SUMMER FUN IN SKAMMY-TOWN

When someone asks me what’s my favorite species of salmon or trout to catch from Lake Michigan, it’s a tough question.
I like what’s biting best. I like the bulldog strength of a big king salmon. I like the fact that lake trout are "supposed" to be there–the lake’s natural top predator. I like the fact we on the south end of the lake have the
CAPTAIN DOUG ILIFF WITH ONE OF THE BIG
SKAMMIES THAT DIDN'T GET AWAY!
best coho salmon fishing in the world. But for a period each summer, I like Indiana’s "summer-run" Skamania strain steelhead better than all of them. Skamanias routinely grow larger, fight harder, jump higher and break more tackle and hearts than all the other fish put together.
Take yesterday, for example. Captain Doug Iliff asked me on board his boat along with 3 other captains from the East Chicago marina for a day of fun fishing. Rumor had it, the Skamanias–Skammies–were "in" at Portage, at the extreme southern tip of Lake Michigan.
I mean extreme! Not only were we fishing at the exact southern point of the 300 mile long lake, we were only in 10 to 20 feet of water most of the day, close enough the beach-goers could cheer us (or our fish) as we gave battle.
In the end, we boated 5 of the fish. The line broke seconds after a strike on another, they bent the hooks open on the lures we were using twice and another 7 or 8 of the silver torpedoes pulled a variety of Houdini-like tricks of their own making to offer us moments of thrills and disappointments.
All in all–a successful day in Skammy-Town. Expect the Skamania steelhead to continue offering fun and excitement at the south tip of the lake for another month or more. Call me! I’ll look forward to the trip as much as you!

TWINS TRIP

Sixty years ago Mrs. Cronin gave birth to a set of twin boys in New Jersey . Sixty years later, one of the twins, John, now living in Florida called me to set up a special birthday party for Jim, his twin, and himself. A fishing trip on the Brother Nature. They couldn’t have picked a more spectacular day. The sun was an orange ball as we motored up to full cruising speed, leaving the Portage shoreline behind us. At 30 miles per hour, the ride out to deeper, cooler water was short–about 15 minutes or so and the 15 minute rule seemed about right for the day. John told stories of his bass fishing passions on Florida lakes. Jim reminded him of other days fishing they’d spent together. I reminded them, just about every 15 minutes that we were out there to catch some fish and they’d best handle the one currently bending down one of the rods. Salmon and lake trout bit steadily. The lake remained glass smooth all morning. Some of the fish escaped (the big ones we agreed–the big ones always get away–and laughed.) Some of the fish went home, destined for the backyard grill at Jim’s Portage, Indiana home. Happy Birthday!

FISH BOIL!

In a recent column I wrote for Michigan Outdoor News I told about attending a Great Lakes fish-boil while on a trip to Door County, Wisconsin and how the original GLFBs featured lake trout, not the whitefish used in modern day boils.

So on our way home from the trip I blogged about below we decided to serve some of the trout pictured in our own fish boil. The real-deal fish boil was our goal. No stove-top boils, no whimpy flames for us. It was to be outdoors, in a big pot over a big fire. Peggy stopped by the grocery store for some red potatoes and some potato-sized onions and we were set–almost.

I built a good sized fire out of dried oak and mulberry wood. Once it was blazing, I set a raised grill over the flames and positioned a backyard fish-cooker fry-pot on the grill, filled about 3/4s with water. When the water started to boil, we were ½ hour from dinner.

A pound of salt (just a guess) went into the pot with a dozen (3 each) red potatoes and the timer set for 10 minutes. When the timer rang, the onions were added (2 each) and the timer reset to 10 minutes. When the timer beeped, the lake trout chunks were added for the final 10 minutes. The lakers were fileted, skin removed, fat and lateral line trimmed and de-pin-boned.

Traditionally, liquified bacon grease is added to the fire to make it flare at the end of the cooking time. I had no bacon grease or kerosene, so I improvised.

Three-quarters cup of vegetable oil went into a container along with a quarter cup of lawnmower gas. This isn’t something I advise anyone to duplicate–but it worked!

From a distance I doused the fire with my concoction, the fire flared up, the water went from a medium boil to a raging boil in a few seconds, cascading over the rim of the pot spilling ash and lake trout oils into the fire.

THE BOIL OVER IS THE TRADITIONAL (AND SPECTACULAR) END TO A GREAT LAKES FISH BOIL!

Served with melted butter over everything, it was terrific! Much better than the whitefish boils I’d eaten previously and much more fun than a traditional backyard fish fry! Try it for yourself–but be safe.

LAKER LOVER

Tom Lowrey (Wisconsin) with his Uncle Bill from central Indiana held a family reunion and Laker-Fishing-Fest on the Brother Nature recently!

I’ll admit to being a lake trout lover. I agree, pound for pound they don’t fight like a king salmon. I agree, plate for plate they don’t taste as good as Great Lakes salmon in some recipes, either. But they are fun to catch and there are many recipes for lakers which will have you wanting seconds. So when the laker bite is on, I relish the opportunity to fish for and catch the fish which were once the top predator in the Great Lakes.

