Merritt when the season turns
The Dead Stream Flooding turns cold, the maples come in October, the fishing holds, and the speedway closes for the year.
Tag: Fishing
A long weekend in Merritt
Three nights around one Merritt house: a fishing morning on the flooding, a drive west, a Saturday at the races, a burger on the crossroads.
Staying in Merritt
A dot in Missaukee County where the young Muskegon River pools behind a 1940 dam. Fishing, a dirt track, and deep quiet.
Staying in Barryton
A four-hundred-person village at the fork of the Chippewa, and the reasons to come are all past the village limits.
The Marsh They Built: Haymarsh State Game Area
A 6,700-acre state game area outside Barryton — a made lake, four flooded impoundments, pike and panfish, and birds worth the cold.
Barryton when the season turns
What October and November bring to the marshes, hardwoods, and river branches around Barryton — and what to pack for it.
Staying in Chippewa Lake
The largest natural lake in Mecosta County, the small town wrapped around it, and the honest reason to come.
Chippewa Lake, the biggest in the county
The largest natural lake in Mecosta County — 790 acres, 42 feet deep, one state launch, and the fish to earn it.
The Martiny Chain and Haymarsh, nearby
Two public tracts a short drive from Chippewa Lake: a lake chain to fish and thousands of acres of game land to walk.
Chippewa Lake when the season turns
The boats come off after Labor Day, the color runs the hardwoods in mid-October, and the walleye keep biting into the cold.