had a good time enjoying the area, canoeing, and Short’s Beer. So dig my dog, River.
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The rains came heavy, so the only place to fish was below Tippy Dam on the Manistee. Fishing was tough, but I managed a few Chinook (king) Salmon in fresh from the Lake. It was a few days before labor day, but a good time to fish the river before the snagging crowds and while the fish were still active enough to legitimately hit a lure. Fishing was tough, real tough, and the air temps were above 90.
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The rains eventually passed, and I finally got to fish the river I wanted, the Betsie, after a nice sunset the night before.
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The Betsie is a cool river, pretty small, all naturally reproducing fish, and not a sign of another fisher aside from one other drift boat. No trash around a beautiful scenery. Air temp was 70 with a light breeze. The best day I have had up there fishing. The day after Labor day was very nice to avoid another traffic. The fish this day would slam a streamer placed in front of them if it looked annoying enough. A heck of a fight!
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I was pretty exhausted for the last fish I got to the boat, these fresh salmon were pretty energetic and fought for ever thing they had.
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To cap off our trip, we made a day trip to have lunch in the beautiful city of Charlevoix, saw a porcupine, and had an epic beach fire with my wife’s uncles.
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Can’t wait til next year!
Super awesome Mike! Are you burning a laundry hamper there? Did you eat any of those Kings? I’d be curious to know how the freshwater lake versions taste.
Zach
Good stuff Mike. I love Northern MI. Any sign of steelhead yet? I expect they’re still a couple weeks away.
Can’t wait till next year, what is wrong with multiple trips per year?
I am leaving on the 21st for a week. There is, as you well know, a reason some of us make three trips to Northern MI for each one to WY/MT.
Super awesome Mike! Are you burning a laundry hamper there? Did you eat any of those Kings? I’d be curious to know how the freshwater lake versions taste.
Zach
I kept the first two from the Manistee to feed the family with, we cooked it a few different ways – the best being marinated in a bit of low sodium soy sauce with some spices, covered in Peach Preserves and cooked over indirect heat over a charcoal grill. Not quite as good as Alaskan…. but not too shabby.
It was an old wicker basket laundry hamper – and it went up quick!
Tim – I hadn’t heard much about steelhead moving in yet, I think is was a few weeks early.
Roy – we usually go up twice a year or so, but a 950+ mile one way drive with baby is limiting me to one trip in 2013!
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