Hi everybody. I just go back from a fishing trip to upper lower Michigan at a place called Fletcher’s Floodwaters. Reportedly the best spot for walleye,nothern and bass fishing around.
The whole trip had a surreal kind of feel to it. I’m gonna come right and admit it, I’m not a huge fan of ice fishing. But I was told–it’ll be great, we’ll be in a heated fishing shanty and the cabin is one they usually don’t rent out cause it used to be the owner’s apartment when they were building the new cabins, it has a private bathroom and everything. With visions of “Grumpy Old Men” type fishing and an upbeat attitude we set out on the 7 1/2 hour trip there.
Well the “cabin” was in reality an approximately 12 x 20 foot room sandwiched between the bait shop/office and the garage where they apparently spent all their time warming up the snowmobile and directing the fumes in the direction of our room. The “fishing shanty” was a 4 x 6 shed with a hole in the corner and a woodburning heater that either wouldn’t burn and smoked you out or was so hot you had to keep opening the door to the 25 MPH winds. Oh yeah you were supposed to be able to fit 4 adults in it. Right.
All of this would have been worth it had the fish been biting. No one was catching a thing, nothing. We were told it was because “the lake had turned over in the middle of the week” but boy you should have seen it last weekend, they were pulling 'em out hand over fist. Great and you are telling me this now why?
By Sunday afternoon we had had enough of “fishing” so we decided to go the the casinos just over the Mackinac bridge in St. Ignace. It was another 1 1/2 hour trip up to the upper penninsula. That trip was the best part of the whole weekend. The sun was bright and the snow was about 2-3 feet deep. The strait was completely frozen over. It was odd going over the bridge with Lake Michigan on the left and Lake Huron on the right. We saw a bald eagle, several deer and the landscape is breathtaking.
We spent several hours in the casinos, lost more than we won but had a good time drinking the 75 cent beverages. The trip back to the cabin was harrowing and took twice as long as the trip there as a blizzard had set in and the winds were gusting and the snow was drifting over the roads and visibity was about 20 feet. There were several cars overturned or in the ditches. My brother-in-law showed remarkable cool in the face of truly nasty conditions and I now have a renewed appreciation of the Ford Taurus.
All in all it was an enjoyable, relaxing weekend–except for the blizzard. So how was *YOUR * weekend.
Here’s a map. We were at the tip of the first finger.
Although I like to bitch about the room and such, a lot of the problem was that it was the last unit available on the pond and we basically took what we could get. And we made reservations in December. We found out that many of the reservations for February and March are made the previous year before the campers leave. Next year it will be different.
I was surpised at the difference in the weather only a few hundred miles north of here(southwestern Ohio). It’s about 60 degrees, no snow-just muck. Do you snowmobile? That sounds like all kinds of fun. It was great just driving on the ice-it was 18 inches thick. We were at Charlie’s landing and the nearest restaurant was at Jack’s landing. It was a 10-15 minute trip on the roads but only a few hundred feet up the riverbank. We literally walked out of the cabin, hopped in the car and drive it onto the ice to get to Jack’s. That was a 2-3 minute trip.
I grew up in the U.P. Just draw a line between Marquette and Escanaba. About halfway down, there’s a small dot labelled McFarland. My parents are 6 miles east of that.
Nice place to be from, but not to be live in. Getting to my high school required an hour long bus ride either way.
My weekend was great, I spent it getting to know my new puppy!
I visit the UP frequently. Harrisville (abut 30 miles South of Alpena.) The lake is beautiful when it’s all frozen. In fact I’ll be there this Thursday, for a long weekend. Hope the muck has been snowed over some so I can do some x-country skiing!
i did enjoy my weekend on mackinac island. lo, those many years ago. a really nifty place. this weekend? i put off decluttering the library for yet another week.
Northern Michigan is indeed lovely. I’m from Flint, but I’ve been “up north” may times. I’ve been a bit skittish about the bridge ever since a woman driving a Yugo got blown off it, but I digress. I’m rather partial to Mackinac Island, myself, in that “Yes, I’m a troll, and I’m proud!” sort of way.
Ha! I remember when that woman was blown off the bridge. The two science teachers at my high school got into a huge argument over how many seconds it took her to hit the water.
The worst thing about living in the L.P. after living in the U.P. is it’s impossible to find a decent pasty (and, no, I’m not talking about those things strippers cover their nipples with…). Back home, the local high school had pasty sales every year to fund their class trip.
All things considered, Marquette is still one of my favorite cities. I was really pissed off when they got rid of that big black cargo overpass thingy that used to run over the downtown area. Sorry, but I can’t remember the word for it offhand.
