# Cool things found in the water?



## StormyChromer (Jul 20, 2016)

Chasenabby started a neat thread about “Cool things found in the woods”.
Thought it would be interesting to hear/see the “Cool things found in the water”.
Figure there’s got to be some crazy stuff pulled up over the years (car door, rusted pistol, cement block w/ boots etc…)

Found this over the summer. I snagged my favorite spinner on the lake bottom. Great time to break in the new magnet I bought.
4 FT log boom chain came up (spinner too). It has the initials of the logging company stamped on top. The mill burned down into the lake in the early 1900’s.
Planning to donate it to the towns Historical Museum next time I’m back in town.


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## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

Can't think of anything offhand maybe later, but that is pretty cool right there.


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

http://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludin...cle_2aff64b8-9904-5f14-a44f-a5082c1a5b2a.html


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## Trophy Specialist (Nov 30, 2001)

About the same kind of stuff in the other thread, human remains and a bunch of other items.


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

Bunch of fishing stuff on the big river. Camera, wallet , in the pine river. I did see a boat motor on the bottom of the river under highbridge a few years ago. Sure would of liked to found the fishing rods and other stuff that a pretty well known guy lost on the big river when the boat went under. But never did. And yes I would of returned them.


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## michiganmaniac (Dec 9, 2008)

Well I have found plenty of turks ticklers in the big man!

Not a found item but a lost item, my brother mounted a gopro on my driftboat but it was too cold out for the mount to stick and it fell into the PM.


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## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

@Big Medicine found a pretty cool double axe head in the riverbed we were fishing that looked like it was from the old logging days. Maybe he will post a picture of it here.


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## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

Long story short. Snagged seagull brown fishing big pond. Seagull had Rapala stuck in mouth, which killed him. Attached to the Rapala, fish line. Attached to the fish line, a 9' St Croix and Stradic. Had name of person I knew on Rod. Told coworker, who said he had bought it from guy who's name was on rod. He had, and got his rod and reel back. Couple days before, rod got yanked out of holder by fish. Fish must have got off, and seagull ate Rapala. So much for short story. LOL.


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## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

Found rod and reel in Pine river back in 80's.


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

Being outdoors a lot, I don't get as excited about the things people find when they are outdoors. So I haven't gotten around to watching any "Magnet Fishing" videos yet, but that activity is a thing, now. I would rather just go fishing for actual fish.

On the other hand, I am quite intrigued about keeping one of them fancy new magnets around for retrieving snagged lures...


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## wpmisport (Feb 9, 2010)

We found some big logs that looked like they came from the days when they drifted logs down the river to the saw mill. They still looked good but how would you ever get them out? A bunch in one location.
Found a plastic milk crate with a toilet seat strapped on top in a trout stream, hole cut out in the middle of the crate. Must have been washing it before they left camp and just forgot it.


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## Davey Boy (Jan 5, 2011)

One of my sons found a GPS in the South Branch (ironic) and I found a kids wallet in the Main Branch. It had an ID card with the name of a church on it. I called the church and tried to get the wallet back to the kid, but the Pastor didn't think it was as cool an idea as I thought.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Ranger Ray said:


> Long story short. Snagged seagull brown fishing big pond. Seagull had Rapala stuck in mouth, which killed him. Attached to the Rapala, fish line. Attached to the fish line, a 9' St Croix and Stradic. Had name of person I knew on Rod. Told coworker, who said he had bought it from guy who's name was on rod. He had, and got his rod and reel back. Couple days before, rod got yanked out of holder by fish. Fish must have got off, and seagull ate Rapala. So much for short story. LOL.


Great story lmao, you fishing guys are a tough bunch, That was funny right there and cool.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

wpmisport said:


> We found some big logs that looked like they came from the days when they drifted logs down the river to the saw mill. They still looked good but how would you ever get them out? A bunch in one location.


Awesome, where? Lol. I always wanted to find one of the log ends with the stamped camp logo from the old time logging camps. It was common for thievery to take place back then while the logs were congregated on the river, and the identifacation stamp on the log ends were cut off and the thief would turn around and stamp there stamp logo on it. Seems like they would wither away, but some still exist they say..just like the logs you mention maybe.


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## riverman (Jan 9, 2002)

Iphone, wallet, money, pot, fishing rods and reels, tackle, camping gear, anchors, you name it I have probably found it, but the best find was this handmade trout net made by a old guide on the PM lost during a hex night. Tried like hell to find it's owner but no success. Looks good on the cabin wall.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Just hang on with that second to last sentence, someone is about to chime in on who it may belong to. Lots of eyes on these forums, you never know. Nice find forsure.


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

Posted this in the other cool things thread, but I snagged the trigger guqrd to a old .22 revolver below 6th street once. It was in rough shape and had been there a while. I just wondered what kind of crime it must have been involved in. It was in the center run, so curious to how it got all the way out there.


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## toppm (Dec 30, 2010)

Davey Boy said:


> One of my sons found a GPS in the South Branch (ironic) and I found a kids wallet in the Main Branch. It had an ID card with the name of a church on it. I called the church and tried to get the wallet back to the kid, but the Pastor didn't think it was as cool an idea as I thought.


