STYLISH FISHING

I run a full service charter boat. I supply all the rods, reels, bait–basically, anything that’s needed to catch fish is on board. I even supply ziplock bags and filet the fish that get caught.

So when my customers ask, "What do I need to bring?" I tell them drinks, snacks and whatever clothes are suitable. In the early season suitable clothes include thermal underwear, thick socks and a warm coat, but by mid-summer, not much more than a light jacket is required for the first hour or so. My last group taught me something else I may consider adding to my suggestion list.

Try to wear bright colored shirts and coordinate the colors. As I was snapping a photo of the last fish of the day, the other 2 fishers joined the happy angler for a group photo. Don't they look stylish and colorful in their bright Tees!

Why have a color camera if everyone is going to wear muted tones! So be on the bright side. Dress up for your next outing. It’s the stylish thing to do!

MY LITTLE CUDA

When I bought a Lowrance LMS 350A sonar/GPS unit for my boat it was the top-o-line unit available. That was 15 years ago or more. It served me well but the sonar part of the unit failed last summer.

I replaced the unit with another top Lowrance unit, the HDS 7. It has a color screen, maps, connects to the Sirius Marine Weather system and has more screens, apps, buttons and features than I’ll ever use. So when I installed it, I left the 350 in place and relied on the old unit for 98% of my GPS needs. (And 98% of the time all I need is my current position, the speed I’m going, the direction I’m heading and the direction I need to go to get to somewhere else.) The HDS 7 will do that, but punching through the various buttons and commands to get the basic info kept me relying on the antique model.

The 350 burned out about 6 weeks ago. One of my first thoughts was to purchase a used 350 on eBay. My wires were still in place, just swap out the old and in with the new(er). A few units were listed and I hoped to pick one up for about a hundred bucks. I lost the first auction at $150. Haven’t seen a unit since go for less than $200–some much more if the seller offers a money-back "guarantee" the unit works. Most sellers say in their description the unit was working, last they knew–take your chances.

I have a hand-held GPS but the batteries are usually dead, the screen is so small I need my "cheaters" to read it and I use it so infrequently, each time is a learning experience. They no longer make "stand-alone" dash-mount GPS units.
MY LITTLE CUDA

Plan "B" came when I got a sale flyer from Cabela’s. The sale was for a Lowrance Cuda 350 for $169. It’s a sonar/GPS, but with a small sonar screen with fairly low resolution. Since I only wanted it to show a screen which shows my location, speed and direction of travel--98% of the time--and in a font size I could read, easily. I didn’t need the sonar–I already have 2 of those on board. I’ve used it on several fishing trips and it does exactly what I want. (I didn’t even install the sonar transducer.)

So what about my LMS 350A? At the time it was made, the best GPS units required remote GPS module/antennas to work. I sold the antenna module on eBay for $145. And for giggles and (35 cents) I listed the 350 unit, announced it was broken, blew fuses as fast as you could change them and came with no wires, GPS, transducers or guarantee of anything other than it was broken.

Go figure! I sold that unit for 50 bucks. So I’m happy, I’ve got a user-friendly back-up GPS on the boat and I’m money ahead!

　

　

SUMMER "SIRIUS" WEATHER

There’s nothing I worry about more in my Lake Michigan fishing business than the weather. The weather affects the fish. The weather affects the fishermen. The weather affects where we can fish and affects if we can fish. On a lake the size of Lake Michigan, the weather affects whether it’s even safe to be on Lake Michigan.

So during the season, I’m constantly in tune with what the "great minds" on TV, Internet, the National Weather Service and others are thinking, saying and predicting.
By and large, they are good at what they do. Good enough–most of the time.

We Watched Storms in Iowa quickly blew up and over Lake Michigan on the HDS 7 screen. -> -> ->

But since I’ve been doing this for 3 decades, I’m an expert, as well. I also have the tools I need to make my own opinion of expected weather conditions.

The newest tool is my Sirius Weather Radio module that interfaces with one of the Lowrance GPS units on the Brother Nature. It paid off on Monday when storms grew overnight in the Great Plains and headed for Lake Michigan.

When we left the dock, the wind was calm, the sun struggling to burn through the summer haze. A great day. But the Sirius Weather Module showed storms at the Mississippi River on the screen of my HDS-7 unit. In an hour, it the storms were halfway across Illinois and soon knocking on the west suburbs of Chicago. With 12 miles back to the dock, I pulled the lines and we headed for shore. As we were tying the boat at the dock, the sky unloaded, the wind whipped but we were safe.

