tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54772229390209047302023-11-16T05:00:37.306-08:00Brother NatureCaptain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-80359788145037099702019-03-06T04:58:00.000-08:002019-03-06T04:58:08.220-08:00INDIANA ANGLERS STARTED THE SALMON RACE<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The story of how salmon native to the Pacific Ocean revitalized the Great Lake’s sportfishing industry, became a core activity for tourism from northern Minnesota to New York and spawned a billion dollar fishing industry is a long, complex tale. The first Pacific salmon were stocked in Lake Michigan by the Michigan DNR over fifty years ago.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhry_eMvoLvCcc3tZ6GH8VqajfwGn616aGjaSZcW2CCRM-Z04a27ErDApdrlMZYBKflv-cfkJXUwWBhiUumimkMJeXdIPIJplDrOKUMuxIMYEeGvCnXOqE0IzlciSIDDicBK6a4iTUI4CA/s1600/jb.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhry_eMvoLvCcc3tZ6GH8VqajfwGn616aGjaSZcW2CCRM-Z04a27ErDApdrlMZYBKflv-cfkJXUwWBhiUumimkMJeXdIPIJplDrOKUMuxIMYEeGvCnXOqE0IzlciSIDDicBK6a4iTUI4CA/s400/jb.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The industrial shoreline in Indiana was the <br />first place salmon were caught in the<br />Great Lakes. </td></tr>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Why they stocked them is a part of the story, why coho salmon were chosen is another part and there are many other chapters to the story. Indiana’s tiny portion of Lake Michigan would be mentioned in many of those chapters for a variety of reasons; but if you were reading the tale, the first mention of the Hoosier state would likely be how fishermen in Indiana were the first to actually catch salmon from the Great Lakes.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>One year old, fingerling coho salmon were stocked into the Great Lakes in northern Lake Michigan in 1966. If they would live and prosper was unknown. Where the salmon would go was unknown. As far as anyone could guess, their fate could possibly remain unknown for two more years when any that did survive would hopefully return to where they were stocked as mature adults. It didn’t take that long.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In early spring of 1968 anglers fishing shoreline areas at Michigan City, East Chicago and Whiting, Indiana started hooking these “funny looking trout” instead of the perch, panfish or whatever other fish they hoped to catch. Some of the lucky anglers took the fish to Indiana’s DNR - Lake Michigan office where biologists identified them as coho salmon.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>With a minor amount of sleuthing, the mystery was solved. These were the “experimental” salmon stocked by Michigan. They were alive, healthy and growing well. Eventually, they did return to their stocking site and hundreds or thousands of them were caught up there. But they were here in Indiana first.<br />
These initial catches were newsworthy and I soon learned the news. I was on spring break of my freshmen year at Purdue so a friend and I grabbed what fishing gear we owned and headed for the lake. We were unsuccessful in actually catching one. I know now where, when and how we were fishing was unlikely to produce for us, but it really didn't matter. We were salmon fishing right here in Indiana and for me, it became a lifelong obsession.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indiana and other states races to build salmon<br />hatcheries for to stock the Great Lakes</td></tr>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>These fish were the green flag, signalling the start of the race for each Great Lakes state to gear up or expand their fish hatchery systems to produce cohos, king salmon, steelhead trout and brown trout to fill up their own portion of the lake for their anglers to catch.<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>From an angler’s perspective, Great Lakes salmon fishing started here in Indiana and even after a half century it continues. What has been established is each year most of the coho salmon in Lake Michigan, now annually stocked by Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, show up along Indiana’s shoreline in late winter and crowd the shallows through most of the spring months.<br />
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Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-64730226747421982782018-03-31T07:39:00.000-07:002018-03-31T07:39:32.054-07:00FAMILY PLANNING I’m not writing about couples deciding when or if there’s a good time to have kids. I’ll leave the timing, good or bad, planned or surprises to those with more wisdom than I and people still of child bearing age.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoryZPz-n_zr0cvpX6REzYmG9rQc8Z-N7VD4DpZ6JCbi9TfgU1c86TeRIRpBkYfubhIQY51M-btjrQZIXJUWMTaCcew-AjSyv9bq8qjY01I0ZnkNTe03dVesXxTrxJnDBAznwbeFmfEWE/s1600/c4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoryZPz-n_zr0cvpX6REzYmG9rQc8Z-N7VD4DpZ6JCbi9TfgU1c86TeRIRpBkYfubhIQY51M-btjrQZIXJUWMTaCcew-AjSyv9bq8qjY01I0ZnkNTe03dVesXxTrxJnDBAznwbeFmfEWE/s320/c4.jpg" width="320" /></a> I’m talking about planning a family fishing trip. The conundrum is family fishing trips are a great way to spend family “together” time, but planning the time when work, responsibilities, youth activities and all the other “demands” of life allows for a mutually agreeable date to simply go fishing is difficult. I’ve been told dozens of times, “I wanted to plan a fishing trip with you but we just couldn’t come up with a date that suited everyone, between work, school, Little League....”<br />
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I frequently get a call or message from a potential customer asking about a fishing trip with me. The person sounds excited and optimistic with what they learn, but when they say, “Great, I’ll get with the others and see what day will work for us,” I know it’s probably a no-sale. Trying to get three or four peoples' schedule to coincide perfectly is unlikely to happen in this age.<br />
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My advice to them (and to you readers wanting to plan a fishing trip or other family outing) is to pick a date, make the date and then put on “the big-boy pants” and just tell the others, “This is the day we are going fishing.” (Or hiking or to the zoo, or....).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDoqfh8SKogwDbMzAWgEP3uQjWsKrP4V1IcA4VBrzMjrbBDbCPNKv0Z999h7nYvlEXrQSXGMvgUwa8rmQz0lSkjZEs8lWt_3C385lihEB52_HsBVId0_A1iu_eHqzRGFAwR9hssc_-56I/s1600/bu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDoqfh8SKogwDbMzAWgEP3uQjWsKrP4V1IcA4VBrzMjrbBDbCPNKv0Z999h7nYvlEXrQSXGMvgUwa8rmQz0lSkjZEs8lWt_3C385lihEB52_HsBVId0_A1iu_eHqzRGFAwR9hssc_-56I/s320/bu.jpg" width="320" /></a> Realize, few family things short of weddings and funerals are so unchangeable, the scheduling is indelible. If scheduling were easy, we could all spend New Year’s Day planning every activity for the following year. In truth, plans are being juggled all the time and if you plan “unalterably” the day you and others are going fishing, almost miraculously, other plans (short of weddings and funerals) can be rescheduled.<br />
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No more excuses! Put on your big-boy pants and give me a call. Let’s go fishing. <br />
Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-75186111610739473552018-03-03T06:53:00.000-08:002018-03-03T06:53:33.530-08:00LUCKY BREAKS OR BRIEFS? One day a few years ago a friend was fishing in his boat in the same area I was piloting the Brother Nature. We were in radio contact and regularly gave each other updates about how our fishing was going. For some reason the “early” bite on his boat died down to almost nothing while the people on my boat were still reeling in salmon, one after another.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Was Bill's luck due to his hat, sunglasses<br />or his snappy bibs? </td></tr>
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Southern Lake Michigan captains are always good about telling each other where and how they are catching fish with other fishermen. So it wasn’t long until I was coaching my friend about the lures, how deep and all the other particulars.<br />
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It didn’t help. The fish kept coming for me, not so hot for them. Finally, the other captain said something like, “I’m using the same lure, same depth, we’re going the same speed. Everything is the same. What color of underwear are you wearing?”<br />
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Ever since, it’s become a joke between the two of us. Each day we fish near each other, one of us will radio to the other asking about our choice of under shorts for the day. <br />
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It got me wondering. Almost all fishermen are superstitious. Some wear the same hat for luck. I have a friend who swears he has lucky sunglasses he only pulls out when the fish are proving particularly reluctant to bite.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqDkMnVKpJmsCwS2XE64JB9kHJh0NRFf-vso1XBd2-vOMPwtqVPgjKVoxXJXztVTDjDc4OKpTwqZLpLy2zew_ncv-wNhd23VtYwOrUI_qAu9WgrOfDZ5thl2zy7g3euUu5cBfT9gMCCo/s1600/boxers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqDkMnVKpJmsCwS2XE64JB9kHJh0NRFf-vso1XBd2-vOMPwtqVPgjKVoxXJXztVTDjDc4OKpTwqZLpLy2zew_ncv-wNhd23VtYwOrUI_qAu9WgrOfDZ5thl2zy7g3euUu5cBfT9gMCCo/s320/boxers.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Does the color (and/or style) of undies hiding under my jeans put out any fish-catching mojo? I hope not. I have enough details with which to keep track of each day without starting each trip by matching my choice of boxers to the wind direction or some other factor.<br />
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Still, when I got the email advertisement from AFTCO, one of the most trusted names in fishing gear, announcing the addition of “Fishing Camo” pattern boxers to their line of fishing shirts, shorts and other apparel, I had to take a look.<br />
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What do you think? Would I look good in these? (No.) But would it make any difference to the fish? <br />
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Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-92232136309040235062018-02-19T04:55:00.000-08:002018-02-19T04:55:29.233-08:00ICE OUT, FISH ON<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIw3VAKmY8j8FahU5mbPK4qlsx3xaZNyvyQTVMpSJZRUCiNoTY1aHKdmXPmYMhera7hvrxQ8m3Ok0IVyBKxZinhPMt2SyruOhxPYBspTJth3whDkd3k8JMJWUpHa4Ulyj5haCRG5jjWu0/s1600/lakeice1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1283" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIw3VAKmY8j8FahU5mbPK4qlsx3xaZNyvyQTVMpSJZRUCiNoTY1aHKdmXPmYMhera7hvrxQ8m3Ok0IVyBKxZinhPMt2SyruOhxPYBspTJth3whDkd3k8JMJWUpHa4Ulyj5haCRG5jjWu0/s400/lakeice1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Unlike some places with set dates for open and closed seasons, the fishing season on Lake Michigan is open all year around. It’s Mother Nature and the fish making the determination as to where and when the “season” will be open. At this time of year it’s all about ice out.<br />
