Fishing the Fishdam River, Michigan U.P. East

Notice: Viewers are requested to refrain from posting comments regarding stream destroying, hot spotting or fish handling techniques. Violators will be permanently muted.
The Fishdam River is a trout stream in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Brook trout averaging 8 to 12 inches are the main fish species with a few brown trout and steelhead also present. Compared to other trout streams in the eastern U.P. of similar size it is relatively open and easy to fish. It flows thru Hiawatha National Forest so public access is plentiful.
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[@DeeMoback]

great videos..... great information in commentary.....I appreciate the trips you take us on

[@leemowers9395]

nice descriptive video. beautiful area to fish. Thanks for sharing.

[@oldsmugglerflyfishing]

Beautiful place. Great video

[@bagira1989]

This river is beautiful

[@DeeMoback]

50+ years ago I changed rod guides on a flyrod so I could use it with a spinning reel.......now I usually use Tenkara because I don't have to carry much

[@chucklutter7399]

Enjoyed this video as i do all of your videos. I am sure that Michigan publishes or has available online a listing and maps showing locations of all the trout streams. What do you use for a map for general navigation of the UP? I've read internet is iffy. Thank you, TIGHT LINES

[@CoppersmithStudios1]

The sportsman's atlas of MI is much better than Delorme's version but both have worked for me. There isn't much internet in the UP!

[@open-source_genetix9609]

Keep uploading stuff like this and there will be no trout!

[@CoppersmithStudios1]

I will continue uploading videos like this and there will continue to be trout. As an example, I uploaded a video of the South Branch Paint river in the MI U.P. and people were saying the stream will be destroyed. I fished it a year later and caught a lot more fish than the first time. That video was published a week ago and you can see for yourself.

[@sjyiqdouzkh518]

Hey you should do a video on the falls river in lans’e MI

[@CoppersmithStudios1]

I tried to fish there this season but got rained out. It will be several years before I pass through that region again.

[@drc1883]

How about wetting your hands before handling fish??

[@CoppersmithStudios1]

Studies from Hulbert and Engstrom-Heg (1980) on trout found that wetting your hands prior to handling them had no effect on fish mortality. And apparently scientific studios don't have much of an effect on public opinion either.

[@nickjacques8754]

Poor fish handling. Like your videos other then that!

[@nickjacques8754]

@@CoppersmithStudios1 studies now say wet your BARE hands fully, and keep the fish in the water if releasing.

[@CoppersmithStudios1]

@@nickjacques8754 First, neither the studies nor you know what substances I put on my gloves to repel fish slime. Second, the "studies now", if I can guess what you mean, appear to mention a correlation between certain handling methods and skin irritation. I have seen none that have found any correlation between skin irritation and mortality. The ones that have looked into that have found none. I am aware of 4 studies on trout that all agree on the following facts: that moderate sized trout have a mortality rate of 1.5% - 3.5%, that exhaustion followed by oxygen deprivation are the main causes of said mortality, that fishing with live bait, barbed treble hooks, dropping/squeezing/shaking fish, and damage to the gills, eyes and internal organs are lesser contributing factors. Never skin irritation. And lastly, had I followed the very bad advice while fishing this stream I would have delayed releasing the 2 brook trout I caught by about 30 seconds which would have had a severe impact on their ability to recover. I could go on but I have reached the comment limit.