If It Snows, Go Fishing! (eBook)

60 Years of Stream Fishing in the Copper Country

Clyde Wainio (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
104 Seiten
Modern History Press (Verlag)
9798896560685 (ISBN)

Infos

A lifetime on the streams of Michigan's Copper Country, one cast at a time
For more than sixty years, Clyde Wainio has waded the streams and rivers of Michigan's Copper Country, chasing Brook Trout, Rainbows / Steelhead, and Northern Pike through every season. In If It Snows, Go Fishing!, he shares a lifetime of fishing adventures--record catches, near-misses, family traditions, and unforgettable encounters with the wild. Rich with humor, local history, and the rhythms of nature, these stories honor the joys of patience, persistence, and respect for the outdoors. Complete with evocative illustrations by Joanna Walitalo, this memoir is a heartfelt tribute to both fishing and the timeless spirit of Michigan's Northwoods.
'If you enjoy stream trout fishing, you will enjoy Clyde Wainio's book If It Snows, Go Fishing! Wainio has been fishing for trout in the Upper Peninsula's Copper Country for 60 years and the book contains some of his fondest memories from those years. The book also includes some tips that might help make you a better stream trout angler.'
-- Richard P. Smith, Michigan Outdoor Hall of Fame inductee and author of Understanding Michigan Black Bear, 3rd Ed.
'If you love to fish, you will have fun with these stories and agree with many. Even if you don't like fishing, you will learn a lot and still chuckle at some of the adventures this author had on streams across Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The photos and illustrations really put you there.'
-- Deborah K Frontiera, U.P. Book Review
From Modern History Press

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A lifetime on the streams of Michigan's Copper Country, one cast at a time For more than sixty years, Clyde Wainio has waded the streams and rivers of Michigan's Copper Country, chasing Brook Trout, Rainbows / Steelhead, and Northern Pike through every season. In If It Snows, Go Fishing!, he shares a lifetime of fishing adventures--record catches, near-misses, family traditions, and unforgettable encounters with the wild. Rich with humor, local history, and the rhythms of nature, these stories honor the joys of patience, persistence, and respect for the outdoors. Complete with evocative illustrations by Joanna Walitalo, this memoir is a heartfelt tribute to both fishing and the timeless spirit of Michigan's Northwoods. "e;If you enjoy stream trout fishing, you will enjoy Clyde Wainio's book If It Snows, Go Fishing! Wainio has been fishing for trout in the Upper Peninsula's Copper Country for 60 years and the book contains some of his fondest memories from those years. The book also includes some tips that might help make you a better stream trout angler."e; -- Richard P. Smith, Michigan Outdoor Hall of Fame inductee and author of Understanding Michigan Black Bear, 3rd Ed. "e;If you love to fish, you will have fun with these stories and agree with many. Even if you don't like fishing, you will learn a lot and still chuckle at some of the adventures this author had on streams across Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The photos and illustrations really put you there."e; -- Deborah K Frontiera, U.P. Book Review From Modern History Press

Textauszug

Fishing in the 1960s

How I Got Started Stream Fishing

I have been a stream fisherman since the mid 1950s, or at least by the late 1950s. We did not own a fishing pole or a reel yet those first years, and our dad Ray would make one for us out of a tree branch. A government pole, as it was referred to us.

This was by McCallister’s clearing and at the Graveraet River. Our dad fished there on the weekends with a couple of fishing partners. It was nearly all brook trout this high up on the stream. Most of the time one of the grown-ups caught an 11-inch or a 12-inch Brook Trout (“Brookie”), and that was the biggest fish of the day.

It was best fishing on a partly cloudy day or a clear day we were told, and it did seem to hold true. It was a clear day when our dad Ray caught a 15-inch Brook Trout from a favorite bank hole that he liked. The biggest one I know of on this stretch of the river. Fishing some of the holes was difficult with just a government pole, and if we caught an 8-inch or a 9-inch Brookie, we thought it was a big fish.

