Catching Up - Days 2-11 of U.P. Trip

Finally, a signal strong enough to post a blog update, not through my phone unfortunately, but using the wi-fi at the Grayling Library.  Cute little library by the way, very active (at the moment filled with people of all ages, using computers, reading books, playing with small children in the kids corner - lovely to see). It also has a special Fly-Fishing corner, with the single largest collection of fly-fishing books I've yet to see anywhere.

For a report of the fishing in Newaygo with their guide, check out John's blog:   http://troyfanclubfederation.blogspot.com

From Newaygo, we moved on and spent two days in Baldwin, where we had lovely weather for the first day, and the guys were able to take out the canoe for fly-fishing.  They were able to launch close by the campground, and I picked them up at the end of the day at an agreed-upon take-out location.  Not much luck catching fish, but they had a great day. 

After Baldwin, we moved on to Marquette, in the U.P., where we spent the next 5 days.  The fellows fished the Chocolay River on Wednesday, with their guide Brad Petzke of Rivers North Guide Service.  The three of them had a great (but cold and rainy) day of fishing for Coho Salmon, and really enjoyed fishing with each other.  Thursday, Dad and son fished the Carp River on their own.  They have spent such long days in physical activity that my cooking in the evening tastes good to them - it's fun to have an appreciative audience for simple camp-cooked meals. John ties flies when the opportunity presents itself, 

or inspirations strikes:

On Thursday I went with them, in search of a access point for the Yellow Dog river, and though we followed maps and their instincts, the GPS and directions by locals, we never did locate a good fishing access for the river.  We did, however, eat lunch at what we now know is the famous  (infamous?) Lumberjack Tavern located in Big Bay, where the movie "Anatomy of a Murder" was filmed; the film was based on an actual murder that took place in this tavern in 1952.   The bartender/owner was proud to show off not only various albums of clippings about the real event and the filming, but the original murder weapon as well (or so he said).  Burgers were less than mediocre (we feared for our stomachs actually), but the place was charming and the story interesting.

Now we are back in the lower part of the state, in Grayling, staying at Hartwick Pines Campground for the next couple of days before heading on to Ludington, hopefully for some salmon fishing... probably won't post again until returning home.