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The photo here was taken from a satellite in mid-February. As you can see, the 2017-18 winter didn’t produce a significant amount of ice in total and what is there has blown down to the south end of the lake. That ice and the ice inside the marinas where I launch and load the boat are all that’s between “wishing and fishing!” A few warm days with south winds and it’s game on!<br />
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The photos here show what’s happening. The one on the left shows approximately where all the cohos in Lake Michigan are now swimming. That zone was the last area to cool down in the fall and winter months and where the salmon schooled up (huddled up?) trying to keep in their preferred temperature range.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJyeOvainrc3JbbOcg2XRkYB8g9_0k7jS4QAPzCh81SqtP8zFwwmSikgOw_QSQD5-9GDctxV7TQ5Iq3gHh4Nw1SjkKIxe3YVwKjTDDhm-59rcQ0U6FfxPeDSeSdldYqp1Wk3Xay6q7ew/s1600/spot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="823" data-original-width="1156" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisJyeOvainrc3JbbOcg2XRkYB8g9_0k7jS4QAPzCh81SqtP8zFwwmSikgOw_QSQD5-9GDctxV7TQ5Iq3gHh4Nw1SjkKIxe3YVwKjTDDhm-59rcQ0U6FfxPeDSeSdldYqp1Wk3Xay6q7ew/s200/spot.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOUoux-2RuQtoNvrwVDTPgGVB6JhYyOrSyMpphr27lOrlfzDQoKmNFbmLlMFuAxU1bjgXkiOYMkjCKotudDB6jYEGNYxT2YfU9944jGAQFbrLGRhBqFZXFITAnH2blwpa_WCZMniPqVk/s1600/lakeice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="919" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOUoux-2RuQtoNvrwVDTPgGVB6JhYyOrSyMpphr27lOrlfzDQoKmNFbmLlMFuAxU1bjgXkiOYMkjCKotudDB6jYEGNYxT2YfU9944jGAQFbrLGRhBqFZXFITAnH2blwpa_WCZMniPqVk/s200/lakeice.jpg" width="200" /></a> The photo on the right is where almost all the cohos in the lake will be in a few weeks. You can see the lake ice already disappears or thins out near the south end shores due to water temperature. Each bright sunny day will warm those shallows a couple degrees and as soon as the salmon detect that warming, they will literally “storm the beaches.” <br />
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It won’t be long until the “wishing” will be over. The fishing season will be underway! <br />
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Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-19750315685096333592017-11-12T07:46:00.000-08:002017-11-12T07:46:05.223-08:00AT THE BEGINNING Most have heard the reasons why salmon had been put in Lake Michigan - to clear up the overabundance of alewives. It was horrible. In 1968 I remember a day the the beach at Michigan City, Indiana seeing dead alewives floating every 10 feet or so in the shallows. Rumor had it, the Michigan DNR had stocked coho salmon in the lake to eat the alewives. The salmon were in the lake, no one knew where.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dead alewives fouling beaches. </td></tr>
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The next spring they showed up in Indiana and people actually started catching them. It was big news. A photo in the Chicago Tribune accompanying this news showed an aerial view of the lake showing what I realize now was a cloud shadow. But the photo caption proclaimed the shadow to be a huge school of salmon swimming near the surface. Fake news even back then!<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
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Still, with youthful confidence, I was convinced. It was spring break. A friend and I drove up to Odgen Dunes. No gate, back then. We parked as far north and east as we could and then hiked over the sands between there and the mouth of Burns Ditch, sat along the edge and cast bass and pike lures out into the ditch water. No fish.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A brown trout I caught in the late 1980s<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="white-space: pre;"><br /></span><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>My dad had traded services for a 50's era 14 foot, Glastron “speedboat” in the late 60s. Originally it came with a “Gale” outboard (sold at Montgomery Wards). He repowered with a 35 HP Johnson and I inherited it in 1979. (He was tired of mowing around it in the back yard.)<br />
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I nursed it back to health - barely - it would only pull start. Eventually, I built some home made downriggers, home made rod holders, home made downrigger weights and became a “salmon” fisherman.<br />
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I caught 56 salmon that first year in probably 10 trips. That sounds good, except back in those days, any mope with two rods and an orange Rapala could catch an easy limit.<br />
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After the second season, now repowered with a 50 HP Evinrude <span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"> A few years later</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"> I met a man who told me he fished every morning from a boat at Michigan City and invited me along. I went, we caught four or five cohos and I was hooked. I fished with friends a few times in the several years and in 1979 I got my break. </span>- I caught many more fish including several 20 plus pound kings.<br />
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That winter I bought a 16-foot Sylvan SeaMonster, slapped the Evinrude on it, rebuilt my downriggers, rod holders and fished that boat from northern Wisconsin to Port Clinton until 1987 when I traded up to an 18 ft. Sylvan with a 3.OL Mercruiser. Great boat. I wore it out by 1995, sold it for more than it was worth and went back to buy an identical boat. By then, Sylvan didn’t make 18 footers with I/Os so I moved up to a 21 footer with a 3.0L. Horrible boat.<br />
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It rode like a john boat, the seats fell apart, motor mounts collapsed, hull rivets popped loose. The only good thing was it was large enough to comfortably hold four people and myself so I earned my captain’s license and started Brother Nature Fishing Adventures. I chartered out of it in 1998, found a sucker to buy it that winter and bought the current Brother Nature in 1999. It's still going strong, but I installed a new motor in 2017.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAc03P_9uebgOYIuFVlNy-niteeZgokij1IfKvPPLe8I3AWlLfw2FtL9TqMM4b4Yk40zhGq4MYvvsku1V-O9Ldb-Vo85kpzz4VzFPD_rxRQp7CtTpV5waiwE451_sc40tQ3mmTtwI0jt4/s1600/bn1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="400" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAc03P_9uebgOYIuFVlNy-niteeZgokij1IfKvPPLe8I3AWlLfw2FtL9TqMM4b4Yk40zhGq4MYvvsku1V-O9Ldb-Vo85kpzz4VzFPD_rxRQp7CtTpV5waiwE451_sc40tQ3mmTtwI0jt4/s400/bn1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Brother Nature, new in 1999</td></tr>
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Through all of this the fishing evolved from cohos only, to cohos and kings. Brown trout and steelhead were added. Skamania mania swept the Great Lakes like an epidemic and Indiana was ground-zero. Bacterial kidney disease nearly wiped out the king salmon program, Early Mortality Syndrome nearly wiped out the coho program. Mussels changed the nature of the lake, gobies were supposed to be as bad, commercial fishing wiped out the perch, Asian carp get all the money and lake trout get all the blame.<br />
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The fishing has gone from three guys holding rods trolling lures, to rod holders, downriggers, planer boards, diving planers, lead core, stainless steel, copper and fluorocarbon line. My first sonar was a flasher, then paper graphs then a liquid crystal graph. My first marine radio had tubes and three channels. I was cutting edge with Loran-C navigation system, then a handheld GPS and now I have one unit that does it all and two back-up units.<br />
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It’s been a wild ride, fun, exciting, enjoyable and I’m as excited about my first trip next spring as when my college friend and I marched across the dunes almost 50 years ago.Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-48354537457008376632017-07-08T06:34:00.000-07:002017-07-11T04:47:53.128-07:00ROD'S BIG ENOUGH COHO Whew! It’s been a busy spring and summer. Why do I feel like I’m in a rut, then? Busy doesn’t mean I’m doing a lot of different things. When I’m heading up I-65 at zero-dark thirty, preparing to slide the Brother Nature off its trailer and get ready for another day on the lake - for the fifth day in a row - it’s hard to not feel like the commute, the meet and greet and all the rest isn’t somewhat akin to having a “real” job.<br />
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Don’t get me wrong, each day on Lake Michigan is a new adventure, usually with new people or at least with people I haven’t seen since last year or the year before. I thoroughly enjoy the experience. But by the time I get back home, tidy up some loose ends from the day and settle in, I haven’t thought, “Oh! I need to go post a blog about.....<br />
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So when a Texan named Rod and his father (Rod Sr.) climbed aboard the Brother Nature a couple days ago and told me, I want to catch a fish big enough to get my photo on your blog, I was determined to “make it so,” as Capt. Piccard would say. Pictured here is Rod Jr. (along with Rod Sr.) with his fish "big enough" to post. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeI4i5JI-FYuKWoPVmG5_Uv61m_DcyFHEdIshjdQahzoHTAnWnCNRzbGFD9abQn6DDD0eAthI8_CGsX1rR7e8mAgmnVGc2H7HJZKC4sPvd1hIoFY7YVtg-t03QRVUiXy2z4dZaGg-Rr8/s1600/rod.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeI4i5JI-FYuKWoPVmG5_Uv61m_DcyFHEdIshjdQahzoHTAnWnCNRzbGFD9abQn6DDD0eAthI8_CGsX1rR7e8mAgmnVGc2H7HJZKC4sPvd1hIoFY7YVtg-t03QRVUiXy2z4dZaGg-Rr8/s640/rod.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The cohos are still blasting our baits and not all that far out in the lake. It’s been the best coho year I can remember. There are plenty of lakers around, should we need to switch over and nearshore Skamanias are “in” if we choose (or weather-forced) to fish for them. <br />
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‘Til next time, readers. The boat is cleaned, trailer lubed up and we’ll be heading up I-65 at zero dark thirty again in the morning. I’m looking forward to it! <br />
<br />Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-85033061798048677782017-04-16T06:14:00.000-07:002017-04-16T06:14:10.015-07:00PLAN B SUCCESS The leader of the “A-TEAM” on the old TV show popularized the maxim, “I love it when a plan comes together.” Who doesn’t?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-FUsZHIYOIlV8JlC4f4_5ran9Ru48Lx8X6FNq4f9K-1_ppm15UX5Xyj5hj9WYclc2oz0C1mia09CtTgi8v4XroOtYyGZIGVS7U0IhTlM8YCRMFEYIuLWHtdbE0kracPZVtveNi2hdco/s1600/sc1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-FUsZHIYOIlV8JlC4f4_5ran9Ru48Lx8X6FNq4f9K-1_ppm15UX5Xyj5hj9WYclc2oz0C1mia09CtTgi8v4XroOtYyGZIGVS7U0IhTlM8YCRMFEYIuLWHtdbE0kracPZVtveNi2hdco/s320/sc1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first steelhead of the year has been caught. </td></tr>
