The retired Professor and now fisherman!

More Key West Fun!

2012-01-13T18:29:00.000-05:00

I am approaching the end of my Key West stay. It has been a great time and we are already planning next December down here.

Molly & Joey have been to Santiago's Bodega several times for the Tapas meals (small meals). It serves great meals and great sangria. Recently we found Overboard for happy hour. Joey and I went there as Molly was resting. It had a great happy hour menu but since it is located on the second floor, overlooking the street, not as many people find it. Sweet potato fries with honey on the side was one of our favorites. Honey just jacks up the flavor!

This is a home-cooked meal of fresh fish and grilled veggies. These fish were swimming just a few hours ago! Can't get any fresher! Note that this vacation seems to center around - FOOD!

When we went to Ft. Zachery Taylor State Park, we watched a pirate battle. If you click on the picture, you can see more detail. Two years ago we were here during the Pirate Week and they had Chef Robert from the Food Network filming a meal here. We got to eat with them after the filming. Check out my previous Key West blog from a couple of years ago if you missed it.

Our friend from DC had to get her picture with a pirate.

This Kapok tree is huge. It is located across from mile marker 0 on Highway A1A in the middle of Key West on Whitehead street. A great photo site.

This was our favorite sailboat. America 2.0 was designed after the first winner of the America's Cup. A 105 foot schooner. So far I have taken the afternoon sail and the Sunset sail. I got tickets on the local radio auction for $45 for two, regularly sold for $75 each!

Molly and Joey enjoying the walk down Key West Bight.

After happy hour, you have to remember which bike is hour and where you parked it. We do not use our car very much at all here. Bicycling is the easiest and fastest way to get around Key West. I can get anywhere in 15-20 minutes on this small island.

This is my bike ready for a day of fishing off White's Pier. I can get there in 10 minutes and have a ball with the reef fish. Every once in a while I find a large fish but still the fun is fishing for whatever bites. I always meet lots of friendly tourists here. I talked to several groups of Chinese people from the cruise ship in for the day.

I helped this man and his son rig up to catch a few small fish beside me. I like to loan my pole for a few minutes to those watching.....ooops, I guess that is illegal! I promise I won't do that again, when people are watching.....

Is this a puffer fish?

Most of the time, I am using squid. Shrimp works very well but the average lifespan for a piece of shrimp in the water is about 10 seconds. Squid stays on the hook for a longer period. Plus if you use shrimp or squid and don't catch anything, you can eat your bait..........

This is the Gulfstream IV party boat on the way back into Key West. Two cruise ships are docked near Mallory Square. It costs $65 to fish for 6 hours but we got Groupons for $40! Yes, we like to save our money so we can stay longer here!!

Here is a pile of fish that our boat caught last trip out.

This is the captain and crew hold up the largest fish. Cobia and mackerel. We had 20 nice fish to take home to eat.

The pelicans were waiting for our arrival. They knew exactly when to show up!

Here was our catch for the day! The crew cleans and charges 50 cents each fish. It is fast and so much easier to have them do it. We have a fish dinner, then fish tacos, and then fish chowder. Yummy.....

This is a typical start of the day. We get up and read the local paper and the NY Times with coffee on the back deck.

Then we ride around the island and then it is off to the beach.

Are you catching the theme.....? We relax! We enjoy! We eat! We bike!

Days in Key West

2012-01-09T15:52:00.001-05:00

I have been way too busy to blog about the fun and times in Key West. I arrived just after Thanksgiving and have really enjoyed the 80 degree weather. As soon as I arrived I got my bike set up. I mounted a white milk crate with two PVC pipes to the back of the bike. Now I could carry things and put my two fishing poles upright into the PVC pipes. Dorky looking but it carried all my beach gear, a hammock, a backpack, tackle box and anything else I needed for my trips around and through KW.

As soon as I arrived I headed down to Mallory Square for a bike ride and to watch the cruise ship come in. There are 1-3 ships that dock for the afternoon every day, so downtown Duval Street area gets jammed with tourists. Actually people watching is a big past-time down here. It is fun to hear all the different languages and watch the people hit the shopping areas downtown.

Mallory Square is where Sunset Celebration takes place every night. There are many street performers and booths for shopping right along the dock. Our favorites include the CatMan of Key West (Goggle him!!), the tightrope walker, the escape artist, and the Southermost Bagpiper. Then it is off to happy hour!

1/2 price drinks (buy one, get one free; two for one; or 50 % off for youall Northerners!) :-) Then it is 1/2 price off on the whole appetizer page at many of the restaurants along the eastern end of Front Street. Oysters for 50 cents, great soups for $2-3, shrimp for $5-6, believe me that you can get enough "happy hour" food for a meal. Some happy hours are from 4-7 pm, some are 5-6:30 pm, always check.

After we walk the Historic Seaport walkway we enjoy our night ride back up Duval to our house. You have to have a white front light and a red back light on your bike at night. A horn or bell also helps.

We usually ride all around the island in the morning. The island is 2 miles wide and 4 miles long. Some days we even get up for a sunrise ride.

After breakfast and our ride we do like to go to Ft. Zachery Taylor State Park beach for the afternoon. It is $2.50 @ to get in. The beach is right at the tip of where the Gulf and Atlantic meets. Nice beach and a great place to snorkel dive.

I like to go out to the end of this stone jetty and fish. I get small reef fish but did land a nice 36" mackerel.

We took a day sailboat cruise one day. It was a great ride and view of KW from the water.

The black sailboat is the America 2.0. It is 105 foot schooner that has only been in the water for 3 months.

There were free drinks, and a fruit bowl and a veggie bowl. The two white coolers hold the free wine, beer, champagne, or soft drinks.

My daughter, Molly, and Joey enjoying the sail.

This was the sail out towards the reef and sun.

Smoked fish and crackers before we head to our favorite place to eat. El Siboney!

Two people can split a plate of Cuban food at this place.

Soft roasted, juicy pork with lightly grilled onions, yellow rice and black beans, and fried plantain. I once ate supper here and ordered the same meal for lunch the next day, it was so good.

Now that I got this started, I'll post another story in a couple days! Who wants to come down to Key West? I know I am already making plans for next December here!

Key West Bound!

2011-12-18T11:57:00.001-05:00

I finally got packed and headed out to my sister's house for Thanksgiving. Two days later I was headed for Key West. My car was packed. I had two bikes, my fishing gear, clothes, items from home, bead making supplies, books, and kitchen stuff that I wanted to bring. Only the driver's seat was open. Off for a 1600 mile trip or 24 hours of driving. Leaving Michigan behind I made it just north of Atlanta the first day. Then I stopped by the GA/FL border to visit with my cousin, Mary Jo. Then the second night I detoured to
Englewood to visit with Gary & Carol, friends from the Traverse City area.

