Paddling Biking Fishing Gardening
Posted: Sun May 19, 2019 9:53 am
I thought it would be nice to keep up with you guys through the "growing season". My fishing season started right after the thaw. I went out for Great Lakes white suckers during their spawning run. While they may not sound like a fish you would want to eat, they are excellent on the table. This was my first attempt at sucker fishing. I did find them to be quite bony, as advertised, so I canned my catch. I did try a small plate fried in butter, and found them to be delicious.
Ten pints of delicious fish patties!
Work, chores, closed seasons, and weather kept me off the water until the last Saturday in April which is the opening of trout season in Michigan. High water and cool temperatures normally mean we don't catch a lot of fish, but my son Nick and I went up to my friend Tim's place for his annual camp. In the small creek behind his house there were no trout to be found. That was disappointing as they are more difficult to catch in the bigger river, I was hoping Nick would catch one or two before we headed to the big river. We went over to the big river and fishing was slow. I caught a nice 15" brown trout, but that was it. Tim normally outfishes me on these rivers. I was counting on him to catch a few so we could have trout and eggs for Sunday breakfast, but the breakfast of kings was not ours this year. Sunday's fishing was slow as well. I managed a 10" & 15" rainbow for Sunday's fish. Dinners were a special treat on Monday and Tuesday. My wife and son don't eat trout.
Last week I finally made it out to Lake Huron. I was concerned when I first started as I hurt my shoulder skiing this winter. The shoulder hurt at first, but loosened up nicely. We launched into Tawas Bay as I had a tip to fish an area where a trib flowed in. A friend and I trolled the bay for a couple hours then trolled out into Lake Huron. We worked up the coast for a couple miles and swung out a hair deeper for the ride back. I managed a skinny lake trout about 30" long on the way back.
Yesterday the forecasted winds kept me off the big water. Friday chores kept me from loading the truck at night. Rain, coffee, and breakfast really had me leaving late for the Flint River Saturday morning. I couldn't tell you what time I launched, I was just enjoying the day. I know it was closer to noon than dawn. I fished down the river a short way before coming to my first good hole. I had not fished this section of river last year, and it was significantly different this year. It was still wadeable, so I beached the canoe and gave it a shot. I worked from the top, and it took a while to find any sign of life. I missed the first fish, then a half dozen or more drifts later I caught a nice 18" walleye. That is a nice fish for this section of river. It seems for the past few years I have been throwing back 3 or 4 walleye at 13" or 14" for every legal 15" walleye I catch. Well, after that 18" fish, I did manage to catch a couple of the short ones. The back of the hole had some overhanging and submerged trees to make things interesting. I managed a few casts that had a chance at fish and did catch a 22" channel cat. It was the biggest one in years. The walleye had been knocked in the noggin and put on ice. I put the cat on a stringer. I figured the cat and the walleye would be enough for fish tacos if I couldn't catch more walleye.
Fish tacos, an old Indian way of saying you didn't catch a lot!
I am enjoying every opportunity to get out into the wilder places this season. I wish you all a happy and healthy growing season. Please consider using this thread to share your experiences in the warm weather.
Cheers,
Bob
Work, chores, closed seasons, and weather kept me off the water until the last Saturday in April which is the opening of trout season in Michigan. High water and cool temperatures normally mean we don't catch a lot of fish, but my son Nick and I went up to my friend Tim's place for his annual camp. In the small creek behind his house there were no trout to be found. That was disappointing as they are more difficult to catch in the bigger river, I was hoping Nick would catch one or two before we headed to the big river. We went over to the big river and fishing was slow. I caught a nice 15" brown trout, but that was it. Tim normally outfishes me on these rivers. I was counting on him to catch a few so we could have trout and eggs for Sunday breakfast, but the breakfast of kings was not ours this year. Sunday's fishing was slow as well. I managed a 10" & 15" rainbow for Sunday's fish. Dinners were a special treat on Monday and Tuesday. My wife and son don't eat trout.
Last week I finally made it out to Lake Huron. I was concerned when I first started as I hurt my shoulder skiing this winter. The shoulder hurt at first, but loosened up nicely. We launched into Tawas Bay as I had a tip to fish an area where a trib flowed in. A friend and I trolled the bay for a couple hours then trolled out into Lake Huron. We worked up the coast for a couple miles and swung out a hair deeper for the ride back. I managed a skinny lake trout about 30" long on the way back.
I am enjoying every opportunity to get out into the wilder places this season. I wish you all a happy and healthy growing season. Please consider using this thread to share your experiences in the warm weather.
Cheers,
Bob
... but up here we are still trying to get in the "growing season" and we are not even thinking about warm weather 
I can laugh now, but it was not that funny at 3:15 knowing that there was thousands of $ at stakes... But irrigating for the frost always give nice picture...