SEGWAY

What a hoot! I was at Dogwood Canyon Nature Park near Branson, Missouri a few days ago for a variety of planned activities. One of the activities not on the list for us were Segway tours of the facility--new to Dogwood Canyon.
You know, Segways, -- those goofy looking motorized, 2-wheel carts used by security guards in malls and airports.
I have always been intrigued by those things. How do they work? Why don’t the riders fall flat on their face or bum?
At the end of my planned ATV tour on the rugged trails through the Ozarks, one of the Segway guides was putting away the machines after his last tour of the day. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
"How long does it take to learn to ride one of those things?" I asked, then added, "I only want to ride from here to that tree (about 20 yards away) and back."
"Only a couple of minutes," said the guide. "Here, put on a helmut."
"First, we’ll turn it on and let it get running." Evidently there are gyroscopes or something in the foot platform that help keep the gizmo from tipping over. Once the "go" lights came on, all I had to do was step onboard. To make the Segway move ahead all you did was tranfer your weight to the front part of your feet. To stop, rock your weight back on your heel. To turn, just move the handlebar to the left or right.
It was very unsettling for the first 15 yards or so, but it didn’t take much farther than that to become comfortable. Is a Segway in my future? Probably not...but I’ve now done it and it was fun!

WEIRD WALLEYE

I was in Iowa last week at the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers meeting at Honey Creek Resort and spent an enjoyable morning on Lake Rathbun fishing for walleyes. Weird experience!
I recently wrote a story for Indiana Outdoor News about the many ways to fish for walleyes–using anecdotes from my first experience with them in northern Wisconsin, subsequent walleye successes in Canada, Lake Erie, rivers and reservoirs–finally, ending up in an August outing on Lake Winnebago where we fished walleyes in pea-soup-green water which was almost pea-soup-warm! Fished and caught!
I thought that was the weirdest walleye fishing I’d ever do, but no! My Iowa experience outdid my Fond du Lac experience.
My fishing partner, Jim Gaston handed me a bottom-bouncer set-up, then slow trolled over a pair of 2-foot deep humps about 15 yards apart. I was incredulous.
You can catch bluegills in 24-inches of water, bass–for sure. Surely not walleyes in an Iowa reservoir with plenty of deep water nearby–especially after a cold night chilled the surface. Wrong, fish-blog-readers! And it wasn’t a fluke. The other, more conventional areas we tried produced one skimpy white bass. The fish in the picture and the rest of our morning catch came off that shallow rubble. Wow! Who’d a thunk?
The equipment Gaston used was great. The Lund boat was powered by a 150 hp Mercury engine and had a MinnKota troller on the bow. For electronics we had an X-15 Lowrance and a stand alone Lowrance GPS. I used a 6-foot, medium action, Johnny Morris rod and reel combo from Bass Pro Shops.

TYPE V SENSE

I’ll be the first to admit to not being "religious" when it comes to wearing a life jacket. I’ve never been in a situation where I had to put one on due to an emergency. I’ve worn them due to legal requirements, such as when water skiing, or when it seemed a good idea, such as in a kayak. I’ve worn them at the request of the captain of the boat–their personal safety rule while underway–usually guys with high-speed bass boats. I’ve got plenty of life jackets on my boat. They are big, clunky Type I styles adorned with reflective tape, luminescent lights and whistles. Forget stylish and they are about as comfortable as a body cast. Required by law, they’ll do the job if ever needed.
The way my boat is set up, it’s almost impossible to fall out. Most of my boating is in the daytime. I was never overly-concerned except in late summer when we start fishing long before dawn. In the dark, you can’t see the waves, you can’t see wakes from passing boats, you can’t see any floating objects in the water ahead, it’s tough enough to see the other boats around you and judge the direction and distance to them.
Murphey’s Law says if something can happen, it will happen--and I can imagine situations requiring a life jackets being more likely in the dark than in the day. Much about life jackets are simple common sense so I let common sense prevail.
This year, when the pre-dawn bite got underway, I put another bundle of life jackets on my boat and asked all on board to use them. No one has objected. It never took more than a few seconds to get them on and adjusted.
I did have to remind a few people to take them off at the end of the trip. They weren’t trying to steal them. They’d just forgotten they were wearing them.
My fishing partners were all wearing Type V PFDs which are the inflatable kind. Uninflated, they are a simple belt and fanny pack. Once activated, they balloon into an "over the head" configuration with all the flotation of a Type 1.
There are several brands and models from which to choose. These, from Mustand Survival are terrific! After all, it's plain common sense.

