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
