# Cooks Runs



## Ray Adams (Feb 17, 2006)

Hey Guys,

I’m doing a little research on Cooks Run and wondered if anyone has any insight regarding the history... Any know why they call it Cooks Run?

Thanks,

Ray


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

Nope , lived near it, fished it and hunted near it. Never gave it a thought.


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## Teggs (Mar 20, 2013)

The guy who discovered it over 100 years ago named the river system after his hobbies. You got the Net, Paint, and Cook.


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## Ray Adams (Feb 17, 2006)

Teggs said:


> The guy who discovered it over 100 years ago named the river system after his hobbies. You got the Net, Paint, and Cook.


Know who that was?


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## Teggs (Mar 20, 2013)

I am just messing around. I have a camp there but I dont know why its nammed cooks run.


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## zig (Aug 5, 2009)

I've been there many times. Not much to say about it. I can say it's a very stagnant, warm river, especially for the UP. I was pretty disappointed when I saw it for the first time. Lots of creek chubs, with the occasional small mouth and northern. Maybe a brown here and there at the start of the season, but few and far between. But not long into the season you can't even seem to present anything before the chubs snag it. As for the history, don't know much about the history.


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## Ray Adams (Feb 17, 2006)

Teggs said:


> I am just messing around. I have a camp there but I dont know why its nammed cooks run.


Hahahaha. Ok.


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## Ray Adams (Feb 17, 2006)

zig said:


> I've been there many times. Not much to say about it. I can say it's a very stagnant, warm river, especially for the UP. I was pretty disappointed when I saw it for the first time. Lots of creek chubs, with the occasional small mouth and northern. Maybe a brown here and there at the start of the season, but few and far between. But not long into the season you can't even seem to present anything before the chubs snag it. As for the history, don't know much about the history.


Alright. Thanks.


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## troutguy26 (Apr 28, 2011)

Ive spent alot of time on the run but dont know why its named that. Wish my gramps was still around He might know, or if granny didnt have dementia. My family originates from that area dating back to the 1800s. Beautiful area especially the meadows...


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## WILDCATWICK (Mar 11, 2002)

Ive fished Cooks Run hundreds of times in many different sections of it. My experiences have been completely opposite of Zigs. Have you contacted the hatchery? They may have some answers for you. 


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## hawgeye (Mar 3, 2011)

I need to get up there! I fished the paint and cooks run with my Grandpa, RIP, My favorite was Golden Creek, we pulled some nice trout out of the tiny Creek. I will ask my uncle about the name next time I'm up there.

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## troutguy26 (Apr 28, 2011)

hawgeye said:


> I need to get up there! I fished the paint and cooks run with my Grandpa, RIP, My favorite was Golden Creek, we pulled some nice trout out of the tiny Creek. I will ask my uncle about the name next time I'm up there.
> 
> Sent from my XT1710-02 using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


I'll be there in Sept for those beautiful colored fish. Can't wait...


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

You could probably spend a lifetime fishing the trout waters of the western U.P. and never get bored. There is a wide variety of terrain conditions to fish. 

It seems like when we talk about trout on here, there are pessimists and optimists. I am decidedly an optimist, because of what we have here in Michigan, especially out in the west end. The best thing for MI trout would be more trout fishermen. If you think trout need special help to survive, that help will only come from fishermen.

The west U.P. sits with bedrock right up to the surface. Some of the oldest exposed surface rock in the world, it is said. Some places, now that the forests are all now nicely stabilized and professionally managed, it feels like erosion might even roll backwards (deposition), though it doesn't. Always seems to me like the occasional patch of acidic forest cover type is perfectly balanced by all the rock everywhere. Unlike some other rocky trout areas I have fished, where the forest cover is predominantly "sweet" (Northern Hardwoods).

