The main cabin at Camp Ginger Quill

For us, as children, the long ride from Bay City was almost over when we heard the gravel strike the underside of the car near Roscommon. (I-75 had not yet been built.) Our father, Fred, would make a short stop at Jack’s Rod and Fly Shop to pick up flies and leaders. We would always stop on the bridge over the South Branch to say hello to the Au Sable. From then on we would search for glimpse of a deer and for the small Camp Ginger Quill signs nailed to trees or posts, along with what seemed like a hundred other signs, indicating when we should turn. Once we were on the Ginger Quill road and starting down the hill, we would honk our car horn announcing our arrival. Grandma and Grandpa Smith would welcome us on the back lawn, usually just as the sun was going down. We children would pile out of the car and dash down the sidewalk to the river. The river held great excitement for us. It was like seeing our best friend after a long absence. Our parents had to drag us off the dock.

We usually slept in bunk beds right by the rear entry door. We all remember rolling over and scratching our arms on the rough stucco walls. On a typical day the grandchildren would awaken when the caretakers brought in fresh firewood at 6 A.M. The footsteps up the back steps, the creaking of the screen door spring, and the closing of the door were enough to wake us. We were up quickly and would run along a direct path behind the tackle room, through the woods, and up to the “Dining Cabin” for breakfast. Zoe Borchers’ Au Sable River Pancakes (balls of pancake batter, deep fried and covered with honey butter) were our favorite breakfast. Our ages were compatible with the caretaker’s two children, Bonnie and Butch Borchers, and we got along very well. We would stay occupied at the “Dining Cabin” until the adults were up and ready for breakfast. They would have coffee at the “Main Cabin” but, when ready, would call the “Dining Cabin” on a private phone system, to indicate they were on their way down for breakfast, stopping at the “Boys’ Cabin” to pick up any guests who might be there. While the adults were at breakfast the “Main Cabin” was being cleaned and the beds made or changed.

Lunch was packed for those going out fishing with a guide. We will always remember Zoe’s wonderful cookies. Lunch for the others was normally served at the “Main Cabin” and was usually very light. I remember having fruit, sandwiches and cold soup on the front porch looking out at the river.

The grandchildren were allowed access to the older green Au Sable river boats and would pole them as far upstream as Knight’s Bridge, and then fish or float down to the “Main Cabin.” We could pole in easy water and avoid the deep water at Ghoul’s Hole by staying in the channel just upstream of the “Main Cabin.” We would often fish in tennis shoes and bathing suits and we all loved swimming from the “Dining Cabin” down to the “Main Cabin.” To this day I have a recurring dream of the current carrying me past the “Main Cabin” and then downriver.

Dinnertime was usually set ahead of time. As evening approached and the fishermen returned, naps were over and everyone was cleaned up, the adults would relax on the front porch with a drink or two before dinner. A large cast bell would ring at the “Dining Cabin” indicating dinner was ready. We would all stroll up for dinner. Meals would rival those served in the very best restaurants. As a child all I can remember is the Baked Alaska, but we ate many wonderful things. I especially remember the miniature canoe and hand carved duck decoys that decorated the dining room. We would also watch deer graze in the meadow by the gazebo. It was normally dark when we walked back after dinner but the walkway was lighted. The evenings were peaceful.

The living room seemed to glow even when there was no fire. When the sun went down there was little to do but play cards, read or talk around the blazing fire. We would open the upper doors to the porch and could hear the river over the crackling fire. Our grandfather loved to play cards, and canasta or cribbage was his games of choice. He was very competitive, but I think he let us win. I remember being introduced to Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland while trying to stay awake on the down sofa. If you happened to be captured by that sofa, it would envelop you and put you to sleep in minutes. Television made a very late appearance at CGQ but was normally only used to watch an occasional Tigers game. Even the telephone was located outside in the tackle room.

Henry B. Smith Jr. owned several companies and was on the board of directors of the bank. To us, however, he was just Grandpa. He was a kind and gentle man who was very generous to family. He loved the Au Sable and he loved trout fishing so Ginger Quill was very much an extension of his personality. He always seemed happiest there. We often played cards together and watched Tigers games. He collected stamps and coins and showed some talent as an artist. He delighted in sharing his interests with us.

Our Grandmother, a very beautiful and elegant woman, would read to us and play and sing to us at the piano. She loved the woods and spent most of her time nurturing the garden she planted around the “Main Cabin.” She created a nature trail and filled it with Michigan’s most beautiful wild flowers. She also created a tree farm and planted thousands of trees throughout our property, much of which was seen only by her. She loved taking us through the woods to teach us about her trees, her flowers and her birds. She was a magnificent woman and much of the magic that is Camp Ginger Quill came directly from her. She also holds the Ginger Quill fishing record; a 24-3/4 inch brown caught just below the “Main Cabin.” The men who fish there never quite got over the fact she beat them and she was always there to remind them.

The Hottentots, a group of men who gathered at Ginger Quill on the 1st of May for the opening of trout season, held a one-day fishing contest to see who can catch the longest fish. The winner gets his name on a loving cup and gets to keep the cup for that year. He is also responsible for choosing the invitations for the next year. The invitations normally have the Ginger Quill logo, the date and the words “Happy Hottentots.”

The gathering of the Hottentots was quite a party. Although trout fishing was the number one priority, the Hottentots knew how to enjoy themselves. They all had a small paddle they would bang on the dining table to the beat of their song, “We are the Happy Hottentots,” bang, bang, bang, bang, etc. Missing a beat of the song could result in an unwanted swim in the river. It was usually a little difficult for the younger generation to be accepted as members, as the fathers weren’t sure they wanted their sons to see them having that much fun. The transitions took place, however, and the Hottentots remain active today although somewhat subdued. Catch and Release has forced them to fish below Wakeley’s Bridge or on the North Branch.

Camp Ginger Quill is indeed a very special place. It has affected everyone who has ever been touched by its spell. We in the Smith Family will always miss CGQ and treasure every moment we ever spent there. We are all pleased that Ginger Quill is still touching people’s lives.

As a series these essays provide a nice first-person glimpse into another time and another way of life on the Au Sable river. Look for the next installment in our series tomorrow.

Camp Ginger Quill was built in 1928 by my grandparents, Bay City businessman Henry B. Smith Jr. and his wife Katherine. It began as a small cabin just downstream from the present site. While making glue on the stove one evening, a small fire started and spread quickly. Fortunately no one was hurt but the cabin burned to the ground.

Three generations of the Smith family at Camp Ginger Quill: Frederick B Smith, Sr., Frederick B. Smith, Jr., and Henry B Smith Jr. on the dock with an Au Sable riverboat (Photo: Bay City Times).

Construction began the following year on the first cabin of the present complex. The “Main Cabin” as it was always known, was initially much smaller than it is today. It included three bedrooms, one bath, the living room, and a small kitchen. A screened porch ran the length of the cabin facing the river.

Two years later the “Main Cabin” was expanded. The hallway to the kitchen was extended down to a large master suite (which is now a bar and game room). Two small rooms along the hall were a bathroom and an office/tackle room. The master suite consisted of a screened porch, a large sitting area, and two single Dutch beds recessed into the wall. Both beds had curtains for more privacy or to block the sun for afternoon naps. A screened game room filled the space between the living room with its large stone fireplace and the master suite. It was dominated by a ping-pong table and exercise equipment, such as an old rowing machine, medicine balls and dumbbells. Access to the game room was a step down from the hall or from the front porch. The living room was closed at the fireplace end and firewood was stored on either side. (The game room is now a large kitchen and dining room.)

The green dock in front of the “Main Cabin” had a retaining wall that ran from the stairs to the down river end, and which also acted as a bench. A wrought iron sign hung from the light post near the stairs depicting two fishermen in a canoe, a rod bent by the pressure of a large trout, and the word “Ginger” at the top and “Quill” at the bottom. That sign was used as the Ginger Quill logo. A live well was in place at the down river end of the dock so we always had fresh trout. Fish that were not eaten in three days were tagged and released. No one has ever caught any of the tagged fish, however. The live well was a source of endless fascination for the grandchildren.

The Camp Ginger Quill dining room.

