UP Black fly Questions Revisited

On 7/21/06 8:24 AM, in article , "William
Claspy" wrote:

On 7/20/06 10:18 PM, in article
, "Justin D"
wrote:

A quick thanks to those who provided insights and advice on repellents a few
weeks ago, just before my first summertime north woods trip.

For those interested in such things, the final statistics over an 8-day
outing:

- (5) Sawyer permethrin-treated long-sleeve shirts
- (1) permethrin-treated cap
- (1) permethrin-treated bandana
- (4,000,000) daily DEET treatments (total approximate)
- (0) black fly bites
- (0) deerfly bites
- (3) detectable mosquito bites

The last two despite having been swarmed by both bugs almost incessantly.

Final Tally:
- (1) beautiful, inspiring, life-refreshing, nearly bite-free week in the UP

But maybe I¹m just lucky.

Thanks for the help.

Ah, you lucky bastige.

The bug report is swell, but how was the fishing? Pictures?

When is it September rolls around this year...?

:-)

Bill


Well, my impression (based on only one other UP trip) was that the fishing
was excellent compared to last time. But otherwise, as I really only have
Arkansas stocker-yankin' experiences to compare it to, I can't honestly say.
I know I found & caught trout on every piece of water I fished, save for a
half-hearted, short-lived effort on the Brule that I chalk up more to my
feeling crummy that morning than to the quality of fishing.

I also know that I fished differently than I did last time. That is, I'm
certain I only spooked about 90% of the fish this time as opposed to 99%
last time. So that could explain the better results, too. And hell, I had
the time of my life. So that's gotta count for something, dunnit?

Waded a couple stretches of the Paint, Sparrow Rapids, the Ontonogan's East
Branch, the Brule (wow, casting room!) and the inexplicably named Jumbo.
First time at both Sparrow Rapids and the Jumbo, and both were beautiful.
Jumbo was probably the most rewarding stretch, and in my opinion, one of the
prettiest. Saw two other stream fisherman the entire trip and that was at
the Brule.

Most all fish were caught on streamers. If you or anyone else has figured
out how to fish anything else up there without pulling up a
chum/minnow/turdknocker on your backcast, I'd love to hear about it.

Also had access to a canoe this time, so managed to drag it out a couple
times to various lakes (well, ponds), three of which we'd heard held trout.
Caught my first ever wild, stillwater brookie from a tiny carry-in pond that
I won't name, only because there were no signs to it, and I'd hate to
publicly out some local's favorite trout hole. But other, better publicized
and easier to find lakes like Lower Dam Pond and Killdeer weren't nearly as
productive and weren't half as as pretty. Of course, as far as the fishing
goes, keep in mind that I have no idea how to catch trout in ponds like
this. Or any ponds for that matter. So my report on them should hardly be
considered, well... it should hardly be considered.

Fished our "home water" Paint Lake a few times as well. Had several run-ins
with the colorful and angry local sunfish, bass and monster crappie, the
latter my first on a flyrod (on a Sneaky Pete, no less), and, I assume, a
fluke even for these northern waters.

Other wildlife run-ins with, oh let's say, the local bat population, will
remain un-reported-on despite their entertainment value to certain
canoe/fishing buddies of mine.

I'll drop a few pics on abpf, assuming I can figure our how to resize them.
Thanks for askin', Bill. Hope you can get yourself up there soon. Sounds
like you got a proper hankerin'.

J