I might be turning into a west-sider come fall

[ausable_steelhead]

Okay guys, my wife may have a job transfer opportunity that may possibly take us to Petoskey. So I was just looking at a basic road map, and the Boardman and Elk rivers are the closest rivers aside from the Bear. I was wondering how far away is the Manistee roughly? It looks, to me anyways, a bit longer than my current Bay City to Oscoda route. I hope it works out, I've always wanted to live close to a decent salmon/steelhead area, if it happens, it'll be weird becoming a west-sider !

[ottertrapper]

From my travels from that area I would guess anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours maybe a tad more or less.

[Getaway]

Your a little closer to Frankfort/Platte river area too. You can't beat those two areas for surf/pier/stream fishing.

Good luck. Hopefully the wife has a good enough job that you can just take up fishing full time .

[ausable_steelhead]

Originally posted byGetaway Your a little closer to Frankfort/Platte river area too. You can't beat those two areas for surf/pier/stream fishing.

Good luck. Hopefully the wife has a good enough job that you can just take up fishing full time .

Cool, I love to pier and surf fish, I'll have to check that out. And that last part, if only it were true.... !

[BGB]

West side...better restuarants...better golf...more ports close...more islands....better sunsets (sunrises are available on the west side of Little Traverse)

the Manistee is over a two hour haul on land from Petoskey three on water

Your best close bet for a river, is the Jordan, the Bear isn't much nor is the Boyne

I won't open the can of worms concerning fishing

You also have Lake Charlevoix which offers a wide variety of everything including days on the little lake when the wind howls on the big one

I did several years on the sunrise side and I only regret that I did not move west earlier

[Hi-Tech Redneck]

ausable_steelhead - I wish you luck in your possible future relocation. I myself am leaving the Charlevoix area after four years next week to return down to the Whitehall/Montague area. Very nice area, lots of places to fish. The Big Man is a haul at about two and a half hours. They do catch salmon on the Bear, Boyne and Jordan. I know of a few spots a bit farther away that usually produce. PM me if you move to the area, and hopefully I'll be back on the internet in time to let you know for the fall run.

[gregm]

Westside's the Best Side!!!! (coming from someone who's lived in GR, AA, and now Lansing)

[ausable_steelhead]

The Big Man is a haul at about two and a half hours.

So it's about the same as my current drive there, from Bay City? Well, I'm sure I'll find something to fish. I mean, I plan on the Bear, as it's right there, but it's such a small area, I'm sure it's get;s very mobbed when the fish are in. Guess I'll just have to do some exploring, uugghhh ....

[Erik]

I've always wanted to live close to a decent salmon/steelhead area,

Aren't you the guy who said the west side rivers aren't as great as everybody makes them sound?
Sorry I couldn't resist

Hey, east or west, it's all good. Just alot more water to choose from on the west side. Wouldn't it be boring if we only had one body of water to fish?
Petosky is a beautiful area and certainly from a fishing stand point you should be happy there. I know I would be. Congratulations. Hope everything works out and you and your wife do well!

[ausable_steelhead]

Aren't you the guy who said the west side rivers aren't as great as everybody makes them sound
Sorry I couldn't resist

Yes I am ! I just meant they're not a 100% guarantee like some people were acting like. That, and I'm very defensive of my Au Sable ! And when I said I wanted to live close to a decent salmon/steelhead area, that meant anywhere east or west, just something besides the Saginaw river . If it happens, I'm sure gonna miss the ole' Sandy, I started up, and had some great times on that river.

[uptracker]

Don't forget you'll be closer to the U.P. too! The rapids are probably the same distance as the Manistee maybe less...and better fishing too.

[ausable_steelhead]

Don't forget you'll be closer to the U.P. too! The rapids are probably the same distance as the Manistee maybe less...and better fishing too.

You know, that never crossed my mind, good point !