yoop

posted a few pics on abpf. it was another fine time in the upper
peninsula, though the water was very low in all the streams except the
sturgeon and the "oxymoron". the yellow dog near big bay had adequate
flow but i only caught one fish there. i imagine it's a productive
stream at other times with better flows. we spent two days in the
central area near marquette, then moved over to wolfgang's "home waters"
and the "fisher shack" near bruce crossing for the rest of the trip. i
much prefer that western area of the yoop over the marquette areas we
saw. frank reid, asadi, wolf and i formed the core group, with george
and jackie cleveland joining us at the shack and for a tour of the
keewenaw in search of the big fish reputed to enter the streams up
there. as in the streams we looked at around marquette, the keewenaw
waters were just too low to fish effectively in the areas we saw. we
wanted to fish the lake outlets, but there wasn't enough water flowing
over the gravel bars into the lake to allow a big fish to enter from the
lake. (when we were on the way to the airport , i read a newspaper
report of big salmon runs in the lower peninsula, esp. in the pere
marquette.)

john, frank and i visited the sturgeon gorge and falls area on tuesday.
it was "gorge-ous", but not productive. i managed a small northern pike
taken in the big pool at the falls and john caught a small brown
downstream near the big red cliff banks. beautiful place to visit.

wayne knight arrived at the shack wednesday evening accompanied by his
stalwart 4-legged companion ralph and enough fishing and hunting gear to
outfit the camp. he also brought along some of his collection of
travers' books for additional local color. wayne and frank headed out
on thursday for an adventure around the iron and paint rivers, while
john and i stayed closer to home.

we all did our best fishing in the middle branch of the "orgasmagon".
john and i had one incredible day of fishing catching colorful brookies
in its upper stretch, with a few browns scattered in, and, after an ice
cream break at the bonds falls outpost, a slew of rainbows in the lower
stretches below agate falls.

the largest fish of the trip was about 12-13", but most were 6-10". on
friday, my last day of fishing, i started off earlier than the others
seemed willing to move from the comforts of camp. from the first pool
on up i caught fish on everything i tried, largest a 10-12" rainbow
taken on a yellow wester-style stonefly nymph fished in a deep pool a la
makela style. even caught several on big ugly streamer/booger things.

most of my fish were caught on a caddis pattern with trailing wisps of
gray cdc feathers i bought from harry mason. it was deadly. i'd let
john fish a likely run with his dry, then i'd hit the same spot with
this caddis pattern and pick up 2 or 3 fish in the same creases he'd
just drifted. no idea why they liked it so much as i never saw a similar
bug on the water. hatches were sparse, though lots of bwo's at times.

all in all, it was very pleasant and entertaining. toured some new areas
with a fine band of folks. thanks to wolfgang for organizing and
making it all possible. thanks to john for the transportation and
pop-up accommodations. always good to visit with frank and wayne, and
george and jackie. hope to see all of y'all again.

jeff