Life Goes On…

In a previous post I talked about the shock one goes through when one realizes that cancer has invaded the body.  Almost five months have passed since then, and with the completion of radiation treatments, life is looking more normal now.  It’ll take a couple of months before we’ll know exactly how successful the treatments were, but the doc has said we have good reason to be optimistic.

 

 

And, as the photo above shows, I’m even able to get out on the water in my pontoon boat to once again take up the aquatic search for piscatorial adversaries.  Life is returning to normalcy, and I am feeling just about as good as ever.

 

 A week ago today Kay Lynne and I watched soccer practice for our two youngest grandchildren, Nathan, almost 5, (#5 at left above) and Ally, just turned 2 (right above).  Watching your grandkids do anything is totally therapeutic and brings deep joy to us older folks.  Our other grandkids are in Europe for three-plus weeks, and granddaughter Aubrey, 11, decided she would take a plunge into the Mediterranean Sea on the Italian Riviera at the exact minute she was born on July 9 in Boise, Idaho.  The pic below shows her doing just that.  Gregg’s family is having the trip of a lifetime visiting most of the major European countries and following some of Gregg’s maternal grandfather’s war experiences, including visiting the concentration camp in Germany liberated by his unit.

 

The summer is shaping up to be interesting, fun and full of wonderful things to do with family and friends.  Life goes on…



New Pontoon Boat Hits the Water

Late this afternoon I finally got the new pontoon boat onto the water at nearby Spring Lake. Thanks to Kay Lynne for going along and taking the photo of the momentous event.

The boat is made by the Creek company, popular manufacturer of pontoon boats, float tubes and a zillion fishing accessories. I got it online and on sale at Cabela’s for a ridiculously low price. So, with the money I saved, I decided to get an electric trolling motor and a marine battery (both also on sale). Does anyone pay full retail anymore? The question I’m avoiding is how much I had to spend to get all those great sale prices.

We can at least pronounce the maiden voyage a success as far as the nautical aspects are concerned. The fishing part of it was not as achieving, but I was only out for an hour or so. I marked quite a few fish at 10’ or so in the 12’ – 15’ water depth range, but none chose to taste my tempting power bait offerings. Not even my new Scotty pole holder bolted to the front rail could shake the skunk off.

Thankfully, I had saved my portable, battery-operated fish finder that I bought many years ago when I didn’t own a boat and was just renting them. A set of new “C” batteries and it revived perfectly. A fish finder may show you where the fish are, but unfortunately you've still gotta catch em!

I’m glad to get the “test run” out of the way, and it feels good that everything works as it should. Hopefully I’ll get some serious fishing in this next week with my cousin Joel who has a neat, new inflatable Sea Eagle boat and troller. I’m thinking we’ll knock em dead at a hot lake just south of here, which will remain our secret for now.

Is There A Better Way to Start the New Year?

If there’s a better way to start a new year than, in company with a son, to catch wily steelhead on a world-famous Olympic Peninsula river, I’m open for suggestions.

Spending New Years Eve in (Twilight country) Forks, Washington may be the only down side, but even that was survivable.

Doug and guide Mike Z admire Doug's 11-pound native hen (he also caught 14- and 8-pounders for a spectacular one-day fishing exhibition) following measuring and just before safely releasing the fish.

We started talking about the excursion at the family Christmas celebration in Oregon. Son Gregg determined pretty quickly that it was not an option he could consider this year due to a very full schedule. Son Doug said, “Let’s think about it.” It was, after all, only a week or so ahead of time. Would the weather cooperate? Are any guides available? What are the fishing reports? Lots of questions.

Industrious son jumped on the project as soon as he was back home. The rain/snow had stopped. Water was receding and clearing in the rivers. Weather forecast was good other than it would be cold. There WAS a guide available – and a good one. We decided to go for it.

Doug snapped me playing my 8-pound hatchery buck (pictured at top) which we could keep. Click on the photo to enlarge it, and note the bend in the rod.

I should mention that for those not acquainted with the very long odds of successful steelhead fishing, many unrelated things have to fall in place. Not the least of which are the time of year, the weather, the (river) water, the fish, and the knowledge to connect the dots. That knowledge is stored in the head of a good fishing guide – guys who are there every day and know the water, the holes, what the fish are hitting on, and have access to the spots via a drift boat, etc.

It is said that the average steelhead fisherman must actually fish (with line & lure in the water) for 30 hours for each fish caught. Those are long odds. But that is why the investment in a good fishing guide is money well spent. Simply, it’s the difference between success and failure.

