# Advice needed for quick trip next week



## mcfish (Jan 24, 2010)

I’ve got an unexpected 4 day window to shoot up and fish the eastern/middle UP and was hoping to get some intel. 

Should I explore the Lake Superior river mouths for brookies and maybe an occasional steelhead?

Or should I go to Baraga County and hit some spots I know for brook trout? 

Bugs are certainly part of the decision making. Have they hit the clouds stage yet? Flies or mosquitoes or both?

I would very much appreciate any help I can get. I’ll be heading out Sunday morning until the middle of next week. PM’s are appreciated too

Thanks for reading


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## yooperkenny (Jul 13, 2004)

Black flies have been around for a while, but now after the recent rain the mosquitoes are pretty horrendous. The good news is that the fire danger is now Low.

I can't recommend either of your river options over the other, but to me they both seem worth trying. I did have some luck with browns recently in an Escanaba River branch. Mostly I troll out of Marquette, where I know the water has warmed and some fish have moved out deeper. The recent rain may have changed that dynamic as well. 

Remember, the best time to go fishing is when you can get away!


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## buckhunter14 (Oct 10, 2007)

Was in the central UP all last week and black flies were awful. After some rain/warm nights, mosquitos were also unbearable dawn/dusk, but fortunately the repellents can somewhat keep them at bay. The black flies.... different story!

I managed some browns and brooke trout, but water levels were extremely low.


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

Friends in Baraga say you will be breathing black flies as soon as you step outside. They said they are worse than normal right now and that's bad.


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## Lightfoot (Feb 18, 2018)

I was out in my food plots yesterday evening for a couple of hours and the black flies and skeeters were pretty bad. I wear a bug suit, seldom use spray, and the bugs finally chased me back in the house just before dark. I goofed and forgot my gloves. I wouldn't even think about going out with just spray.

bugshirt.com


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## U of M Fan (May 8, 2005)

When do the black flys settle down a little?


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

In July or when the rain quits. They need a fresh rain to hatch.


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

Am hoping some frost comes along the next few nights and knocks em down a bit.


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## mcfish (Jan 24, 2010)

Many thanks for the replies. I normally am UP at the end of July and the bugs are tolerable. I haven’t dealt with bad bugs in a few years. 

It sounds like we need a bunch of options. 

I’ll give a report when we get back.


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## sourdough44 (Mar 2, 2008)

I think right now it takes a very high tolerance to be on a trout stream in the U.P.. I’m not big into headnets, but may be a help. That, long sleeves, & bug dope would help.

On the bright side, it reduces competition from others.


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

Don't forget the ticks they should be well and hungry.


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## Superior Outfitter (Feb 19, 2018)

mcfish said:


> I’ve got an unexpected 4 day window to shoot up and fish the eastern/middle UP and was hoping to get some intel.
> 
> Should I explore the Lake Superior river mouths for brookies and maybe an occasional steelhead?
> 
> ...


The central U.P. is fishing pretty well for trout and most of the streams have good water levels and temps. A few streams are too high to wade at the moment. Skeeters are getting bad, but the black flies haven't been a problem yet. Shoot us a PM if you need some specifics or call the shop. Good luck!


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## Zeboy (Oct 4, 2002)

Took some nice fish this weekend in the Central UP. Head nets were a must.
















Sent from my SM-G935V using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

Saw my first Dragonflies today. Hooray!

But also my first DeerFly. Boo!


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## mcfish (Jan 24, 2010)

My Baraga spots are low on water. We hit some other good looking spots but haven’t hit anything good. 

Headed west in the morning to some more spots. 

Mosquitoes are tolerable and have only found three ticks. 

Had a suicidal deer on 41 get hit by the oncoming truck and we got hit by shrapnel. Too close


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## U of M Fan (May 8, 2005)

mcfish said:


> My Baraga spots are low on water. We hit some other good looking spots but haven’t hit anything good.
> 
> Headed west in the morning to some more spots.
> 
> ...


Good luck


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## tito (Apr 27, 2012)

mcfish said:


> My Baraga spots are low on water. We hit some other good looking spots but haven’t hit anything good.
> 
> Headed west in the morning to some more spots.
> 
> ...



Interesting different areas different conditions. East end the small trouter lakes are as high as I can remember in the last 15 years. Roads very dry and staring to washboard up low spots are black dried up mud. Last week the weather was as hot as it gets for 3 days 3/4 inch rain one day got sucked up like nothing.