The Pastor must've been a wierdo.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

toppm said:


> The Pastor must've been a wierdo.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


That is odd behavior, especially for a Pastor, maybe some ghost in his closet, might be more to the story with that missing wallet and church i.d.


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## toppm (Dec 30, 2010)

I've got 3 off hand.
1.) While jigging for salmon in Muskegon Lake before light. Drop down and jig up a trolling rod with a kastmaster spoon. Still use it today.
2.) Went fishing solo in the fog out of Grand Haven. Wound up getting my 3 King limit and was contemplating just targeting Steel. I could hear voices but couldn't see and came up on a few boats perch fishing. I brought about a 1/2 dozen perch eyes in the cooler, anchored and wound up with a limit of perch and I was geeked. By this time the fog had burned off. I was coming into the channel and had 5 or 6 jet skiers in front of me, kind of blocking the pier heads. I notice one has a fishing pole and am thinking what a bunch of jack wagons. They flag me down and said they found the pole floating and it has a fish on it. They said I could have it. I reel it up and it's a big Skamania. Just then a guy comes running down the pier yelling that the fish pulled his rod out of the holder and it was a custom rod. I gave the rod back and threw the fish on the pier.
3.) I was fish GH south pier in late December and had all my fishing stuff in a foldable cooler inside a grocery type cart that my wife just bought me for Christmas. I cast and look and the wind rolled the cart off the pier into the water. The cooler was floating with my fishing vest and hundreds of dollars worth of gear inside. Luckily scooped the whole thing out with my net, but the cart went down.
Came back next week with a snow rake handle, attached an under water camera and paint hook to the end. Found it and pulled it up . There were a few guys fishing the North Pier and stopped fishing and had to be wondering what the helk I was doing.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

toppm said:


> I've got 3 off hand.
> 1.) While jigging for salmon in Muskegon Lake before light. Drop down and jig up a trolling rod with a kastmaster spoon. Still use it today.
> 2.) Went fishing solo in the fog out of Grand Haven. Wound up getting my 3 King limit and was contemplating just targeting Steel. I could hear voices but couldn't see and came up on a few boats perch fishing. I brought about a 1/2 dozen perch eyes in the cooler, anchored and wound up with a limit of perch and I was geeked. By this time the fog had burned off. I was coming into the channel and had 5 or 6 jet skiers in front of me, kind of blocking the pier heads. I notice one has a fishing pole and am thinking what a bunch of jack wagons. They flag me down and said they found the pole floating and it has a fish on it. They said I could have it. I reel it up and it's a big Skamania. Just then a guy comes running down the pier yelling that the fish pulled his rod out of the holder and it was a custom rod. I gave the rod back and threw the fish on the pier.
> 3.) I was fish GH south pier in late December and had all my fishing stuff in a foldable cooler inside a grocery type cart that my wife just bought me for Christmas. I cast and look and the wind rolled the cart off the pier into the water. The cooler was floating with my fishing vest and hundreds of dollars worth of gear inside. Luckily scooped the whole thing out with my net, but the cart went down.
> ...


Good stuff right there. Thank god for those long handle pier nets, I have used mine more then once to help save the day.


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## TK81 (Mar 28, 2009)

Trout King said:


> Posted this in the other cool things thread, but I snagged the trigger guqrd to a old .22 revolver below 6th street once. It was in rough shape and had been there a while. I just wondered what kind of crime it must have been involved in. It was in the center run, so curious to how it got all the way out there.


Back when you were still knee high to a grasshopper, before neoprenes, most of us needed protection just to get to the center run. Used to be a bit of a tough neighborhood out there.

The gun probably fell out of one of my fellow fisherman's waders after he tumbled over a rock.


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## Scadsobees (Sep 21, 2006)

We used to wade Plaster Creek in GR to catch crawdads for perching 30 years ago (yes that explains all the sores, tumors, and the extra set of eyes, ha ha). Crawdad tails were like perch crack until the gobies came along. A five gallon pail or two of those things would last a few weeks....
Pulled quite a few interesting and useful things out of there... 40 feet of plastic coated steel cable which my dad made into a tow "rope", a bowling ball, and a very nice bike outfitted with a generator and light. I'm sure nothing in that creek was "lost".


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

I have enjoyed countless beers pulled out of the sand in the Holy Water of the Ausable. Not one ever tasted bad in the least, and some were years old.


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## Lund Explorer (Jan 23, 2011)

wpmisport said:


> We found some big logs that looked like they came from the days when they drifted logs down the river to the saw mill. They still looked good but how would you ever get them out? A bunch in one location.
> Found a plastic milk crate with a toilet seat strapped on top in a trout stream, hole cut out in the middle of the crate. Must have been washing it before they left camp and just forgot it.


Quite a few rivers carried logs back in the day, and it wasn't all that strange that they created some fairly complex log jams.

Did you notice if any of those logs carried markings on the ends? Commercially cut logs were "branded" with a company mark pounded into them before being sent down the river so they could be sorted when they arrived at the end of their journey. When I was a young lad, I had a neighbor that collected log ends with those brands. Always made a buck or two if I ran across one that I could point out to him.