Doug helps Mike Z load his drift boat back on the trailer at day's end on the beautiful Sol Duc river.

Our guide was Mike Zavadlov, owner of Mike Z’s Guide Service and a local resident of Forks. He fishes more than two out of every three days year around. We asked him which of the four fabulous rivers in the area (Hoh, Bogachiel, Calawah and Sol Duc) was best right now. No hesitation: the Sol Duc.

We caught a total of four incredibly beautiful fish (I only got one) while drifting down more than 12 miles of river. Three were natives which had to be safely released. The other was my hatchery buck. I think we used just about everything in Mike’s tackle box, and the result was a spectacular day on the water, albeit a freezing cold one. I’m not sure that the temp got much above freezing all day. But without a guide, it would have been just another day of fishing – and likely without results. We highly recommend Mike Z as an excellent fishing guide.

Next New Years Day perhaps Gregg can join us on the adventure.

Refreshing The Soul With A Day On The Water

My cousin Joel Narva and I drove over the Cascades early this morning to fish for one of the “big ones” that are in Chelan County’s Fish Lake (there are several Fish Lakes).

We caught quite a few rainbow trout; Joel caught abundantly more than I did, as he had his float tube and was serving up locally hand-tied flies. I rented a small Smokercraft Lodge with an 8-horse Yamaha on it – a real smooth rig. I tried to convince the wily things to chomp on my broken back Rapala, but they were too smart.

At this time of the year, it is said that you have as good a chance as any at hooking a five-pound, or larger, fish. Didn’t happen today, although Joel lost one that stripped his fly reel down to the backing – just couldn’t pull the trigger in time.

The early morning was nice, but about 10:00 the wind came up and the rains started to come down. It wasn’t a heavy rain, just an annoying one. Fortunately the temp was warm and we were not chilled. All in all, a great day on the water, and an even better time getting caught up on our common interests.

The Roslyn Café is Still There

Early this morning I jumped in the old “fishing buggy” and headed east over the Cascades to do some reconnaissance on potential trout lakes. However, the pic above is a good indication of how the “reconnaissance” went.

On my way from Lake Easton to Cle Elum Lake, I passed through the little town of Roslyn, the town where the popular 1990’s TV series, “Northern Exposure” was filmed. Of course on television the town was not Roslyn, Washington but Cicely, Alaska.

Let’s just say that there is not much in Roslyn, but the famous TV landmark of fictitious Cicely is still there. As you can see, the large wall mural looks like it was freshly painted.

As far as fishing lakes goes, I swung by almost a half dozen lakes: Keechelus, Lost, Kachess, Easton and Cle Elum. Only wet a line at Easton, with little results. I forgot what summer does to lakes on the much warmer eastern slope.

Just about every one was low, shallow at the accessible shoreline, and virtually impossible to fish unless you had a boat – which I didn’t. And in many cases the water was too low to easily launch even if you had a boat.

But I did get a nice picture by which to remember the excursion. However, the moose that walked down the street in the TV version was nowhere to be seen today.

Enjoying Good Times With Old Friends

Our California friends of some 46 years, Ed and Darlene Wall, stopped by this past week for a couple of days while visiting the Pacific Northwest. They are both natives of the Bremerton area, and my wife and I are mostly Californians. So it seems a bit ironic that they now come to their old haunting grounds to see us.

Whenever Ed and I have a chance to be together, going fishing is high on the priority list. Of course you have to know that the odds of being able to CATCH a fish by just dropping in on a lake, are pretty long. Except for the “Koskela Guide Service.”

We started out at Blackmans Lake, located smack dab in the middle of the city of Snohomish, but had no luck at all. We then headed for Flowing Lake, about ten miles north-northeast, and it wasn’t too long before Ed was fighting a scrappy, young, fat rainbow trout (pic above). We didn’t have a whole lot of time, as we all wanted to drive up to Snoqualmie Falls in the afternoon.

I'm sure Ed is thankful for a competent guide service. To my chagrin, he almost missed the fish while watching a mother duck train her ducklings after I had provided the location, pole, line, bait and may have even baited his hook. Apparently, his mind wanders easily.

Above are Darlene, Ed and Kay Lynne whom I snapped at the Falls overlook. At this time of year, the water is really gushing as you can see.

Good times with old friends is a commodity you can’t purchase. It has to be developed. There were lots of laughs as we recalled several of the more humorous times we’ve shared in the past. Ask Ed sometime about “slippery rock at Donner Lake.” My side hurts from laughing when I think about it.