I was on the road early the third morning and headed down 41 towards Miami. It is a nice drive over on the top edge of the Everglades. Not much traffic and then I turned south on 997 to Highway 1. I actually enjoy the drive down. Starting down the Keys, the many bridges are always nice to view.

This picture is just as I started the Keys section. I stopped in Marathon to get my FL fishing license and a few odds and ends (4 #s of squid). Soon the A1A mile markers were in double digits and counting off as I headed south. This is my 8th winter of heading out to Key West.
Stock Island and headed down Flager Avenue. Just as I got close to Duval, "WHAM", I got hit on my right side of my car. It was a loud thud and I got out to see the damage. All I could see was a few feather on my antenna. Some pigeon took off a little too slow and he got thunked by the antenna. He survived and my car was undamaged. The feathers are still on the antenna after 2 weeks!

Here the car is parked in front of our Duval and Catherine home, a 1928 "Shotgun" style Conch Cottage. My daughter, Molly, & Joey rent the back and I have the front. It is a small house but divided into two complete living areas.

You walk down the side of the house and you can see my doormat for my door. No yard but it does have a patio in back with a grill, table/chairs, hot tub, and solar outside shower.

This is the view as you enter the side door. The downstairs has a large, red tile floor. The kitchen is small but fine for me. If you turn left, the bathroom and full title shower is there.

This is the view to you right as you enter the door. The large, overstuffed couch against the front wall is where we like to read. You can see the ladder going up to the loft bedroom. Molly and Joey have a large downstairs bedroom in the back unit and a loft bedroom.

This is the loft bedroom in my unit. You have be careful of the low ceilings. Note the air conditioner vent to the right of the bed. Just remember to turn the AC down before going to sleep or you will feel a draft in the night. Quaint, small, but "just the way I like it".

I unpacked my bike and put away my things so now for my first bike ride in Key West this year. We didn't come down last year so this was going to take a little time to re-adjust.

I decided to head down to Mallory Square for the Sunset Celebration.

There are usually two cruise ships that park for the day at least 4 days a week. Every night, Sunset Celebration takes place with street performers and different booths selling wares. You can always find the "Catman of Key West" (Google this guy!!) performing with his trained street cats. He is a hoot.

Molly always tells me to do random acts of kindness every day. I noticed this couple from the cruise ship and popped a picture.

I gave the couple my e-mail and just send them pictures of "getting engaged" in KW. She was happy to get the memories of their unique Sunset Celebration.

So much for the start of my KW vacation. If you have any requests of visits or photos, just let me know. I plan to go fishing, sailing, snorkeling and "happy hour"ing Key West Style.

New Boat....for us!

2011-11-17T14:14:00.003-05:00

I am a member of the South Fox Island Lighthouse Assocation (FILA) www.southfox.org
and our boat has reached it's useful service life. It was a 26', twin engine, fiberglass boat that was expensive to run. It did it's job but wasn't reliable. Finally, we decided not to put it in the water. After a summer of relying upon friends to volunteer their boats (we paid for the gas) it was too hard to coordinate the boat availability with the weather, and the volunteer's schedules. We needed a boat.

Our Captain of the Sea, Phil, had in mind a smaller, lightweight and more economical boat. I received an e-mail from Phil about a boat near my home. Would I mind going over to look at it? No problem!

This was much larger than my fishing boat. Gee, it sure looked in great shape. It was a boat that the owner loved to take out in Lake Michigan for summer salmon. You can see it was rigged for big water trolling. It was an older 1987 Starcraft Islander with only 1246 hours on the engine. Not bad for the age of the boat. The owner recently died and his wife was selling it.

I decided that I better take pictures to send to Phil to see if he wanted to come down to look at it.

This was rigged to have 8 fishing poles in use. Down riggers, flat lines, out riggers, and a huge fish cooler on the back. The white storage cover was in great shape. Now to see the inside.

This was smaller than our present boat, but it was closer to what we were looking for.

The engine was a 3 Liter four cylinder , OMC - Cobra inboard. The engine oil on the dipstick was clean and the engine looked well cared for. The twin engines on the old boat were down in the hull and you had to climb down inside to work on them.

How did they keep the cushions so clean on a fishing boat? This is looking better all the time. I wonder who would use the port-a-potty on a boat at sea? I guess .... someone desperate!

A fish finder and GPS deph finder could be very useful in navigating the shoals around South Fox Island. The dashboard needs a new covering. I think that can be replaced.

Compass, that is good. Whoa, there are a lot of guages and switches on that dashboard. I wonder why there are 3 drain plugs on the dash? Guess, I'll find out.

Eight people, 1200 pounds....that is less than the other boat but we are done with the small projects and will be using this boat to just transport people out to the island to work. The contractors will carry the heavy supplies in their boat.

I overloaded Phil's computer by sending all these pictures, so I burned them on a disc and sent it out. Two days later Phil called and wanted to see the boat.

We came, we saw, we bought. Phil and I decided to become partners on the boat as we still had to sell our old boat. This will give us time to see if the Starcraft does what we need it to do.

The outfit weighs 4800 pounds and my Explorer is rated for 3500 pounds. Phil asked me to tow it to Northport. The owner towed it with a Jimmy so I knew I could tow it, but could I stop it? I never went over 50 mph and was very, very careful. It was a relief to end up at Phil's pole barn. We made a deal on the boat to just buy the boat and strip off the fishing gear. That was alright with me. I would rather drift and/or do 2 rod trolling. We have spent several days getting it cleaned up to winterize it. We drained the water and got it ready for the new outdoor cover.

The back cooler rack will be used to partially hold up our dingy.

Next summer, we will run it out to the island. As part owner, I will take it out in Grand Traverse Bay for a few fishing trips to make sure the boat is operating correctly. A boat needs to be exercised so the trailer tires don't go flat. I'll do my part. I will be 1st mate, in-training to become the alternate driver of this vessel. I am sure I'll have a few adventures to post next summer.

Fall, 2011 has Arrived

2011-10-24T15:42:00.002-04:00

How the time flies when you are having fun. Sorry it has been a while since I posted. Had some great times so this will just highlight what has been going on "Up North".

I had a great kayak trip down the Jordan River. Here are a few shots.

This is a nice little stream that gently flows down a beautiful valley. It is a cold water stream and very few cottages.

The Jordan has a nice flow and you only have to watch the corners and the few logs. These just serve to keep your attention on what you are doing. Molly, Joey Gary, and Jane went with me this fine late summer day.

About 3/4s of the way you go through the culvert pipe under the crossing road. It is a fun chute down to the next level. My kayak always tips down and I get wet during this slight plunge.