So you often fish by standing directly on the crust of Planet Earth.But because of that, there can be some shallow flat stretches, possibly even still missing their fringe of Alder, or are quite widened while passing over a pocket of flat rock topography. These are ideal for fly fishing, but at points can just not have any pool of any kind deep enough to hold a trout. And of course the given streams warm up some running through these -- but not too much, as downstream of any such stretch in the west U.P. there will usually be plenty of trout where holes appear once again. Even the flats can occasionally be channelized down some by all the rock that they deepen enough for our favorite fish.

I can also guarantee that within about 5 miles of any bad luck stretch of water there is a totally different stretch of water with loads of trout. And there are many types to water to pick from - anything from Alder jungles to trout lakes.

The namesake for this thread has been only so-so for me, though not fish-less by any means. A big TU project on it some ten? years ago makes it basically well-known (also a former "Blue Ribbon" stretch) and fished from a convenient access. There are still several pieces of it for me to explore.


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

One of my friends fly fishes all the stream and rivers near the Iron River area. The guy has unreal amount of knowledge on those rivers. He keeps a fish log and it's Chuck full of info. He probably could write a book on that area but doesn't like crowds.


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## Jmohunts (Mar 3, 2013)

Most people are like this, lol









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## zig (Aug 5, 2009)

WILDCATWICK said:


> Ive fished Cooks Run hundreds of times in many different sections of it. My experiences have been completely opposite of Zigs. Have you contacted the hatchery? They may have some answers for you.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


I was lying.... It was a sarcastic attempt at diverting the thread without being one of "those guys" that gets miffed about talking about such systems.... Didn't work. Oh well. I PM'd Ray with what I know of the history and why it ended up being the way it is....


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## zig (Aug 5, 2009)

B.Jarvinen said:


> The west U.P. sits with bedrock right up to the surface. Some of the oldest exposed surface rock in the world, it is said. Some places, now that the forests are all now nicely stabilized and professionally managed, it feels like erosion might even roll backwards (deposition), though it doesn't. Always seems to me like the occasional patch of acidic forest cover type is perfectly balanced by all the rock everywhere. Unlike some other rocky trout areas I have fished, where the forest cover is predominantly "sweet" (Northern Hardwoods).
> 
> So you often fish by standing directly on the crust of Planet Earth.But because of that, there can be some shallow flat stretches, possibly even still missing their fringe of Alder, or are quite widened while passing over a pocket of flat rock topography. These are ideal for fly fishing, but at points can just not have any pool of any kind deep enough to hold a trout. And of course the given streams warm up some running through these -- but not too much, as downstream of any such stretch in the west U.P. there will usually be plenty of trout where holes appear once again. Even the flats can occasionally be channelized down some by all the rock that they deepen enough for our favorite fish.


There is one stream in that are, cannot remember the name, that I came by one year. I swear that thing was 100% bedrock. It wasn't a real trout destination by any means, but I have never seen so many crayfish in my life. There were so many that catching them by hand was not difficult and with nets it almost felt too easy. They were literally everywhere, sometimes 10-20 in sight right in front of you. It was a pretty cool.


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## slabstar (Feb 25, 2009)

Two pages about an unmentionable huh


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## Teggs (Mar 20, 2013)

Nobody ever reads forum rules before posting. Moderators dont even care anymore. I have PM’d them several times about plenty of different topics. They always say the same thing. “I dont see anything wrong with it”


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## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

If a thread or a post is out of line or goes against the rules, use the !Report button in the lower left hand corner.

Let the mods deal with it. Most stuff will slip by unless reported.

As, for this thread, I'm not too bothered by it. But I do agree that it would be deemed unmentionable.

But, then again, there are many responses from members who know the rules. So if people are posting responses, they're willing to discuss it... 'nuff said. 

BTW I've read in books that it's a pretty good stream for Gar, Catfish, Carp and Bowfin...


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## slabstar (Feb 25, 2009)

PunyTrout said:


> If a thread or a post is out of line or goes against the rules, use the !Report button in the lower left hand corner.
> 
> Let the mods deal with it. Most stuff will slip by unless reported.
> 
> ...