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I love it when the weatherman is right about favorable climatic conditions and waves on the lake are negligible. I love it when the fish have been biting well, stay in the same place and continue to bite the same lures. When that happens, it’s easy to make a plan and love it when it comes together.<br />
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But when dealing with wind, waves and weathermen (not to mention finicky fish) the first plan doesn’t always come together. Plan A can be a bust.<br />
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That’s why I always like to have a Plan B in my pocket when I’m out on Lake Michigan. I’ve been at it long enough to have a whole book of plans and the book of plans really paid off this week.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XilZMzqZZPKBlII7nJVMRMY6-nOOBYwj3ObLFhYkKcVF_teaddb3zag8aHV9MQ2dN9XyCsZ4qOkrXzm-XAI-debeX6wNFSwrwcb9uL_kuaReMHJ-ad2M7PQMtUYKktfU2pKNzWgUFME/s1600/bickel3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XilZMzqZZPKBlII7nJVMRMY6-nOOBYwj3ObLFhYkKcVF_teaddb3zag8aHV9MQ2dN9XyCsZ4qOkrXzm-XAI-debeX6wNFSwrwcb9uL_kuaReMHJ-ad2M7PQMtUYKktfU2pKNzWgUFME/s640/bickel3.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Trout are often Plan B fish, and welcome! </td></tr>
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I had a group of guys from Kentucky on the schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday. It looked like they were going to hit it perfect, weather wise. Predicted rains were to end before dawn on Tuesday and a couple days of light winds were in the offing. Plan A was going to work!<br />
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Except, when we actually got out on the water we found “residual” waves from overnight storms and a bit more breeze than the weather-guessers had promised. Worse, the wind was one direction, the rolling waves another and boating was like in a pot of boiling water with lumps and bumps going every which way.<br />
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Plan B was needed. Though the hot bite area was nearly unfishable, I knew a spot a few miles away where industrial breakwalls would provide sheltered conditions and hopefully, enough fish to make it worthwhile. I love it when Plan B comes together! We caught several salmon, not limits, but enough to keep everyone happy and the first steelhead of the year was captured.<br />
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On Wednesday, I knew I needed to produce something spectacular for the Kentuckians. Though it’s still early season, I took advantage of the near glass-like conditions of the lake to motor offshore to an area I knew would be teaming with lake trout in a few weeks. Were there any there now? <br />
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You bet! And even with the increase from 2 per day to a 3 trout bag limit, the KY anglers had no problems - other than sore shoulders from the trout work-out they were given. Our plan of easy fishing nearshore for spring-sized cohos wasn’t missed in the least. Plan B did the job just fine. Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-25248360744292127982017-04-16T06:06:00.002-07:002017-04-16T06:06:26.568-07:00THE RIGHT CALLI hate to have to cancel a fishing trip due to weather. Worse, is trying to do it as far in advance as possible. Some captains won't make "the call" until the morning of the trip at their dock.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkI2hDfur9YuGaocL4WkIK-aOPdziVNsKRQMjyBvlVvWSIIbft5q9EcOhn-PB000cNtYiCvRc8_Lc0zKbL9xe5zWlOfKtdAXjlzANq-UfI6nRg_gXatufaMBhqZeq4iTcAqeGSJMdVrEE/s1600/radar.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkI2hDfur9YuGaocL4WkIK-aOPdziVNsKRQMjyBvlVvWSIIbft5q9EcOhn-PB000cNtYiCvRc8_Lc0zKbL9xe5zWlOfKtdAXjlzANq-UfI6nRg_gXatufaMBhqZeq4iTcAqeGSJMdVrEE/s400/radar.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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Fine, if everyone is local. But I don't want someone driving an hour or two in the dark; or even worse, to drive up the night before our schedule day on the lake, rent a room or two to accommodate the group and then be told, “Sorry Charlie” at the boat docks.<br />
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Sure, there are probably several days when the weather “guessers” get it wrong and the winds or rain or whatever trip-ender conditions are predicted don’t materialize and the trip is saved. I’m sure there are far more times when either the fishermen go home with wasted time and treasure.<br />
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Sure there are times when I get surprised and do call a trip off at the dock or as soon as I see the lake conditions up close and personally - not often. Maybe once or twice per season; some seasons zero times.<br />
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When I’m wrong, I’m bummed. My first sentence is worth repeating. I hate to have to cancel a fishing trip due to weather.<br />
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However bummed, I’m at least relieved when I check the radar the morning of the trip or monitor the wind/wave buoys afloat in the lake and find the predictions I believed well enough to cancel a trip are proving the forecast correct.<br />
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Why am I sitting here, blogging, instead of sitting in my boat helping a group of anglers experience the fun and excitement of Lake Michigan fishing? Look at the weather radar screen-cap pictured here at about the time our adventure would have started.<br />
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As I told my customer last night when I was calling off the trip, “I don’t care if a person has a thousand dollar rain suit or a one dollar plastic poncho. By the time you’ve fished in a steady rain for a few hours, you’ll be wet and cold.z"<br />
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THE END<br />
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Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-22415954067408931242017-04-13T08:14:00.000-07:002017-04-13T08:14:09.649-07:00CHEMICAL SPILL AT PORTAGEAPRIL 13, 2017<br />
In the news the past couple days comes a report of a toxic chemical, hexavalent chromium, accidentally being spilled into one of the discharges at a steel processing plant along Burns Waterway, a.k.a. Burns Ditch. This is the river leading from Lake Michigan to the Portage Public Marina where I originate many of my Lake Michigan fishing trips.<br />
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WHAT I KNOW<br />
1) The steel company, fixed the leak and stopped the outflow as soon as possible. The company self-reported to authorities including the EPA, Coast Guard, IDEM and DNR.<br />
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2) The Portage Marina and boat traffic on the waterway was closed for a short time but both are now open, as normal.<br />
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3) The aerial photos of the mouth of the waterway is misleading.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieW7FTwhkOEbJdr7M3syMT6rgvRiB-qErgUNIhGSq4rMrLjguC6J0DElrECWE_PgzIf8DOhLnRKa74aT92PARgJMi7bt4R10K469vDqJ79ZQzKFT3DwuLooYzR-cpnK14lXoimrIw5DTA/s1600/spill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieW7FTwhkOEbJdr7M3syMT6rgvRiB-qErgUNIhGSq4rMrLjguC6J0DElrECWE_PgzIf8DOhLnRKa74aT92PARgJMi7bt4R10K469vDqJ79ZQzKFT3DwuLooYzR-cpnK14lXoimrIw5DTA/s400/spill.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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4) The EPA is the lead agency with other agencies helping where needed.<br />
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5) Drinking water intakes and nearby beaches are closed for precautionary reasons only and testing is on-going.<br />
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6) Hexavalent Chromium is bad stuff, made famous by the Erin Brokavich movie. The H.C. contamination in the movie was long-term exposure to people through drinking water contamination from long-term dumping by a power company. That doesn’t make this incident good. It does make the Portage incident different than the California incident.<br />
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WHAT ISN’T KNOWN<br />
1) No one knows how much H.C. was spilled. The broken pipe leaked contaminated water, not pure or concentrated H. Chromium, but how much went down the drain isn’t known.<br />
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2) Official reports are none of the stuff made it to Lake Michigan. Is this true? If it were certain, no need for #5 Known Fact.<br />
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Regardless of knowns and unknowns, let me say: THIS IS BAD. THE TOLERANCE FOR TOXINS ENTERING PUBLIC WATERS SHOULD BE ZERO.<br />
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So far what I’ve seen is a mix of real news, conjecture and fake news. I’ve not heard many facts not filtered through three or four sources.<br />
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FAKE NEWS - There have been substantial rains recently and there's a lot of silt in the water flowing down Burns Waterway from upstream. The ditch-water is brown, Lake Michigan is green/blue. Fly over in a copter or with a drone to take photos for your news show or newspaper and you see a big brown plume of water running out of the ditch into Lake Michigan. <br />
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On screen or in the photo it looks like there's a bajillion gallons of water, chemically tainted dark brown, flowing out into the lake. The look of this photo would be identical whether the spill had occurred or not. Similar photos can be taken at every tributary of Lake Michigan after storm run-off runs into the lake. <br />
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My best guess is if there are any affects, they will be localized and short-lived. I would imagine we'll get the "rest" of the story in the next few days or weeks and it won't be as glamorous as the drone-photo of the muddy water flowing out of Burns Ditch so it will be a page two filler article. <br />
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There are plenty of places to fish, completely unaffected.Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-74286534702656177692017-03-07T07:11:00.000-08:002017-03-07T07:11:45.152-08:00THE CIRCUIT <br />
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I don’t know when the concept of winter “outdoor shows” was invented. This year one of the country’s largest shows, the Indianapolis Boat, Sport and Travel Show marked it’s 63rd incarnation so my quick math put it’s origin in the middle 1950s.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglk3nwIm9O16kD1QBnvAqEslpaXNczYL3KnqYkJlfT0UYWtE4LunT12PQmCFyKr9-7yWu22-VW4wf5HcMya3wR9BtjvqIFyw6I5zkn19yaJT8Nh7LoTG0MqtvAATvDyCnaSauRgWCOCnY/s1600/lodge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglk3nwIm9O16kD1QBnvAqEslpaXNczYL3KnqYkJlfT0UYWtE4LunT12PQmCFyKr9-7yWu22-VW4wf5HcMya3wR9BtjvqIFyw6I5zkn19yaJT8Nh7LoTG0MqtvAATvDyCnaSauRgWCOCnY/s320/lodge.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SHOWS FEATURE PEOPLE FROM<br />FAR OFF PLACES</td></tr>
