Another good post, Spence. Yes, GPS gear has come a LONG, LONG way! The Trimble gear I have used needs only 4 satellites to collect data - given, of course, that they are well dispersed in the sky and not tightly together (sending your PDOP value into the hundreds!). Even so, it has always amazed me how many times I have been completely shut down in the field from a lack of sufficient satellites! Nevertheless, when it works it is truly remarkable technology, and I wish it was around during my grad school days, especially my uncompleted PhD work (aquatic entomology at the University of Missouri - Columbia). It has been a tremendous boon to environmental mapping, which is largely what I do - I am essentially an environmental surveyor.
With regards to trout fishing in SE Michigan, a cousin of mine mentioned the North Branch of the Clinton River, which is in fact designated trout water. He is interested in going and he lives in Metamora, not too far away so we might try to get a trip or two in before the end of the season. Otherwise, my favorite trout waters in this state are the Rifle (Ogemaw Co.) and the Maple (Emmet Co.), and I will be hitting the latter this coming weekend. I have strong affiliations with the U of M Biological Station between Pellston and Cheboygan, and this is the stream I originally learned on (during Hexagenia hatches, no less). This time of the year a #10 Royal Wulff just before and after dark works pretty well, plus maybe some hoppers - I need to tie a bunch in the next few days.
Concerning "secret flies", I have a terrific warmwater streamer pattern that I developed some years ago called Jonathon's Killer Bass Fly (or KBF for short). In spite of the fact that I have given away a number of these flies over the years, I have yet to see them turn up in any magazine, tying book, flyshop, or anyone else's boxes. Perhaps they don't take me seriously because I fish primarily warmwaters, or maybe they don't have the luck with it that I have had, but this pattern, in several color variants and combinations, has been FREAKIN' DEADLY for me for over 4 years now. It got its name from a 20", 5 1/2 lb. largemouth I nailed on it in Texas in 2005, and has never stopped catching bass (largemouth, smallmouth including a 16-incher, and rock), sunfish, crappie, and yellow perch since. And, most importantly, I hooked and (sadly) lost a 20"+ brown on the Pigeon last summer on it! (I will be flinging them on the Maple this weekend.) All it is is a twist on the old Comet steelhead fly but with different materials. One of these days I am going to get around to posting step-by-step photos showing how to tie it on this site. Since you're nearby (I live in Troy), perhaps we can get together for some fly rodding and I will show them to you - they're easy to tie but the materials are particular and not available everywhere.
I do plan on revisiting Paint Creek before the end of the season and after I get some hoppers, crickets, and katydids tied up (some Wulffs too - big favorites of mine).
Tight lines and let's go fishing some time!
Jonathon
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere...