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An invitation from my nephew, Tim (left) took me and my big brother Dick (Tim's Dad) on a sweet trout fishing trip to the Little Manistee River about 11 miles north of Baldwin, Michigan.

The stream is just wide enough to work a fly rod, but Tim had much better luck with garden hackle and a light spin casting outfit.

While Dick looks like a seasoned fisherman, he has yet to catch a trout.  Steelhead were still spawning,  which sends the Browns, Rainbows and Brookies into hiding, so between Dick and me the fish were safe for the day, although Tim did catch a few small browns.

Dick lives next to a Michigan lake and fishes often from a boat, but he's not yet comfortable wearing waders while walking  in moving water that's  more than ankle deep.

An upstream view of the river shows a nice gravely bottom, although there are many areas that are sand filled and difficult to wade.  Fallen logs and a few holes more than chest deep create great, natural fish habitat.

Underground springs feed the river and keep the temperature well within the comfort zone of trout.  After the steelhead have completed their spawning run, this will be a fine place to catch wild, stream trout.

These spawning steelhead were the only fish I saw all day. It would have been fun to hook into one, but I wasn't carrying the right equipment for such powerful fish.

There are at least four of them in the photo; one splashing at the end of the log, another whose tail is exposed next to her and two or three males downstream from the redd, which is under the log.

When the fish aren't hitting that's the time to wander in the surrounding forest and appreciate the beauty of nature and  quality of light.

This little bird built its seemingly deeper than necessary nest right next to the spot where we first stepped into the stream.

Lady Slippers are rare and an endangered species in Michigan.  It is illegal to transplant them or knowingly damage them in any way.

 There are a few that grow near the Little Manistee River bank in the Pere Marquette National Forest.  I would not have noticed them but, thankfully, a knowledgeable local citizen  pointed them out.

Down the hill from a primitive fishing camp, someone built this "wild john." I thought it would be an appropriate place to end another spectacular trout-fishing day.