We saw a great canoe. Here are a few shots. He is a professional fishing guide and owns a restaurant.

How cool is that?

And check out the bow.

Remember, you can click on any picture to enlarge it.

I am in the middle, my brother, Gary, is on my right and my daughter, Molly is on my left. Sorry, this shot was posted for my family.

Next adventure was a boat ride out to South Fox Island from Northport. I got a call from Phil that he wanted a crew to go out to the lighthouse and do some grounds keeping work. I got my crew together. I am on the board of the South Fox Island Lighthouse Association (FILA) and we are restoring the seven building on South Fox Island. www.southfox.org

The FILA boat has outlived it's useful days so we are relying on friends to get us out to the island. It takes about 2 hours and $200 of gas to get out so we want to have a full work crew going along.

Because of the wind and water conditions, we had to anchor off the East beach. It was shallow and we just climbed overboard and carried our working supplies to the island, down the beach, up the trail to the lighthouse. It was a hike!

This is a shot to the lighthouse building from the boathouse walkway. Note the new red metal roof we installed a year ago.

We had to mow, cut shubbery back, spray and pull poison ivy. Nasty work, but the jungle wants to reclaim the land so every trip out includes these basic chores. Molly, Joey and JJ are hard at work.

Gary and Phil re-install the grate over the lighthouse door at the end of the work session.
Now it is time for a beach walk.

Molly is taking the short-cut to the beach and boat by cutting through the woods and down the hill.

You can see the Fog Signal Tower in the background. After the walk and a swim it was time to head back to the boat and load up for the trip home.

When Fall comes, the salmon start running. The first place to get them is off the pier. These fish are fresh and strong. Most of the anglers are using Little Cleos or plugs to catch them.

There is nothing like a 15-18 # salmon hitting your lure. Bang... then they kick it into high gear. The first two runs are so strong that you have to let them take line. Steady pressure after that and you will be rewarded with a fresh, silver salmon that is good eating.

Even I get lucky! It hit a glo Cleo about 7:00 am.

This is a shot at the Little Man Weir. It is loaded with salmon, awaiting the DNR to collect eggs. It is quite an operation. The large salmon are guided up chutes to the station where they are stunned by a mechanical devise and then air is injected into the stomach and the eggs pop out. They are fertilized with milt and shipped off to surrounding states and also used for our planting in Michigan.

Random Fish shots. This is your reward for reading along so far.

This is what 800 salmon look like in the the Little Man.

Charlie with a Backwaters smallmouth bass.

Here I am with a Fall smallmouth bass. I was using a curly tail jig.

This is for Kelly and Jeff, a picture of a cougar near Sleeping Bear Dunes. They heard this cat under their feet as they climbed up the Scenic Outlook near Arcadia Bluffs on a late summer night.

Perch and largemouth bass from Portage Lake.

A summer brown hit the black maribou streamer, which was above a white streamer. I guess black is best.

A nice bluegill hit my brown streamer on Portage Lake.

Another summer largemouth bass from Portage Lake.

Well, that is all for now. I hope to get into the Fall Feeding Frenzy that I read about. I am not putting my boat and fishing gear away just yet. Steelhead are starting and I still want to hit the Backwaters before I head down to Key West for 6 weeks.

Grayling in MIchigan

2011-10-02T16:00:00.003-04:00

I just read an article in the Great Lakes Life and Times abouty a plan to bring back Grayling to Michigan. Overfishing and destruction of trout habitat from lumbering led to the demise of the Arctic Grayling in Michigan streams.

The Little River Band of Indians is trying to plan for the re-establishing of the Arctic Grayling in the Manistee River with help from Michigan Technological University. The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians received a US Fish and Wildlife Service tribal wildlife grant to partially fund a native species restoration plan.

The Manistee River was selected to be studied for the stocking of Grayling. The Manistee River flows southwest for over 230 miles. A seven year sturgeon restoration on the Manistee River has continued with support from the Little River Band and Michigan Tech. The Manistee River has more than 80 species of fish and the 11 mile section from Hodenpyle to Tippy Dam was selected because of it's remoteness and six cold water inputs.

The grayling is distinctive by an oversized dorsal fin. Montana has the sole self-sustaining grayling population in the lower 48 states. I did catch grayling in Yellowstone National Park a few years back. We parked and hiked with float tubes several miles back to Grebe Lake. Grayling have a small mouth like a whitefish. I used small nymphs and manged to catch 5-6 small grayling.

The initial study may lead to stocking. The State of Michigan tried both river and lake stocking of grayling in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the fish didn't establish due to a number of factors, including hooking mortality, disease, predation, and competition.

Grayling are a somewhat fragile species and not very aggressive. The stream survey will add more information on water discharge, substrate, water temperature, and "food drift". The land around the river in this area is national forest and adjacent to tribal land.

It is exciting to hear that the Arctic Grayling might one again swim in a stream in Michigan. It is even more exciting when it is happening in your own back yard!

Kayaking Down the Manistee

2011-06-13T08:38:00.000-04:00

I got a call from my friends, Joe and Jim, about a float trip down the Manistee River. We had mentioned it and now we were setting the date. Joe wanted to meet at 7:00 am and I suggested we meet at Red Bridge parking lot at 8:00am. The night before our trip we had thunder, lightning and rain. I wondered if I was going to receive a "cancel " phone call but the rain stopped but it was in the low 60s. Getting no phone call meant that I better get packed up. I got a PB&J, some ice tea, a few granola bars and a apple and hitched up the small cargo trailer. I was going to put all the float equipment in my trailer and have the guys leave their cars at Red Bridge.

I got to the spot at 7:50 am and Jim and Joe were already there. We loaded up our gear and headed off to Hodenpyle Dam. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to drive up the 8-9 miles.

Parking right at the dam means you have to carry everything down the stairs to the water.

The kayaks only weight about 40 pounds but the pontoon boat was closer to 60-70 pounds. We used two men to carry it down.

Joe was strapping on his life vest and it served as a good reminder for me to wear mine. I usually just pack it in the kayak but today I wore the life vest.

We had river shoes and zip-off nylon pants. I have an orange river bag with a towel and rain jacket. I forgot my sunglasses and Jim didn't. I am holding my lightweight, fiberglass paddle that I got last year.

Joe is wearing his hip boots so he can wade, Jim and I are going to wet wade. Water temperature is in the high 50s! Joe has the really nice pontoon boat and oars. He can even put his electric trolling motor on it.

You can see Hodenpyle Dam in the background.

Joe was first off. You sit up out of the water and are higher than in the kayak. He could see more river details, hence he went first!