There were beaver dams on a feeder creek which we sometimes fished down to the Graveraet, where at the forks of the two rivers, there was another beaver dam. There was a school of fish there, and usually one was 11 inches or so, but I don’t think we ever caught it.

Well above the forks, there was another dam, and one time we fished way high upstream, and the river was going underground in places. We must have been close to where the river started. Below the forks beaver dam was referred to as the brushy part of the river. The Graveraet was a good brook trout stream, and you could see a big rainbow possibly up from Lake Superior.

From Deer Creek down to the mouth is an excellent steelhead stream in early April to around May sometime, and the mouth holes and Deer Creek pool are about the two best hot spots to fish, as a rule. Especially the mouth holes.

The Pilgrim River

If it rained enough, our dad Ray would take us fishing at the Pilgrim River on the farm. Our Uncle John owned land there. We sometimes walked in, and we fished by a bridge on a feeder creek. It seems there was always a fish close to seven inches there, and I don’t think we ever caught it. But you would think it would have grown bigger with all the worms we fed it.

Fishing with my little sister Donna who is displaying a Brook Trout

Above the old sauna at the Pilgrim, I always fished a rapid hole. I recall flipping an 8- or 9-inch Rainbow out of the water, but I can’t say for sure I ever caught it. Back then, rainbow only had to be 7 inches to keep.

Our dad Ray had a favorite bank hole a way down the river where I think he caught some good size fish. I guess we had fishing rods by then, but I am not sure if we had a reel or not.

The Pilgrim was a good variety stream with brook trout, rainbow, and a few German browns in it. In later years, I caught some of each type of fish (species). From 1966-1969, the Pilgrim/ Sunny Italy Creek was my top stream. We did not have a vehicle then, and my friend Ed and I would walk to go fishing there. I always enjoyed fishing with my dad Ray, and I dedicate these stories to him (in his memory).

My First Two Foot Rainbow/Steelhead

In 1962, I caught my first 24-inch Steelhead in at the horseshoe bend on the Misery River. It was an all-silver fish with a fresh lamprey mark on its side. I still remember going up on the sandbank as I pulled in the big fish. My cousin Mike came down and netted the fish for me. My dad Ray was a little higher up on the river. The fish was 4 pounds, and I was 11 years old. I think it was the only fish we caught that day.

Rainbow Trout (J. Walitalo)

I caught my second 24-inch Rainbow six years later. It was 1968, and I was 17 years old. It rained a lot the night before and I walked down to Sunny Italy (Pilgrim River). I got a two-foot Rainbow from the very first hole I fished, and the only hole that I fished that day. I walked all the way back home after I got the fish. It was in July, and the stream was high and muddy that day. I always wondered what other fish I might have caught that day had I fished longer.

The Big Brook Trout Catch at Lake Perrault

It was early to mid-April, and there was still ice on the lake. Our dad Ray went out on a raft that was always there for anyone to use. He found open water and then fished there. He caught the ten-fish limit, and they were all from 12 to 18 inches. He had a 16-inch fish, a 14-inch Brook Trout, etc., overall, an excellent catch. I am not sure what he was using when he got the fish but maybe worms or crawlers are my best guess. We fished this lake in April, and everyone had a bonfire going as we walked along the lakeshore looking for a spot to fish. I am not sure if I ever caught any fish from Perrault Lake, but I think I had a few hits from fish.

The Sunny Italy Days / Pilgrim River

This was before I had a vehicle in 1966 - 1969, so we walked to go fishing back then. It was my top stream in those years. My friend Ed and I would walk down a path behind the candy store and the landfill. There was a good trail and a road to Clinker Dam then by the railroad trestle (sometimes we fished there).

Next was a road with three or four houses, which is Sunny Italy. There was a clearing where the creek ran, and then a short way into the woods, and the creek was there. I am certain we caught our ten-fish limit a few times, and I know we did very well fishing there. I do not know the size of the fish my friend got, so I can only say what size some of the fish were that I caught.