When I was a youngster I relished reading outdoor magazine accounts of jet-set anglers traveling to the ends of the Earth. These guys fished for huge fish in exotic locales, and those guys heading to the far north in search of sag-bellied lake trout were as much my hero as Justin Bieber is to today’s "citified" youths. I never knew lake trout were once endemic to Lake Michigan, a short drive from home. The commercial fishermen and lampreys had wiped them out.

Now they are back, they are big and when they are available, I love fishing for them. I’ve never come back to shore with a group of unhappy anglers who have had a been through a laker-smackdown.

TIN WHISTLES

One of the most effective tactics for catching lake trout in Southern Lake Michigan is now one of the least used. Properly called "sinker releases," a more popular term is "tin whistles."

When Jim Van Maas contacted me about a charter, he asked if he could bring some of his "old" gear along, left over from when he used to come to Lake Michigan with friends, fishing out of their own boat. Sure, I said. We can give it a try. When he showed up, last Friday morning, he hadn’t dug deep to resurrect any of his old Tadpollies, but I did! And, I dug out a tin whistle.

At this time of year lake trout swarm up from their customary depths to slurp on gobies just east of the Indiana Shoals. Besides the tin whistle, I dug a bit deeper for a container of one-pound disposable weights and tossed a wire-line rod and reel into the boat–one I usually use for fishing deep with Dipsey Divers in mid-summer.

The whistle has a line tie on each end. One end connects to the wire line, to the other end tie a monofilament leader. A snapswivel goes on the other end of the leader and is used to attach a likely-looking spoon. A special clip is located along the barrel of the whistle to which you attach a 3-foot length of mono with a one-pounder tied to the other end.

The rear line-tie to which the leader attaches is spring loaded. The weight of the lure pulling along won’t compress the spring, but the weight of a laker will. When the fish bites, compressing the spring, it opens the clip in the barrel of the whistle, the sinker drops off and you get to fight the fish without a heavy weight on the line.

Let out enough wire so as you troll along the one pound weight just maintains contact with the bottom. Dragging it along the bottom is better than not touching the bottom at all, but perfect is when it just skips along the bottom touching it every couple of seconds.

Out on the shoals, it didn’t take long for the tin whistle rig to connect. I don’t know if it was a "memory trip" for Van Maas, but it sure was for me.

UP THE COAST

One of the benefits of living at the south end of Lake Michigan is how our fishing gets started earlier in the year than "up the coast" on either the Michigan or Wisconsin side Okay, maybe when our fishing peps up we catch 2 pound cohos and when the northern ports start popping, they do it with double-digit kings. In my book, a 2-pounder now, is better than the hope for a 10-pounder later. Still, I look forward to heading up the coast to either state as spring transitions to summer. There’s a flavor, there–a feeling–a goal (and some 10 pound kings and more.)

Recently, I attended the Second Annual, Saugatuck/Douglas, Michigan area "Salmon in the Classroom" fishing outing, where local charter skippers and sportfishermen take the entire class of 5^th or 6^th graders from the Middle School for a morning on the lake. These kids grow chinooks from eggs to stocking-size smolts in their classroom "fish hatcheries" (and learn valuable biology lessons along the way.) The fishing trip shows them what their project can produce.

Jada with her first fish ever!

My "team" of anglers consisted of Clair Conley, Jada Mitchell and Zoie Driy, on board Capt. Dave Engel’s boat, the Best Chance Too. It was cold, it was slightly choppy and exciting enough that the fisher-gals didn’t much mind. We drew straws to see who would go first, but that didn’t much matter either since all shared nearly equal amount of rod time.

Did we make some future fishermen? Does the Salmon in the Schools program make future fish biologists? Only time will tell. I do know, it makes for a great chance for me to get "up the coast" just a little.

MY SPECIAL KIDS

"Okay, guys," I said. "When a fish bites you need to yell, ‘FISH-On’ as loud as you can, okay?" Both Joey and Luke shook their head. "Loud," I said. "So loud they can here you in that boat way over there. Okay?"

Less than a minute later one of the planer lines snapped free from its release and the rod folded over. I don’t know whether Joey or Luke helped, but in that boat way over there, I’m sure heads turned when they heard my own "fish-on" call.

I handed Joey the rod and he just held on. "Turn the crank," I coached. He’d never held a fishing rod before. I guess I should have coached a bit more in depth. Once he started cranking, Joey was fine and when we netted the coho and flipped it onto the deck, his smile went ear to ear!

Seconds later another coho struck a crankbait on the other side of the boat and Luke was onto his first salmon.

Each year Indiana’s North Coast Charter Association conducts a "Special Kids Gone Fishing" outing, where we take area youngsters with chronic or debilitating problems or disease for a morning on the lake. I’ll admit, it makes me feel like a special captain, as well.

At the photo session at the end of the trip, I think all the kids but one held up their hand when asked if they’d caught a fish. When they were asked if they had fun, I think heads turned in a boat "way over there" to see what the cheering was about.