The “Dining Cabin” was built the year the “Main Cabin” was expanded and contained living quarters for the caretakers, a large kitchen and a beautiful dining room with a sitting space around a fireplace at the downriver end. There was also a screened porch at the dining room entrance. A long dock ran in front of the dining room and was accessed by two sets of stairs with log railings. At the upriver end of the dock was a boathouse topped by a screened gazebo. The gazebo was furnished with bentwood furniture and dominated by two bentwood swings. The view upstream was wonderful. There was a weather vane on top of the gazebo with the words “Wise Men Fish Here”. Eventually the boathouse developed structural problems and was torn down. The gazebo was moved back on land where it sits now. The “Dining Cabin” also sported a tennis court, which was eventually overtaken by the elements.

The “Main Cabin” and the “Dining Cabin” were connected by a wooden walkway that followed the basic path of the river. Henry and Katherine’s two sons, Henry III and Fred, were now in their early teens. A log cabin known as the “Boys’ Cabin” was built about halfway between the “Dining Cabin” and the “Main Cabin.” The two “Boys” helped in the construction and hence the name “Boy’s Cabin.” It was a very basic log structure with one bathroom, one private bedroom and two large open rooms, one at the down river end containing only beds and the larger central room with a sitting area around the fireplace and two beautiful custom bentwood beds. The walls were decorated with Henry III’s and Fred’s high school pennants, snowshoes, snow skis, a few stuffed animals and other sports items. There was a small screened porch and a very small dock. The “Boys’ Cabin” was often a favorite place for the teenage children and grandchildren as it offered some separation from the adults. The “Boys’ Cabin” always had bats which made it less attractive to the females of the family. We would often take the snowshoes off the walls to combat the bats.

During two years of rather dry weather, rattlesnakes had been found under the wooden walkway. Also the first two grandchildren were eighteen months-old and beginning to walk. This coupled with the problems in maintaining the wood made replacement necessary. In 1947 the wooden walkway was torn up and replaced by green colored concrete. Our initials can be found in the concrete by the “Boys’ Cabin.”

Other small buildings were two behind the “Main Cabin” – the laundry, which is now a bedroom and bath, and a garage/tackle room/outboard engine-firewood storage room, which is now a garage/bedroom/tackle room. There was a large garage by the “Dining Cabin” used for maintenance equipment, boat building and repair, and winter boat storage. Next to the garage was a gasoline storage tank.

At least two Au Sable riverboats were normally tied to the “Main Cabin” dock. The caretaker was usually a guide and the boats could be motored upstream with small outboard motors. Sheared cotter pins were common when the prop hit rocks, shallows or submerged logs. There is a path along the river upstream from the gazebo to Knight’s Bridge so we could wade a long stretch of river from Knight’s to the original cabin site.

Frederick B. Smith, Jr.

Our family cabin complex, Camp Ginger Quill, is located on the “Holy Water” about a half-mile upstream of Wakeley Bridge. As you float down from site of Knight’s Bridge, an old wooden footbridge which is no longer there, there was a beautiful view of the dining cabin, boat house and gazebo. Those building are now gone and a beautiful new log cabin have been build in its place. At the Dining Cabin the river bends ninety degrees to the left and flows down toward Ghoul’s Hole, passing both the Dining Cabin and the Boy’s Cabin on the right. At Ghoul’s Hole, a deep hole and home to many very large trout, the river takes another ninety degree turn to the right and flows past the Main Cabin. I have been told that the land directly across from the Main Cabin was the original site of Trout Unlimited.

The Camp Ginger Quill Boathouse

I have had a wonderful life. I have traveled around much of the world and lived in many beautiful places. My fondest memories, however, are of the times spent along and in the Au Sable River at Camp Ginger Quill.

Camp Ginger Quill was sold in the late 60s just as I was graduating from Alma College and about to enter the Air Force. I was the first of six grand children to leave Michigan. Of the two that remained, only one stayed in Bay City.

