3/29/15 Consolation Prize

I knew going into Sunday that it was going to be an unusual day. The weather forecast for the day was not very good. Despite the weather, Nick and I sat in a parking lot looking out across Lake Michigan at the gloomy sky and wind swept beach. The question: should we go out in the kayaks and fish despite the forecasted heavy winds and rain? We spent a long time to decide but in the end it really is a pretty simple answer: If you have to debate it, it probably isn't worth the risk. After parting ways with Nick, I decided to drive around and check out access points for the Lake Michigan tributaries and see if I could spot any anglers and/or Steelhead. I found some really neat access points and even ran into a member of the Team Triggerfinger website. He was float fishing one of the lower creeks and told me that he hadn't had much action. After we parted ways I headed upstream to check out another access point. The stream in this section really looked pretty good so I decided to get out of the truck and take a walk to check it out. As an afterthought I decided to take a rod and tied on an orange spinner that I had good luck with last year. I would later regret the decision to not take any other gear with me. I immediately began to see signs of life and spotted several fish in the relatively clear water. I began to fish the spinner like I would fish a small trout stream, casting in front of and behind laydowns and working the lure across the current to tempt fish hidden under submerged wood. I came across this spot that looked good but I thought to myself "this would be a tough place to land a fish if I hooked one". The bank was high and steep and there were several laydowns creating a small triangle into which I could cast. I threw a cast into the triangle and immediately saw a Steelhead swirl on and miss my spinner. I cast again and had the exact same result. The Steelhead swirled on it and missed it again! I cast a third time and the Steelhead swirled on it and missed it a third time! With my fourth cast I purposely tried to move the lure slower and give it more time in the water. As if on cue, the Steelhead grabbed my spinner and the battle was on! The fish did not want to leave it's hole so it spent most of the battle thrashing and whirling around in a very small area. I slid down the bank on my butt to the water, and managed to hand-land the fish. It was a beautiful female. She was full of eggs and had some very nice color to her. I snapped a few pictures with my phone (they came out blurry and didn't turn out as well as I would have liked) and got her back in the water. It was about this time that I wished I had brought a camera, landing net, and pliers with me. I was pretty far from the truck at this point so I decided to continue on without going back for those things. I was sitting on the bank in the afterglow of catching that fish when I realized that I had set my reel down in tons of mud! I had to disassemble the reel and wash each part in the river to get it to work properly again. I continued on downstream and shortly came to another great looking hole. I cast out and immediately had a fish come up and take my spinner! I tried to set the hook and realized that after I had taken my reel apart, I had forgot to tighten my drag down enough to get a good hook set. I immediately tried to tighten my drag but it was already too late. A fish that I should have landed came off within 5 seconds of being hooked. Shortly after this I snagged my spinner on a branch and it broke off leaving me without a lure. I decided that it was worth it to go back, grab some things from the truck, and continue on. I marked the spot with a stick so I would know where to pick back up fishing when I returned. I grabbed more lures, my camera, pliers, and net from the truck and made the journey back. I continued fishing for several more hours to no avail. Towards the end of the day I did manage to land a small Brown Trout which was a complete surprise. All in all I fished about 2 miles of stream, saw probably 30-40 Steelies, and went 2/3. Not a bad day despite not getting on Lake Michigan as planned. The section of stream I fished was really very nice. Unlike the other tributaries it was in a completely wooded area, there was very little garbage, and I did not see another soul the whole time I was out. If you ask me, I couldn't have asked for a better outcome to an unusual day.

3/25/15 The Lone Crappie

I had time after work tonight to get out and chase some fish. The local rivers are finally getting back in shape after all the snow melt. While tempted by decent reports of guys catching Walleyes at some of the local dams, I decided on chasing some Crappies in preparation for the start of the Midwest Kayak Fishing Series April Crappie Tournament. It was a very slow night as I only got one fish. The one I did manage though was very nice at just over 14'' long. All in all not a terrible outing. Nice to be on the water and I know the best is yet to come.

Video - The "Coho Roll"

Here is a short video featuring my trip from 3/15/15.