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## Boardman Brookies (Dec 20, 2007)

Lots of the normal stuff out trout fishing, Lots of nice spinners, raps and flies. I found a nice UL trout set up once. Tried to post everywhere I could to get it back to the owner but never found him. Here are a few interesting ones.

Nice Yeti can coozie, someones Michigan drivers license, full unopened bottle and sealed 5th of jack, iphone in a waterproof case that I was able to return.

The worst was four dead puppies. Someone obviously tossed them in the stream to die. Horrible site. Would like to find the jackass responsible for that.


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

wpmisport said:


> We found some big logs that looked like they came from the days when they drifted logs down the river to the saw mill. They still looked good but how would you ever get them out? A bunch in one location.
> Found a plastic milk crate with a toilet seat strapped on top in a trout stream, hole cut out in the middle of the crate. Must have been washing it before they left camp and just forgot it.


The Ausable River, below Foote Dam, is full of old lumber-era logs. Square-cut ends give them away. Lots of vertical deadheads to run your boat into, if you aren't careful. 

Years ago, I saw a guy lose a spinning reel off a fishing rod, at Moore's River Park, in Lansing. It was Coho-time, and there were a lot of ppl fishing. He went home, and came back with a large magnet on a rope, and proceeded to pull his reel, several other reels, and a handgun out of the Grand River. The gun looked like it could easily be rehabbed.


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## JimP (Feb 8, 2002)

There's a $400.00 Gold Bracelet in Four Bears Lake in Utica.
I was casting for bass back in the 90's and on one cast my bracelet went flying off out into the deep water. Don't know how the safety catch came loose but it did. 
West side of lake, about the center, maybe 30-40 feet out at the time.


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## riverbob (Jan 11, 2011)

I sure have found a lot of thing's in the water, bikes,poles,boats,beers, I once found a sunken shanty (reeds lake) dove down n retrieved a fuel oil heating stove (witch still worked) I once kick up a body (while wading in the grand (it was quite decomposed ) I called the cops, they were unable to find it, they said I must of dislodged it, n they never did find that body (fish n turtles must of ate it up ) I even found toppm wood duck a few years back, n that revolver that trout king found might of been the one I took away (n threw in the river from a gun shooting drunk) TK did ya find it on the east side?


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## Big Medicine (Oct 31, 2002)

PunyTrout said:


> @Big Medicine found a pretty cool double axe head in the riverbed we were fishing that looked like it was from the old logging days. Maybe he will post a picture of it here.


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## Big Medicine (Oct 31, 2002)




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## Big Medicine (Oct 31, 2002)

That last one is a pic of a baby doll that kinda freaked me out when I first noticed it- i just saw the eyes looking at me


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## PunyTrout (Mar 23, 2007)

I once floated the PM with a close friend for early season Kings. At one point we were relaxing on the bank under the tree canopy waiting out a sudden rain shower. My friend must have set his rod down on the back of the 13 foot pontoon and forgot to secure it. We were several bends downstream before he realized it was missing. This was a $1,200 dollar rod and reel setup. He was super pissed he had lost it and it put a serious buzz kill on the trip.

Fast forward to getting to the take out when we were packing up to leave and a couple of guys pull up in a drift boat. My buddy asks, “You guys didn’t happen to find a rod and reel combo did you?”. One of the guys looks sheepish and says, “Describe it.”. My buddy gets a sudden hopeful look on his face gives the description of his rod and the guy replies, “Yeah we found it.” and handed it over to my friend.

The rod was broken in half and he says, “Yeah, it was the damnedest thing. We came around a bend and we see this guy who had flipped his canoe. He was standing there in the current and he picks up a rod out of the river and then snaps it in half over his knee and then _throws it back in the river. _We couldn’t believe what we were witnessing. We quickly dropped anchor and waited until he was gone and then went and got it...”.

Needless to say my friend was over the moon and offered the guys a reward for finding and returning it. _That’s as lucky as you can get._

He ended up sending the broken rod back to the manufacturer and got a replacement at no cost.


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Big Medicine said:


> View attachment 357821
> View attachment 357823
> View attachment 357825
> View attachment 357827


Great pictures and even includes a pic in-situ. Well done and thanks for sharing it.


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

riverbob said:


> I sure have found a lot of thing's in the water, bikes,poles,boats,beers, I once found a sunken shanty (reeds lake) dove down n retrieved a fuel oil heating stove (witch still worked) I once kick up a body (while wading in the grand (it was quite decomposed ) I called the cops, they were unable to find it, they said I must of dislodged it, n they never did find that body (fish n turtles must of ate it up ) I even found toppm wood duck a few years back, n that revolver that trout king found might of been the one I took away (n threw in the river from a gun shooting drunk) TK did ya find it on the east side?


The revolver, which the wood was gone was caught throwing spinners in the center run about 100 yds downstream of the dam. I was on the west side of the CR throwing towards the wall. Could be the same gun, considering a lot of things move/get moved over time. It was beyond repair looked like a couple decades in the river and I tossed it in the trash can. Of course, that happened about a decade ago.


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## Jimbos (Nov 21, 2000)

Um, ah, um,,,,,, a dildo just floating along in the gentle waves of a small lake that I was wading in.