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The first shot I attended was the Chicago Boat, Sport and Travel Show held at the now long-gone International Ampitheater which was built adjacent to the even longer-gone Union Stockyards. (When I first attended the Chicago show, the stockyards were still open.) <br />
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Regardless of where or when, to a young kid from the country, barely into his teens and infected with a yearning for all things outdoors, it was better than a trip to Disneyland. Aisle after aisle of places to hunt, fish and travel opened before me, each booth was manned by men who lived in the North Woods and who caught strange and exotic fish. There were exhibits with mounted moose heads, northern pike as long as my leg, displays of tackle I didn’t know existed and could never afford.<br />
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Naturally, this was pre-Internet, pre-Outdoor Channel on TV, pre-anything other than a few outdoor magazines for outdoor destinations to advertise their wares and facilities. Some entrepreneur invited a few resort and lodge owners to one location and eventually a circuit of outdoor expositions had developed. Outfitters, guides and lodge owners lived a carnival-like existence spending their winter on the road - far from their moose and strange fish. They’d spend a few days in Minneapolis, then off to Milwaukee, Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville and on across the region. It was expensive, but as the ad salesmen say, advertising doesn’t cost, it pays.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGrpy5dR5mZDWGBIcSGbkBy_v0Mu2godrRYtYgLpfWwtTabyflHrKhNgH54hvAhyphenhyphenmHlhv_gPTNjwHEplaesLFB5s2DWwvfcKL_LXMUOc7kQxnOqtyRHf_6c2rJyJ31b7O2RbbqTJtnGqQ/s1600/sho.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGrpy5dR5mZDWGBIcSGbkBy_v0Mu2godrRYtYgLpfWwtTabyflHrKhNgH54hvAhyphenhyphenmHlhv_gPTNjwHEplaesLFB5s2DWwvfcKL_LXMUOc7kQxnOqtyRHf_6c2rJyJ31b7O2RbbqTJtnGqQ/s320/sho.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Soon after I started Brother Nature Fishing Adventures, I found myself on the other side. I built a display, purchased booth space and watched armies of outdoor enthusiasts, bored stiff with winter weather, walking the aisles, mostly looking, sometimes shopping, often stopping by just to talk for a while.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCEc3-IIV_J1MJhA2gAkVmepBWF57mTpWHFUmXTzcMzhZXZtFpwJuNyZuEKo1B_BqHehRaEKGEwBsLplHjWwv7I0MV0-2hGRzYlxYlf61SB-bxChyphenhyphen4nTubnG8WLJAM-ElTw1pn8PJ4eME/s1600/2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCEc3-IIV_J1MJhA2gAkVmepBWF57mTpWHFUmXTzcMzhZXZtFpwJuNyZuEKo1B_BqHehRaEKGEwBsLplHjWwv7I0MV0-2hGRzYlxYlf61SB-bxChyphenhyphen4nTubnG8WLJAM-ElTw1pn8PJ4eME/s320/2.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'LL BE CLOSE TO THE BEAR</td></tr>
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Luckily, I didn’t have the time or money to run the circuit. Luckily, the Internet “happened” and I don’t have to run the circuit to drum up business. But I still attend a show or two each year. For old time’s sake, I suppose. Occasionally, I’ll make a sale. Mostly, they are an enjoyable, a winter diversion, a chance to meet new people, to meet up with old friends and talk fishing, hunting, old age pains or future plans.<br />
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This weekend, March 11 and 12, I’ll be at the Hammond, Indiana Cabela’s Store for their Captain’s Weekend. Stop by my little display for a visit. We’ll talk fishing, hunting, old age pains or who know what. Hey, if you want to book a charter fishing trip, I’ll be glad to do that, as well. Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-36144133154259508642017-02-15T07:03:00.000-08:002017-02-15T07:03:48.198-08:00SHARE A CHARTER There are many reasons<span style="color: yellow;"> </span><i><span style="color: yellow;">a person</span> </i>may want to go fishing. I could list the reasons from Action to Xcitement alphabetically, but the important words this time in the above sentence is “a person.” Singular, “a person” by him or herself, loner, a lone traveler or perhaps the only person of a larger group possessing the urge to go fishing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7nTz_Yk59KKzHEPE-S3SyHQX7_h6muU8hnD1yHpVlATM34lgiig30HnykBXaDgfVwrQiR8KB-1Z-e_nXLjWuqNoMcdRzFxEUqAzIu6IT3oHCZNYMswCLeT5STxatb1a1a1IxbD3FQRA/s1600/bill3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7nTz_Yk59KKzHEPE-S3SyHQX7_h6muU8hnD1yHpVlATM34lgiig30HnykBXaDgfVwrQiR8KB-1Z-e_nXLjWuqNoMcdRzFxEUqAzIu6IT3oHCZNYMswCLeT5STxatb1a1a1IxbD3FQRA/s400/bill3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AS LONG AS YOU ARE IN THE AREA<br />LET'S GO FISHING! </td></tr>
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Imagine a person is traveling to Chicago or Northwest Indiana on business, to visit parents or other relatives. Imagine an avid angler person sharing a vacation to the area with his or her spouse but the spouse has no desire to go fishing. Perhaps a fishing oriented person has heard of the world class fishing available on Lake Michigan and wants to sample it but has no regular fishing partners who share the same desire. Pick a reason, A to X (or Z).<br />
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<b>I CAN HELP! </b><br />
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I set the prices for fishing trips on the Brother Nature trying to make them affordable for smaller groups. Still, I can’t afford to make a trip for two half the price of a trip for four or a trip for a single fisherman half the cost of a pair of fishermen. Basically, a single person has to pay the same as I charge a pair of people. Two people can’t go with me at the same price per person as three or four people.<br />
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For some - several each season - price is not enough of an issue to cause them to shy away. They plunk down the price of a two person trip and off we go, just me and him.<br />
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I’m sure there are many others who check out my website, check out my prices but decide the single person rate is just more than they are willing to spend. I don’t fault them. If nothing came with a price, we’d all be driving Cadillacs.<br />
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Over the winter I heard of a company called Share a Fishing Charter. Their business model is simple. Charter captains like me list with them. Individuals or couples go to their website (www.shareafishingcharter.com) pick a date they’d like to fish and sign-up for it. Or they can look at what date others have pegged and see if that day works for their schedule. Either way, once three people sign up for the same day, all are contacted (along with me) and the arrangements are made. <br />
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The individual anglers get to go fishing at a very more affordable rate than going alone, I get a booking for the day and Share a Fishing Charter earns a small commission. Everyone wins except the fish!<br />
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Check out Share a Fishing Charter and sign up for a fishing trip with me. If you are planning a trip other than to Indiana, check out their other listings for sharing partners in other places. I know I will. Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-36083314338468287952017-02-06T07:03:00.001-08:002017-02-06T07:03:47.366-08:00"I WARM" IN "I FLOAT" In my mind, if the ice an ice fisherman is planning to traverse is such that wearing a PFD seems sensible, it seems more sensible to find some other activity to pursue. How about waiting for ice conditions to improve? How about waiting for the ice to melt away so it's possible to fish from a boat? How about traveling to a place where winter is sufficiently absent to allow fishing from a boat all year long?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizRmG15oMwgZDvSe5BubH5-6bPoKGDvJ9XepxvpXzUj6sAU631rTlh1q1CfD-hgd8qNNAbnvX4Bb4GsJpWPvrmmiHhtXHQAv0g_-SCTogSf0tp6oZj8r33AJissUJlTJCvmJgPI5cdTIA/s1600/crap2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizRmG15oMwgZDvSe5BubH5-6bPoKGDvJ9XepxvpXzUj6sAU631rTlh1q1CfD-hgd8qNNAbnvX4Bb4GsJpWPvrmmiHhtXHQAv0g_-SCTogSf0tp6oZj8r33AJissUJlTJCvmJgPI5cdTIA/s400/crap2.jpg" width="342" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">COMFY FISHING IN SUB- FREEZING CONDITIONS</td></tr>
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Last summer the Frabill company unveiled a new product in their line-up of cold weather wear called the I-Float Jacket (and matching bib overalls) as an "ice fishing" garment. It won national awards in the fishing industry.<br />
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The parka’s name, “I-Float” alludes to its multi-tasking purpose. Much of the insulation material in the jacket is made from a closed cell, buoyant material - the same stuff used to make life jackets. There's enough of the flotation material used and incorporated in the right places inside the jacket to allow the U.S. Coast Guard to put its "seal of approval" on the garment as a certified, wearable, personal flotation device.<br />
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I start my Lake Michigan fishing season in late winter (usually mid-March) and since the cold water in Lake Michigan delays spring-like conditions often well into May, I'm no stranger to winter parkas. I’m also well aware of the increased danger associated with boating in extremely cold water. So Frabill’s "I" parka didn’t appeal to me as an ice fishing necessity, but it did peak my interest as a multi-tasking coat, actively able to keep me comfortably warm on my boat in extreme conditions and passively providing me a comforting level of safety I hope to never need.<br />
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I had the chance to try out my new I-Float Jacket and bibs on an early February crappie jaunt to Lake of the Ozarks. LOZ is just far enough south to preventing it ever freezing; far enough north to warrant warm clothes needed, most February days. It’s available in stores and on-line at a variety of prices. Shop before you buy. Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-27266838564945468702017-01-19T07:05:00.005-08:002017-01-19T07:12:38.231-08:00A CONUNDRUM OF LAWSLaw number one: Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke.<br />
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What a great rule to live by. If the car was running when it the key was switched off yesterday, expect it to start up and run today.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Qzi3ZHO-YfBJVKGcrZUcW6HGDpYnEqX7qravswc8_SZbQaW9Ze9cNRPPJwYascxOovbS3SXc7SG9p9nRbXERMJ-w-F9VD32aB9cOs8-xAun3Bu6NbGnCzki58inGf_p0nj6xfvgXiUI/s1600/ns2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Qzi3ZHO-YfBJVKGcrZUcW6HGDpYnEqX7qravswc8_SZbQaW9Ze9cNRPPJwYascxOovbS3SXc7SG9p9nRbXERMJ-w-F9VD32aB9cOs8-xAun3Bu6NbGnCzki58inGf_p0nj6xfvgXiUI/s320/ns2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is no time for Murphy's Law to apply. </td></tr>
