Its Not All About Fishing
Saturday, August 25th, 2007
On the last trip to the Upper, the fishing was good, but not spectacular. I wouldn’t trade the trip for anything though. It seems like everytime you head out to the outdoors, you see something that makes that one particular vacation meaningful. Beyond that, you touch base with your family’s history, and one realizes how many others have walked through the cabin’s doors.
That cabin, that lil old log cabin is our family’s mecca, and we look forward to the pilgrimage every year. There is history written on its walls. One example; my grandfather caught a trout in 1948 and its marked on the wall, the next person to catch a trout was in 1972. My name is right below grandpa’s. The trees in set off the front porch, were planted when the cabin was finished in 1939.
This small building is the second such structure in the 7 acre parcel’s history. Its the outhouse, and every log cabin should have one. Kind of goes along with the hand water pump inside the cabin. Not that we aren’t without some modern improvements. Several years ago my dad and Uncle Robert (Flat Rock) strung an extension cord from the backdoor, through the tree limbs to the privy. It gets rather cold during hunting season you see, and that little electric heater sure comes in handy out there.
The trip also worked wonders for Bonnie, my 11 year old red (and gray) lab. She had been “down in the dumps” since the beagles past away earlier this summer. She at times tolerated those small dogs, but they kept her active. The change of scenery worked wonders for Bon Bon, and between chasing frogs at the waters’ edge and chipmunks through the forest, she must have felt like she again ruled the roost. She got her classic pose back, before she would have her head down and just shuffled from place to place.
As good as all that is, its the lake that sets off the place. In this corner is what we have called the “split” since long before I was born. The lake is spring fed, and is the feeder for four lakes before heading into the Indian River. There is an old water logged skif at its bottom, and the remains of one of the several log rafts that my dad and uncles built. Back in the 1940’s they had one on every lake in the area. They just walked to the lake, sometimes 8 miles away, and headed out in homemade boats.
Its not that the trip didn’t have its moments for fishing. We caught tons of 34 inch and smaller pike, and those dang bass would not stay off our lines. The muskies did their follows back to the boat, but it wasn’t until after we had left that the fish really turned on following three days of cooler weather. This 33 inch northern was taken on my 7ft St Croix Premier Medium action rod, Ambassadeur Tournament reel loaded with 30 lb Power Pro. You can barely see the yellow out of its mouth, which is a 3/4 oz Chartruse War Eagle spinnerbait. One effective method for taking pike on warm days is to locate your boat in the shallows adjacent to deeper water. Cast out and let the bait sink toward the bottom. Give the rod tip a sharp jerk to straighten the spinnerbait out, and begin a slow retrieve. This pike gulped it up, with only the blades hanging out. The water is so clear on the lake, that even though the fish was a good six foot below the surface, this picture that I took with my free hand actually came out pretty good.
Then you have that one nature moment that comes back with you. Usually its something cool, like a deer or one of 
the many bald eagles in the area. This Monarch butterfly had its moments. The darn thing would not leave me alone, first on the back of my leg and flew off, came back to rest on the front of my other leg and flew off again. The last time it circled around, I put my hand out and wouldn’t you know it, the darn thing landed on my finger.
And finally, the one thing you hate to see while you are in the Upper Peninsula. The southbound lane on the Mighty Mac. Wouldn’t you know it, while I was gone the grass grew 10 inches, its muggy and miserable. All I could think of was coming back for hunting season in November!