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## riverbob (Jan 11, 2011)

threw it in the river like 30 years ago


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## 6Speed (Mar 8, 2013)

Big Dismal is a sink hole in Leon County Florida. It's a technical dive since you have to rappel 100' to get to the water and then climb out pulling your gear up behind you. The sink hole itself is just over 100' and there used to be a trash dump right on the bottom with the bonus junk being an old Harley scooter. Its been 30 years since I dove it but the bike was there then. Since the state bought it and made diving and swimming illegial.


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

Another one that I have told before. Jimbos reminded me. A footlong and pink dildo. I was fishing my favorite section of trout stream and saw something pink in the sand, mostly covered o the bottom of the stream. When I pulled it up I was very surprised. I couldn't help considering how it got there with the only dwellings being a couple trailers that are a good 50 yards off the bank.


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## tda513 (Oct 24, 2011)

I have a few antique pull tab beer cans I have found, in surprisingly good shape. I also found an old glass pepsi bottle on one stream, and after doing some research it dated back to the 1960s. 

Found a wallet one time while Steelhead fishing the Muskegon. Had $40 cash and a phony looking medical marijuana card.


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

Catching a log/rock - when I was a kid I hooked something on the bottom, down at the marina. The hook set in the snag was solid, and totally immobile. But I slowly figured out that if I worked it with a big pull on the rod and reeling in a little while releasing the arc in the rod, and set the drag just right, I was bringing it up, whatever it was, and I fully expected it was a Log Log Log, it's big it's heavy it's wood. It's better than bad it's good. The little rod was totally bent double but I just wanted my 2 hook dropper panfishing rig back - every hook counts when you are 12 years old. And I wanted to see the Log.

Finally I got it to the surface. And a 3' long Dogfish just kind of sat there, looking at me like, well, now what are you going to do? None of my young fishing companions had a net, and none of us knew what to do. The boats were all out catching Kings at the time. I didn't really feel up for wrestling with the biggest (and ugliest) fish I had ever seen in the shallows just to get my hooks back, though perhaps that would have made the legendarily sluggish Dogfish actually start to move. A cellphone video moment, decades too early. 

Eventually I cut the line and the Dogfish just sat there and kept looking at us, before slowly sinking out of sight.


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

Beers - back when I was only 9 years old, we detected a pair of shiny objects, underwater, out in the Creek down the hill from where we lived in West Virginia at the time.

"What is that?"

"I don't know."

"Let's find out."

We waded out a little deeper than 8 year olds really wanna go to get the shiny objects there in the Creek. They proved to be 2 ice cold cans of Stroh's beer, in their classic 70s Bohemian cursive script coolness.

"What should we do with 'em?"

"Let's drink 'em."

I have loved Stroh's beer ever since - you never forget your first. I sometimes force the bartender to blow the dust off one of their last cans or bottles of 'Grandpa Beer' but in general I am happy to see it ever so slowly making a comeback here and there around backwoods parts of both of the peninsulas.


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

Once upon a time, I took a friend of mine to the Magic Bridge in the U.P. "What's so magic about it?", he asked. Just float a Rapala under there, and you will pull out a Trout - I guarantee it.

I let him go first. He instantly went 3-for-3. On his 4th try, he lost a fish. "Line wrapped on a rock and broke off, I think."

The next day, I got to go first. I instantly hooked a Trout and reeled it in. Hanging off the front treble on the Rapala, was a fishing line, leading back down in the water. I held on to that, and set my whole rig, and hooked fish, down. As it happened this was between some rocks. I then slowly brought in the line hand-over-hand, and yep it proved to have a live fish on the end of it.

As I pulled up the fish, my buddy just came down the bank. "You mean you don't even need a rod to catch 'em here? This bridge really is magic." 

Sadly, though the Magic River has just as many Trout in it today, the perfectly scoured hole under the bridge has been filled in with sand now, and the Magic is gone. Until next year, perhaps?


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## wadin' forever (Jun 22, 2018)

michiganmaniac said:


> My buddy was down duck hunting in allegan state game area, on one of the bayous I think not in the Kalamazoo river proper. He saw a car parked at the lot that had obviously been there a day or two because it had snow completely covering it and it hadn't snowed that day. He found a kayak paddle in the bayou and called it in to the police. Unfortunately the search did turn up that a man had passed away from tipping his kayak over. This was 3 or 4 years ago.
> 
> I was fishing the PM with a friend near green cottage access a few summers ago. I got snagged on something not on bottom and could see my flies a few feet below the surface. It was summertime and hot and my buddy jumped in to swim and get it lol. He came up with a rope that had probably 40 nymphs and streamers on it. The rope was tied to a root underwater on our side of the river and was attached to a cinder block on the opposite side of the river. It looked like it was made purposely to cause people to snag. Anyhow we got it out of there and made out good with nymphs!