Two Brown Trout were 13 inches, one I caught near my Uncle John’s farm, and the other was below the paved road bridge. This was 3 or 4 miles down from Sunny Italy. I caught a 12-inch Brook Trout from a high bank hole by floating my crawler next to a grassy bank. A little below the pump station, I had a favorite stump hole where I caught quite a few 11 to 12-inch Rainbow and Brook Trout from. It was my coffee and lunch hole. I even caught an 11 or a 12-inch brook trout in Sunny Italy, and a few rainbow from 11 to 12 inches.

The feeder creek by the pump-station had Brook Trout too. I released many of the fish I caught, gave my friend quite a few, and kept a few for myself. On our best year there, it rained a lot which kept the river up just a bit {not muddy} as a rule, and I estimated catching near 300 fish that year, and near 100 of them were near 10 inches and bigger. The Pilgrim / Sunny Italy Creek had a fairly good mix of fish in it.

The Mysterious Jumping Fish - At Lake Eva (1960s)

I caught many 20 plus inch Smallmouth Bass at Lake Eva. This was a favorite lake that I liked to fish. Most of the big Smallmouth Bass I caught by floating a nightcrawler out in the lake as far as I could get it out there. If your line went straight out a long way, you usually had a big Smallmouth Bass on it. There were Sunfish and Rock Bass in this lake too, and I heard there was jumbo Perch in it also, though I never caught any of them. I did see one on the shore around 15 inches.

It was in the early morning hours when I caught a ride with my dad Ray who was on his way to work. I walked the gravel road to the lake. It was a crystal-clear morning, and the lake was also crystal clear as I walked by a log cabin to the point bay where I most often fished. This is a deep bay.

Right at the tip of the bay, I made my first cast of the day with a red/white spoon. I got it out quite a way, and before I even had a chance to wind it in, I saw a Bigmouth close in on my spoon. The big Smallmouth Bass went quite a way further out in the lake.

The fish was about in the middle of the lake before I finally began to bring the big bass in towards the shore. It was 20 inches or so. I either released the fish or gave it to an elderly lady whom I did some work for. One cast and one fish, a good start.

After some more casts, I moved along the lakeshore to another shallower bay. I made my first cast, and I had another big Smallmouth Bass on. Again. This fish headed for a very weedy section and soon had my line all tangled up in the weeds. I lost the fish. I may have broken my line.

Many times, when I fished at the point bay for a while, I would see this huge fish in the deep water make a clockwise circle close to shore. It almost seemed to wobble a little, as it turned to complete the circle. One of the last times I ever fished Lake Eva, I finally hooked onto this huge fish. It went to the opposite side of the bay, jumping out of the water several times before it got off my line. I think maybe it broke my line. It was around 12 to 15 pounds though, and it was not a Smallmouth Bass. My dad Ray told me once when they camped out overnight at Lake Eva, he had seen a big Grass Pike swim away from the shore in early morning. Maybe that is the kind of a fish this was?

Steelhead (J. Walitalo)

Rock Bass (J. Walitalo)

When I Was a Crawler at The Pilgrim River

In 1968, I got my first big Brown Trout over 20 inches. I was fishing down from Sunny Italy and near my Uncle John’s farm and I saw this big German Brown glide under the undercut bank and tree roots. It was a rapid hole by a bank and tree roots... A nice hole. It made me stop and think of how a big fish can know you’re there even when you are fishing slow and quiet.

The following day I went back to that same hole. When I got within 100 feet of the hole, I actually crawled a short way. Trying not to break any branches or make any kind of a noise. When I got close enough, I floated my night crawler near the bank, and my line went underneath about as far as it could go. My pole was...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.10.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport
• Schlagworte: animals • East north central • fish • Fishing • IL • In • mi • Midwest • Nature • Oh • Recreation • Sports • Travel • United States • WI
• ISBN-13: 9798896560685 / 9798896560685