# help me understand the Awk-ee-awk



## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

as in the Ocqueoc River

was in the area last week for work and will be again.

I heard the Ocqueoc is considered an "upside-down" trout stream in that it starts out too warm, from too many open swamps, etc., and only cools down enough for trout as it picks up several excellent cold-water tribs.

So at the Falls it is still too warm for Trout, I believe?

But then I have read something about a Weir on this river (I think reading the CO reports in one of the magazines). Where is the Weir?

And I have heard both that the mouth creates too much of a sand bar to reliably stock lake run Trout and Salmon, but also that it does get large lake run fish.

EDIT: that was old information, just looked at the DNR stocking database - it is regularly planted, at the mouth, and somewhere upstream, with Steelhead.

I only fish "stream" trout and just want to figure out how this stream works in that regard. And perhaps any other "upside-down" stream, I guess there are others, particularly in the north-east part of the LP.

Ironically, I was told the "Trout River" in that area doesn't actually hold Trout, due to this problem.


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## Lou is Blue (Sep 14, 2014)

Nice people in Rogers City area; but if you ask them about trout fishing they will pee in your ear, and tell you that it is raining.

Get a county map and be prepared to do some walking. Check everything that looks like running water.

As far as the Big O River; which I have not fished in several years, the weir is between O lake and the mouth. I've caught stream trout, but not many; by accident below the lake, and between the falls and the lake; but that is mostly seasonal steelhead water. Some nicer trout water closer to Miller time.


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## troutguy26 (Apr 28, 2011)

I fished the falls a couple weeks ago when I was passing by. Caught some decent sized smallies and that was it. Water was warm.


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

Thanks guys. It's not hard for me to figure out access, parking, walking, etc., but the idea of a stream that was too warm at the top was new to me.

So it sounds like below the falls, lake run fish will have access to most everything. The tribs all seem pretty good for stream trout and I'm looking forward to getting back there this week.


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## tuckersdad (Oct 30, 2010)

You are on the right track...and I won't pee in your ear...


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## bborow2501 (Nov 12, 2007)

Aformentioned tribs are tiny and mostly on private land.
The notable exception to access would be the pathway, and to the river itself... http://www.fishweb.com/maps/presqueisle/hike/ocqueoc_falls/ 
Really a banner fishery for the tiny stocked rainbows and smallmouth bass...
There is a reason I drive from there to do most of my trout fishing around tower, afton, and wolverine...


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

So I was back in the Rogers City area for the last week. Previously, I fished one of the tribs of the Ocqueoc and discovered a wonderful section of gravel and the channel running through timber; timber which kept the Alder thickness down enough to flip spinners or fish most any way you wanted. I caught one small Brookie and one very small Rainbow, up above the Brookies even where the water was really too small to fish, but on my way back out to the road.

Last Friday in the rain I hit that same trib again and hoped to find a lot more of the stream fishing I liked, but it was not to be. It was an excellent little trout stream with plenty of fish, but it flowed across a flat with an incised channel somewhat - that seemed to keep the timber just far enough away from the bank to make the Alder too thick to ever cast anything, or operate a rod and reel at all. It could be fished but you would have to do it more by drifting things from upstream, and I saw some nice fish this way. But as soon as the fish saw this huge yellow bird up in the sky, they would turn tail. I was wearing my knee length work raincoat which was quite nice with hip boots, but terrible for trying to fish downstream. I definitely learned that I want perhaps my first piece of RealTree clothing (I don't hunt) - a raincoat. It just wasn't the day for kneeling in cover to hide from the Brookies.

Finally I reached the higher section I had fished before and I was back to catching Brookies, like this one:










Unfortunately the perfect little stretch I found the first time is probably only 1/8 of a mile long, and the rest of the way down to the Ocqueoc is thick, thick, cover.

I might try and get that one again this fall when I will be back in the area. I was pretty surprised where I caught it - the closest single point to public access.

On Monday night I explored another trib, but when I got to my walk-in point I took a pass - looked like it would be another very thick Alder experience, and there was only 60 minutes of daylight left. So I went back to the easier access and tried fishing downstream in the heavy cover. It was so thick I even snagged the drawstring of the hoodie I was wearing. But I tried a different tactic, jigging nearly cane-pole style really, over a log jam. And was rewarded immediately with another nice 9" Brook, that I also hope will be there this Fall for me. I caught a few more and figured I could get a nice Brook Trout dinner out of the stream if I had several hours to fish it, but it would be some work, that is for sure.


Another night I wanted to take advantage of the fog coming off Lake Huron to fish without Mosquitoes in the air, so I hit up our favorite fish's namesake River right there in town (a Type 3 stream). That was fun too - caught three 8-9" Rainbow in the first 15 minutes. Not keeper size but a fun fish to catch in the fast water. I also discovered that I really like a new bait (to me) - tube jigs.

As soon as I tried some of the flat water though, I caught OK Smallmouth instead, but that's not really my thing.

This afternoon I hit up that stretch in town once more, mostly in hopes just to wade out and retrieve some hardware left in the shrubs the first night, when I only had my knee high rubber boots from work with me. I was figuring where there were nearly legal Rainbow, maybe there would be a few larger cousins. But instead I caught endless amounts of small Rainbows out of those riffles. It was fun for an hour and some, but probably not an experience I would repeat.


While figuring out these tribs, I definitely learned a lot about the origins of good trout water (ground water), topography, and timber types. I am really looking forward to seeing some topos of the places I fished, and it informed a thread I will start soon about how I like to fish "uphill" and how I want to improve my ability to identify those before I walk through the woods to them...


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## Paint man (Apr 1, 2014)

Nice report. Reminds me of the types of streams we have around here (Rochester), although ours are usually much less productive lol.


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## troutguy26 (Apr 28, 2011)

Cool report. Sounds like you had fun!


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

I know it's taboo to mention stream names, and I don't know which unnamed trib you fished, but when I was growing up we had a cottage on Long Lake near Alpena and my dad was a stream trout fisherman. So he taught us boys to trout fish on many of those tiny streams in that area. We used to call it "creek crawling" :lol: Anyway, we had our best success in one that was quite shiny  Nothing huge, but lots of fish. As for the big O, nah, really was never worth it for a stream trout lover.


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## concentroutin (Jan 7, 2014)

Loved the report and great photo, thanks for sharing. There are definitely some good smaller trout waters in the northeast lower. Just have to find them, avoid accidental trespassing and have at them. Personally, I prefer the smaller streams. The Au Sable is great and deserves all the praise and attention it gets, it's (for the most part) just not for me.


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## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

Fished there many times but never really liked fishing there. Your time will be better spent fishing rivers a few more miles to the west.


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

Well I was able to stop by the Rogers City area just before mid-September; I wanted to see for myself how the streams I fished in June would fare over the summer. It was just as reported - some of my June fishing spots were too dried-up to fish at all. Where I did get a line wet I still caught a Brook Trout, but it wasn't easy in quite shallow water. I suspected they mostly probably take refuge around the last spring above the warm water of the main stem. These spots would probably be some fun the first several weeks of the season, but really not a destination fishery at all, for Trout at least. I might work there in the Spring though, so I'm glad I checked it all out when I could.


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