August Trout
With summer screaming by I was happy to see a text from Natch proposing a weekend camp at “burnt clutch,” our go-to spot for remote camping in the Pigeon River State Game Area. No trailers this time, just tents. A fast trip to get in some trout fishing. I pulled in around noon Friday and within two hours both Natch and Feral showed up. We blew through the balance of Friday somehow just talking, drinking beer, a short walk to the Cornwall access site to the Pigeon, a drive to Pickerel Lake, and a good campfire.
Natch brought a tent you toss in the air and it sets itself up. We had a stray shower on Saturday morning and unfortunately, the waterproofing did not match the clever set-up technology so he ended up with a wet sleeping bag. Look for a cheap tent on marketplace in the Rockford area 🙂
We fished a stretch of the Pigeon that’s upstream of Tin Bridge. We expected lots of gravel bottom and shallow water and didn’t know what to expect for good bends or deep holes. We hadn’t fished the stretch before. It wasn’t long before we came to the beaver dam we discovered last fall (and I reported to the DNR). The elevation drop is just high enough to keep some migrating/spawning browns and rainbows from getting upstream (my opinion). The DNR guy I spoke with said he would contact some trappers about the beavers because if they open the dam the beavers would just block it up again. Doesn’t look like much has changed in the last ten months. The Pigeon River needs some help after the Song of the Morning fiasco.
Natch broke the camp record for the smallest trout. He thought he had a leaf caught on his lure. We didn’t check the length with a tape or the girth with a micrometer but there was no question about who now holds the record. Shortly after, I caught a trout closer to the old record. It was a beautiful morning to get out fishing, a little overcast, not too hot. I can’t remember the last time the three of us fished together but it was nice, lots of jokes, trading off the lead, getting our casting accuracy down.
Back at camp we had some sandwiches and did some target shooting with our pellet guns. Feral and I each brought a favorite pistol and we took turns trying out some vintage rifles Natch found at online auctions. Amazing 100-year-old technology. Both BB and pellet guns. There were some very creative engineers back then exploring ways to compress air and launch projectiles.
I didn’t bring a guitar but brought my mandolin figuring I would try a couple songs, and Feral, with more experience on a mandolin, would play a few songs too. That turned into one of the best jams we ever had. Natch provided rhythm on bongos and a tambourine. I did some Dylan songs and tried a bluegrass song I wrote a few years ago about being kind to your waitress. The highlights though were Pink Floyd’s Welcome to the Machine and Feral playing Down Under by Men at Work. The mandolin, an A-body style Eastman, really sounded good in the wild outdoors. Eastman makes guitars and mandolins. I’d like to play one of their guitars. May have to visit Elderly Instruments in Lansing for that.
We broke camp on Sunday morning and made plans for our fall trout camp in September. We have a couple challenges coming up for that. One is an “art instrument” challenge meaning whatever that means to each of us. Something to make music. I may do a video if we get some cool things happening. Another challenge is building an air pistol but I’m afraid I haven’t started on that or even know what is possible with my garage tools. A machine shop would be helpful. The other challenge mentioned early last spring is building a camp chair and that is another one I’ll need to make excuses for. After the possible box challenge, see earlier post, we are all game to get creative but time has a way of running out with life’s interruptions. No matter who brings what to trout camp next month, should be interesting.
Fichigan 