fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Ten days of camping, hiking, exploring and fishing in Michigan's Upper Peninsula between Munising and Grand Marais. The fishing objective was to try several brand new water bodies that I usually pass by in favor of going to places where I already know what to expect. The targets were mostly small inland lakes, without any development other than a few hunting cabins, that have a connection to Lake Superior in some way. In general, I found a few "gems", but others were pretty lackluster in terms of fish size and population. The fish in these lakes tend to grow very slowly, and are often the victims of "Winterkill" when the ice freezes right to the bottom, leaving only a few random deep areas for the fish to attempt survival. Had to turn back on a few access roads now and then because the truck was too wide to navigate what had become overgrown logging roads and fire break trails from days gone by! I am working on fabricating an overhead kayak yoke for the ATV so that problem should go away by my next visit! Just need to keep the center of gravity "low" to avoid rolling over!

Here is a sampling of snaphots taken during the outings via kayak, some stream wading and a few general scenery photos along the way. Also caught some decent LM and SM bass, but since the photo limit per posting is ten I decided to edit those out in favor of what follows....

The big Lake they call Gichi-Gami (Gitche Gumee) Lake Superior


small rainbow trout living in the stream before migrating to big waters


wild and native brook trout were abundant during a day of ultra-lite spincasting


wading upstream in this fabulous sandy river - many places for a fish to hide!


a classic lake to ply via kayak for warmwater species


16" brown bullhead struck a #5 red/white Mepps Aglia white bucktail spinner - I was VERY surprised!


Northern Pike were common, and very fun to catch from the kayak - both trolling and casting


uh oh...bad weather snuck up on me - made it back to the truck before a brief monsoon rain squall hit!


hello there my little walleye friend - you would be a perfect size if dressed up as a yellow perch!


Upper Tahquamenon Falls on the Tahquamenon River- a 50' drop and site to behold in person!

charlykilo Loc: Garden Valley Ca

Love the pictures.

CRKfish Loc: Southern New Jersey

I enjoyed that , thanks for sharing.

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

Awesome pix and story Yaker. Thanks for showing us around.

Whitey Loc: Southeast ohio

Looks like you had an awesome time beautiful scenery and some good fishing. Thanks for sharing your pics👍

Billycrap2 Loc: Mason county,W(BY GOD) Virginia, 🇺🇸🦅

Thank for your amazing pics and fishing 🎣🎣🎣🎣🐟🐟🐠🐠🐋🐋🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅🦅

OJdidit Loc: Oak Creek Wisconsin

The U.P. Is a special place to visit, but those Winters are too much for me. Thanks for sharing your pics. Glad you had a great time.

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

Guys, I gotta apologize, my old iPad is acting up and often doesn’t show the responses, simply that I responded with no text. Hopefully this will go through

Whitey Loc: Southeast ohio

I did the same thing yesterday lol. I happens 🙄

BonitaBarry Loc: Bonita Springs, FL

Sounds and looks like a fantastic trip Yak. Pictures are beautiful. I’ve always loved Michigan fishing, but never in the UP. I’ll have to give it a try next time.😎

Betts Loc: Finger Lakes NY

Say yah to da UP, eh! Beautiful scenery and what a great variety on the smorgasbord. Thanks for the pics, FY.

bric Loc: Helena, MT

Great photos and story of your adventure! Makes me wanna visit there! Have only blown thru there on road trip coming back from a fire assignment.

Jarheadfishnfool Loc: Woodlake/Tulare ,Ca.

Thanks for walking us through your wonderful vacation Kayaker, beautiful pics , nice dark color patterns on those fish, thanks again,,,,,