As my grandparents, who built Ginger Quill in the 1920s, eventually became too old and sick to use and care for it properly, they transferred ownership to their three children. These three families, all with children of college age at the time, didn’t have the means to maintain the property as their parents had nor did they all share to same vision for it’s use. The women who had previously been able to relax when they visited Ginger Quill were now forced to do all of the cooking and cleaning, often cleaning up after the previous guests. The men became painfully aware of the costs involved in maintaining the large complex, even at a minimal level.

Every attempt was made to sell the complex as a single unit but the first owner immediately split Ginger Quill into three parts, kept the Main Cabin and sold the two remaining parcels. The Main Cabin was eventually maintained by a partnership of several families. The Boys cabin was sold to an individual and the Dining Cabin fell into disrepair and had to be torn down.

Over the years I have returned to Michigan from our home in Texas to canoe and fish the Au Sable, each time stopping by Camp Ginger Quill hoping meet the new owners and share my memories. Finally about fifteen years ago there were people sitting on the Main Cabin dock. They were so eager to hear about my family and the history of Ginger Quill, I started gathering information and old photos to write my own history not only of the place but also of the magical quality it held. Mostly this history was written for my family, memories that we all shared but had begun to forget.

I was born in Jacksonville Florida in January of 1945 where my father was stationed in the Navy. Shortly after the war we moved back to Bay City Michigan where my brother Geoffrey and sister Mary Jo were born. After graduating from Alma College in 1967 I joined the Air Force. After officer school and a year of pilot training in Lubbock Texas I was stationed in Del Rio Texas for nearly five years. I met and married my wife of 42 years while in officer school and our only child, our son Scott was born in Del Rio.

After separating from the Air Force in 1973 I was hired as a pilot by Delta Airlines where I served for fifteen years in Houston and another fifteen years in Dallas, retiring 2003. We have since built a cabin in the Ozarks of northern Arkansas on the White River about five miles downstream from Bull Shoals Dam.  We’ve named the cabin Ginger Quill Cottage and are trying hard to encourage fly fishing on the White with limited success.

Hatch activity this weekend was dominated by flurries of “grannom” caddis (size #14 and #16). To match the hatch, classic elk-hair and Hemingway patterns will work, though caddis emergers and nymphs will work better. The other usual suspects for this time of year are still out in force, including Hendricksons (in sizes #12 and #14), Mahoganies (in sizes #16 and #18), March browns, and sulphers (#16 and #18). Look for sulphers to come out front and center over the next few days with heavy and regular hatches. Some rivers are already reporting that this has happened (like the P.M.), and that it is all about the little yellow bugs at this point.

Keep in mind that with most mayflies, in addition to duns, it is also worth carrying both emergers and spinners to complete the life cycle. Trout are very selective when it comes to that sort of thing.

To a lesser degree, there are some other bugs you might notice out on the river – and the trout might notice, too. In the slower water look for Leptophlebia cupida, a mayfly which is frequently imitated by the Borcher’s Drake or the Black Quill (#14 or so). A few Midwestern salmonflies (Pteronarcys dorsata) are possible encounters, as well – though it is a hard hatch to fish reliably. They are unmistakable due to their relatively large size. They can make a potentially good searching pattern, if the timing is right (try both quite early and quite late in the day).

It is worth noting that the “old reliable” BWOs are also out in full-force. It seems that Baetis are always around somewhere, and this time of the year it is good to carry both classic and new patterns for the entire lifecycle in sizes #16 and #18.

Streamer fishing is still hot, with those big Galloup & Linsenman streamers being a good bet (reports are that light colors are working well). And even though most of us think of hoppers as a July and August option, hopper-droppers are something to consider as well. Go out and get wet.

Racers ... Start your engines.

The 62nd annual Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon wrapped-up today. The winners, Andrew Triebold and Steve Lajoie, finished the run from Grayling to Oscoda with an unofficial time of 14:17:42. Triebold and Lajoie were the winners of the race last year, along with 2004, and Triebold was half of the 2007 winning team, as well. A record number of entries were recorded this year (over 90), although the record time for the race was set in 1994 at 13:58:08 by Serge Corbin and Solomon Carriere of Canada.

