THE RIGHT CALL

I 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.

 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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"

THE END

CHEMICAL SPILL AT PORTAGE

APRIL 13, 2017
  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.

WHAT I KNOW
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.

2) The Portage Marina and boat traffic on the waterway was closed for a short time but both are now open, as normal.

3) The aerial photos of the mouth of the waterway is misleading.

4) The EPA is the lead agency with other agencies helping where needed.

5) Drinking water intakes and nearby beaches are closed for precautionary reasons only and testing is on-going.

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.

WHAT ISN’T KNOWN
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.

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.

Regardless of knowns and unknowns, let me say: THIS IS BAD. THE TOLERANCE FOR TOXINS ENTERING PUBLIC WATERS SHOULD BE ZERO.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

      There are plenty of places to fish, completely unaffected.

THE CIRCUIT

 


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.

SHOWS FEATURE PEOPLE FROM
FAR OFF PLACES

   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.)  

   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.

   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.

  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.

I'LL BE CLOSE TO THE BEAR

  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.
 
   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.  

SHARE A CHARTER

  There are many reasons a person 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.

AS LONG AS YOU ARE IN THE AREA
LET'S GO FISHING! 

 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).

I CAN HELP! 

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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!

 

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.  

"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?

COMFY FISHING IN SUB- FREEZING CONDITIONS

   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.

   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.

   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.

   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.

A CONUNDRUM OF LAWS

Law number one: Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke.

  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.

This is no time for Murphy's Law to apply. 

  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.”

  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.

  However, maintenance goes directly against the “Don’t fix it...” rule. A conundrum, to be sure.

  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.

   The reel was working when I retrieved the last lure yesterday. It will surely work tomorrow. Won’t it? Or will Murphy show up?

   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.

  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.

  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.

GET A GRIP ON IT!

  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.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

  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.

This fish has a date with the deck. Should have used the Handy Hook!

  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.

  Check out www.thefishermanshandyhook.com for more details and purchasing information.