Punytrout pandering to illegal threads!! 
I've reported unmentionables AD NASEUM the mods dont do their job. 
Maybe I'll pimp one of the streams you post about.... see what happens.... lol


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## zig (Aug 5, 2009)

slabstar said:


> Punytrout pandering to illegal threads!!
> I've reported unmentionables AD NASEUM the mods dont do their job.
> Maybe I'll pimp one of the streams you post about.... see what happens.... lol


I wonder if it's because it's the UP? Me thinks if this was say, a certain river named after a certain color, not at all "White," in the NLP, it would not have made it an hour.... :evilsmile


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

zig said:


> I wonder if it's because it's the UP? Me thinks if this was say, a certain river named after a certain color, not at all "White," in the NLP, it would not have made it an hour.... :evilsmile


The Black is overrated anyway.


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

slabstar said:


> Punytrout pandering to illegal threads!!
> I've reported unmentionables AD NASEUM the mods dont do their job.
> Maybe I'll pimp one of the streams you post about.... see what happens.... lol


Is it a misdemeanor, felony or just a civil infraction?


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

3 Black Rivers in Michigan, too

The DNR pimps every Trout stream they can think of, in print and online. They want people to fish for Trout.

https://www.midnr.com/Publications/pdfs/arcgisonline/storymaps/fish_trouttrails/shortlist/index.html


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

B.Jarvinen said:


> 3 Black Rivers in Michigan, too
> 
> The DNR pimps every Trout stream they can think of, in print and online. They want people to fish for Trout.
> 
> https://www.midnr.com/Publications/pdfs/arcgisonline/storymaps/fish_trouttrails/shortlist/index.html


I think the trout fisheries, overall, are under utilized. Of course there are certain streams and watersheds that probably don't need the attention. Of course, most of us guys that chase them are pretty secretive about the honey holes. I didn't see another trout angler after the first month of the season last year. The information the DNR gives is a good start to people that want to get started and need a bit of direction, imo.

Looking at that map I don't see any of my personal favorite sections of trout paradise, so I'm okay with it .


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## zig (Aug 5, 2009)

Trout King said:


> The Black is overrated anyway.


Unless you use worms.


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

zig said:


> Unless you use worms.


I only say it is overrated because I have fished it a few times and with all the lore around it I can think of at least a ten brookie streams in the Lower Peninsula that are better from my experiences. Maybe it's just me?


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

Very few people fish the Alder canyons I fish, that I can tell you. And several of them are on the Trout Trails webpage.


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## zig (Aug 5, 2009)

Trout King said:


> I only say it is overrated because I have fished it a few times and with all the lore around it I can think of at least a ten brookie streams in the Lower Peninsula that are better from my experiences. Maybe it's just me?


Honestly, I've only fished it a few times as well. I would tend to agree, overrated, all in all. However, I have pulled a couple out of there that were big. Not just nice, but big.


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## CrickNotCreek (Jun 15, 2016)

zig said:


> Honestly, I've only fished it a few times as well. I would tend to agree, overrated, all in all. However, I have pulled a couple out of there that were big. Not just nice, but big.


Personally, I've found those fish few and far between, though relative to other streams in the LP. Maybe that speaks to my angling skills  

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## Jmohunts (Mar 3, 2013)

I dont know where Cooks Run got it's name and all the old timers I could ask are all gone. As far as fishing goes, there are much better streams in the area. I'm from Iron County and remember my Dad getting some beautiful trout out of lower part above where it dumps into Paint.-- Oh Ya it was 35+ years ago. Lol

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## troutguy26 (Apr 28, 2011)

Yes its unmentionable but this is how I look at it... Its off a way from any towns and most wont travel there. And the locals sure could use some tourist money if someone does happen to want to travel to it... Its sad to see in the last 30 years of my life how things have changed... Slap my wrist if ya must...


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