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Except, I also believe in Ed Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Some people add “and at the worst possible moment.”<br />
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These two laws illustrate the yen and yang of using mechanical items. Machines, toys, engines and fishing tackle often seem to behave spitefully towards their user. Proper maintenance is a good way to stave off Murphey’s Law. A well maintained machine is less likely to “go wrong” than one long ignored.<br />
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However, maintenance goes directly against the “Don’t fix it...” rule. A conundrum, to be sure.<br />
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For years, when it came to my fishing reels, I (mostly) adhered to law number one. Other than reels affected by Murphy’s Law, I left them alone. More than just years, more like years and years and years for some of them.<br />
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The reel was working when I retrieved the last lure yesterday. It will surely work tomorrow. Won’t it? Or will Murphy show up?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeXPrupQskLAAj5tCM5NQ6l28fYARfS276W3khV-whShBZATvQAbWK17ovVtAD4mnMx58kqWdoNGJ5o4i8eNyKGTFt_siQcVnvopisT6XJts0YDYeMoJsE7Q9FhAwshET51dectn6-04/s1600/r1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeXPrupQskLAAj5tCM5NQ6l28fYARfS276W3khV-whShBZATvQAbWK17ovVtAD4mnMx58kqWdoNGJ5o4i8eNyKGTFt_siQcVnvopisT6XJts0YDYeMoJsE7Q9FhAwshET51dectn6-04/s320/r1.JPG" width="320" /></a> So in my “off season” this year, I broke law number one. I collected all my most-used reels. I found long-filed-away schematics for each model or looked up the exploded views on-line. I purchased new drag washers for each reel, gathered reel grease, household oil an assemblage of small tools, degreasers and swabs.<br />
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Then I “fixed” them. At least, I carefully disassembled each reel, cleaned all the inner workings, replaced the drag washers, then and greased, oiled and reassembled. It’s not rocket science though I do have a new respect for watch makers.<br />
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What could go wrong? We’ll learn much of that answer in mid-March when the reels are put back into service, clean, shiny with no pressing need to be fixed for another decade or so. Unless Murphy decides to go fishing with me.<br />
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Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-74183757485646538872016-10-26T05:30:00.000-07:002016-10-26T05:30:50.476-07:00GET A GRIP ON IT!<br />
I always think it’s odd when a person on my boat catches a fish and then goes all “icky” at the thought of actually touching it. Some of the time it’s because of the size of the fish. Grabbing a crappie or bluegill flopping on the dock is one thing, but grasping a salmon or trout almost three feet long is something else.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKUWxdYkqSarYWY_iiEvTX8cZMte32YEqdSQszy8kr4zVE6il3lvkQ7BDnWTDz9tgpB3x6k2HK98IY48dmw69tL-jpoBFdwwjnnBWp9XMjH5Ubfg3AFhEMAPHO7Rpcmq6LO-kboVp244/s1600/lynette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKUWxdYkqSarYWY_iiEvTX8cZMte32YEqdSQszy8kr4zVE6il3lvkQ7BDnWTDz9tgpB3x6k2HK98IY48dmw69tL-jpoBFdwwjnnBWp9XMjH5Ubfg3AFhEMAPHO7Rpcmq6LO-kboVp244/s400/lynette.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_VtPGvZ34TjlUPcIjzy8g_gvtGjPl-LhNg0okS3-a_VLxV2AeVO-BJ9p4ohWm9yWU7t-Juyoi0i-K_qe-XsqDByMOaW_-W6RYPqgJ8nr14CE1747TKxrhqKr7PDxfXETc4AFO0aLxsI/s1600/hanger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_VtPGvZ34TjlUPcIjzy8g_gvtGjPl-LhNg0okS3-a_VLxV2AeVO-BJ9p4ohWm9yWU7t-Juyoi0i-K_qe-XsqDByMOaW_-W6RYPqgJ8nr14CE1747TKxrhqKr7PDxfXETc4AFO0aLxsI/s1600/hanger.jpg" /></a> Most of the time size doesn’t matter. Many people are just plain reluctant to grip the fish they’ve just caught whether it’s a panfish or the biggest fish in the lake.<br />
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Some of it is unfamiliarity. It’s easy to figure out how best to hold a puppy or a cat. It’s not so easy to grasp just how best to grasp a fish.<br />
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Granted, some fish have sharp pointy things on them such as teeth, spines on their fins or sharp stingers like catfish do. These can hurt. Trout and salmon do have teeth, but no spines or stingers.<br />
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Mostly, I think, it’s the fact fish are generally wet and slimy. Is it a human trait to have a natural aversion to grasping things wet and slimy? I don’t know. If so it expresses itself (most often - not always) in women and youths.<br />
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These days, I don’t even ask when a youngster or one of my female fishing guests catches a “photo-worthy” fish. Instead of trying to coach or coax the fisher person to correctly grip their fish while the photographers on board get their “happy-snappies,” I just pull out my Fisherman’s Handy Hook.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlXsSkCLHxFXIrn0zuD_THBn6B2qXvac-neTCvI6lhTCcD1awPFQDZxsWlCvm2qJUt7_b1QcD4ljpPVQwP1yQa-yZx4cRWIr5UwjLr_W1yxOXVdHsBWgbFF1J2qiHMtOtAWNT65FwFf2k/s1600/drop.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlXsSkCLHxFXIrn0zuD_THBn6B2qXvac-neTCvI6lhTCcD1awPFQDZxsWlCvm2qJUt7_b1QcD4ljpPVQwP1yQa-yZx4cRWIr5UwjLr_W1yxOXVdHsBWgbFF1J2qiHMtOtAWNT65FwFf2k/s400/drop.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This fish has a date with the deck. Should have used the Handy Hook!</td></tr>
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Basically, it’s a tough plastic tool with an easy to grip handle on one side, a strong spike on the other and a plastic divider to ensure none of the “icky-gooey” stuff on the fish gets on the hands of the person holding the fish. Easy to use, all I have to do is slide the spike under the fish’s gill flap and out through the fish’s mouth. Now the happy angler has a fish with a handle on it and chances are I’m not going to have the clean the icky-slimy stuff of the floor of the boat after the fish has been dropped a few times.<br />
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Check out www.thefishermanshandyhook.com for more details and purchasing information. <br />
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Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-41878409438148237712016-07-13T11:31:00.000-07:002016-07-13T11:31:48.111-07:00OVER THE TOP A person catches a fish. Perhaps it’s a nice specimen. Perhaps it’s the first fish he ever caught or perhaps it’s the first musky, lake trout, name a species, he or she has ever angled from the depths. It could be the angler’s biggest fish ever or the largest musky, laker or whatever. What comes next is almost inevitable - the hero photo!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3UVsax-GKb2YjFLo0vTuyhl8JRlCeA2ZftZeVwWcnoE_Ocbhx9TPeWK1zyxeMbEF0EyacIcN1jQoJ3DEzBIT3h0K1LiunBX0syU2rnBQjcic1nPeUh-nw-ig2hI940B1iCg_aet4dnI/s1600/dan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3UVsax-GKb2YjFLo0vTuyhl8JRlCeA2ZftZeVwWcnoE_Ocbhx9TPeWK1zyxeMbEF0EyacIcN1jQoJ3DEzBIT3h0K1LiunBX0syU2rnBQjcic1nPeUh-nw-ig2hI940B1iCg_aet4dnI/s200/dan.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dan Small's Facebook Post</td></tr>
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You’ve seen them, I’ve seen them, I’ve been behind the camera and in front. For the most part, they are awful. At best they are moderately interesting.<br />
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A friend of mine posted a hero shot on Facebook recently. He’d caught a nice muskie on a fly rod and posed for the inevitable happy-snappy session to record the catch for posterity.<br />
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The comments on Facebook were the normal, “Nice fish,” “Way to go,” “What did it weigh?”<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3DgZfeEOFiTHaoVBw6nus6wGTODKdIJGwmrsJGLHadf6CFrIwHtpAS47KzhJgj_QfRZN9zzDnRO7C6ddJS-ThJCnQhVsKQJP_gBc1vxHwWPu1kgpcYauymBL5KLEmJ48PCGBF-ymEDA/s1600/bal1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3DgZfeEOFiTHaoVBw6nus6wGTODKdIJGwmrsJGLHadf6CFrIwHtpAS47KzhJgj_QfRZN9zzDnRO7C6ddJS-ThJCnQhVsKQJP_gBc1vxHwWPu1kgpcYauymBL5KLEmJ48PCGBF-ymEDA/s640/bal1.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
I don’t usually make comments like that. However, in the hero photo posted, he’d made one alteration to the usual grip and grin pose. He’d positioned his fly rod behind his neck, balancing it on his back over his shoulders. <br />
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“Interesting pose,” I thought, and decided to make a decidedly different sort of comment on his Facebook post. “Nice balancing act with the fly rod,” I wrote.<br />
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Few of the comments I make on Facebook go viral, regardless of how astute, asinine, insightful or germain they may be. This comment engendered a long list of follow-up comments.<br />
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Who knew? I’ve seen hero shots with fly-rodders holding their rod and reel in their teeth. Those are weird. The over the shoulder pose, less so and plenty of fly-flickers let me know the balance-on-the-back pose is now a widely accepted.<br />
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What’s good for one is good for all. So when Marc Garringer caught this steelhead on my boat recently, we went with the new-age pose for his hero photo. How do you like it? <br />
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Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-74832952983926227192016-03-12T07:10:00.000-08:002016-03-12T07:10:07.634-08:00FIRST, FOG AND FUN The 2016 season is off with a bang. Actually, there was no bang, but it was a bang-up start. Unless I’m shooting ducks from a boat, there’s nothing involved that should go bang. Nothing did.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TARcdrli8uMtTdEo0mQG1bcuzMyk8BeITguBgXLmwb-LgWcBfdx-0nc93pHNPuONHLu5kgwhHjkRLFNOD1TXvdSw4Hp08YhjDPoVHoWkEH_dyYNHE7JpEx8TKlK5OUDwyCB2wyHgcwE/s1600/jen2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TARcdrli8uMtTdEo0mQG1bcuzMyk8BeITguBgXLmwb-LgWcBfdx-0nc93pHNPuONHLu5kgwhHjkRLFNOD1TXvdSw4Hp08YhjDPoVHoWkEH_dyYNHE7JpEx8TKlK5OUDwyCB2wyHgcwE/s640/jen2.jpg" width="478" /></a> There was a bit of noise in the form of a fog-horn. Early season fishing often entails finding the warmest water possible. These warm oasis areas are fish magnets compared to the ice-water cold liquid in the rest of the lake. The warm water also boosts the metabolism in the salmon and trout making them more likely to strike our lures.<br />
