Our trip to the Pigeon was not quick. Of course traveling in Pigeon Country never is. We traveled back into the interior of the park turning off the gravel road onto a two-track. Some of the two-tracks are marked with numbers, and some are apparently not worthy of numbers. In any case we had an interesting trip back into the bush putting Pete's 4-wheel drive jeep and our own navigation skills to the test. We came to the end some two mile later, suited up and headed down what looked like the best path, only to return after realizing the trail headed up away from the river. (It is good to note here that portions of this area were logged off a few years ago, making a perfect habitat for grouse and woodcock. I should bring Eric back here hunting in the fall.) We finally reached our destination at a nice grassy area with a fire pit next to the river. This was obviously a favorite camping spot for someone, and true to good camper etiquette there was not a spot of trash to be seen. The river was as pretty as a river could be, and full of small trout. I changed to a small bead head nymph while Pete put on a dry fly. We both did well with smaller flies, catching a dozen or so trout each, although I think Pete might have done a little better casting a dry fly as there emerged a nice hatch as the evening wore on (actually two different hatches emerged that night, both small, one gray and one cream colored). We fished on perhaps longer than we should have. I caught all rainbows while Pete caught both brookies and bows. It was a hard place to leave, and and of course leaving was not fast. We ended up back in Grayling about midnight.
Thanks to Pete I fished some stretches rarely experienced in our usual park-and-fish way of life. It was nice getting back. I had spend time here as a teen with my father deer hunting in the early sixties. And when my son Brad turned twelve, he opted to take a promised trip camping on the Pigeon River with his brother and I. It's a shame I come here so seldom.
Weather: Low 70s, Sunny
Access: Pigeon River Country State Forest
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