GRAMPA'S ADVICE

Conditions can be frigid in the spring. 

  Each customer I take out on Lake Michigan gets either an email from me or a letter through the regular mail that gives them directions to the marina, advice such as “don’t forget sun screen,” and other tidbits of information. Among the tidbits is a saying I learned from my dad who was quoting my great grandfather, a man of whom I have only scant remembrance.
 
  Grampa Charlie’s advice is, “It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”  Wise words and none better when figuring what kind of clothing to choose for a day on Lake Michigan.

Conditions can be tropical in the summer. 

  One of the advantages of fishing on the Brother Nature is it’s open and roomy for fishermen. One of the disadvantages is the same, especially the “open” part. If it’s sunny, you’ll be in the sun. If it’s cold you’ll be in the cold.  So dress accordingly. And dress for the time of day you’ll be out there.

  If the high is predicted to be 90 degrees, light clothing is all you’ll need. However, if we are leaving the dock at dawn and it will only be 65 degrees at that time, you are going to be chilly in a tee-shirt and shorts.

  Don’t forget the lake affect, either. Ninety degrees on land doesn’t mean 90 degrees if we are 15 miles offshore in 64 degree surface water. If there’s much of a breeze, the on-board temperature may not exceed lower 70s all day.

 

So plan it out and tote it along.  I do, everyday. I might have only a scant memory of my ol’ grampa Charlie, but I remember his words. “It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.”

GREAT FISHING, TWO WAYS

The weather forecast was for waves “about a foot” for last Friday and Saturday. On Lake Michigan that can have waves over 20 feet high during gales, “about a foot” is a great forecast.

Luckily, much of our early season fishing is nearshore where even if the evil winds are blowing, we can tuck in behind industrial breakwalls or stay nearshore where the seas will be kinder. But come summer, often it’s offshore 10 miles or more or nothing, so a calm mid-lake forecast is like a kiss from a pretty girl.

The forecast for Friday and Saturday was off by about 8 inches. The waves never got over four inches!  Back to back, flat calm conditions are exceedingly rare.

 The odd thing is how different the fishing was on those two days.

This is what the lake looked like as we were motoring to the fishing area on both Friday and Saturday mornings. You can see how majestically beautiful it was just after sunrise and it stayed that way all day, both days.

And on Friday, the fish loved it! The first fish bit while I was setting the third rod. A magnificent lake trout, Lake Michigan’s native apex predator came to the net. Then another and another and another and.... In short order, we had our laker limits and I pushed our trolling speed up, switched to lures more conducive to catching steelhead or salmon and the lakers continued to slurp up our baits. We did have one steelhead bite, but it threw the hook on it’s second aerial display.

I figured the next day was a slam dunk. No weather changes, I knew where the fish were, another great weather day. Ah, but the fish gods weren’t smiling!

This is my "should have been here yesterday crew" from Saturday. These guys are smiling because of the weather but what you see is the total catch. Three (nice) trout and one decent steelhead. We had a few other bites but a fish not caught is not counted for the most part.

As the sayings go, "that's why it's called fishing, not catching," or "the fishing was great, the catching was slow," or "A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work."

So both days were successful, but in different ways. The saga of the Brother Nature continues.....