Tues. 9-7 on the river

[raywriter]

A friend and I had enough of cutting firewood Tuesday afternoon, so we headed up the Escanaba to Boney Falls for some "quality time" on the river. He used his fly rod and tiny #14 & #16 dry flies. He had about six hits and landed two (13" & 14") rainbows. We had to wear raingear, he used chest waders and I wore hip boots. The wind made fly fishing difficult.

I used spinning gear and a three inch lipless shad imitator surface lure with a "walk the dog" retrieve looking for smallmouth. I landed two (13" & 15"). I saw a couple fish swirl near the surface lure and thought they might be trout. The river has a lot of wild shiners up to six or seven inches long, and I know big trout eat them. I then switched to a two inch chrome/blue "Tiny Torpedo" prop bait. On the second cast with this new bait, I hooked and landed a 15 1/2" rainbow. An unexpected but welcome surprise!

[YooperTroll]

What's the water levels like up that way? Low enough for an 8-year-old? I've been wanting to take the boy up that way but have held off because of the incessant rain; figured there was a lot of water up there.

[raywriter]

My friend was standing in ankle-deep water and making casts about thirty feet out when he caught his trout. I was standing in water below my knees when I caught my fish.

The river is higher this year, but we have found that we can reach fish out in 2.5' to 4' while standing in the shallows. My spinning gear and the weight of the lures I commonly use allows me to make very long casts, however, I have had fish hit within ten feet of where I am standing. This year I have hooked and landed bass in one foot of water on the shallow side. Two to three feet has been best, and deeper than that has been spotty. Almost anyplace you go on the river has water within those ranges.

[YooperTroll]

Thank you, Ray, for the info (and the report).

Best--