As I was taking the pictures, Jim was next off. We each had our fishing rods with us. The plan was to stop on the bends and fish from shore. I was going to try fishing and paddling at the same time. Kinda like rubbing your belly and patting your head!

I fount that if I put the paddle across my lap, I could cast my fly rod and then quickly adjust the float with my paddle. It wasn't a very effective way to fish. After a few tries, I decided to just fish from the shore.

The river was flowing nicely along. The water was a little dark from the run-off. You can see some shallow rapids up ahead. It isn't hard to paddle like the Pine, but it has several sets of faster water. These were the fun spots. We weren't just here to paddle, or fish, but also to enjoy the ride.

Time to stop and fish.

Finally a nice fish on.

Gee, I am happy to catch one but why didn't I smile?

Finally, Joe pulled over to fish. We would stop together and fish along the bends. Note that Joe has hip boats on but he doesn't have the strap snapped up to his belt. More on that later. A few minutes at each stop and on our way again.

Jim and I had similar kayaks. Only about 9' long and easy to use. In some of the rapids, the bow would dip down and water would come spraying over the top into the seat area. Not a lot of water but I had a wet butt most of the day.

Jim was casting a small streamer and we were hoping for some brown or rainbow trout.

It was a nice hole and I waded out to try my luck. Suddenly I hear Joe call from the bank.

We came upon this snapping turtle making a nest along the bank.

I said, "Joe, put your finger down in front of his face". Guess what happened next.......

Nothing happened......Joe got out of there! Note the storage area behind the seat and the rod holder. What a way to float. He never got wet in the rapids.

However, Joe did wade out a little too far for his hip boots several times. It is hard to remember how deep you can go when you are paying attention to your fishing and not your wading. Joe got a brown trout along here.

Jim is trying the fishing and kayaking t the same time. I guess it is a guy thing, we have to keep trying to do what our mind tells us we can't!

Just before we hit Red Bridge, Joe has one on. He is getting a good fight out of him.

Joe lands a killer Northern Pike! I lost one fish and landed one rainbow. The fishing was great, the catching was slow.

What a nice way to spend the day. The sign says it is a 4 hour float and we made it is seven hours!

After the float, it was back up to the Dam to get my car and trailer. We decided that we are going to float all the way to Manistee.........in stages. We have stage one and two done. Next it will be High Bridge to Blacktail or Bear Creek. Then we don't know what would make a good 6 hour float. Any suggestions?

June Fly Rod Time on the Manistee

2011-06-08T11:28:00.000-04:00

It was hot, the weather had been rainy and I was stuck inside for several days. A break in the weather came and down to the Manistee River I went. I decided to drive my new run-around car down to the parking lot.

The Chevy Aveo is a stick shift car that got 36 MPG the first time I checked it. I want to take the miles off the Ford Explorer. Anyway, down to the parking lot at Tippy Dam. I walked down Cardiac Hill and had the water to myself.

No one was around and I decided to start at the dam and work my way downstream. The water was dark from the spring runoff. I started with my fly rod and yellow streamer. I waded out a few steps and then tossed the stream out into the deeper water. I let the fly sink down a little. It has a bead head so it should be in the mid-depths. I start stripping in. Cast out, pause while it sinks, and strip in. After three or four casts, I move downstream a few steps and start again.

I am on the south side of Tippy Dam and you can see that nobody is fishing. The water is warming up and the water is low. The fish are going to be closer to the dam (aerated water), in the seams and deeper water. I will just move along and swing my streamer.

The first fish is a medium sized Brownie. They usually hit in the middle of the swing, when I am stripping in the fly and it is coming across the stream in their visual path. I am using my 4 weight fly rod so even these fish fight hard and bend my fishing rod. I don't expect any steelhead or large browns during the morning. People talk about fishing at night when the bigger fish prowl the water and it sounds fun. I just don't think about it until it is late and I am tired. I will have to try it at night soon.

I continue on and get a few more fish. Some are like small torpedos. They are steelhead smolts that haven't headed out to the big lake yet. They are hungry and hit the fly hard.

This is one of the streamers I have been tying. I first started with cream and tan colors but have been making variations of darker colors recently. I first slip on a bead on the size 6 or 8 streamer hook. Then I wrap my tying thread down to the bend and add a bunch of dark brown maribou feathers for a tail. Then, on this fly, I used some dark green chinelle for the body. After I tye off the chinelle at the bead, I add a couple of rubber legs on some of the flies. These darker flies are imitating crawfish or other aquatic insects. I also like using the cream or tan maribou on some flies. Many times I wrap the body with the rest of the maribou in place of the chinelle. A simple but effective fly.

Back to more casting. It is a rhythm that fly fisherman get into. Cast out, retrieve, cast out, retrieve. Your mind is thinking about fishing and watching the line for any subtle changes. Every little stop or nick of the fly might be a fish. Many times the hit is hard and the fish is hooked before the angler can set the hook. Sometimes the fly pops out because you didn't set the hook. I usually pinch down the hook barbs. It makes it easier to release the fish and also it makes it easier to remove from your clothing or skin.

This brown hit the black streamer tied on above the brown streamer. I guess they take it for a leech.

Speaking of leeches, I look down in the water and see two large, fat snake-like creatures at my feet. More like short, fat snakes with a sucking style mouth with teeth. Lamprey are mating as I watch. The report on lamprey ells are that each one can consume 40 # of fish a year. They can attach on the sides of trout and suck out the life or severely reduce the weight of the host fish. This week the DNR is putting in poison to kill the lamprey. So far 2-3 days, most people halt their fishing.

I continue on casting and even catching a few as I proceed down river.

Here is a hungry brown that attacked my yellow and brown chinelle bodied streamer. Chinelle comes in many different colors so I like to experiment. I found a dark green chinelle style roll at a yard sale for fifty cents that I'll try next. I always look in the sewing area for possible fly tying material.

The catching slows up as I go downstream. A few here and there but I have to look for deeper water and edges to fish. I find I can wade almost 3/4s of the way across the river in some spots.

Ok, it was a nice morning. I only got one fish in the 14-15" range but I had a lot of fish that were fun to play with. I released every fish back into the water. You can only keep fish 15"+ in the Manistee and I just enjoy catching and releasing these smaller fish.

OK, another pleasant morning on the river. Next I am going to go kayak fishing down the river from Hodenplye to Red Bridge. We will probably just stop on the bends and cast from shallow water. We will be having our shorts and water shoes on so some kayaking and some fishing and some floating. Stay tuned!

May PA Fishing Trip

2011-05-20T12:30:00.000-04:00

I was invited by Bill K to come over to central PA for a fishing trip. We rented a nice cabin at Canoe Creek State Park. That would give us access to the Little J, Spruce Creek, and Yellow Creek.