Flowing Lake Yields Nice Rainbow on First Trip

When I stuck my head out the door at 6:30 yesterday morning to check the weather for possible fishing, it felt very cold and it was raining steadily. A perfect reason to head back in for a few more winks.

But by noon the rain had stopped, and the sun, trying to peek through here and there, had warmed the temp a bit. I decided that an afternoon trip to Flowing Lake (see Jan 21 post) might be in the cards.

Finally got there around 3 p.m. only to find the “free” dock loaded with more fishermen than it was designed to hold. So I went back around the lake to the State Park at the north end where I had to pay a small fee to park and fish.

But I was then the only one on the dock.

The top pic, taken with my cell phone cam, shows how beautiful and peaceful it was from that vantage point. I was actually fishing by 3:30 and enjoyed a very quiet 30 minutes with nothing but an occasional dog bark in the distance.

I decided to move the bait a few feet along the bottom (a technique used to sometimes arouse a fish’s interest), and it wasn’t five minutes till the pole tip was twitching furiously.

The fish felt good, so I loosened the drag a bit and let him make several tiring runs. I was then able to ease him out of the water onto the dock to get a closer look at what I had caught. Not spectacular, but it was a very nice 15” rainbow trout (yes, I measured it – 15-1/4” actually – see photo above). He was what we call a “pounder” (weighs about a pound).

I left him in the water on the stringer to swim around until I gutted him just before leaving for home. That kept the fish nice and fresh in case we want to cook him up in a day or so. All in all, it was one of the best “first-time-at-a-lake” experiences I think I’ve ever had.

Fishing Bug Causes Me To Check Out Nearby Lakes

The fishing bug has been annoying me a lot lately, and it usually takes a catch or two to assuage it.

Rather than actually going fishing today (I did throw the pole in the car, however) I visited three lakes within a 30-mile radius of home for the purpose of doing some reconnaissance work. On my leisurely drive, I stopped at Lake Stevens, east of Everett, Flowing Lake, north of Monroe, and Blackmans Lake right smack dab in the city of Snohomish.

The first stop was at Wyatt Park on the west side of Lake Stevens. There is a beautiful fishing dock there alongside the boat launch but the wind was kicking up quite a bit and I found no one fishing. The largest of the three, Lake Stevens may offer some good trouting later on toward spring.

I then went to Flowing Lake, a beautiful spot tucked into the back roads on the north side of Monroe (on US Hwy 2 about 20 miles east of Everett). There are both a State Park (fee based) and a free public boat launch that have nice docks for fishing. At the free dock I met a very interesting, 80-year-old retired Chicago chef (top pic), who told me that he fishes “eight days a week,” mostly here at Flowing Lake or at nearby Tye Lake. My kind of guy, this man named McCann.

During our conversation I discovered that we had a lot in common. We’re both retired, both lived in Chicago, both spent a lot of time fishing in Wisconsin and Michigan and we both are writers of sorts.

But the astronomical-odds occurrence was that he went to high school some 65 years ago in Eau Claire, Wisconsin with a brother of my late Aunt Beatrice who grew up on a farm near Eau Claire that was actually closer to the little town of Mondovi.

My cousin Linda (Beatrice and Bill’s daughter) and Linda’s daughter Kelly and son Erik all live nearby in the greater Seattle area. I can’t wait to let them know of this wild coincidence to see if there’s any name recognition with the man I met today. (I guess they might see it here first. :)

Final stop was at Blackmans Lake (above), a watershed basin within the city of Snohomish. Three guys were fishing on the dock, and I saw a very nice 13” rainbow reeled in while I was there.

I’ve made this conclusion: all are good lakes for trout fishing from a dock (which is what I was looking for), and I plan to return to all of them. All are good for trout fishing with a boat, if a person has one (I’ve long since sold my last boat but one of my sons does have a beauty). Flowing will have the best tasting fish (from what my new friend said), Blackmans likely has the largest fish but it’s a shallower lake and the fish quality can deteriorate in the summer, and I’m sort of in the dark about the quality of fish at Lake Stevens.

10 Minutes To Great Fishing

A fish like this Lake Sammamish cutthroat trout would be good anywhere. But it was especially sweet catching it this afternoon just 10 minutes away from our son and daughter-in-law's home.

Because the fish was so bright and "silvery," my son thinks that possibly the fish may have been a sea-run cutt that had made its way back up into Lake Samm via the Ballard Locks, the ship canal, Lake Washington and a stream that connects the two lakes. At any rate it was a really nice fish, measuring 18-1/2” in length and weighing over 2 pounds, maybe even close to 3.