The weathermen were surprised about the speed and ferocity of the storm. I didn’t worry about surprise. I used the technology, my experience and was safe, once again.

SCHOOL DAYS

STEVE AND BOB GO TO SCHOOL


There’s a new generation of Great Lakes anglers coming along. I monitor a couple of Internet sites that host discussion groups and hardly a week goes by that some newcomer doesn’t post a question asking basic information about some aspect of the sport. What’s a slider? Where’s the gong? How do you get to a specific marina? You see them at the lake, as well.

They have a recently commissioned boat, some gear and enthusiasm. I was one of them long ago and I did it the hard way–all trial and error.

Luckily, much of my gear was home made and I could make it, try it, then come home and remake it or alter it to make it better.

That’s why, when a newby posts on one of the sites, I suggest they hire me for a charter one day and I’ll take them fishing while they go to school.

Steve and Bob did just that recently. Steve has a smaller boat and Bob a 19-footer with some of the gear they need to fish Lake Michigan. So we headed out, I set lines and then instead of just letting our conversation drift to whatever popped to mind, I went over the equipment I use.

We covered rod holders, their location and other details. We covered electronics, rods, reels, lead core and copper wire. Colored line, clear line, wire line, divers, nets, places to go, when to go, how to go.....Oh, and we caught a few fish along the way, as well.

Money well spent? They thought so! I think so too. It probably cut 3 or 4 years off their learning curve and saved them from making some costly mistakes. Want to go to school? Give me a call–and we’ll catch a few fish, as well!

ON THE LIST

Avid birders (bird watchers) keep a life-list to track the number of different species of birds they have spotted. David Howard, from Arlington, Virginia, has his own life list. Dave is a fisherman and keeps track of all the various species of fish he’s caught. His fish list is a part of the strategy Dave uses to plan how to use his vacation time. First, he looks for airfare bargains. Next, he checks what sort of fish and fishing opportunities are available near discount destinations. The only thing better for Dave than planning a trip to catch something new, is one where two or even three new species can be caught.

Dave with his new "listings." Top is his steelhead, brown trout in the middle and the coho, closest to the camera.

That’s how we got together. My website has a fishing calendar which shows what species of fish are most apt to be targeted and caught as the season progresses. During the mid-summer season, steelhead, lake trout and both king and coho salmon are common catches. So we set a date and crossed our fingers for the chance to hook several species on Dave’s day.
The weather man did us no favors. Northwest winds were blowing 2 to 4 foot waves making it impossible to head to the offshore areas. However, Indiana’s Skamania steelhead were biting close to shore so by staying in shallow water he had an excellent chance to add at least one species to his list–if he could land one. The first fish jumped and threw the hook before Dave could pull the rod out of the holder. The second fish pulled the same stunt on our next pass. The third time, however, had a better outcome and a beautiful 14-pounder was eventually coaxed to the boat. Success!
But there’s more. Mid-morning Dave added a brown trout to his life list, – and a dandy, at that, weighing nearly 10 pounds. Just before time to quit, the waves calmed enough to allow making a troll a half-mile or so offshore to see if the water in the depths was cool enough for any salmon to be there. I didn’t need the temperature probe to show the results, a coho almost as big as Dave’s brown latched a deep running lure and his multi-species outing was a fulfilled.

LUCKY STUFF

Carl and Dennis work for the Norfolk and Southern Railroad servicing the "Executive Train." It’s powered by an immaculate 1952 locomotive with a dining car, meeting room car and places for the execs to live when riding the rails. The train heads for some city, Carl and Dennis make sure it’s polished, shiny and waiting so when the VIPs show-up, they have their meeting in style. The train was ready for Monday’s meeting late on Saturday afternoon. The two Pennsylvania residents, looking for a bit of "south-Chicago" excitement found themselves at the Horseshoe Casino at the Hammond Marina and a short time they’d parlayed their "investments" into a pile of cash.

Looking out over the calm waters of Lake Michigan, they decided to add a day of salmon fishing–courtesy of Jack Binion’s losses–and found my website. We met at the East Chicago Marina at dawn and after a short trip north to the Illinois border, we were into the fish. One after another came at a steady pace. All cohos–summer fat, sassy, spitting-up alewives.

Can gambler’s luck turn into fisherman’s luck? For these guys, the answer is yes.

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!