#5 My First Muskie.
I caught this fish on a bucktail within an hour of arriving at a lake I had never fished before. I threw a cast into a small feeder creek and felt the telltale 'thump' of a fish hitting the spinner. I set the hook and began to reel in what I thought was going to be a relatively small bass. The fish was coming straight to the boat and I thought the fight would be over before I knew it. The fish cvame into sight and I was shocked to see a small but beautiful Muskie on the end of my line. The fish must have finally realized he was hooked because he started to fight in the frantic, frenetic way that Muskies and Pike always do. The ran around quite a bit and even jumped a few times before I landed him.This fish did not give me a particularly long or memorable fight but for good or bad this was the fish that began a new addiction. Muskie fishing didn't seem so hard back then. I have since learned the brutal, hard truth of Muskie fishing. It's not easy and it takes time, dedication, and hard work. Even with all that effort you will still leave disappointed more often than not. With that said, nothing quite beats the adrenaline rush of catching a Muskie. The high of landing a nice fish seems even more dramatic when set against the low of getting your butt kicked over and over again.
#4 A Monster Spring Steelhead.
The spring of 2014 was one of those long springs that seemed to last well into May. With the cool weather, the steelhead were still in the tributaries and spawning as late as May. Sometimes they spawn and are gone as early as mid March. My dad and I finally got an opportunity to get out and fish for them in late April. It was an absolutely beautiful day that started cold and warmed up nicely into the 50s. The sun was shining bright and the Steelhead spawn was in full swing. We fished trail creek for a few hours without much luck. I was fishing a float with a single egg behind spawning fish and finally I hooked up on a very nice male Steelhead. I had it on for a few minutes until the fish was able to wrap my line around a shopping cart (Yes a SHOPPING CART of all things) and broke me off. I was very deflated. My dad and I decided to take a break, eat some lunch, and come up with a new plan for the afternoon. We decided on heading to a different tributary and fishing a new spot that I had never tried previously. It was a hike to get to the spot and the bank was extremely high and steep. My dad decided to say at the top of the hill while I carefully made my way down to throw some casts. I picked my way down and once at the bottom I began fan casting the pool with a spinner. With a couple of casts, a pair of large, male Steelhead made their way down the river and stopped right in front of me. The began the typical male spawning behavior of beating on each other constantly and chasing each other around. Usually these fish are ones that you can catch easily with a spinner as they are already very aggressive and any little thing that crosses there path could potentially get absolutely smashed. I made some casts in front of them hoping to get a reaction from them. However, they were focused on each other and paid no attention to my spinner. They eventually chased each other downstream and out of sight. Damn, I wasn't going to get a chance at them after all. I was going to make a few more casts before moving on, when suddenly one of the two fish showed back up. My lure swung across the current and the fish rushed forward and hammered it. I was shocked! In what seemed like a matter of a few seconds my dad was suddenly at my side and grabbed the net off of my back. To this day I have no idea how he got down that bank so fast! After a relatively brief fight the fish was in the net. I was shocked by the size of this fish! It wasn't just long, but it had an admirable girth as well. We got a couple of quick pictures and I let the fish go on it's way. I didn't take any measurements or anything but I am absolutely sure that this was the biggest Steelhead that I have ever caught! It still holds that title to this day.
The most recently caught fish on my list. I've been in a slump. The end of my 2017 was extremely disappointing and the beginning of 2018 hadn't been going at all. Until I got an unexpected text from Ralph Steiger. He was predicting several good days of fishing to be had on Lake Michigan towards the end of January. South winds and warm temps were in the forecast. I jumped at the chance to go as it had been several years since my dad and I had got to fish with Ralph due to weather cancellations. As our chosen day approached, the weather forecast was beginning to look less promising. Heavy winds and rain were predicted and it was looking to be another bust for us. By some miracle the night before our trip, the weather didn't look so bad and an enthusiastic Ralph advised us to dress for the weather and head up the following morning. On the trip up there was a thunderstorm moving through the area and my dad and I drove through thunder, lightning, wind, and rain. As if on cue, minutes after our arrival the rain quit and we were able to make it on the water soon after. We were targeting Brown Trout in shallows with jigs. We caught quite a few smaller ifsh in the 16-20" Range. Think about that, the small fish are 16-20"! We spent a few hours fishing our first spot. We were getting close to leaving when my dad got snagged and broke off on some rocks. I made a cast to the rocks, jigged my lure one time and WHAM it was fish on. Only this one was different. It came to the surface and rolled and I knew it was big. After a relatively long and intense battle, the monster Brown made his way into the net. I was shaking and so glad to see the fish hit the net. Definitely my biggest Brown Trout ever and a great way to start the open water season! Thanks Ralph!