About 30 years ago I became acquainted with a gentleman who had recently bought an old lodging establishment on a top of tier river in N MI, that I had spent many a boyhood trip at, years before. It was not on a flies-only stretch. He was a very dedicated fly fisherman and excellent tier and a quiet deliberate man. He informed me one day that, downstream aways, at an all time memorable, always ripe with fish, bend-length log jam I had grown up fishing with minnows (it was now inaccessible except by boat, we used to walk 1/2 mile to it with NO no-trespass signs), that he had personally placed an underwater cable fronting the whole jam.(when I had first told him, in one of our first conversations, which was many years after I converted to fly fishing only, of our gangs phenomenal success, "back in the day", using minnows in that whole stretch of river, he looked at me and sort of under-his-breath, repeated the word "minnows" as if he was soiling his lips in uttering it). Anyways, I never did check him on that, if he had really done it. He only fished dry flies.


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## wadin' forever (Jun 22, 2018)

B.Jarvinen said:


> Catching a log/rock - when I was a kid I hooked something on the bottom, down at the marina. The hook set in the snag was solid, and totally immobile. But I slowly figured out that if I worked it with a big pull on the rod and reeling in a little while releasing the arc in the rod, and set the drag just right, I was bringing it up, whatever it was, and I fully expected it was a Log Log Log, it's big it's heavy it's wood. It's better than bad it's good. The little rod was totally bent double but I just wanted my 2 hook dropper panfishing rig back - every hook counts when you are 12 years old. And I wanted to see the Log.
> 
> Finally I got it to the surface. And a 3' long Dogfish just kind of sat there, looking at me like, well, now what are you going to do? None of my young fishing companions had a net, and none of us knew what to do. The boats were all out catching Kings at the time. I didn't really feel up for wrestling with the biggest (and ugliest) fish I had ever seen in the shallows just to get my hooks back, though perhaps that would have made the legendarily sluggish Dogfish actually start to move. A cellphone video moment, decades too early.
> 
> Eventually I cut the line and the Dogfish just sat there and kept looking at us, before slowly sinking out of sight.


That was one lazy dogfish.


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## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

Lund Explorer said:


> Quite a few rivers carried logs back in the day, and it wasn't all that strange that they created some fairly complex log jams.
> 
> Did you notice if any of those logs carried markings on the ends? Commercially cut logs were "branded" with a company mark pounded into them before being sent down the river so they could be sorted when they arrived at the end of their journey. When I was a young lad, I had a neighbor that collected log ends with those brands. Always made a buck or two if I ran across one that I could point out to him.


It is against the law to remove branded logs, without a permit to do so. That includes cutting off just the branded end.


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## Lund Explorer (Jan 23, 2011)

Ranger Ray said:


> It is against the law to remove branded logs, without a permit to do so. That includes cutting off just the branded end.


Yup, I believe you are correct.

As I said, I was just a youngster back then and never cut any of those logs myself. Not sure if the gentleman I showed them to had a permit, but he's long past asking.


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## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

No need to explain. Who would know that in their youth anyway? Just posted to inform some who are reading this thread.


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## JimP (Feb 8, 2002)

Posted previously, found below Tippy dam during a clean up:


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

I have been wondering if salvaging 100+ year old logs from the water is still happening much?

My hunch is all the low hanging fruit, as it were, has already been picked perhaps.

At one point there was even a "reality" TV show about it. It probably lasted longer than the one about Burls, at least, but I don't really keep up with anything about TV anyway, just have this vague knowledge about what's on it from other people who presume I would automatically watch certain shows, like the one about Burls. 

It's crazy to me how some places, organized bits of gov't are still busily removing wood from water, while in other places organized bits of gov't &/or "non" profits (I really hate competing with the "non" profit people, who all have really nice salaries & benefits and very short work days while not making a "profit"); anyway, in other places, monies are spent to put wood back in the water, up to and including the use of helicopters - not cheap. Probably a topic for a whole 'nother thread, sorry.


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## DecoySlayer (Mar 12, 2016)

We caught a floating fish basket, with about 30 live perch in it. There were no other boats even close to where we were. Made for a quick limit.


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## Trophy Specialist (Nov 30, 2001)

On the way in from a charter I spotted a cooler floating about 6-7 miles out from Manistee. No name on it, and it had three fresh, big kings in it still on ice. We were a few fish short of limits, so we picked it up and headed in. I put word out at the fish cleaning station but nobody claimed it, so I had the fish cleaned by Mark. Even after a few days nobody claimed the cooler from my posting there. It's out in my barn now if someone lost one and can describe it.


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## wadin' forever (Jun 22, 2018)

B.Jarvinen said:


> I have been wondering if salvaging 100+ year old logs from the water is still happening much?
> 
> My hunch is all the low hanging fruit, as it were, has already been picked perhaps.
> 
> ...