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So I headed out from the East Chicago Marina at a comfortable 7AM and headed for the Indiana Harbor where two different steel mills pump heated water to keep the harbor ice free and extend their shipping season. Two miles out of the marina, we hit a fog bank that gave us no more than 50 yards visibility. We slowed and made our way but in the harbor, we had to watch for both other fishermen, the rock-lined walls of the harbor and potentially, giant ore boats hauling taconite pellets from the northern lakes.<br />
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That’s when the fog horn sounded. Something was coming so I steered a course to the west (shallow) side of the channel knowing whatever vessel was exiting would stay in the deepest part of the channel. It was a tug, pushing a barge. We were plenty far away by the time the working boat passed and as a salute, the captain waved and then blew his fog horn one last time before heading into the misty, open waters.<br />
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The fog horn must have woke up the fish since seconds after that last blast, a rod doubled down with a spunky salmon on the line, then another on the other side. The first fish of the season is always special, starting the season with a double is extra fun. We hadn’t even got the fish out of the landing nets when another salmon bit and so went the fun of late winter/early season action on Indiana’s end of Lake Michigan.<br />
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Minutes after the fog horn tooting tug left, the fog disappeared and a welcome, warm sun kept us toasty on board. We didn’t really have time to worry about the cold, anyway. The fish kept us too busy. <br />
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It’s the “spring break” time of year but you don’t have to head for a Florida beach to get in on some hot action. Give me a call. Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-26342014835339922842016-03-07T07:05:00.000-08:002016-03-07T07:05:35.185-08:00THE PLEASANT UNCERTAINTY<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj449wVtNqL8ZOzh79jb4YRQzi8tX-hkT9RR7tjOERAhhEpFx3a6POuJLAsIxUuweB1jiQGCBJzuw_pKuNS8ZOy-Kz_opD-q19_WPjny6qKCsGluJBQRl1s_Dqhh8xDtAk5F8C4TOkvKE/s1600/garage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj449wVtNqL8ZOzh79jb4YRQzi8tX-hkT9RR7tjOERAhhEpFx3a6POuJLAsIxUuweB1jiQGCBJzuw_pKuNS8ZOy-Kz_opD-q19_WPjny6qKCsGluJBQRl1s_Dqhh8xDtAk5F8C4TOkvKE/s320/garage.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time to hook 'em up</td></tr>
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I love the trip from the boat launch to where I plan to set lines and begin fishing. Sometimes in early spring, that may be only a few minute ride. Other times in the heat of the summer it might be a half-hour or more. Whatever the length of the boat ride, those minutes are filled with what I call the “pleasant uncertainty.”<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWIYXrBG29ZNbdOXUEhcqd3J3AtbMxKVLsO7s4A3F3Fj5l95fj1rHYaJhO-k0j23fxsht9KL6rKV33L5Pk7Kn9R2y_b5R0oVjLAFBbpEZJxQS7U7j-QNVATIEHTzlwM9A_r4sW3bJHvg/s1600/muff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWIYXrBG29ZNbdOXUEhcqd3J3AtbMxKVLsO7s4A3F3Fj5l95fj1rHYaJhO-k0j23fxsht9KL6rKV33L5Pk7Kn9R2y_b5R0oVjLAFBbpEZJxQS7U7j-QNVATIEHTzlwM9A_r4sW3bJHvg/s400/muff.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check it out</td></tr>
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There’s no sure thing when it comes to fishing. I’ve had spectacular fishing one day go as flat as possum on I-65 the next. I’ve had days when the results of the day’s fishing far exceeded expectations. In short, each day faces uncertainty but since I’m “going fishing” it’s a pleasant uncertainty.<br />
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<br /> Right now, I’m in a slightly different sort of pleasant uncertainty. It’s time to drag the Brother Nature out of it’s winter hibernaculum, clean out the vestiges of last season, then make sure the early season lures and other gear are stowed on board.<br />
Then, drag the garden hose out of winter storage, hook it up to the lower unit and see if the motor can be coaxed to life. A quick check of wheel bearings, a bottle or two of HEET in the fuel tank and then just wait for a weather report good enough to run with.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZzbY5o8MqBTEpQ6cXKEBofsKiQ5P1Xr3OonOScQGPwLcxwQN46JwnR88EzJa2KbMGLtU2Dj2IbSZCAyKiPgLUdDYrHcoZ9nSQVDSorLIHRKzWK35P5WaTYkB9UKUdm0MHa9MP9h2bzc/s1600/raho1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZzbY5o8MqBTEpQ6cXKEBofsKiQ5P1Xr3OonOScQGPwLcxwQN46JwnR88EzJa2KbMGLtU2Dj2IbSZCAyKiPgLUdDYrHcoZ9nSQVDSorLIHRKzWK35P5WaTYkB9UKUdm0MHa9MP9h2bzc/s320/raho1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catch some fish</td></tr>
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Can I get it all done? Will everything work as well on the water as it does at home? Which marina should I visit? What time should I aim to hit the water.<br />
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I’m uncertain.... But it’s a pleasant uncertainty!Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-56141038849231730772015-09-18T06:57:00.000-07:002015-09-18T06:57:26.946-07:00SEPTEMBER SLAMThere are five species of salmon and trout in Lake Michigan. They are coho and king salmon, brown trout and steelhead trout and Lake Michigan’s native trout, the lake trout. Catching all five in a given period of time is called getting the Grand Slam.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0omNmYFSfwkQvTDjfcwGLYC0u_tqqxdNBb0k9o-ZGraFVGCP6Y2Ym5QfTwTxcOhU0Bs4C17cKkYSOf5iP1mfRM_2tiCcMB9lk0jm3hXVTg1favHshECb5ZqXzBfji_sS1abjIlpmq7o/s1600/slam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0omNmYFSfwkQvTDjfcwGLYC0u_tqqxdNBb0k9o-ZGraFVGCP6Y2Ym5QfTwTxcOhU0Bs4C17cKkYSOf5iP1mfRM_2tiCcMB9lk0jm3hXVTg1favHshECb5ZqXzBfji_sS1abjIlpmq7o/s400/slam.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long ago friends and I caught a one-day Grand Slam </td></tr>
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Indiana’s Salmon Unlimited club used to hand out patches to anglers who caught one of each species during a whole season. Occasionally, a lucky group of anglers get a Grand Slam on the same boat in one day. I’ve never heard of one individual catching all five species in one day but it’s probably happened, sometime, somewhere.<br />
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On the Brother Nature I’ve had numerous “mini-slams” catching four of the five species on one outing but only once has the crew on the “Bro” produced a fully fledged Grand Slam on one day. <br />
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While was looking back to my fishing trips in the first half of September, I realized I’d achieved a September Slam! On Labor Day, my fishermen’s catch included a coho salmon, king salmon and a lake trout. The king was where it was supposed to be, just off the mouth of the river. Given the time of year, that’s not where the coho and laker should have been found. This highlights the fact you never know what could bite next anytime, anyplace.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQTVD8LDB_nmHg2zt6r2bHpGvUowSEqfRHGC6a3XNEiMLE9hbAtdHed5mA-F-9QM2FLFrEyDW00Seyvy6Ctj4xLM_BAjapjRMpQ1hISyqmspPgC_DqjyDBLFa8-uCFyBJpQz4Xv6Dcvw/s1600/bob.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQTVD8LDB_nmHg2zt6r2bHpGvUowSEqfRHGC6a3XNEiMLE9hbAtdHed5mA-F-9QM2FLFrEyDW00Seyvy6Ctj4xLM_BAjapjRMpQ1hISyqmspPgC_DqjyDBLFa8-uCFyBJpQz4Xv6Dcvw/s320/bob.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King salmon are the usual catch in September</td></tr>
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Several days later, in addition to the kings (which are the target species in September) caught on the Brother Nature, the second fish of the day was a brown trout! And not just any brown trout, but a fourteen pound brown, easily among the five top largest browns on my boat, ever. <br />
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Yesterday, just as the sun was brightening the morning sky one of the rods came alive and eighty-four year old, birthday boy, Stan Jones, eventually subdued a spunky steelhead hooked in only twelve feet of water. It dawned on me that made all five species caught in just a couple of late summer weeks. The September Slam! <br />
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Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-48818628945344794102015-07-29T06:34:00.001-07:002015-07-29T06:34:33.397-07:00TODDLERS ON DECKIt started with a message on my answering machine. “Hi, I’m Drew. My wife and I along with my three year old and one and a half year old are coming up to the Indiana Dunes for a few days next week and we’d like to go on a fishing charter. With the little ones on board, I’m sure we won’t be able to do a full length, five or six hour trip. Can we go out for an hour or hour and a half?”<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3w-mzdxxu8t_LRR9eJN9LG7VAbVJZUSp4XSyA9L58zNVfxNOehNFosrFJXHHV-2CAY_nQfKqt0IW7xpK9pXURe05u8uGMEQ7rzpaDwds-ec0j9kRRw_A4enL6QrjiDWpHZoNBkLfBw9A/s1600/evelyn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3w-mzdxxu8t_LRR9eJN9LG7VAbVJZUSp4XSyA9L58zNVfxNOehNFosrFJXHHV-2CAY_nQfKqt0IW7xpK9pXURe05u8uGMEQ7rzpaDwds-ec0j9kRRw_A4enL6QrjiDWpHZoNBkLfBw9A/s400/evelyn.jpg" width="300" /></a>My first thought was to just call him back and tell him to forget it. Even if he offered to pay for a full length trip and then only fish for a short time, I’d feel bad about doing that to him. Then I came up with a plan that worked out just fine.<br />
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I was scheduled for a morning charter on Monday, the trip ru<br />
nning 5 AM to 11 AM. I’d already have hauled the boat to the lake, the boat would be in the water, another hour or two wouldn’t make much difference to me and would give Drew and his family another adventure on their trip to Northwest Indiana.<br />
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Since I seldom get back to the marina exactly on time, I called Drew and set our departure for noon. We agreed on a pro-rated price for a short trip and all was set.<br />
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Except for lifejackets! I carry lifejackets suitable for youths up to 90 pounds but not for toddlers.<br />