It was a gorgeous but crisp and slightly windy afternoon on the lake today. Photo above is of Doug skippering his new Alaskan boat against the backdrop of the foothills of the Cascades. This is but one of the wonderful benefits of living in the State of Washington.

We only fished for two hours, but it was a memorable trip. We got the skunk off of both my son’s new “back-up” pole rig and off an old man fishing Lake Sammamish for only the second time. As an added bonus, when we got back to their house, he filleted the fish and threw it on the BBQ, doused with their secret fish cooking formula. Just one word to describe it:

Incredible.

Lake Sammamish Prize – A Nice Cutthroat Trout

Well, it didn’t take son Doug long, with new boat and all, to master wily cutthroat trout fishing at Lake Sammamish. Cutts are the prized fish in this beautiful lake, though there are several other species as well that swim in its waters.

Doug took the boat out very late this afternoon on Lake Sammi (for just the third time), and in an hour and a quarter of fishing landed the beautiful fish he’s holding in the above photo. The Cutt was 18-1/2 inches long and weighed at least 2 pounds, maybe more. (It’s always best not to actually weigh a fish, as that gives story-telling latitude later on. :-) That’s his great new boat, a Smokercraft Alaskan, he’s standing in front of.

Here’s the close-up with the tape. What a fine fish! Notice the red slash marks on the lower jaw that identify the species. You can click on the photos for a larger image. What he caught it on will remain a secret for the time being, as once a fisherman finds a system that works, it’s up to others to figure it out for themselves. Especially at this warm time of the year.

Truth is, buy him some gas for trolling, and he’ll be happy to show you how to fish. Can’t wait for the next time I get a chance to go fishing with him.

The Season Is Here. The "Bug" Is Here. The Boat Isn’t.

There have been few days in my life when, upon awakening, I didn’t have the "bug" to go fishing. Today is no exception. But the odds are pretty long that I won’t wet a line.

Yesterday was the opening of the “short” chinook salmon season (hatchery fish only) in nearby areas. It lasts until the quota is met or 30 days pass, whichever comes first. You can also fish for coho of any type during this period.

Prior to the slow reports from yesterday, it was expected that the quota would be met in as little as 10 days. But at the rate fish were caught yesterday, it might could go the distance. We’re very fortunate here in Puget Sound to have any kind of a salmon season at all. Oregon and California have none this year.

Pic above is of one of the “hotter” areas in which to catch the tackle-busting kings – that’s Point-No-Point near the top of the distant left center, looking north from the Eglon point area. Whidbey Island is faintly in the distant top right. Click on the photo for a larger, clearer view.

The boats are out in force again today all over this area, but I won’t be among them. I sold the dependable little Arima late last Fall.

Of course the local charters are always looking for customers. Hmmm….

My Trophy Fish

I got some good news today by email. The mounting of the 17-lb Brown Trout I caught in Lake Michigan a year ago is about finished and almost ready for shipping from Wisconsin (it's shown in above pic – I love the “blood-drip” look).

To get a relative idea of the actual size, it’s about the length of a yardstick from tip to tail. This fish is the third largest Brown the taxidermist has ever worked with, and he’s mounted the Wisconsin state record Brown. It was the second largest Brown my guide, Fritz Peterson, had ever landed.

Known officially by its latin name, salmo trutta morpha lacustris, the Brown trout is native to northern Europe (including Finland, hmmmm…) and, in actuality, exists in two versions of the same species.

In addition to the “lacustris” strain (lives in lakes, spawns in rivers) which mine is, there is also an anadromous strain (lives in ocean, spawns in rivers or lakes), kind of like a sea-run cutthroat. How they got to our continent is anyone’s guess, but some say the fish actually migrated here via ocean currents. That makes it one hearty fish species.

I hear my trophy will be “finely tuned” and ready to ship in a week or three, so now all I have to do is to decide where to place it in our home. One of the spots I think would be nice is right over the entrance to my office.

“Over my dead body,” my wife informed me.

It’s Starting To Hit Me

It’s starting to hit me that I sold my boat. The inanimate, but comforting, friend that used to sit at the foot of our front yard is no longer there. No one telepaths a “goodbye” as I drive away anymore nor nods a friendly brain-wave “hi” as I return.

