My wife and I just got back from a week in Kenton, MI where we took a hiking/writing/fishing retreat. We've come here off and on since 1999, always staying at the Two Rivers Motel & Cabins. This time we spring for a cabin. Clean, cozy, and under $400/wk. It's been a long time since I've come back from a vacation feeling more relaxed and simply centered than I feel now. Which is good because my nerves were more or less in tatters before we left.
The weather was great--for things other than fishing anyway. Temps generally stayed in the upper 70s/low 80s and the sun never slipped from view We hiked 3-4 hours every day and had raindrops for only about 30 seconds on day one. Not even enough to wet my shirt. Cruised around looking for wildlife and checking out random sights otherwise, cranked out some decent prose in the intervals. Raspberries were everywhere. Thimble berries were a bit scattered and not quite at peak ripeness in most areas where we saw them.
As for the fishing...slow doesn't begin to describe it. Water temps made it a losing battle from the start. On the first night I went to Sparrow Rapids on the East Branch of the Ontonagon. The thermometer read 69. Took a few small (4-5") brooks and bows on nymphs and attractor dries. Saw literally a couple of caddis in the air. This was approximately the bug volume on every outing I made.
The next morning (Monday) I fished the middle Ontonagon above Agate Falls. Water temp ran 69-70. In the quietest sections a few trout were feeding on midges, at least I think. Landed a couple dinkies, briefly hooked a slightly larger one. Tuesday night I went to the Jumbo...Wednesday night to the middle branch...Thursday afternoon to the middle branch and bluff creek...in all cases the water temp was 70 or above. Probably shouldn't have been fishing trout at all in those temps, but wasn't set up to do much else.
Finally, on Friday morning, I went to a different spot on the east branch. Water temp: 64! And the previous night really hadn't been cooler than nights earlier in the week. Fished downstream with an olive wooly bugger and in an hour took four 9-10" inch trout, 2 brooks, 2 bows. Not a haul for the ages, but stellar for this trip. I even saw a very thin trico hatch, though nothing seemed to be feeding on it. When the sun cleared the trees my streamer twitched through the brush unmolested, so I switch to some terrestrial and attractor patters, with and without droppers, but took only trout in the sardine class.
Aside from finally putting some sort-of-respectable fish on the line, Friday's outing reminded me of why I love to fish trout. This season, plus memories of the last two, actually have me wondering about that sometimes. The silence of the stream, the cool, still morning, the beauty of the woods at the peak of summer lushness, and the chance to slow down the mind to take it all in. Not to mention trout on the line. In short, being in a solitary, beautiful place, seeking out some of the most vibrant creatures to inhabit the world. I guess every trout foray offers those things, but they get lost in a lingering fog of frustration, and among growing distractions in my life. Maybe I needed the time away from home and work and the internet (which was self-imposed...we did have wi-fi but I didn't use it) to be ready to appreciate fishing again.
I was hoping to exercise that appreciation two weekends from now, but the first email I read upon returning announced meeting that Friday which basically nixes the idea. So I look to September...
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