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Then I remembered the Portage Public Marina is one of almost 600 marinas around the country signed onto the BoatUS Foundation’s Life Jacket Loaner Program. One of the program's goals is to educate boaters on the significance of wearing the appropriate size and type of life jacket while boating. Another is to make sure a day of boating isn't spoiled just because a family forgot a life jacket at home. And finally, the most important goal: simply to keep kids safe out on the water!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijcl4mtnnvv1LhRSyB29-9BDgn0dT4N8G0tjH07IpVXTpR-fzBsOqG8p9G8VTxsP9XnBhgVnKbp6hMWXLs5eafizXouMnq4HfhTMqAy3fr1GOq8oyCRR4m9dGJyM0JoM4xPGij_Bck0vk/s1600/BUSlogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijcl4mtnnvv1LhRSyB29-9BDgn0dT4N8G0tjH07IpVXTpR-fzBsOqG8p9G8VTxsP9XnBhgVnKbp6hMWXLs5eafizXouMnq4HfhTMqAy3fr1GOq8oyCRR4m9dGJyM0JoM4xPGij_Bck0vk/s200/BUSlogo.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBbVcD6ZyWl1AL98rghTD-7mNiPlafQaGDL_Nyu4IErBpMk-9XuzJGLnR29QuoSa7Jhs-w0lI8aXOpLVrwsO_NzSdn6MylM6o64qnrwoa7d-Ui9RfdkvLtBt6L41VgUxqH7jfFLbIcH3U/s1600/will.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBbVcD6ZyWl1AL98rghTD-7mNiPlafQaGDL_Nyu4IErBpMk-9XuzJGLnR29QuoSa7Jhs-w0lI8aXOpLVrwsO_NzSdn6MylM6o64qnrwoa7d-Ui9RfdkvLtBt6L41VgUxqH7jfFLbIcH3U/s400/will.jpg" width="400" /></a>When Drew and Susan arrived, I directed them to the marina office and in a few minutes both Will and Evelyn were decked out in appropriately-sized PFDs. No charge. The program is funded by donations from the more than half a million members of BoatUS and the general public.<br />
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It was a fun trip. Without enough time to run offshore to the area I fished in the morning, we gave a little shot at finding some nearshore steelhead. The youngsters generally enjoyed the trip, I know mom and dad did. In a couple years when Will is a little older, perhaps I’ll take them out on a “real” fishing trip. Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-9145485142568172502015-05-03T08:39:00.000-07:002015-05-03T08:39:00.589-07:00SHAD RAP WARRANTEE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTbnuFtvB5URmCU4VTDZm7vhJAJUHhkhaenWaV-asE9FZLAI8Lb2_FCapbBTnsF9bjaPF4yO0jRTT4VQX6uT1blNAg80_K8P3eDxVKF9c6T9ztARyR6uotcdhHyW4i9HO8cOIwzeTgvkk/s1600/SRW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTbnuFtvB5URmCU4VTDZm7vhJAJUHhkhaenWaV-asE9FZLAI8Lb2_FCapbBTnsF9bjaPF4yO0jRTT4VQX6uT1blNAg80_K8P3eDxVKF9c6T9ztARyR6uotcdhHyW4i9HO8cOIwzeTgvkk/s1600/SRW.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Shad Raps in the long established FireTiger color as well as the chartreuse/silver have accounted for many, many salmon on my boat. Still, those are not normally the best colors to attract cohos most days.<br />
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Their favorite color of lure to bite is a fluorescent red with black stripes or dots. Rapala’s Shad Rap’s new “Demon” color, though patterned to look somewhat like a crawdad, is basically fluorescent red with black stripes.<br />
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So I purchased a few of the the Shad Rap Demons to test against the tried and true coho lures in my tackle box. <br />
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Unscientific, for sure, but I matched the new lure up against five of my old standards, all fished the same way at the same time. Though the test was small scale, I hypothesized if the Demon caught one-sixth of the fish, it was equal to the lures I usually employ. If it caught more than it’s share, it’s even better. More testing would be needed!<br />
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The first day of the test I caught three fish on the “demon” which meant it latched onto a quarter of the fish caught - pretty good. The next time out I caught three more on it. Then the lure broke.<br />
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One of the down sides of balsa-body lures is they are fragile, much more fragile than plastic lures. The Shad Rap is especially fragile at the tail end because it tapers to almost nothing. Cohos are especially hard on them because they tend to twist when netted so it’s not unusual for the trailing end of a Shad Rap to look a little battered and bent after tangling with several salmon. More than battered, this time the wire hanger snapped off.<br />
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I mentioned this to Bob Ringer, PR guy for Rapala, and he said Rapala has a warrantee program, just download the form from the website and send it. I’d never heard of a lure coming with a warrantee, but I gave it a shot.<br />
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A couple weeks later I got my broken lure back and a nice letter from Rapala explaining they warrant for shoddy workmanship or materials, not for durability. That’s understandable. If you want an unbreakable lure, use one made of steel. It probably won’t catch many fish, at least as not as many as a Shad Rap in similar conditions, but it could last a lifetime.<br />
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Now if a lure company would only come with a warrantee or money-back guarantee for their product to catch fish every time they are used, I’d buy a dozen of them!<br />
<br />Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-90071719153587699462015-04-08T08:39:00.000-07:002015-04-08T08:39:16.140-07:00THE DUNES SCORE BIG<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd9MXS3nTKrPi1CiqIxLDMKkB-PQr8Sp4lMdzIQBH-lNMSdozl-Sa3VhBBzhJIBHx3xcUNC7qJHrcCynuCvGC6uiPhPtU0jQxGj2YU9AmQpcXixONbU1PVQaDfCQUcNpR-1-i8z4SDLnQ/s1600/d2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd9MXS3nTKrPi1CiqIxLDMKkB-PQr8Sp4lMdzIQBH-lNMSdozl-Sa3VhBBzhJIBHx3xcUNC7qJHrcCynuCvGC6uiPhPtU0jQxGj2YU9AmQpcXixONbU1PVQaDfCQUcNpR-1-i8z4SDLnQ/s1600/d2.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a><br />
I’m lucky enough to have traveled and fished from the Arctic to the Tropics for fishes large and small. I loved all those trips and experiences.<br />
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But the key word is experiences. It’s not all about the fishing. It’s the people you meet, the guides and the places you experience along with wetting your lines and reeling your fish that make a trip memorable.<br />
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Many of my summer customers are attracted first to the Indiana Dunes State Park and somehow discover my charter-fishing service as something to try while in the area.<br />
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I’ve been to “The Dunes” many times and have long realized they are one of Indiana’s natural treasures. I've never considered how they stacked up against natural treasures across the country when you consider they would be up against places like the Everglades, Rocky Mountains, Cascades, canyons, desert landscapes and others.<br />
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A recent poll conducted by USA Today shows they stack up quite nicely, thank you, ranking #7 in comparison to the top parks in the country! Number seven of 6000 parks in the running.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sSdo4HY6S_Ma8gX1pDtZL7TozMItX-T2OZESGQrn5xEjFsAsnreyckVFSuomnRbc5ZLUTTGOgEJcp5BWzEYHlCldpnTURwlgcsrmOjQ8QnSkwc0mNfZWxROnR2Rr53Bib0kO9r4JgdE/s1600/d1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sSdo4HY6S_Ma8gX1pDtZL7TozMItX-T2OZESGQrn5xEjFsAsnreyckVFSuomnRbc5ZLUTTGOgEJcp5BWzEYHlCldpnTURwlgcsrmOjQ8QnSkwc0mNfZWxROnR2Rr53Bib0kO9r4JgdE/s1600/d1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach pavilion at Indiana Dunes State Park</td></tr>
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Way to go Indiana Dunes!<br />
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If you are one of my customers coming to fish with me on Lake Michigan, consider making time on your journey to visit the Dunes. It’s only a few minutes away from the Portage Marina where I normally depart through the summer months. <br />
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If you are a visitor to the Dunes, consider a fishing trip with me as a part of your experience. When you get back to the park you’ll have some fresh salmon or trout filets to grill up making your trip to this unique area even more special. Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-19952677306872758742015-02-22T05:38:00.000-08:002015-02-22T05:52:26.121-08:00IT'S ALL IN THE HAT<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsG7Hvmx-9pS6VG8tvhUuUMATnZ22HfwScxx834l7AmW4ZnWJTbei-L0QmcerfG0MOzOtehLeaG2Du6Eu7508Hb5IUpo95MS2ILkVj1xWfSrTkFKWgPpvFsV-_TYxnyG10q5h7Zcdju4U/s1600/fishhat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsG7Hvmx-9pS6VG8tvhUuUMATnZ22HfwScxx834l7AmW4ZnWJTbei-L0QmcerfG0MOzOtehLeaG2Du6Eu7508Hb5IUpo95MS2ILkVj1xWfSrTkFKWgPpvFsV-_TYxnyG10q5h7Zcdju4U/s1600/fishhat.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
I am a firm believer in “fishing hats.” They don’t have to be adorned with flies and spinners like Colonel Blake wore in the TV Series, MASH. They don’t have to have a stupid logo on them that proclaims the wearer to be a Master Baiter. But they do have to have plenty of Mojo. Never underestimate the power of Mojo when it comes to a fishing hat.<br />
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Other than Mojo, they need to have a couple of other features. A good fishing hat sports a brim to shield your eyes from the sun. A great fishing hat sports a brim that is dark-colored - preferably flat black in color - on the underside. Hat color matters little other than in hot, sunny weather I choose lighter colors. As a matter of preference, my fishing hats are not camouflage. I have a hatrack full of camo caps, but those are for hunting, not fishing. If they have Mojo, it’s hunting Mojo, not fishing Mojo.<br />
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Personally, I favor baseball style caps. Available nearly everywhere, if they were good enough to shield the eyes of Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and other baseball greats, they are good enough for me. I’m not saying John Wayne’s Stetson, a Mexican sombrero or other head dress style wouldn’t be as good or better, but I’ll stick to a baseball cap.<br />
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Regardless of the style, they have to fit well. I’m often offered hats from a variety of companies who dole them out as advertising fodder. I own some farmland so I get seed corn hats. I buy insurance so I get insurance company hats. I write outdoor blogs so I get hats from outdoor products companies. But anymore, when offered a new hat, I slap it on my noggin and if it doesn’t feel “right,” I just hand it back. Some hats land on your head feeling as broken-in as your best walking boots, others are like trying to cram a square peg into a round hole.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBRuwMP7JEhSu9_NEOLq0-0x-SzUdOFnoGtSsBqNBx4oPa5HWbCzYT9y_14qXv_NzzHRifT967OfzpSZgt5T-9lR-Dd1RaYsC0V8CQeARWOHxyUsy_8VhkOBB6QA_w-JME1o-KjSDjzo/s1600/2HAT.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBRuwMP7JEhSu9_NEOLq0-0x-SzUdOFnoGtSsBqNBx4oPa5HWbCzYT9y_14qXv_NzzHRifT967OfzpSZgt5T-9lR-Dd1RaYsC0V8CQeARWOHxyUsy_8VhkOBB6QA_w-JME1o-KjSDjzo/s1600/2HAT.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because of the dark under-brim, the hat<br />on the right would be a better fishing hat. </td></tr>
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But don’t overlook the Mojo.<br />
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You can wear the best looking, best fitting hat on a fishing trip that was supposed to be next thing to fishing in a barrel and have the fishing fall flat. Immediately, if I’m wearing a new hat, it becomes suspect.<br />
