It was hard not to hop in the rowboat this morning and fish Howie’s lake with Granny. Especially when we had the Northwoods magic sunrise going on. Sunrises don’t get much better than this. But we had a plan to chase Great Lakes steelhead on another of Howie’s favorite rivers.
Today is our last day and we wanted to make the best of it. With the rain last night, we weren’t certain this river would be clean enough to fish. Sure enough it had some color but Howie said its often like this so it shouldn’t be a problem. He jumped in right at the bridge pool.
There’s always a “bridge fish” but when its new water, I want to explore. Before I wadered up I walked up to a high point where I could see a big piece of the river. It was gorgeous and right away I knew I was going on an escapade. Off I went.
There’s really nothing more enjoyable to me than walking up a river I’ve never been on. Every turn provides a surprise. Maybe the pool itself or the fish you see – spooked or if you’re lucky, on the end of your line. I walked and walked.
We fished here for a couple hours. While neither of us saw a steelhead, I managed numerous small rainbows and browns. Once again, these are all wild fish. The fight. The colors. The fact none had previous hook marks makes this fishery a special place. I love this fishing.
After we finished up here we went to Ashland for some tacos then cast pike flies into Lake Superior from the docks. Lake Superior hasn’t been kind to us this week but we figured we’d give it one more shot. There are some really big brown trout snooping close to shore and there’s always a chance at a massive pike. But we got skunked again.
We returned to Howie’s early enough so Granny and I could pack up and get ready to point the Explorer west for an early departure tomorrow. We got it together fast and I noticed Howie’s lake had a lot of rises on it. I took Granny out for one last bluegill bashing session then she traded places with Howie. Howie brought us a six pack and we had an absolute ball. This could be our last time fishing together for who knows.
Of course, we topped this trip off with one last feast. Howie was saving some monster ribeye’s and vegies for our last night. I ate all mine and saved a few bites of Grannies to nibble on while driving tomorrow. This has been a fantastic trip and a special thanks goes out to all my WI friends that we visited this trip, but especially Howie and Sue.
That’s all she wrote for now. I have a plan for a Wyoming stop on the way home so you might see a few more fish before we get home. Stay tuned!
Don’t forget our yard sale will be May 15th. There will be all kinds of stuff from camping to fishing gear. I never sell stuff from companies I represent so don’t expect Winston’s or Simms waders or etc. but there’s some awesome stuff. If you’d like a list of rods or reels just Contact Me and I’ll email it to you. And don’t procrastinate, I mentioned this last month and a ton of stuff went fast!
Great series! I love rivers like that – reminds me of some I grew up fishing in PA.
Yeah Brian the more crowded our big western rivers get the more I like a good tiny creek!