Sixty Rivers

Monday, November 3, 2008

Menominee River, Michigan UP

Spent the entire day swinging streamers below Hattie Street dam in the town of Menominee. Heavy fog lasted all day. This seemed like great weather for hooking up with a big lake run brown. Alas, the fish thought otherwise. I did manage to see a few of the bigs though which gives me encouragement to return. This was my first experience with the two-handed rod which I found enjoyable, though considerably more difficult than it looks. Brad Petzke provided an entire day's worth of instruction.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Manistique River, Michigan UP

Had a good morning of fishing below the mill in town. Many hookups and landed two nice steelhead and one salmon. Unseasonably warm. Only one other fisherman who left shortly after I arrived.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

St. Marys River, Michigan

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Hersey River

This is a return trip to what was a very enjoyable evening fish early last June. Then, I happened upon a grey drake hatch, which had me walking up an unknown stream in the dark in what would be the best hatch of the year. Today I got to see the stream for the first time in the light of day, wading upstream from US10 to the dam along old US31 just north of Reed City. I can see why my visit last year was so successful and why I should return for another stab at night fishing here. There are plenty of holes and cover to support big fish. Finding the exact location of last year's lost lunker, I discovered a huge sunken white pine log that was most likely the cause of a disappointing break-off. As usual this time of year, I was unprepared for summer fishing with a vest full of steelhead stuff. Even so, I had a few strikes but nothing in hand. It is about a 3 hour slow fish up to the dam from the park just below US10.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Pere Marquette River

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Trout Opener 2008 - Beaneaters on the Pere Marquette

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Muskegon River, Michigan

Roger Odell & I spent a cold and windy April day fishing for steelhead with river guide Steve Kuieck of River Quest Charters. We went 4 for 16 using a conventional 2-fly chuck-n-duck rig. Not a great landing average but a lot of fun. I highly recommend Steve. He knows the river well, has good equipment, cooks a great lunch, and works hard the whole day.

The Song of Wandering Aengus

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in the stream,
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor,
I went to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl,
With apple blossom in her hair,
Who called me by my name and ran,
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering,
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

Yeats

The origin of Sixty Rivers

A year or so ago I read an article in the Grand Rapids Press about a retired couple endeavoring to play 61 rounds of golf in every state in 61 days, and just to make it interesting play all 50 states, the 10 Canadian provinces and Washington DC. It occurred to me that it would be helpful to set goals for the fishing adventures I had often dreamed of but never applied myself to accomplishing. As my sixtieth birthday approached, I began to ponder celebrating the auspicious occasion by fishing 60 rivers. Initially, the idea of 60 rivers in 60 days seemed to have a nice ring to it, although it sounded a lot like work. I settled on achieving the goal in one year, recording my experience in this blog so that family and friends could follow my adventure and occasionally give me a push when I fall behind.