Even completing the grueling 120-mile race is a feat of great athleticism, and although fly anglers in general are no fans of the average weekend rental canoer, in my experience the racers I’ve met on the AuSable have been courteous, wonderful people. True|North|Trout congratulates Andrew Triebold and Steve Lajoie on their win!

As a bit of history, and an enjoyable bit of perspective, check out this recap of the 1973 race in the form of an essay written by Jim Harrison and published in Sports Illustrated entitled “A Machine with Two Pistons” on the win that year by Luc Robillard and Jerry Kellogg, and on the dynamics of racing back in the earlty 1970s. Interesting to see how the race, the racers, and the boats has changed, and how they have remained the same.

Closet Fodder

It’s hard not to notice the general decline in the quality of outdoor writing in the hook-and-bullet press. There are notable exceptions, of course, but the truth is that most sporting and outdoor publications are simply not exhibiting the quality or variety of writing that they once were. The best publications, thankfully, are holding up better — I put Gray’s Sporting Journal in that camp, for example — but for many of the mainstream outdoor publications the pattern seems to be to focus on favorable gear reviews for companies that buy advertising, along with a smattering of kiss-and-tell accounts of fishing on the better water. All in all, it is a minimal effort, but apparently it is enough to clear the newsstands, or so it would seem.

To me the Golden Age of outdoor magazine writing can be found in the mid-1960s through nearly the whole of the 1970s, and what set that time apart from now was, above all else, the generally outstanding literary quality of the writing itself.

I say all this by way of prelude as, thanks to the Internet, much of this writing can be revised today in the form of Sports Illustrated’s online archives. Although you might now associate Sports Illustrated with boobs and bikinis, boxing and baseball statistics, the truth is that, like Playboy, the 1960s and 1970s were actually rich periods for the magazine both in terms of the reach of the subject matter on which they were willing to publish, along with the quality of the writers that they asked to do the work.

A glace at the archives tells the story.

"Come to Michigan"

Start with Leland Day’s 1962 piece on fly fishing on Michigan’s AuSable River entitled “Drama of the Mayfly.” It remains as fresh and as interesting as the day it was published. Then check out Hank Babbitt’s 1967 essay, “A Boom and A Blunder On Lake Michigan” that relates the details of the introduction of Coho salmon on the fishery and the impact of that decision in terms of sportfishing expectations throughout the watershed. Babbitt also relates, briefly, the story of the famous 1967 storm that drowned seven anglers in the Sleeping Bear Dunes area (Jerry Dennis relates the details of the same story in his book The Living Great Lakes but from a different perspective).

A few years earlier, in July of 1961, Robert Cantwell told of fishing the Two-Hearted River, coincidently in the week of Hemingway’s death (“The River That Will Flow Forever“). Time and literary attention has demonstrated beyond a doubt that the river Hemingway has Nick Adams fishing is actually the Fox, but Cantwell does a good job of trying to make the facts fit the actual Two-Hearted nonetheless. His remarks about the land and the people of that area — now with a view back of almost 50 years — are worth perusing.

On the topic of Hemingway, take a peek at E.M. Swift’s piece from 1984 entitled “In the Country He Loved,” about Jack Hemingway’s return to his father’s Idaho landscape on a hunting and fishing expedition to the Sun Valley area.

Two favorite writers of mine had their work repeatedly grace the pages of Sports Illustrated in the early 1970s — Jim Harrison and Tom McGuane. Check out, for example, Harrison’s classic, “A Plaster Trout in Worm Heaven” (about the Kalkaska Trout Festival, among other things) along with “To Each His Own Chills and Thrills” (republished these days with the title of “Ice Fishing: The Moronic Sport”).

Trout Stamps

And here is a special treat — arguably the finest thing ever written on the topic of permit fishing, and perhaps keys fly fishing itself — Tom McGuane’s “The Longest Silence.” McGuane’s essays begins with what I would argue is perhaps the greatest opening line in the history of the literature of fly angling: “What is emphatic in angling is made so by the long silences—the unproductive periods.” This is a Hegelian notion, certainly, but also very much the case.

While you’re at it, take a few minutes to have a look at another of McGuane’s pieces in the vault worth a read — “An Unobtrusive, Shadowy Presence” — on the vicissitudes of hunting bonefish with a fly rod. Originally published in 1972, its another gem that will make most of what you read on the newsstand shelves these days even more banal than it already is.