Bill was marinating the meat for the gumbo. He is a great cook. He made a roux and prepared this for one of our meals.

This is certainly looking great.

Bill's yard has lots of flowers and the grass is green. PA is a little ahead of MI in the growing department.

You can see the old fish hatchery in the back. Bill has it stocked with huge trout. More later on the fishing here. We pack up and head for central PA for some fishin!

Here is our cabin at Canoe Creek Campground. No camping but they have nice cabins and facilities.

The cabins have a bath with shower, an electric range, sink, refrigerator and microwave. There are two bedrooms with a double bed and two sets of bunk beds. You have to bring kitchen utensils and bedding.

After unpacking we headed out to fish the Little Juniata. The stream was high and colored because of the recent rain. Managed to catch two trout on a black head white streamer.

The wading was tough because of the limestone ridges and dark water. The water conditions were not good but we came to fish.

These are the large limestone kilns that were used to fire up the limestone into lime. It is in the park. We hiked up for a look after fishing.

This is the stocked lake in the park. People were fishing for trout and panfish. I saw a lot of power bait.

This is a group of guys fishing below the dam in the spillway. We saw them catching panfish.

Next we hit the Bald Eagle creek near Pt. Matilda. It was small and had dark water. We then hit Spruce Creek in a light drizzle.

The next day we headed for Piney Creek at the lower end. We ended up on the George Harvery stretch of Spruce Creek. I managed to get a few on a tan bead head streamer size 8.

The fishing was tough and we kept at it. It was just nice to be out and hike up and down the streams. We did find a caddis hatch right near an old railroad bridge.

Out in the middle a size 14 caddis hatch was on. We hooked up and started casting. It was sporadic at best but Dick managed to get one on just as his cell phone rang. Our friend had to return home for an emergency but he had a nice day of fishing.

Walking along the creek, Bill pointed out some flowers.

I think these are pink and white trillium.

A friend from Elwood City, Dave, showed up the next day and we fished the Delayed Harvest section of the Little J. I managed to catch a nice 16' brown on a size 14 Hares Ear nymph.

It is hard to get the camera out when you have a fish on. The guys were fishing away from where I was fishing and I tried to get an action shot.

The next day we decided to hike up the canyon area of the Little J. It takes about 30 minutes to walk up to get to good water. I found a nice area just below a riffle and cast out my tan bead bead minnow. I let it dread drift down and swing across the current. It wasn't low and I was into a nice fish.

This was a healthy 18+" rainbow. What a nice day. No rain and hungry trout.

We decided to fish Yellow Creek on our way home. Dave drove over to meet us and we fished a delayed harvest area. The stream wasn't large but the water was running pretty fast. I hiked up stream and found that the Yellow Creek trout hadn't been warned about my lucky bead head tan streamer fly. I was just dead drifting the fly and ended up catching one 18", one 16" and a 12" trout.

What a great way to end the trip. That bead head tan streamer is so easy to tie. I just pinch the barb down on a size 8 streamer hook and slip a 5/32" gold bead up to the eye of the hook. Then I wrap the thread from the bead down the hook to the bend. There I tie in a short tail of tan/gold maribou feather and a piece of gold ribbing wire. Then I twist the maribou feather and wrap the body up to the bead. Then I palmar wrapped the wire up the body and tie off behind the bead head. Simple fly, almost like a wolly bugger without the hackle.

Some nice memories of a good fishing trip in lousy weather. This is Molly's favorite shot on her trips.

This was the railroad spikes I picked up for my son the blacksmith, Ryan. He will make knife blades out of them.

We made the trip back to Grove City, PA and I had to fish Bill's small lake. I took his kayak out and got 6 crappie, 5 bluegills and 3 trout on a small white tube jig. I cleaned the fish and took them over to Ryan's house.

This is my grandson, Roan, and the cat next to Ryan's old fashion, heirloom garden. I got a nasty case of poison ivy when I helped pull weeds for Leslie's herb garden.

Ryan used his old Ferguson tractor to turn over the soil and he put 25#s of sprouted potatoes and then just put mulch on top. It was an easy way to plant the potatoes.

Back at Bill's, the ducks had been moved out to the field. Bill just received 10 day old peeps so the ducks moved out and the peeps moved in.

The ten peeps arrived safe and were penned in the garage until they could be moved to the chicken coop.

The ducks were put into the chicken coop while the peeps were growing. Bill inspected the chicken coop and was inside when the wind blew the door shut. It latched! Annie had just left and didn't take her cell phone. Bill got to explore the inside of the coop for 1 1/2 hours until help arrived! The ducks were just released into Bill's lake. I wonder how many will survive? Nature can be cruel. There are turtles, fox, hawks, owls, and other animals that live near by. I will check with Bill to see how they are doing.

This was another adventure we had at Bill's. We went out mushroom hunting and found two sacks of Morels! They were soaked in salt water and then fried in butter. We also had fresh asparagus from Bill's garden.

It was a fun trip to PA. Fishing was good, food was great, saw family and friends, and taught a couple of people how to make glass beads.

Now I am back in Northern Michigan and ready to fish again. Come on up and fish, the weather is fine.

Fish Camp # 1 - out of order!

2011-04-20T14:57:00.000-04:00

Ok, Ok...the guys from Fish Camp 1 complained that there weren't any pictures of FC-1!
My brother, Gary, brother-in-laws, Chris & Jim, and Gary's college roommate, Mikey-Pikey showed up the first of April for three days of Spring Steelhead fishing.

This is what the river looked like just before they arrived. Almost Combat Fishing!

The steps were still covered with ice and a little tricky to get down. You can see the fisherman stack up close to the coffer dam.

We hiked down river to get away from the crowd. This is Chris down on the bend across from the Rockpile hole. He caught a couple of fish there.

Gary likes to wade halfway across and fish close to the drift boats. He had a nice steelhead on a silver spoon. I was fishing just upriver from Gary.

Jim always finds a spot near the bank. Last year he caught a huge walleye. How did you do this year, Jim?

Mikey-Pikey shocked us all this year by bringing a brand new fishing rod and reel to camp. I think he was using his Dad's old fishing pole the last few years. There were fish waiting for exercise as Mikey did his thing in the river.

This year, Gary started a new after dinner tradition with is cooler full of these items.

Yes, those are jello-shots! Gary and I came across this tradition several summers ago when we rescued 4 bikini clad MSU students from the cold Jordan River. They thanked us by sharing their jello shots! ...but that is another story, nobody wants to hear it again........

Gary back the next day in same hole, minus the drift boats. Yes, it was cold and the gloves were necessary.