I’m not ready to seek counseling yet, or anything like that, but pretty soon there will be warmer winds that will bring buds on the trees. And that will signal the trout in nearby lakes to awaken from their lethargic slumbering state.

My last boat could accommodate the chasing of salmon in Puget Sound. However, the truth is that I only do that about half a dozen times a year. I can rationalize charters for those occasions.

Trout fishing is quite another matter. If I had my druthers, I’d be trout fishing once a week. And the truth is, you don’t need a big, expensive boat for that. Key word "need." Heck, I could get by on an aluminum 14-footer with a 10-horse four-cycle engine.

You know what? As I write this, I’m feeling better as I go, sort of solving my dilemma with each successive key-stroke. The photo above is off of “Boat Trader Online.” I suppose this used Smokercraft Alaskan model would “do” just fine.

But let’s see… It doesn’t have downriggers ($500) or a side control console ($750) or a canvas top for our Northwest weather ($900). Plus the cost of the boat. Yikes, here we go again….

Where Is The Run Of Ocean Silvers?

My son Doug and I took our Arima boat out on Puget Sound yesterday – again to no avail.

Where are the silvers?

Twice now, the ocean-grown silvers (coho salmon) have been reported “on the way”. Our key for this is the catch count in Sekiu, about 100 miles to the west, on the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

Two weeks ago the catch count there suddenly spiked, and we thought the run was coming. Usually, the coho begin assembling in the Sound around September 15, so we thought maybe it’s an early arrival this year. Wrong.

Then again late last week the reports came in that Sekiu had once again picked up. So we thought we’d give it a shot.

We fished the incoming tide hard for almost five hours. I even left the cooler in the car and didn’t take the camera to hopefully not jinx anything. Didn’t help.

However, we did see an extremely rare sight. One of the Navy’s Nuclear Trident Submarines was conducting maneuvers (or just cruising) a mile or two off to our portside, accompanied by two Coast Guard escorts. And I had left the camera at home! I was amazed at the ship’s length and sleek, sloping lines. She’s one beautiful sight, albeit a lethal one. She carries enough missile power to approximate dozens of Hiroshimas.

Getting Back to Whatever “Normal” Is

After re-processing on paper, er, on the computer’s word processor, just about all of my recollections on our great American baseball adventure, I guess it’s time for blog posts to return to “normal,” whatever that might be.

During the 10 days or so it took me to post all the baseball recollections, we had house guests from California last weekend, my wife taught a solid week of Vacation Bible School co-hosted by our church, and I caught up on a few chores around the house.

My son Doug called the other day and asked if the boat was ready for the water yet. Embarrassingly, I indicated the negative. Somehow in my mind the “serious” Puget Sound salmon fishing wouldn’t occur until August, and I’d be ready by then.

Wrong.

Doug reminded me that the nearby “month-long or until catch limit is reached” Chinook keeper season (the first in 13 years) began on the 15th. Of course the fishing was “hot” immediately, and the area boats have been reaching their daily limits for most of the week, while mine sits in limbo, parked below the house. Plus, I found out that the boat repair guy is full up for a few more days, and it may be some time before the Arima is seaworthy.

Yikes, available fish, and the boat sits dry on the trailer. This is a dilemma of significant proportions (tongue is in cheek).

Where we oughta be is out on the Sound with the downriggers dragging spoons in the water. The photo looks north toward Point-No-Point from Kingston, an area that contains lots of salmon right now.

Doug also told me today that the Chinook fishing is tailing off a bit (only a fish a boat, rather than limits, reported at Shilshole Marina this afternoon). That could actually be good news for us. It means the season may last another week or three, in contrast to being cut off because the total fish count had been caught.

Plus, we’re getting record summer rains for July. It’s the tropical rain which has kept the waters pretty flat. Maybe now, even though the calmer waters would have been easier, but wetter, fishing, I can get the boat done in time to fish late next week when it’s predicted to be a lot drier.

Contemplating Fish Lake

My very recent (addictive) fishing frenzy caused me to realize that I haven’t been to Fish Lake yet this year. What’s the big deal with Fish Lake?

Just two simple things: I always catch fish there, and, when there, you have as good a chance as anywhere to catch a larger than average trout.

Fish Lake is located about 90 miles east of Everett off Hwy 2, in Chelan County near the metropolis of Plain. Rainbow trout and Brown trout reside there in all sizes and in decent numbers.

However, catching the wiser, older finned creatures is another thing. There are reasons why they’ve survived more than one season.

So far this week the weather has precluded a day trip to the piscatorial paradise. It’s been rainy, windy and cool, and that makes catching difficult.