3/15/15 My Kind of March Madness

I got up to Lake Michigan for the second weekend in a row. The week between trips was extremely warm and the difference in the lake itself was remarkable. I was planning on launching from a public beach. When I arrived, there was 6 foot tall shelf ice all along the beach as far as I could see, except for one 10 foot section that was inexplicably open. It made the perfect launching point for the day. The plan for the day was simple: cast two places where I have caught fish before and troll the water between them. It was a beautiful bright sunny day and the water was an amazing turqouise color. Once I was far enough off the beach, I cast out two crankbaits and began to troll to my first spot. As I was headed that way, I passed numerous ice burgs that had come off the beach and were slowly drifting out into the lake. Each burg had several seagulls on it. It was an entertaining and very unusual sight. It was about a mile paddle and I caught no fish on the way to the first spot. I swapped the crank on one of my rods for a spoon and began casting to the rocks. About 10 casts went by with no action. On the next cast there was a very strange feeling in the rod as if I had pulled through a small patch of weeds. I didn't think much of it until the lure was in sight and I could see a bright Coho slashing back and forth right behind the lure the whole way back to the boat. I never did hook that fish but it gave me hope and before long I had hooked up with my first Coho! Now for anyone who has never fought a spring Coho, I feel like I should describe their fight. Instead of pulling like most other fish, as soon as they are hooked, they begin to roll and twist and spin. It is very unusual and quite the sight. I got some decent video of it that I will post when I get it edited. I must admit though, they are a blast to catch while casting! I caught 4 fish in quick order and lost another when he rolled so much he became completely wrapped up in my line and while still struggling somehow managed to break me off. After the action slowed, I decided to head to my second selected spot. I put out my cranks and slowly trolled the mile or so to my next spot. I didn't catch any fish on the way to the second spot. I spent several hours casting in the second area. I tried a variety of lures including spoons, spinners, cranks, and jigs with limited success. I did catch 2 Cohos on a spoon but the action was pretty slow. The wind began to slowly build as the day went on and it was becoming a real pain since I hadn't brought an anchor due to the forecast of winds being light and variable all day. I was beginning to tire out so I knew it was time to leave and head back for the beach. I put a deep diving crank on one rod and the small red/orange crank that I had used the week prior and with which I had caught a few Cohos. I trolled through the area to which I had just been casting and lo and behold on my first pass I picked up a nice coho on the red/orange crankbait. After that fish, I decided to give the spot a few more passes before leaving. On a subsequent pass, I ended up catching another coho on the red/orange crank. At this point I had decided to head out after one more pass through the area. During the last pass, the rod with the deep diving crank on it absolutely buried and began to take out line. Usually this happens when you have hooked the bottom, but in this case I realized it was a fish when the rod began to dance! I knew this was not going to be a Coho so I quickly cleared my second rod and began the fight. This fish was staying deep and taking line during each run. What was it going to be? Steelhead? Brown? Laker? My adrenaline was in high gear and my heart was racing the entire time. After a few minutes my quarry came into view: Brown Trout. BIG Brown Trout! After a few more runs I had the fish to the surface and my net in the other hand. I pulled with the rod and reached with the net and my line went slack. What?!?!?!? I did not just lose this fish right at the boat! I am still not sure what happened but luckily the fish was still there somehow. I got it back to the surface and my second net attempt succeeded. I had my copper prize in the bag. I must admit that the fish was not as big as I had thought when I had first seen it. But nonetheless, it was still a nice, girthy, magnificent fish. I snapped some quick pictures and gently revived it and returned it to the lake. Even as I write this, I admit I can't stop thinking about this awesome fish and the fight that I was lucky enough to enjoy. After that high, I figured it was time to leave and began to troll back to the beach. I ended up catching one more Coho on the deep diver randomly while trolling. This brought my total fish count to 9 Cohos and 1 Brown. By this time, the wind had really picked up and I fought my way more than a mile back to the beach through 2+ foot waves. Overall, it was an amazing day and I'm sure I will think about it for a long time to come. I got some very nice video of several cohos, but unfortunately my camera was dead long before I got the Brown. At least I got some stellar pictures. Enjoy the media and start to think about getting on the water if you haven't already.

3/8/15 I'm Back!

I met up with Nick the "Brookfield Angler" on Sunday to do a little spring Coho Salmon fishing. We met up at one of the few ice-free tributaries to Lake Michigan. There were tons of people out fishing from the bank and from boats! The day started out rather slow, but we were seeing other anglers pull in the occasional Coho so we remained optimistic. We paddled upstream for almost 2 1/2 miles. As we went, the temperature of the water increased from 39 degrees to a balmy 45. We paddled upstream until ice and a laydown blocked any further upstream progress. This river system is very unique and a really neat place to paddle. The bank has extremely high sides and the water is relatively clear and fast moving. We began fishing our way back downstream looking for some Steelhead or Coho action. I was throwing a bright orange spoon and had two Cohos chase, but not hit my lure. It wasn't until I switched to a small orange/red crankbait that I caught my first fish, a Coho of just over 16 inches. Over the next several hours fishing was slow, but we managed to land a few more Cohos. It was really REALLY nice to be back on the water after a two-month forced hiatus. The weather was pretty nice and the scenery was unique. Once the lake opens up the game will really be on. I hope you are ready. Spring fishing is here!