The following is not meant as snark or "know-it-allism" (which I am very far from having requisite knowledge for). The use of helicopters to place "large woody debris" into trout streams - is a GOOD (and likely economical and "low impact" to surrounding terrain) way to do it. I've supported at least three non-profits which do this, even made sure certain donations to one of them were earmarked specifically for this on specific river. Placing trees into rivers is a very great boon to the river, adding organic mater and structure/cover and often erosion control (there is an art to it, randomly placing structure can do damage to a river if not done right - blowing out banks is one such problem). Many of our trout streams were plagued by "cutting to the bank" and removing trees that obstructed views across the cursed lawns. Even in "wild" stretches, the general sublime entropy of their former courses were diminished by long ago logging and non natural succession of vegetation growth such as tag alder dominated banks which don't offer fall-ins. Canoe liveries removing/cutting back obstructive trees has been another bad force, for the trout, anyways. One time, fishing Manistee near CCC bridge in late-afternoon, I had listened for a good three hours to some guy close-by buzzing away with a chain saw. Toward the end of it I had waded close enough to see what he was doing, just before he left. He was placing end limbs of red pine, draping them onto and down into water on a hard sloping-down bank over a good 30 yards of a gradual bend in river(probably illegal, unless permitted which I assumed he wasn't since he was working alone.) The next summer I waded along the bank (only about waist deep) where he had done this. I lifted out one of the pine branches. Each branch, down to the smallest end twigs, had caddis fly larvae attached to them every quarter or eighth inch - easily several hundred per branch. I had a good feeling. IMO, very "profitable" work done by these non-profits and this self starter guy. I personally love that people can make a living doing such work, never enough done to mitigate the generally deleterious "for-profit" work extracting from our natural world. The individuals running "these" outfits, anyways, are not getting rich and most are biologists or have degrees in Nat Resources of some kind, or dedicated lifelong studiers of the resources they're working on. The guy who operates the helicopter, good for him (gotta be somewhat dangerous work, too.) Conservation Resource Alliance, in their 50th year out of TC, has done a huge amount of spectacularly great work in many rivers up north, stabilizing banks, placing structure, fixing bridges that are sand dumps, etc. Anglers of the Au Sable has done a lot of in-river tree placement and bank plantings, TU of course. Get your tax deductible donation in today! I am aware that a lot of the work these groups do they contract out - to place rip-rap, helicopter trees, etc. Good for these companies that have made this work a niche in their business (and some companies making such work a focus). Earlier in thread I wondered if any company had tried salvaging old "lost" logging era logs on rivers, vs. ones that were doing it in great lakes. I should have added that I certainly hope not. Cannot imagine it could be done, at least without extensive remediation afterwards, without poorly impacting a river. Happy new year.


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

I totally agree that adding wood is a good thing. Finding a Trout segment flowing through mature timber, rather than Alders, Alders, Alders, is a preciously good thing.

I am dumb-struck by the areas that are still removing wood from streams, was more my point of comparison. Perhaps that is largely happening only outside of Trout country, these days. "We need to get that log jam outta there so the water can rocket downstream, erode all the banks down to becoming a straight line channel to get that flood level down, pronto!" In other words, I sometimes work in Ohio, where I recently heard a variation on that quote. Though I believe some Michigan Drain Commissions still think this way too, perhaps.

But I would have to think more wood in the stream is ultimately also good for Smallmouth fishing, and Walleye fishing, and Catfish fishing, etc.


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## wadin' forever (Jun 22, 2018)

B.Jarvinen said:


> I totally agree that adding wood is a good thing. Finding a Trout segment flowing through mature timber, rather than Alders, Alders, Alders, is a preciously good thing.
> 
> I am dumb-struck by the areas that are still removing wood from streams, was more my point of comparison. Perhaps that is largely happening only outside of Trout country, these days. "We need to get that log jam outta there so the water can rocket downstream, erode all the banks down to becoming a straight line channel to get that flood level down, pronto!" In other words, I sometimes work in Ohio, where I recently heard a variation on that quote. Though I believe some Michigan Drain Commissions still think this way too, perhaps.
> 
> But I would have to think more wood in the stream is ultimately also good for Smallmouth fishing, and Walleye fishing, and Catfish fishing, etc.


I worked and lived on and off for a couple years on a company contract in Dayton, OH. Tried to find trout stream within a couple hours drive. Finally was referred to the Mad River. Drove in pre-dawn hour and half away to an area I'd been referred to. I was Mad indeed. It was more of a ditch than a river, where I found it anyways, dastardly channelization of which you spoke. Looked around some more but was blocked by private. Meant to look more, but never got back. Almost took up golf that one summer, something I'd always steered clear of. Never looked down in KY, might have been best bet. Wood is good.


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## OH-YEAH!!! (Jun 18, 2009)

Back to the actual post topic. Stuff found while fishing...

If anyone found or finds a white gold men’s wedding band in Bear Creek in one of its deepest upriver holes, please don’t try to be a Good Samaritan to find its owner.

He chucked it there in May 2004 and he doesn’t want it back. The new one is much, much better. 

Cheers.


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## Big Frank 25 (Feb 21, 2002)

A picnic table found midchannel Detroit River off of Windmill Point.


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## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

OH-YEAH!!! said:


> Back to the actual post topic. Stuff found while fishing...
> 
> If anyone found or finds a white gold men’s wedding band in Bear Creek in one of its deepest upriver holes, please don’t try to be a Good Samaritan to find its owner.
> 
> ...


The wife or the ring????


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## OH-YEAH!!! (Jun 18, 2009)

toto said:


> The wife or the ring????


Both!

From what I’ve heard! ;-)

Happy New Year!


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## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

:nana-party:


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## riverman (Jan 9, 2002)




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## wadin' forever (Jun 22, 2018)

Twice, I've snagged rusted old tin beer cans. In each instance disrupting the happy home of sculpins found inside them.