An AuSable Riverboat

This Saturday, July 18, 2009, the Michigan Council of Trout Unlimited is holding a party to celebrate the first 50 years of Trout Unlimited in Michigan. The “Michigan Celebration” will be held at the DNR Rayburn property on the banks of the AuSable River, which is located about two miles east of Grayling off of North Down River Road. The event is free and open to the public. Canoeists, tubers, kayakers and other river users are also encouraged to attend as the Rayburn site is located right on the River.

The Michigan Celebration will include food, raffles, displays, games, entertainment, kid’s activities; fly casting & fly tying demonstrations and much more. There will be music, art and special presentations. Everyone is invited to come and learn about conservation efforts from numerous Trout Unlimited partners. We expect the event to be fun, interactive, informative and an all-around special day. For more information, please visit the Michigan Celebration website. (Michigan Trout Unlimited News Release)

Schedule of Events

10 AM       Clinton River Watershed Council – Volunteers and River Monitoring

11 AM        Writings of Robert Traver by Glen Blackwood

12 PM        Huron Pines – River Habitat Improvement

1 PM           Award Presentation

1:30 PM     Sierra Club – Water Sentinels and CAFOs

2 PM           Fly Casting Workshop

2 PM           Music by Mike Freer

3 PM            Michigan Environmental Council – Great Lakes Compact and Water Withdrawals

4 PM            Conservation Resource  Alliance  – River Projects in NW Michigan

5 PM             Music by Alan Cayn

7 PM             End Raffle

Ongoing Activities

10 AM – 4 PM      Face Painting

10 AM – 6 PM      Fly Casting

10 AM – 6 PM       Fly Tying Workshop

10 AM – 6 PM        Kids Fly Tying

This weekend Fuller’s North Branch Outing Club is pleased to host the 2009 Michigan Fly Fishing Festival. The North Branch Outing Club is located in historic Lovells, on the banks of the North Branch of the AuSable River.

The festival is sponsored by Sage Fly Rods, Mackinaw Harvest Music, and by Fuller’s NBOC. On the docket are a number of activities, including free fly fishing, fly tying, casting lessons, and a scotch and wine tasting program. For more on this event, click here.

Trout Unlimited’s Michigan Celebration: July 18th

Next Saturday July 18, 2009, the Michigan Council of Trout Unlimited is holding a party to celebrate the first 50 years of Trout Unlimited in Michigan. The “Michigan Celebration” will be held at the DNR Rayburn property on the banks of the AuSable River, which is located about two miles east of Grayling off of North Down River Road. The event is free and open to the public. Canoeists, tubers, kayakers and other river users are also encouraged to attend as the Rayburn site is located right on the river.

The Michigan Celebration will include food, raffles, displays, games, entertainment, kid’s activities; fly casting & fly tying demonstrations and much more. There will be music, art and special presentations. Everyone is invited to come and learn about conservation efforts from numerous Trout Unlimited partners. We expect the event to be fun, interactive, informative and an all around special day. For more information, please visit the Michigan Celebration website.

Spots

Now in its third year, Fuller’s North Branch Outing Club is pleased to host the 2009 Michigan Fly Fishing Festival on the weekend of July 11th and 12th. The North Branch Outing Club is located in historic Lovells, on the banks of the North Branch of the AuSable River.

The festival is sponsored by Sage Fly Rods, Mackinaw Harvest Music, and by Fuller’s NBOC. On the docket are a number of activities, including free fly fishing, fly tying, casting lessons, and a scotch and wine tasting program.

Also featured this year is the North Branch Outing Club’s Fly Fishing Challenge, which is a catch-and-release fishing tournament, and the Sage Casting Challenge, which is a distance-and-accuracy fly casting tournament. The prelims are held on July 11th with the finals on July 12th. Both the fly fishing challenge and the fly casting challenge require a $50 entry fee. One of the nicer parts of the Fly Fishing Festival is the music, and the festival will also host a lineup of performers on Saturday from 12PM to 6PM.