# PICTURED ROCKS AREAS STREAMS 5/10- 5/13



## PERCHGILL (Feb 19, 2012)

Spent a little time, in search of brook trout, dunking night crawlers in a few small trout streams & creeks in the P.R. area. The water was very high & fast. The water level, however, was going down each day. With temperatures around high 30's to low 60's, I saw that some hatches were occurring in the afternoons, (black stoneflies, some type of small mayfly, & a tiny fly that was about the size of a fruit fly.....excuse the lack of knowledge on these insects). With the high & fast water, it was difficult locating any stretches to drift a worm for any distance over five yards, so we stuck to the little pockets & slow moving eddies. The water temperature was around 42 degrees. With three of us fishing, we each managed to catch (& release), only about one brookie for each hour actually fished. The ones we caught were small (less than 5"), & very dark colored. We also dunked spawn sacks in search of steelhead, with no luck, (one hit, but broke the line). There were many who set up their "steelhead camps" (campers, trailers, four wheelers, etc), along one of the rivers, in the prime spots. I didn't see any of these campers, so I have no idea how their luck was. Fished a pier in Lake Superior in the evenings, in search of whitefish, using a single egg on a small hook, fished on the bottom. Neither we nor the locals were having much luck. One in my group did, however, manage to land a 20" coho, casting an orange jig with a chartreuse tail. Saw a sow with two cubs, deer, woodcock, partridge, sandhill cranes, kingfishers & loons. That's about all I have to report for now.


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## Sportsman In The Wild (Aug 18, 2009)

Sounds like a good fishing trip for the high water and cold temps that you had to deal with. Thanks for sharing!!


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

Awesome report and sounds like fun. The UP trout fishing can be pretty slow until the waters warm up a bit and their metabolism kicks in.


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## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

A sad fact of trout fishing the UP in the Springtime is if the mosquitoes haven't woken up yet, then neither have the Brookies. YMMV.

Thanks for the report.


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## ottertrapper (Jan 6, 2006)

Skeeters aren’t out yet but big Brookies have been lately. No bugs to speak of yet


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## PERCHGILL (Feb 19, 2012)

Thanks for the replies. Perhaps next year I'll schedule my U.P. streams/brookie trip a little latter in the spring, maybe around the 2nd week of June. I'll put up with the skeeters if it means more active fish.


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

In mid June bring an extra pint or two of blood so you don't run dry.


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## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

Martin Looker said:


> In mid June bring an extra pint or two of blood so you don't run dry.


LP mugger: Give me your wallet!

UP mugger: Hand over your* headnet!*


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## zzcop302 (Jun 29, 2013)

Martin Looker said:


> In mid June bring an extra pint or two of blood so you don't run dry.


And bring an extra gallon of OFF and a yard sprayer to apply it with.


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## PERCHGILL (Feb 19, 2012)

Yes, I can see that by md-June, the skeeters will be out in force. Just trying to find that magical period in time, (if it even exists), when the skeeters have not come out in force yet, but the brookies' metabolism has kicked into gear. My job requires me to plan my vacations a year in advance, so it's just a guessing game for me as to picking a week to pursue these U.P. brookies, prior to the skeeter, deer fly, etc., invasion. Maybe I should switch tactics and pursue coho, steelhead, whatever's out there, at the river mouths, running into Lake Superior, where the bugs cannot fight the wind. Whether I plan my vacation(s) correctly or not, I'd rather fight skeeters while dunking worms in the thick alder banks of a U.P. stream, than sit on my patio, watching broken up pallets burn in my fire pit, reading "Trout Madness" for the millionth time, in perfect whether, in southeast Michigan. Every visit to the U.P. is a unique, enriching experience.


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## BillBuster (Apr 25, 2005)

PERCHGILL said:


> Yes, I can see that by md-June, the skeeters will be out in force. Just trying to find that magical period in time, (if it even exists), when the skeeters have not come out in force yet, but the brookies' metabolism has kicked into gear. My job requires me to plan my vacations a year in advance, so it's just a guessing game for me as to picking a week to pursue these U.P. brookies, prior to the skeeter, deer fly, etc., invasion. Maybe I should switch tactics and pursue coho, steelhead, whatever's out there, at the river mouths, running into Lake Superior, where the bugs cannot fight the wind. Whether I plan my vacation(s) correctly or not, I'd rather fight skeeters while dunking worms in the thick alder banks of a U.P. stream, than sit on my patio, watching broken up pallets burn in my fire pit, reading "Trout Madness" for the millionth time, in perfect whether, in southeast Michigan. Every visit to the U.P. is a unique, enriching experience.


I like your attitude!


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

Brookies are way better than coho or steelhead. I like the Keweenaw for Brook trout but the best fishing is right during prime bug season. So it's the price we pay for having fun.


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## Benzie Rover (Mar 17, 2008)

PERCHGILL said:


> Yes, I can see that by md-June, the skeeters will be out in force. Just trying to find that magical period in time, (if it even exists), when the skeeters have not come out in force yet, but the brookies' metabolism has kicked into gear. My job requires me to plan my vacations a year in advance, so it's just a guessing game for me as to picking a week to pursue these U.P. brookies, prior to the skeeter, deer fly, etc., invasion. Maybe I should switch tactics and pursue coho, steelhead, whatever's out there, at the river mouths, running into Lake Superior, where the bugs cannot fight the wind. Whether I plan my vacation(s) correctly or not, I'd rather fight skeeters while dunking worms in the thick alder banks of a U.P. stream, than sit on my patio, watching broken up pallets burn in my fire pit, reading "Trout Madness" for the millionth time, in perfect whether, in southeast Michigan. Every visit to the U.P. is a unique, enriching experience.


You should try in August. Better fishing, way less bugs.


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

Benzie Rover said:


> You should try in August. Better fishing, way less bugs.


The later half of the month the spawning colors start to show too.


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## Big Medicine (Oct 31, 2002)

I've had some of my best fishing in August


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## PERCHGILL (Feb 19, 2012)

Thanks again for the responses! Will definitely be looking into changing my U.P. brookie trip from spring to August. Spring is busy enough without throwing in a trip across the bridge, (turkey hunting, crappies, outdoor spring clean-up). As a matter of fact, I think I have some vacation time this coming August. Hmmmmmm!


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## Forest Meister (Mar 7, 2010)

A pretty good rule of thumb for many streams UP here: Size in spring, numbers in summer. FM


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