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On the other hand, if the trip goes better than you expected, admit it, the hat had the Mojo to put you over the top. So wear the same hat on the next trip and the next and don’t give up on it until it gives up on you. Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-44484524226194640822015-01-24T05:48:00.000-08:002015-01-24T05:48:46.008-08:00I WON AN ELECTION In the biographical information I provided to NACO when I was put on the ballot to be considered for a seat on their Board of Directors I wrote:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYnjcJmf01Ah4IVsYQP5uubWisP0EXLkAc7_FQn-Ye0_jcsE-YyuxsaWT8mZPm0zutSNbFNx3mf8VyiDpUGIkcQ14HwKlnL2rluGbE7zLnxwozEtdQfXlqLZiWpjV9UxIDcAWRWDqWQE/s1600/NACO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYnjcJmf01Ah4IVsYQP5uubWisP0EXLkAc7_FQn-Ye0_jcsE-YyuxsaWT8mZPm0zutSNbFNx3mf8VyiDpUGIkcQ14HwKlnL2rluGbE7zLnxwozEtdQfXlqLZiWpjV9UxIDcAWRWDqWQE/s1600/NACO.jpg" height="320" width="293" /></a></div>
<b><i>In every group to which I’ve belonged, I always became active and involved. I guess by nature, I’m a leader, not a follower. I’ve held various offices in both the Hoosier Outdoor Writers and the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers, including President and Chairman of the Board. I’m a superviser of my local county’s soil and water conservation district. I’m on my local county’s extension board and am a past member of the county’s planning commission. I’ve served as President and am now executive secretary of Indiana’s North Coast Charter Association.</i></b><br />
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NACO, the National Association of Charterboat Operators, was formed in 1991 and now includes a membership of thousands of owners or operators of fishing, sailing, diving, eco-tours, and other excursion vessels carrying passengers for hire. NACO’s objective is to improve the professional charter boat operator's bottom line and to provide a strong voice in Washington, DC.<br />
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NACO is a membership driven association proven to be successful because of the shared experiences of the Board of Directors, Executive Team and Regular Membership. NACO’s officers and board members consist of experienced licensed captains, who are actively involved in their local areas. <br />
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NACO was formed out of a need to fight costly government regulations that threatened to cripple the charter boat industry. The organization keeps track of issues affecting the industry and NACO officers and board members regularly represents charter operators before Congress and Regulatory Agencies. Over the years NACO has succeeded in saving charter boat operators millions of dollars and prevented excessive, time-consuming and needless reporting.<br />
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As a new board member, I plan to lurk in the background initially, assessing the personalities and learning the inner workings of the group. As time progresses, no doubt I'll become more involved and a better representative for charter boat operators in the Great Lakes and elsewhere. </div>
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Any NACO members reading this who voted for me: THANKS. The rest of you: WISH ME LUCK!</div>
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<br />Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-75486902157001673982014-12-27T06:25:00.000-08:002014-12-29T07:26:08.858-08:00FISHING THE FIFTY QUEST<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimDllVa06urd6YJP4xHqg8bdcG7bxq-vEAfER1xyCMwt9MQH1LGXPfAO1fzVvGJNdIqfTmt3bXKwJQ6W5GxdX3sA7fFatNfdB7roeAyB7TmHa83JzaWBZGgyGIsdJWLhhcAmxI6M9Zq9o/s1600/dave2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimDllVa06urd6YJP4xHqg8bdcG7bxq-vEAfER1xyCMwt9MQH1LGXPfAO1fzVvGJNdIqfTmt3bXKwJQ6W5GxdX3sA7fFatNfdB7roeAyB7TmHa83JzaWBZGgyGIsdJWLhhcAmxI6M9Zq9o/s1600/dave2.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Howard traveled from Virginia to catch an Indiana Steelhead</td></tr>
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No doubt there are dozens of reasons people hire me to take them on a fishing trip on Lake Michigan. They want adventure, sport, to try something different. Perhaps fishing Lake Michigan is on their bucket list or they know it’s one of their best opportunities to catch a big fish, close to home. Some just like catching tasty fish or fish they can keep to eat without feeling guilty. Few people climb into the Brother Nature because they are on a quest.<br />
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That’s what happened a few years ago when I met David Howard at the docks one morning in late June. David originally scheduled his fishing time to see how many fish of different species he could catch. Once he caught most of the species available in his home state of Virginia, he started traveling to other states to fish for other kinds of fish. Which brought him to me.<br />
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My website (www.brother-nature.com) has a fishing calendar for people to use in planning when they’d like to come or what to expect when they get here. Howard saw the calendar and scheduled for late June when it's expected to get a mixed bag, each time out. Specifically, he wanted a lake trout, a steelhead or a coho salmon to add to his list. Catching even one of these three would be a successful trip, two of the three would be great and all three would be fantastic.<br />
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Lakers were not to be. A cold front had pushed through leaving miles of 3 to 5 foot waves between the beaches and the deep water where lakers could be found. So we concentrated on nearshore, Skamania strain steelhead. Success came quickly with a 14-pound steelhead. Next a brown trout came to the boat. Browns are rare in summer. He'd already listed a brown caught in a Virginia stream, but those fish are measured in inches. This one weighed over nine pounds, still his largest ever brown trout. <br />
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The waves diminished by mid-morning. The lakers were still out of the question but I was able to steer the boat to slightly deeper and cooler water where Howard caught a beautiful coho weighing over seven pounds. Another fish for his "list."<br />
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Soon after our outing a new quest was born. Howard realized his original goal to catch a variety of fish had taken him to more than half the states in the USA. Could he fish all fifty states?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5V9F3s71Gfvy_56kC8OQS4StfdjdTVZGLtuJXLYoChR4al6uymltSG5z9pQc_lLsrp81-r9U2Qtx0kRC77WSDwa3kAcsTGhmxHtMndYA0C7LGjkgk3AX2iKlIDu7gbJ0csbBkdeIUBck/s1600/davehoward.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5V9F3s71Gfvy_56kC8OQS4StfdjdTVZGLtuJXLYoChR4al6uymltSG5z9pQc_lLsrp81-r9U2Qtx0kRC77WSDwa3kAcsTGhmxHtMndYA0C7LGjkgk3AX2iKlIDu7gbJ0csbBkdeIUBck/s1600/davehoward.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not David's first brown trout, but his largest! </td></tr>
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It looks like it! A trip to Hawaii in 2015 will complete his journey. How many people can say they’ve visited all 50 states, much less fished all 50 states.<br />
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In anticipation, Howard has set up a website www.fishingthefifty.com which includes photos from each trip along with a short essay detailing what fish he caught in each of the states. Click it up, it’s very interesting and he's caught some magnificent trophies.<br />
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I’m happy and proud to have been a part of David’s quest. Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5477222939020904730.post-88773587814019810512014-11-04T05:38:00.000-08:002014-11-04T05:38:01.960-08:00GALES OF NOVEMBER CAME EARLYOMG! Which is text-speak for Oh, my god! I don’t text much but in this case this is certainly an OMG moment. I watch the south Lake Michigan weather buoy read-out almost every day during the fishing season. It’s only about 50 miles or so from the area I normally fish and when dealing with weather and weather patterns, 50 miles is hometown news. <br />
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So today, regardless that the Brother Nature is stowed safely away for the winter, the strong wind warnings, lake snow forecasts, etcetera, I clicked up the midlake buoy. I’ve never seen anything like this! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS2daI6BiPf81IyoGdsjk7rAQgx6kRDxG0ELq4M0TngPn6rwGTHlNes2At1nERbGhHdHQeOhBUc2jmrG7aSZuhtZ62hMtMWzwVzhvcygluAW52yigLoQ-YKQK8AOp66H-p4YSg8BWhY-g/s1600/buoy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS2daI6BiPf81IyoGdsjk7rAQgx6kRDxG0ELq4M0TngPn6rwGTHlNes2At1nERbGhHdHQeOhBUc2jmrG7aSZuhtZ62hMtMWzwVzhvcygluAW52yigLoQ-YKQK8AOp66H-p4YSg8BWhY-g/s1600/buoy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MID-LAKE BUOY</td></tr>
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I’ve been out on the lake multiple dozens of times so I know what the wind and wave conditions were, first hand. Then I’d compare it with the midlake buoy, “real-time” reports. The wind conditions were usually spot on with my “guestimation” of how strong the winds were blowing. The wave conditions never aligned. I finally decided the buoy didn’t measure wave heights from the bottom of the trough to the peak of the wave, it was more like the buoy measured only from mean lake level to the peak of the waves. <br />
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There’s probably “scientific” reasons for doing it this way, but if you are out on the lake, expecting two-foot waves, as measured by the buoy, and are really in four foot waves, measured from trough to peak, that’s a big difference. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtbrzSdBZUbQ4mWN-iy_sSO9AbJS9f3u32HRTQEYjBh27YjiOLvcwpQILESn19Sq9WXVkdnR49R1AjcJ85celYc5biCbwhJl0qlR70dazG3RWm4wuHa9kiK_JHoo3buA5pNJk5RRT3msI/s1600/bw..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtbrzSdBZUbQ4mWN-iy_sSO9AbJS9f3u32HRTQEYjBh27YjiOLvcwpQILESn19Sq9WXVkdnR49R1AjcJ85celYc5biCbwhJl0qlR70dazG3RWm4wuHa9kiK_JHoo3buA5pNJk5RRT3msI/s1600/bw..jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Michigan must have looked like this! </td></tr>
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So looking at today’s weather buoy info (October 31, 2014) is pretty darned scarey. I’m glad I’m not out there. The wind is blowing from the north at 38.9 Knots (44.7 miles per hour). Gusts are 50.5 knots. The buoy at Michigan City pegged a gust at 67 miles per hour. <br />
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More importantly, the wave heights measured by the buoy are 21.7 feet. I’ve never been out there to decide if the measured waves to actual wave heights (2 foot vs. 4 foot) is similar when the buoy registers waves of double digit heights; but if it does, that means 40-plus foot waves blowing down the lake. I’m glad I’m not there! Captain Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03341923174145418247noreply@blogger.com0