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## StormyChromer (Jul 20, 2016)

Riverman - That’s a true Charlie Brown X-mas Tree !

This beast was trying to spool me when he ran for cover and snagged up in a log jam.
After a few mins, I was about to cut the line when he suddenly came free.
Got him to the boat and was pretty much DOA.

Hot n Tot straight through the gills.
View attachment 359795


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## TheHighLIfe (Sep 5, 2017)

this september on hasren's island
bit off more than he could chew


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## steelslam (Apr 8, 2001)

i caught a BIG snag of lines on my anchor in the manistee river. i didnt know it was snagged on the anchor till i hit shore. i had to use a knife to cut it all free from the chain an drop into a 5 gal. bucket. when it was all cut lose from the chain i had 3/4 of a 5 gal bucket full of flys,lures,spoons, lead,swivels an steel leaders. total was almost 200 flys, 3 rapalas, 4 mepps, an maybe 2 pounds of asst. lead. an managed to keep 70 plus flys with good hooks still in them.


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## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

I don't know about cool, but get a load of this!!!! :SHOCKED:

The find starts at one of our Ludington Outings. 

During the day many of us went separate ways. I ended up fishing with Dr Suess on the White. Now Seuss isn't the most gracious fly dunker and he gets frustrated very easily. After countless snags and hung-up back casts he had enough. He got so pissed that he spear-chucked his thousand dollar rig right into the woods. LOL 

I was just about 20 yards upstream and watched the whole thing. :lol:

I said to myself, I wish I had binky for him.  Looked down and sure enough in about a foot of water there's something pink. The water was cold, but worth a soaked arm to retrieve it.

I swear God put it there just for him! 

View attachment 361035


"Here why don't you just suck on this for a while, since you ain't fishing" :gaga:

To me that thing was just about as sick as it gets. Really? A ***** Binky? 

That evening it made the rounds when old Kingfisher said that he sees those all the time. No Way!

I guess during his Limo driving days certain bachelorette parties use them for some unknown purpose and they ended up in his limo... LOL

Another story one just can't make up! :evil:


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## riverman (Jan 9, 2002)

Him netting the roped up fish at a outing is still one of my favorite stories to tell. The stalk, the dip of the net, the rope, omg


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## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

Stealth in motion..... :coco:


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## Nostromo (Feb 14, 2012)

Davey Boy said:


> One of my sons found a GPS in the South Branch (ironic) and I found a kids wallet in the Main Branch. It had an ID card with the name of a church on it. I called the church and tried to get the wallet back to the kid, but the Pastor didn't think it was as cool an idea as I thought.





toppm said:


> The Pastor must've been a wierdo.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Michigan Sportsman mobile app





jeffm said:


> That is odd behavior, especially for a Pastor, maybe some ghost in his closet, might be more to the story with that missing wallet and church i.d.


Family tragedy no doubt.


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## Nostromo (Feb 14, 2012)

I've found some of the usual things in rivers. Filleting knives, tackle and flies of all sorts. I once saw a car in the huron river with one headlight still on. The occupants had gotten out and were standing around shivering. I also saw an aluminum canoe rapped around a bridge support. It's not there today so some scrapper made out.

Maybe the best was a nice brown snagged in a tree hanging over the PM. I climbed out on the tree reached down with my knife and set her free. Without falling in myself!


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## jeffm (Sep 20, 2008)

Nostromo said:


> Family tragedy no doubt.


That make sense Nostromo


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## Davey Boy (Jan 5, 2011)

I think the pastor said something about not worth the effort to look up the kid. He also said they put on an annual canoe trip and that is probably when it was lost.


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## eggfly (Jan 8, 2006)

About 18 years ago I found a monster treble hook above the coffer at Tippy. At first I thought it was homemade since the outside circumstance was about the size of a tennis ball. 

Over the years I’ve found several nets, broken rods, and a few jackets hanging on tree branches. I always leave the jackets in hopes the owner will return. 

I’ve found 3 very disgusting things over the years. The first was a dead deer that got hung up in a snag during high water. When the water went down it was bad. I also came across a pig carcass that someone had disposed of in the PM. The nastiest thing I found was after another high water event. The water dropped really fast and hundreds of suckers were stranded, dead, and baking in the sun. That was bad enough to gag a maggot. 

One time when a buddy and I got home and I found a rather nice tackle bag in his trunk. Oops, come to find out it was a lady who was fishing the same hole as us on the PM. I carried the bag with me for 3 weeks when I bumped into on a different section of the river and gave it back. That felt really nice to return her gear.


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## CPTHman2235 (Nov 28, 2018)

Years ago , while sucker spearing on a creek running through our property in northern Michigan. We stopped to rest on a gravel bar where we began to skip stones. About the 4th one felt strange and I stopped my motion and gave it a good look . I believe it is an arrow head or possibly a spear head ... I will send photos when I get a chance


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## CPTHman2235 (Nov 28, 2018)




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## riverwart (Oct 20, 2009)

CPTHman2235 said:


> View attachment 363187
> View attachment 363189


Those are some awesome finds. Found a lot of artifacts near water, just never in it. Cool stuff there.