Very early and thick for non biting head swarming bugs. No black flies or stable flies. Early mid day skeeters kinda think water edge. Coming off at 6:30 as thick as they get at peak season. Skeeters would say most years are 2 weeks early


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## mcfish (Jan 24, 2010)

We headed west an hour to Ontonagon yesterday morning. Got a five minute show from a bull moose on 41 on the way out of Baraga. 

We wanted a break from the tag alders so we rented a canoe in Gogebic county and did real good on bass. Every light spot near shore held fish. They weren’t beat up so I’d say they were just starting. 

We cooked supper overlooking Bond Falls Flowage which was as beautiful as I’d remembered. 

We ended up catching some nice brookies after we got our motel set up. There is plenty of water in the creeks over here. 

The mosquitoes were bad, but bug dope held them off decent. The flies were out on the lake but they weren’t so bad we couldn’t enjoy ourselves. 

Back to busting brush this morning.


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## mcfish (Jan 24, 2010)

Started early yesterday morning on my west end trout spots. I hadn’t been to these spots in many moons. The access was a little bit easier than I remembered, but the brookies were there. 

We caught a dozen or so and lost a lot more. We kept 3 that were hooked badly and their bellies were full of bugs. 

The mosquitoes would swarm around the truck when I’d park, but as soon as you hit the woods and making tracks they were no problem. I had a heavy cotton long sleeve button up shirt that was pretreated with tick spray and a shot of Repel. That with a bug hat worked great at keeping the bugs at bay. Most of the time wading I was able to lift the bug net up on my hat without any problem. 

We ended up getting just a few ticks on us. Not bad at all considering we were busting brush most of the time. 

It was good to see that atv’s are pumping some money into the economy in the UP. I think that a side by side rigged for fishing rods and gear would be awesome for getting to some of my out of the ways brook trout spots. 

It was sad to see that my old watering hole was gone. Jarvi’s bar was my hang out many years ago. 

The biggest takeaway from this trip was how wild and rugged Baraga county is. Our spots were low on water so we went bushwhacking and were blown away by scenery. 

Don’t let the bugs keep you from enjoying the UP. Plan ahead and be prepared and get out there.


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

I am working in a swamp in Chippewa County right now. I have seen worse hatches than this years. In timbered wetlands, bugs aren’t usually quite as bad as they are where there are large expanses of herbaceous wetlands. Also sandy areas have lower bug densities than areas with heavier soils as sand supports less overall vegetation. But sand terrain is a smaller fraction of the U.P. than the northern Lower. 


I am always bummed that I never got to visit Jarvi’s Bar, though I have driven by it many times in the last 7 years. The State should really get things together and replace the Brown Trout right there, should be a fantastic system for lunkers with the lake at the bottom of the little system that is too warm for Brookies anyway. I hope the South Branch bar is hanging on but I expect so. 


At least a week to go till I can get a line wet. Thanks for the motivation.


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## dinoday (Feb 22, 2004)

I'm going to be in the Marquette area later this week and will fish a couple of the bigger rivers in the area.
Anyone know how high (or low) the water is around there?


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## Superior Outfitter (Feb 19, 2018)

dinoday said:


> I'm going to be in the Marquette area later this week and will fish a couple of the bigger rivers in the area.
> Anyone know how high (or low) the water is around there?


Overall the water levels are just a little higher than normal, but very fish able.


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## Bigdawg99or1 (Aug 5, 2021)

Lightfoot said:


> I was out in my food plots yesterday evening for a couple of hours and the black flies and skeeters were pretty bad. I wear a bug suit, seldom use spray, and the bugs finally chased me back in the house just before dark. I goofed and forgot my gloves. I wouldn't even think about going out with just spray.
> 
> bugshirt.com


Eh Lightfoot are you a Yooper???? Cause you sound like a Troll the way you're talking in this post LMAO!!!! I always use just spray, but it has to be the good stuff 99.99% Deet or it ain't gonna do **** lol!!!!


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## Lightfoot (Feb 18, 2018)

I'm not a troll, I came through Wisconsin.  

I shy away from DEET and other bug sprays when possible. Covering myself with stuff that melts plastic, nah I'm good.

welcome to the forum btw


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