We heard them before we saw them. Two large flocks of Canadian geese flew overhead. Why were they going south? Maybe the weather got too cold.

Chris gets the only landed steelhead. I think he got it down on the bend.

We were glad we didn't have to carry fish up Cardiac Hill. Chris was the steelhead camp for FC-1.

The boys brought a ton of food for FC (fish camp) . We had fritters and donuts, cereal, OJ for one breakfast from Mikey-Pikey. Gary brought his favorite pulled pork dinner, Jim had a great homemade stew, and Chris brought lunch meat and other things.

Last morning it was smokey links and hot sausage and scrambled eggs for breakfast. We always eat well at FC.

I guess the theme for FC-1 was the golf Masters. We toasted every good shot. We fished, we ate, we drank, we hiked, we had fun. Thanks guys for a great start to fish season 2011.

Fish Camp II

2011-04-17T18:41:00.000-04:00

It is that time of the year for Steelies! It is cold, rainy and windy.....but just the way I like it! As reports of incoming steelhead flow out into the airways, Fish Camp II started up. Cousin Tim from NJ was on his way over and his college roommate, Stan, was coming in from VA.

I love my driveway sign. It is from the old elementary school when they dedicated the road to our Mom. After the road was eliminated, I got the sign. If you read it backwards, it is ...Dr. Stauffer! :-)

The boys arrived on Sunday afternoon ready to fish for 6 days. We headed down to the river.

I caught the first steelhead on a rubber legged stonefly. This fish is one that would be for dinner. I don't keep many but the the first, fresh fish of the season is one I enjoy.

The water was a little high and running fast and cold. I needed my duck hunting waders. I don't duck hunt but I sure like their waders!

This is Tim out in the Manistee River. The water was slightly discolored....just the way we like it!

We spent a lot of time casting black stoneflies, black leeches, and egg patterns. It was tough fishing but we all had some hookups.

Stan fished hard every day. He had some hookups but just couldn't get a steelhead to the net. He was the sucker king of the week. He landed several large red horse suckers that gave him a great battle.

Don't knock those Manistee Bonefish! They are fun!

Three cars in the drive and the neighbors know fish camp is on! We found that the campground road was now open so we could drive down the steep hill to the informal state land campground close to the river. That way we could avoid Cardiac Hill - those dreaded 250 steps down!

The theme for this fish camp was WWII. Tim bought a 6 DVD set of of old military films that were interesting. We watched one each night. Last fall, the theme was Lonesome Dove and Shogun before that. We need a theme for the fall Salmon Camp. Any ideas?

Tim caught a nice steelhead in mid-week. He was lucky that Stan came down river and helped to net the fish. The steelhead are runners when first hooked and are hard to land. I would say that about 50% of the fish throw the hook and get away It adds to the excitement of catching and trying to land a fresh steelhead.

We always eat great at fish camp. The boys bought a pork loin roast for one night , then we had our favorite meal pictured below.

This meal was parsnips and carrots sauteed in butter and served over thin spaghetti with Parmesan cheese. It was very good. One other meal was fresh broiled steelhead with parsley potatoes.

We would fish from 7:00 am until noon or so and then go back out from 5-8:00 pm. Dinner was always later and then we watched some WWII DVDs and that was the night.

Stan worked on nuclear submarines but I can't tell you any more.....if I did I would have to kill you......

Stan has brought his wife to visit the area and has looked at several cabins in the area. Who knows, maybe he will have a hunting/fishing place here some day soon.

Now that he is retired, he is a turkey hunter. Stan had to get back to those hills in VA and get his turkey tags filled.

Tim was in banking and finance and now semi-retired. He loves to fish and managed to get more steelhead on than anyone else in fish camp. Tim owns land in the UP and was born in MI.

Well, that is a summary of Fish Camp II. The fish are coming in. The hens have eggs and are getting ready to spawn. The recent rain/snow should bring in a fresh bunch of fish this week. Now is the time to get on the river. So pack your bags and head up to Don's Fish Camp.

Random Spring Shots

2011-04-04T17:59:00.000-04:00

Wow! The weather sure stayed cold this Spring. I have been fishing and waiting for the Steelhead Run.

I went down and got one brown trout right below the dam on a black leech.

This is looking over the coffer dam at Tippy Dam. Most were floating wax worms under a bobber.

This is a new friend, Dan. He is from Waterford, MI and this was his first time steelhead fishing. He was using his 6 weight rod with a fly.

Part of fishing is getting your gear in order. We kept going further down stream to get away from the crowds.

After a morning on the Manistee, we hiked over to Bear Creek. It was a hike in but nice to have it to ourselves. The water was pretty dark and no fish . One guy has a cabin in Onekema so we will probably fish again this spring.

I had the river almost to myself this mid-afternoon. A nice hen hit my rubber leg nymph. It was nice to have a steelie on and land it.

Now I can relax and just fish. The first steelhead of the season is especially nice. My brother and the outlaws are coming up on Wednesday so I can at least tell them there are fish in the river. The big questions- Will Mikey-Pikey get a steelhead? Will Jim just catch huge walleyes? Will Chris find us on the river? Will Gary sleep in the pole barn in the Scamp? Stay tuned!

Can you identify this dude in the woods? Questions, questions...........

Spring Break - LA and TX bound!

2011-03-23T14:22:00.001-04:00

I pulled the Scamp out early and stored it in a storage building for a month because I was worried it would get snowed in out in my pole barn. Good decision as snow and cold temps preceded my trip.

I took the car and trailer through a car wash to start the trip clean. One mile after starting the Scamp looked like this.

I washed the car and trailer three times in three days. I wasn't taking "no junk" down South. I headed towards Chicago and then I-57 to I-55 and across I-10 to Lafayette, LA. I crossed the Mississippi River three times. Maybe I better play three when I hit a casino!

* Remember you can click on any picture you want to enlarge!

The first day, I drove from 11:00 am until 9:45 pm. I only made 507 miles and I stopped at Walmart to buy some supplies. Have you heard of Boondocking? Well, the store manager allows overnight RV parking. So I was "Wallydocking".

I bought $40 of supplies and pulled the trailer over to the far side with another trailer. I was up and out by 6:00 am. After I crossed into Mississippi, Molly and Joey called and said to keep driving and try to make it because a bad storm was heading across LA. I drove 14 hours and made 827 miles, arriving in Lafayette at the end of my second day. Pulling the trailer, I tried to keep my speed around 60 mph.

Molly had a work day so Joey and I went to get scaffolding to paint his apartments. We got some paint and drove over and set up the scaffold. The painter would start the next day. Then it was off to lunch.

This plate lunch had blackened catfish with crawfish etouffee, sweet potato, and roll. This more than I eat for supper!