#2 A Northern Pike That Dreams Are Made Of...
Prior to this fish I had only ever really caught just a handful of Northern Pike. I wasn't even really that into fishing for them. It was a cool April day and I was out in my trusty old Future Beach kayak. I was trolling for Trout with small flicker shad crank baits. I had caught a few small bass and at least one trout when out of nowhere, one of my rods pinned back and started to take line. At first I thought I had snagged the bottom, but a quick check of my electronics told me otherwise. I was in 30 feet of water with nothing around to snag on. Then the head shakes started...I pulled the rod from the holder and carefully started to take in a little line. The fish then took a fast and powerful run. this same thing repeated itself about a dozen times or so it felt like. I'm thinking to myself 'oh man! I've got the new state record Rainbow on right now!' After an intense battle the fish finally decided to show itself. Wow! A GIANT northern Pike! I had no way to land this fish, no net, no fish grips, no friend to give me a helping hand. I had no choice but to hang on and wait. After what seemed like an absolute eternity, the fish tired and was laying on it's side, exhausted. I seized the opportunity and grabbed the fish by it's gill plate and hauled it into the kayak. It was too tired to fight back and once I had ahold of it, handling it was relatively easy. My crank bait was buried perfectly in the corner of the fishes jaw. My 6 pound test line and the smooth drag on my Shimano reel made this whole thing possible. I measured the fish on my paddle and gawked at it for a bit before sliding it back into the water to revive. I held it for a while and then watched it slowly swim back to the depths. I measured the paddle when I got home and was shocked by what I saw. 39 3/4" long! What a fish! I had never caught a fish like that before and the closest I have come since was a 37" Pike from a River a few years ago. Looking back I knew it was big, but didn't truly understand how big until all these years later.
#1 My First Steelhead.
This is the fish that very nearly single handedly ruined fishing for me. Prior to catching this fish, the only trout I had ever caught were small stocker fish that the DNR puts into our rivers in the spring. A 16" fish would be a big one! I was talking with Rick at Pro Tackle Outfitters and I got the idea in my head that I should go to South Bend and try to catch a Steelhead. At this point, I had never even seen a Steelhead in person. My dad and I traveled up to take a look and do some scouting. We found a few access points and even saw several fish moving through the fish ladders. We finished up our trip by checked out the access sight at the Twin Branch Dam. I walked down to the bank and watched more than several people fishing. One of the guys was leaving and had a Steelhead with him on a stringer. I was excited to see one in person but this guy seemed very unexcited about it and barely gave me a shrug when I tried to talk to him about it. Never lose your excitement for fishing! If you do, I don't think that I would see the point anymore. Anyways, after seeing all of this, I made the decision to plan a return trip the following weekend. It was cold the following weekend but despite that, Troy and I decided to make the trip back to try our hand at Steelhead fishing. We really didn't have much of an idea of what to do. We ran into a local and he helped us out tremendously with our rigs and locations where we should try fishing. He put us into a run and we were casting bottoms bouncing rigs. I hooked a fish but within a few seconds it shook off and was gone. I was worried that this was going to be my only chance at a Steelhead. In the next few minutes I was going to be proven wrong. My rig was bouncing the bottom when all of a sudden it stopped cold. I set the hook and the battle was on! This fish gave me several great jumps and took many long runs stripping line off of my reel. I was shell shocked. I had never experienced anything like that before and could not believe the fight this fish was putting up! The fight was a long one and I could tell that the adrenaline from hooking the fish was wearing off and I was starting to shake. The fish came to the net multiple times but each time managed to find the energy to take off again and avoid capture. I was so unbelievably nervous that this fish was going to come unhooked or break me off. It never happened and eventually the fish made its way into the net. What an absolutely incredible fish and what an incredible fight! This fish graces the wall of the living room to this day and serves as a reminder of how amazing fishing really can be!
These stories and pictures are a constant reminder to me as to why I continue to fish. Even during the bad times and tough trips I remember that at any point my luck can turn around and I can hook into the fish of a lifetime. It has happened before and it will certainly happen again.