SEPTEMBER SALMON

It’s September and the Lake Michigan season is winding down. I close-up shop on October 1^st.
But the season doesn’t always end with a whimper. September features the peak of the king salmon run and the early stages of the coho salmon run.
These are not whimpy fish! The kings are at the end of their 4-year lifespan, the cohos at the end of their 3-years and both species are bulked up as big as they will ever be. I’ve already taken a couple of trips for the spawners and this year’s crop looks big.
The kings being hooked on the Brother Nature are averaging over 15 pounds so far and several were at the 20-pound mark.

Here's one of the upper-teen kings caught the first weekend in September by Bill Keaton.

There are plenty of weekdays available for morning trips and, since we are fishing very near shore, 4 or 5 hour excursions are possible which will save you a few dollars as well as put some salmon in your freezer. Check out my website for exact prices and contact information:http://www.bronature.com.

RESCUED!

There are a several sounds you don’t want to hear when you are in a boat. An unaccounted for splash is one of them, or the sound of silence as your motor shuts down unexpectedly. I can think of others, as well, but the most recent unwelcome sound was

The Coast Guard towing us towards shore was a happy, if unwelcome, sight!

the Brother Nature's motor unexpectedly revving up to high rpms as the boat slowed to a quick stop.


Motor going faster, boat going slower–something is amiss! Eventually, I learned a gear had given way or the propellor shaft had broken in the lower unit.

The immediate problem was we were drifting with the wind approximately 5 miles offshore of Ludington, MI.
I switched to channel 16 on the radio and hailed the US Coast Guard Station at Ludington. Once contact was made, we switched to channel 22 and I explained the situation. No immediate danger, no medical problems, just a no-go boat.
The Coast Guard attempted to call local firms with tow boats but none were available so they launched their fast response vessel and came to our aid. Thanks to GPS technology and marine radios, finding us was no problem and soon we were hooked up and underway.
We were safe, but our Ludington fishing trip became more an adventure and less a fishing trip than we’d hoped.
A new "bottom-end" will be on the Brother Nature’s outdrive early in the week so we’ll be back for fishing adventures by Labor Day weekend.

LUDINGTON BOUND

What does a fishing captain do when he goes on vacation? He goes fishing!

It’s not as unusual as it might seem on the surface. People often choose their work because it’s a good way to earn a living. Why else would there be garbage collectors, proctologists, crab fishermen in the Bering Sea or any of the other "dirty jobs" Mike Rowe features in his TV show.

Being a fishing guide isn’t a good way to earn a living, it’s a good way to make a few dollars doing what you like to do.

Ludington salmon bite early and late

in the day

Next week, myself and a pair of fishing friends will be making our annual pilgrimage to Ludington, Michigan for a week of sleep deprivation and fishing for king salmon. Why? Because year after year, Ludington is one of, if not the top port, in all of Michigan for salmon fishing. It’s where the fish are. Wild fish, stocked fish–hopefully some big fish and lots of them.

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But it’s fishing. Sometimes we hit ‘em good, sometimes we watch the wind blow. For me it’s no pressure. If we catch fish, great. If we don’t catch fish, at least I don’t have unhappy customers. We start early, stay late and get up early the next day to do it again. Wish us luck!

A limit catch from last year!

BIG BOATS

On a recent trip I took to Marquette, Michigan, Lake Superior charter captain, Terry Huffman, took a few minute detour from our way out to Stannard Rock to get up close and personal with one of the largest iron ore boats on the Great Lakes. The ship, named the James R. Baker, is one of only 3 carriers on the Great Lakes which measure 1000 feet long.

Most of the lakers–the boats which only operate on the Great Lakes, never venturing out to sea - are 600 to 800 feet long. Most of the "salties," as ocean-going vessels are called are much shorter. The beam of all these ships are constrained by the width of the locks at Sault Saint Marie (to move from Lake Huron to Lake Superior), the locks in the Welland Canal (to by-pass Niagara Falls and move from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario) or the locks at the St. Lawrence Seaway to move ships up the St. Lawrence River and into the lakes.

Here in Indiana with a major international port (the Port of Indiana) as well as several steel mills on the Lake Michigan shoreline, it’s a rare day when we don’t get to view one or more of these huge ships. Early in the spring and during the fall spawning run we often fish within spitting distance of the huge vessels. It’s all a part of the ambiance and vitality of Great Lakes fishing.