We took Molly out for a smoothie supper! I didn't know smoothies were for supper!

Molly and Joey moved into to this condo 2 years ago. Molly is quiting her job on April 15 to travel for a year. They are planning to be in Europe in May.

Wait, first we had smoothies and then for dessert we had frozen yogurt! It is hard to remember what we ate but I remember the frozen yogurt shop.

They had about 10 different machines featuring many flavors that you self-served. You could add any topping and then you paid by weight.......... not your weight, the weight of the cup of yogurt.

Joey and I drove over to get homemade, fresh Boudin. It is warm and spicy!

This is not what you think! It is sausage!!!! You can get it in LA and TX!

The next day we drove to Crowley, the Rice Capital of the USA. Joey was invited to the local elementary school to do 5 or 6 readings.

Joey was a big hit with the kids. They enjoyed having someone new read to them. When Joey asked if they had any questions, one kid said "I have a dog!"

We were thirsty and just had to hit a LA tradition A drive-thru Daiquiri shop.

What an idea! You can't be drunk and drive but you can drive and drink a Daiquiri!

There was one more thing I wanted to have before I left for Texas. I wanted to eat something that crawled around in the mud! Every rice farmer flooded his field after the rice harvest and low and behold....crawfish!

This is a 40# sack of crawfish that costs about $2.50 / #.

We got the boiler going as I washed the crawfish in a tub.

This is to purge the crawfish clean before their steam bath.

Slap Your Mama is the boil seasoning that Joey uses.

Everyone loves a crawfish boil! I wanted to eat all of them but we had left-over crawfish for two more days!

Off to Texas to fish. I stopped at Goose Island State Park and set up in a tent site. All the RV sites by the water were taken. They have a free fishing pier that I tried.

www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/goose_island/

Not much luck! I talked to the other fisherman and they all seemed to be from "Up North". "You should have been here last week or yesterday". Two days here and then on the road.

Next it was off to Matagorda Nature Center. It is hard to drive along the Gulf Coast in Texas. I had to drive for 3-4 hours just to go up the coast a few miles. No roads go right along the coast.

www.wildtexas.com/...parks/matagorda-island-wildlife-management-area

Everywhere I park, I find big RVs right next to me. This is a very nice park. The beach is nice and they have two fishing piers.

I only caught a few whiting but I enjoyed trying. You can see my Scamp in the background. I used shrimp for bait. If you don't catch anything, you can eat the bait!

Speaking of eating, this is my favorite store in Texas - HEB! Lots of neat stuff!

www.heb.com/

Back to fishing from this pier. They had two large green lights that you could turn on a timer at night to lure in the fish. I tried it. It didn't work for me! I think live shrimp would be better bait but I couldn't find any bait stores close to where I camped.

Speaking of eating, I almost forgot this. The Kolache Factory had great fruit and breakfast rolls.

www.kolachefactory.com/menus/

These were right next to the Marble Slab Creamery. Ah, the memories.........

www.marbleslab.com/

Then it was off to Galveston Bay. I tried to get into Galveston Bay State Park but it was full.

www.galveston.com/

I pulled the Scamp right on the beach. You could drive along certain sections but you couldn't camp there.

I flew my kite in Lafayette but should have pulled it out for the beach. The water was dirty out 300-400 yards! The recent storm had it roiled up.

Had a great seafood chowder for lunch and got caught in the rain. After a mad race to the trailer resulted in getting soaking wet, I hopped into the Scamp and took off my wet clothes. I hopped in bed and read for 45 minutes while the rain pounded on the roof of the trailer. It was cozy and I thought about staying the rest of the day but it was only 1:30 pm!

Time to leave Texas and head for Toledo Bend and Kenny's camp. Kenny is Joey's brother and he loves to fish. It was a long trip over because I followed the GPS which insisted on taking me North instead of East. I did drive some back roads across Texas towards LA. I started to worry about having car trouble or trailer problems but it went slow and steady until I saw the signs for the state park. I knew Kenny's was just around the corner. I planned on arriving about 4:30 but it was closer to 6:00 pm so we didn't fish.

www.toledo-bend.net/

This is the view towards the lake. The water level is down 8 feet and Kenny had to launch at the state park ramp. Out front you can see the stumps. I wanted to fish right there but that would wait until the next day. I parked the Scamp and unhooked my Explorer.

This is Kenny's 19" bass boat with a 175 hp Mercury motor. He has a new bow mounted trolling motor to position us just right for fishing. It is a sweet rig for the big lake. We drove over 10 miles down lake to fish and the boat just flies along.

This is my Toledo Bend Bass Fishing guide, Kenny! A couple of 4 # bass.

Now it is time to fish. We head out by 8:30 am for the day. Kenny's truck doesn't start. It has two batteries but one seems low. I jumpstart it with my car and follow Kenny to the launch. For the next three days this is the plan.

It is jump it at home and jump it when we return to the launch. Not too bad now but in two days the Texas Oilman Bass Tournament starts with 500 boats! Hope we can get in and out without too much problems.

www.toledo-bend.com/lconline/02articles/Sr06-5.ht

The low water level had all the tree stumps showing. There were white plastic pipes marking the deep channel for the boats. It was like a highway lane with intersections that you had to follow to keep away from the stumps.

Kenny used a Carolina rigged lizard or an orange Rattle Trap to catch the bass up near the bank. I threw a jig and twister tail. Kenny caught more bass!

We would fish for bass and then move up into the stumps and try for crappie and/or bass. I started getting crappie on a white tube jig under a bobber. These were 1 1/2# crappie! We got 2 keeper bass and 8 throw-back bass and 8 huge crappie the first day.

The live well of the boat was filling up! Soon it was to become ..LOADED!

We fished until 6:30 pm and then came back to camp. The trailer on Kenny's property is old but he has started putting in new wood flooring and wallboard. The place is very comfortable.

After we got back,I started to cook dinner. What shall we have?

Two T-Bone steaks with steamed vegetables. I marinated the steaks in Italian dressing and some Tony Chachere's seasoning sprinkled on top.

The next day we fished 8:30 am until 7:30 pm. We packed sandwiches , bananas, and water.

We got one keeper bass and 22 large crappie! ( "sac-a-lait" in Cajun). We flied them up and packed them for the freezer.

We had shrimp etouffee using Grandma Webb's recipe for crawfish etouffee.

You brown green pepper and onion in butter and add a can of Cream of Mushroom soup. Then you add some Tony Chachere's on top. Yummy!

Next day we were out again but a cold front was moving in. We fished the shoreline and Kenny lost a huge bass after a big jump. The crappie went on the stealth mode and we had to work them to get 9 big ones. I lost about three or four rigs and was down to my last jig and tube. We got 4 bass and 9 crappie the last day. I had paid $10/day for a fishing license to fish here and wanted to stay but it was time to head back up north.

