OPENING DAY

Opening day Brown Trout

Every hunter or fisherman loves “opening day.” Fish and game management agencies use open and closed harvesting seasons as one of the tools to achieve their conservation goals. Hunters and anglers know that often, the first day of an open season usually comes with the best chance of success. There is more of what we are trying to harvest available and the fish or game has not been educated by near misses, whether that’s hooks or bullets.

In Indiana, there are no open or closed fishing seasons, so the hook and line crowd need only go when they think the time is right. Still, the first outing in the spring is very much like an opening day. Yours could be tomorrow, mine was yesterday. The same principles are in affect, whether the “opener” is a legal date or just a first opportunity.

Opening day anticipation is much more than just a better-than-average chance for success. Seasons and opportunity are too fleeting. The rest of the year, an avid hunter, fisher or trapper has to relive their passion in memories or preparation for the next opener. And as that draws closer, the anticipation builds like a 6-year-old waiting for Christmas morning.

Opening day on the Brother Nature was yesterday and was well worth the wait and the anticipation. The morning coffee never tasted so hearty on the trip to the lake. The concerns of “did I forget something” added drama. The weather report was perfect, the boat's motor started on comand and soon, with the “new” season only minutes old, the first fish bit and was reeled to the net.

That was certainly not the only fish of the day. The fishing was terrific. “Like in the old days,” one old-timer told me.

Yeah, just like in the old days. Or perhaps just like in old memories of opening days past.

BEING FLOORED

Old, painted floor

It wasn’t long after buying the current Brother Nature I figured out that A) it’s poor planning to have a white floor in a fishing boat - especially one that is launched and fished adjacent to steel mills and other coal-burning industries and B) the carpeted floors in my previous boats could probably grow vegetables. In the end, I painted the floor of the boat and sold a story about it to Great Lakes Angler magazine.

Trowelling on the new floor. 

That was over 10 years ago and the painted floor certainly showed its age. “Another thing to do on my summer’s things to do list,” I thought.




Long story short, (read about it in the May issue of Great Lakes Angler magazine), my boat now has a new floor. I didn’t paint it. It’s a floor material called “Safe-Floor.”

If you know what an artificial surfaced running track looks and feels like, it’s very close to that. The recycled tire rubber for each is the same - the bonding material for each is different. It has given the interior of the boat a face lift, but more importantly, the surface gives a better and more comfortable walking surface. For more information go to www.safe-floor.com.

New Floor - Front Deck

HOPE AND TAXES

A recent Princeton University study showed that approximately one-third of all jobs in the USA currently need some sort of government permit, licensing or registration to perform. What a jobs killer!

Is that a good thing? You be the judge.

It could be argued that licensing medical doctors is necessary. (But why are there crummy doctors?) I don’t really care if my barber is licensed or not. If I get a chop-job from one guy, I’ll go to a different one next time.

Included in the category of “highly regulated jobs” is running a charter boat.

There’s the coast guard license, boat registrations, boat inspections, marina registrations, guide licenses - in Illinois one needs both a state charter captain’s license as well a passenger boat license.

Under the guise of “public safety” and “resource management” each of these licenses or registrations come with an administrative “fee” attached. (Administrative fee is a government word for TAX.) With the check shown in this picture I now have my “taxes” paid for 2012.

I hope my customers feel safer knowing I have current “stickers” on my boat instead

of those from last year or the year before. I hope those who jiggle the numbers when planning future management strategies for Lake Michigan be sure to incorporate the fish and customer counts I have to submit each month. I hope the government bureaucrats who are the recipients of the checks I write to be able to take people fishing each year spend my money wisely. I hope every day I spend on the lake this year features bright skies, light wind

s and hungry fish.

What do you think of my hopes coming true?

PRIZE WINNING FISH

Okay, perhaps the fish he caught on the Brother Nature last summer didn’t win Bill Keaton a prize, but it did win him a certificate “Suitable for Framing!” The certificate was for a freshwater drum, a.k.a. sheephead, a.k.a. grunt, a.k.a. gaspergoo, a.k.a. ... well, the Aplodinotus grunniens goes by many colloquial names.

Each year the Indiana DNR conducts a program to recognize notable catches made by anglers fishing in Indiana the preceding year. The fish for which certificates are awarded may not be state records but they were the largest specimen caught and registered of an individual species for a calendar year.

Keaton’s recognition-winning freshwater drum was caught on the Brother Nature in early September. The past several years have featured increasing numbers of these drum in the southern end of the lake and from mid-summer on, hooking up with one is not all that unusual. When fishing within a mile or so of the beaches in July and August catching one or more is nearly a daily occurrence.

Most of my customers are a bit disappointed when they find out the big salmon or steelhead they had been battling for the previous 15 minutes or so turns out to be a sheephead and so am I. But just a wee bit.