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## joe dirt (Jul 3, 2010)

Those are cool! Sweet find 


Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## Botiz (Oct 21, 2010)

Too bad, looks like it would have been a hell of a skipper.


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## Parasite (Oct 22, 2018)

I found some ice in the water. That's about as cool as it gets.


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## clintonking2.0 (Apr 19, 2011)

CPTHman2235 said:


> View attachment 363187
> View attachment 363189


Cpthman, very cool I too found a spearhead or skinning knife of some sort made by the natives. I found mine when installing a dock on walloon lake. It was made of norwood chert stone. Will find a pic and post it.


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## clintonking2.0 (Apr 19, 2011)

CPTHman2235 said:


> View attachment 363187
> View attachment 363189


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## sherman51 (Oct 28, 2018)

was trolling on Manistee lake when I got hung up. when I tried to break the line it came loose. I kept pulling until I brought in a piece/log of paper wood from a time when they floated logs to the paper mills on the lake.

was fishing a bridge in the intracoastal waters in fl when I brought in a bicycle that had been in the water for awhile.

was fishing the headwaters at dale hollow. was letting the boat drift back with my jig and minnow down near the bottom. hooked something and reeled in a like new zebco 1 and rod.

but my best was one early spring day a group of us went down to where indian creek went into the obed river at dale hollow. one guy was standing on rocks in indian creek when I looked down and something square under the silt caught my attention. I guided his hand to the square object and had him dig it out. it was a timex watch still running and had the correct time. the watch had probably been lost the year before because it was buried under a lot of silt and sand. I took the watch home and was going to contact timex but I never got around to it.


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## sherman51 (Oct 28, 2018)

it just came to mind. we was trolling on lake erie when something hit and released the diver. it felt strange reeling it in. at times it felt like something small was on the line then nothing. when I got it back to the boat there was a wire line on my hook. I took the line in hand and started pulling it in to get it out of the water. then to my amazement it pulled back. I brought in a 3 or 4 lb walleye with a crankbait still in its mouth.


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## JimP (Feb 8, 2002)

sherman51 said:


> ....
> but my best was one early spring day a group of us went down to where indian creek went into the obed river at dale hollow. one guy was standing on rocks in indian creek when I looked down and something square under the silt caught my attention. I guided his hand to the square object and had him dig it out. it was a timex watch still running and had the correct time. the watch had probably been lost the year before because it was buried under a lot of silt and sand. I took the watch home and was going to contact timex but I never got around to it.


Takes a licking and keeps on ticking!


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

A cheap turquoise ring used for weight on some fishing line out of the former hot water hole in Muskegon.
A rod and reel out of there too.
In the river near the hot water hole a gigantic old treble hook.

A wire collapsible fish basket out of Fremont lake. It's retracting whenever I let up on near line breaking pressure while dragging it made me think it was a turtle.


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## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

Ranger Ray said:


> It is against the law to remove branded logs, without a permit to do so. That includes cutting off just the branded end.


Interesting read.


https://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,4561,7-135-3313_3677_3703---,00.html

*Submerged Logs Recovery*

Great Lakes Submerged Logs Recovery Program
The Submerged Lands Program staff administers the Part 326, Great Lakes Submerged Logs Recovery, of the NREPA (Part 326). This part became effective on July 10, 2000 and regulates the recovery of submerged logs from the Great Lakes bottomlands through a permit application review process. The purpose of this regulation is to provide for the legal and controlled recovery of abandoned old growth logs that were not captured and processed during Michigan's logging era.

*Information*

Special note to all persons becoming involved in log recovery operations and the marketing of the recovered logs
Part 326 Great Lakes Submerged Logs Recovery Program Specific Information Points of Interest
News
*Laws & Rules*

Part 326, Great Lakes Submerged Logs Recovery
*Permits*

Application for Submerged Logs Recovery Permits


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

A buddy of mine was visiting relatives in NC in January. They went wading somewhere in the ocean, and found fossilized pieces of, and one entire Megalodon tooth. The one whole-tooth was the size of my hand. Really cool.


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## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

sherman51 said:


> was trolling on Manistee lake when I got hung up. when I tried to break the line it came loose. I kept pulling until I brought in a piece/log of paper wood from a time when they floated logs to the paper mills on the lake.
> 
> was fishing a bridge in the intracoastal waters in fl when I brought in a bicycle that had been in the water for awhile.
> 
> ...



You mean you didn't have the "time" to do it, sorry had to.


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## PRU2 (Mar 4, 2007)

Went to one of my favorite fall beach spots to surf cast for steelhead... saw a guy bent over in waist deep water, couldn't figure out what he was doing so I watched him for a short time. When he came back into shore he told me he was placing stones around his mother's urn, that she loved watching the sunset at that spot and he was putting her to rest. Said a prayer and packed up and moved to another location...


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## OH-YEAH!!! (Jun 18, 2009)

Two wood turtles being amorous on a shallow bank of the Little Manistee. 

Turtles copulating almost defies physics.


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## piscatorial warrior (Sep 14, 2011)

I once hooked and reeled in a stringer with a 16" walleye on it in a trib of the Ausable. It was the only fish I caught all day.


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