Fichigan

Fall Trout Camp Challenge

My trout fishing buddies enjoy a challenge. A year or two ago I picked up a crate box with a hinged lid that I use to store all manner of camping and fishing goods. Things like binoculars, fishing line, extra reels, knives, flashlights and small lanterns, walkie-talkies, bug spray, you name it. My buddies all liked my crate box so I proposed a challenge for trout camp this fall: Make a wood “possibles’ box (taken from “possibles bag” mountain men carried into the wilderness). It can have a hinged lid, carry handles if it makes sense, a latch or lock, use imagination to make it practical. It can have a pull out tray or drawers. Bonus points if it looks vintage. Must be macho. Can have wood burning letters, design or illustration. It should have the word possibles or possibles box somewhere on it.

At fall trout camp we’ll have a show and tell / unveiling. Should be interesting. These guys are artists. I’ll do a post with pictures sometime late September.

Pine River, Alcona County

There are eight Pine Rivers in Michigan… I had to look that up. Normally my posts refer to the one in Lake county, but Feral and Jake also fish the one in Alcona County. It’s smaller water but has nice brown trout and brook trout depending on which stretch. Jake and Feral sent me photos and some background on a recent trip. According to Jake:

It was looking like a stormy day. Feral and I had been itching to fish the stretch we cleared out. We had gone through a month or so ago and trimmed the pesky branches out of the prime casting locations. In my opinion this stretch from the bridge up to the pine river campground is the most beautiful trout stream there is. Lots of small meadows along the stretch give dynamic views with the perfect mix of trees. I’m already looking forward to getting back through there.

The rain kept up the whole time we fished. The stream was up but not too muddy or deep. Wading was comfortably easy. We both lost decent size fish early on and we each caught several small keepers but let them go. I kept two trout for dinner. One was about 17” and the other as around 13”. Ended up soaking wet by the time we finished but it was a great day.

Feral cooked up the big trout with some asparagus and baked beans that evening and it was excellent. The perfect meal after a day of fishing. I gave the smaller trout to a friend who likes it when I drop one off every now and then. Lots of fun.