A quick internet check indicates that it’ll improve a bit on Thursday with some sun breaking through on Friday. If the barometer starts rising on Thursday, that might be just fine.

I need a Fish Lake “fix”.

A Great Weekend

After a really nice weekend, including a visit from our son Doug and his wife Jamie, and also including an early Saturday morning fishing jaunt with Doug to nearby Wildcat Lake, I’m having a bit of trouble today focusing on the real world.

Doug and Jamie came over late Friday evening so we could leave early and be fishing by 6 am. Saturday. Doug had been wanting an opportunity to use his relatively new float tube on a westside lake.

Having the advantage of being able to cruise the lake, he, of course, outfished me. However, I was able to sit comfortably in my fabric shore chair and drink coffee and read the paper while line wetting.

His pedaling efforts paid off with a beautiful 4-pound largemouth bass, caught virtually in a local resident’s front yard, in addition to about 10 rainbow trout, each averaging about a foot long. I got only one decent rainbow from shore after finally learning where the natural “spring” was.

When it started to heat up about 11:00 we headed home for an enjoyable brunch on our deck while watching the cabin cruisers head up through Agate Passage for a day on the big water (above pic).

Yesterday, we went to church where we observed Holy Trinity Sunday. Pastor Kent Shane did a fine job with his sermon on an almost impossible task – explaining, or trying to explain, the Triune God.

Following the service we enjoyed an outdoor Barbeque on the Christian Center patio. The event was a “thank you” to all who taught Sunday School during this past school year. I got to go ‘cause I’m married to a very good S.S. teacher. It was a wonderful, fellowship-filled gathering.

The three of us (Buddy, Kay Lynne and me) don’t remember much of last evening. We were zonked.

The Fishing Itch Gets Scratched

Oooooh, aaaaaaahh. Does it feel good to scratch the itch – the fishing itch, that is.

Very early this morning I went to nearby (20 miles away) Wildcat Lake, where it was rumored the trout are still plentiful and the water is still nice and cool. Above are a couple of boaters lazily trolling past my shoreline fishing spot.

The lake didn’t disappoint, as my line started twitching within seconds of getting it in the water. At first, it was just small planters nibbling on the glob of power bait, but I soon had two nice, foot-long rainbows in the creel.

It’s a picturesque body of water, as you can see in the second photo as well.

Unfortunately, I had to stop fishing before I wanted to, as the fish were swallowing the bait, and it was impossible to release them without harm. So… leave ‘em there for the next guy if you can’t eat ‘em. That’s a good motto to follow.

The good fishing experience this morning could lead to another shot there on Saturday with my son, Doug. Hope the warming weather trend won’t kill the action.

Door County Wisconsin – An Incredible Fishery

I thought the overall fishery we have here in the Pacific Northwest was about the best there is in the US of A. And it very well could be.

But I’ll also say this: the fishery on the Door County Peninsula in northeast Wisconsin is right up there. That's the Sturgeon Bay Harbor above.

Above is the Lighthouse at the mouth of the Lake Michigan side of the Sturgeon Bay channel. I got there on Friday of last week during the peak of the Brown Trout action going on just outside the mouth on the big lake. It’s sort of obvious why the area is a haven for many varieties of fish.

The colder waters of Lake Michigan ebb and flow through the Sturgeon Bay channel and the much warmer Sturgeon Bay itself into and back from the waters of Green Bay that are just slightly warmer than the big lake. Wind-generated currents in the canal keep the water temperatures in constant flux.

At least 10 different types of piscatorial strains reside there among the varying aquatic temperatures. I was after only two: Brown Trout and Lake Trout (sometimes called Mackinaw Trout).

I caught both, as you can see in the photo. All are Browns except for the 10-pound Lake Trout second from right. On the far right is the 17-lb Brown from the previous post. The total weight of all five fish topped 40 pounds, making it an unbelievable day of fishing. I'll not soon forget it.

A Genuine Fish Story

Here’s a pic of the 17-lb Brown trout I was fortunate enough to catch last Friday on Lake Michigan just east of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Click on the photo for a larger version that shows the detail on the fish. (Sorry for the sloppy shirt hanging out, but I was a bit distracted.)

Not only was it a real thrill to catch, but also it’s of trophy size. A fish of this bulk in this specie is relatively rare. It may even be worth mounting; we’ll have to see.

I hope, in the days ahead, to post several stories about the great trip we had to the Midwest, including more on the fishing excursion. Stay tuned…