As I tell my clients, “If all you want is some dead fish to eat, go to the supermarket. They are a lot cheaper there than what I charge.”

The ‘goos hit a lure like a ton of bricks, make impressive runs against

a tight drag and fight deep and bulldog tough all the way to the boat. Most of the ones we catch are as big or bigger than the steelhead we normally catch. And though they aren’t in the same league on the grill as a fresh salmon or trout, they can be palate-pleasers in a variety of simple recipes.

So congratulations, Bill. Nice catch! I hope you catch another one next year (as well as some trout and salmon) when you come fishing with me.

RED ARTIES

 Long ago (courtesy of Storm Lures - now a part of Normark), I was the first person to put a fishing lure called the Rattlin’ ThinFin into Lake Michigan. Long story shortened, they quickly became one of the best lures to catch coho salmon in the southern part of the lake.


 I take that back. Rattlin’ ThinFins, a.k.a. R.T.s, then morph that into “Arties,” are the best body bait ever made to catch cohos in my part of the lake. Any color will work but the “red with black squiggle,” Storm’s #29 color, beats ‘em all. We call them “Red Arties.”


 But when Storm Lures was bought by Normark, the Red Arties soon went out of production. Myself and a few other avid anglers scrambled as best we could to gobble up remaining stocks; but now, if you can find any, they command steep prices.  When I lose one (and that happens) or one breaks (worn out from use), I almost cry. 


Last weekend at the Northwest Indiana Steelheader’s winter show, a booth was set up, flea market style, and the proprietor was selling Red Arties! Real ones, not knock-offs, not the larger ½ ounce size, but the genuine coho-killing 3/8 ounce originals.  I had to stop. 


Soon, I learned I was mistaken, but it was a good mistake. The man behind the counter, Ed Erdelac, was selling repainted Rattling ThinFins. 

Red Arties put more cohos in my boat than any other lure. 

Normark/Storm no longer makes any Rattlin’ ThinFins, but they did produce them in some colors (not #29)  for several years after they bought out Storm.  So while no new ones are available, it’s just the #29s which are super rare.


 I’ve seen and used hundreds of Red Arties. The paint job on the repainted lures is authentic to the last squiggle. 


I told Ed how I discovered the lures, then how, in cahoots with Storm Lure’s PR department, I promoted the lure to bring it into prominence. 


The next day, in my Spring Salmon Fishing seminar, I plugged the Red Arties and mentioned Ed’s booth. After the seminar, Ed did a brisk business on the repainted Arties. I wasn’t trying to boost Ed’s sales. I only wanted my seminar students to go to the lake armed with the best knowledge and gear. 


During a midday lull in traffic, Ed came over to thank me.  Better yet, he left me with 4 of the “new” Red Arties to add to my dwindling supply. If you would like to contact Erdelac for some Red Arties for yourself, his email address is derdelac@comcast.net. 

FIVE MORE YEARS

Licenses used to be Certificates "suitable
for framing." Now they are a booklet, similar
to  a Passport

Every person who operates a boat for commercial purposes is required to have a federal license. The document is often called a Coast Guard license, since it’s the USCG who handles the licensing and does most of the enforcement work, but the license is actually a captain’s commission in the U.S. Merchant Marine.

The U.S.M.M. is a civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Navy and the merchant mariners can be (and have been) pressed into service during wartime.

Getting licensed the first time requires proof of sea service, proof of passing both CPR and First Aid training courses, a background and security check, passing a drug screening, taking a physical exam and passing written examinations dealing with seamanship, navigation, boating rules and regulations.

Oh, and paying a hefty fee to the government.

Renewal is just as cumbersome and requires all of the above along with proof you have been consistently enrolled in a random drug screening consortium. As long as you don’t let your present license lapse, the renewal doesn’t require retaking the written examinations.

 Oh, and there’s another hefty fee to the government due.

I earned my first commission in 1997 and renewed in 2002 and 2007. Do the math. This is my renewal year.

I started the ordeal of filing the paperwork in October and just received my new license.  So I’m good for another 5 years.  I’ll start saving my nickles.

STEELHEADER'S SHOW

The Northwest Indiana Steelheaders Association has changed their annual "spring fever" show, normally one of the last of the season outdoor expos, traditionally held the final weekend of February, to January 14 and 15 making it one of the show season's kick-off venues this year.
They've also changed the location for the show. The Porter County Expo center kept raising prices on the club turning the show from a fund raising event to an almost break-even proposition.
So the show is now going to be held at the Marquette Mall in Michigan City, Indiana. Show times are 9AM to 8PM on Saturday and 10AM to 5PM on Sunday.
I'll be there giving seminars on spring salmon fishing at 10 AM each day then waiting for you to stop by my booth the rest of the time. Stop by!  I'll have my reservations book with me and to set you up for a fishing trip next spring or we can just talk fishing.  See you in Michigan City....