I'll never forget my fishing trip with Kenny. I learned some bass tricks from Kenny and I showed him my crappie tricks.

The sun was setting as we prepared to trailer the boat for the last time. Kenny said he was coming back next week to fish again. I sure wish I could be there with him.

This was our last day's catch. Not as many as the day before but a fun day on the Toledo Bend.

The next morning we cleaned up camp and packed for the trip. I jump started the truck and we parted ways. I headed north towards I-20 and Kenny headed south towards I-10.

I made it to Missouri the first night and stayed at a rest area. I hit I-55 north and then I-57 towards Chicago. As I entered Michigan it started to rain,. Little did I know what weather awaited me.

Here I m am safe and sound back home. It was a 3 week, 3762 mile trip and without any car or trailer problems. The snow was melting and almost gone. I made a path back to my pole barn and put the Scamp away for a while.

This is three days after my return to Wellston. We got 10"of snow overnight. I got the snowblower out and cleaned out the driveway. In the afternoon we had a white-out! This is my front yard and driveway. I shoulda stayed in Louisiana! Where is that darn Phil? I'm gonna ring his neck if he sees his shadow next year!

First Day in 2011 on the River

2011-02-18T16:52:00.000-05:00

It was so nice and sunny out that I decided NOT to go ice fishing. This looked like a great day to go down to the Manistee River at Tippy Dam to see what was happening.

I noticed about 6 cars there so at least I won't be alone. I put on ice cleats on my waders to walk down Cardiac Hill.

I purchased these stabilizers for a striper fishing trip off the end of Long Island years ago and now use them in the winter on my waders. My new waders do not have felt soles and the rubber soles are slippery in the winter.

I grabbed my fishing rod and started down the dreaded steps of Cardiac hill. Almost to the bottom, I took this shot of the stairs covered with ice and snow.

The sun was out but the wind always whips down the river valley. Today was no exception.

I always love this shot of the river just below the coffer dam. I could see a couple of guys fishing with bobbers near the dam and so I just waded down 30-40 yards and got my fishing pole ready. I decided to use a 3-way swivel with a dropper line for weight. I put 3 or 4 shot inside a piece of nylon cord casing and melt the edges. Then I use a snap swivel through the top lip and tie it onto the dropper line of 8-10 inches. That is on one of the 3-way rings. The main line is tied to another ring and the last ring has about 3-4 ft. of fishing line. I tie in my fly or hook to the end and I have my drift rig ready.

I toss out the rig and can feel it bounce along the bottom. At the end of the swing, I reel in and toss it out again. On my 4th swing, I felt the tap-tap-tap of a bite. I lifted the rod tip and was into a fish. I knew it wasn't a steelhead but it was fighting nicely.

A 14" brown trout was on and the first river fish of 2011 was about to be landed.

The weather was nice and the sun was out and a fish was on my line. A great day "Up North".

I moved and kept swinging my rig down the river. In 15 more minutes, I had another one on.

This was my view upstream towards Tippy Dam on the South side. A boat came up river and parked right in the middle of the river. I didn't care, I was fighting my fish.

Today, I was using some wax worms left over from ice fishing. Some of the guys were using wax worms under a bobber. One guy had a fly on a rig like mine.

David just landed this small male steelhead. It was a fresh, strong fish. Haven't seen any females yet but the males are getting active.

There were 4 boats out today. It is a little chilly to be in a boat. This one had 5 guys in it. Maybe a little over-loaded. You can just see the boat on the right by the launch.

Ok, one last fish shot and I am out of here. Looking over at the stairs to Cardiac Hill, I started thinking about those dreaded 250 steps to the top. Slow and easy, slow and easy. After I made it back to the car, I thought, "Maybe tomorrow I'll do it again".

Climbing Mt. Baldy in a Storm!

2011-02-03T16:24:00.000-05:00

My brother, Gary, called and suggested a climb of Mt. Baldy. Sounds great, when? After we confirmed the date, we started preparing to snowshoe up Mt. Baldy. I did discover that Mt. Baldy was a large sand dune that was 126 feet above Lake Michigan in the Arcadia Dunes area.

Thursday morning the temperature was in the teens and the sun was out. How bad could that be?

I left home a little after 9:00 am to meet Gary by 10:00 am. I stopped for air in the tires and to get gas for the car. As I headed across to M-22 from M-31, the weather and sun were still cooperating. Pulling into the parking lot, I saw Gary and his car.

* Remember to click on any picture to enlarge it!

As I see Gary get ready, I notice several things. One, Gary has goggles on. He didn't say anything to me and didn't wear them on the Cross Country Ski trip. Two, Gary has gaiters on. I don't. Three, Gary has face protection. That is ok. Fourth, he doesn't have water or snacks on his body. I do. I learned from the last trip. This is to be a short snowshoe trip up to the top.

I have a drink and two bars in my fanny pack. I notice the wind is stronger here because we are close to Lake Michigan, so up goes the hood. I have a fleece jacket on under the nylon shell this time.

I know there are two trails up to the top of Mt. Baldy. One is about one mile and the other is about 2 miles. Which one do we take, Gary? We had the big storm two days ago so there isn't much of a trail and the snow is deep. This is the pretty woods trail.

I thought this tree was very interesting. The pink blaze stands for something but I don't know what it is.

*Hold it Stauffer, your title says "Climbing Mt Baldy in a Storm"! What's with that?

Patience, Grasshopper, the truth will be revealed!

The sun is shining and the weather is nice. The woods are a lovely place to snowshoe. In the distance you can just make out some hills. I wonder where the trail is taking us?

I take pictures and Gary gets ahead. He is a good brother and blazes the trail.....but he is going towards a small hill

It gets a little steeper right here. Remember, Gary, we are on snowshoes!

Click on the picture if you want to see what is on the sign. The little green pictureat the bottom of the sign is a map of where we are. Good to know when you are hiking. But we can just follow our tracks back.

Gee, I can see Lake Michigan. I also notice that the wind has picked up considerably up near the the top of the dunes. The wind has blown over the trail and we have to guess our way forward. ....not a good sign, is it?

There is a reason my back is towards the lake. The wind has really picked up now. We estimate between 35-40 mph! Our tracks are already covered over.

The trail stops here. It is too thick and steep to go any further. We are only a mile from the parking lot but it seems further away. OK, I guess we head back to find the lake view.

This is looking back the way we came in. The wind has already covered our tracks. Now I know why my brother brought goggles. The sand is on top of the snow as you can see. It is blowing hard. Have you watched the hike up to base camp on Mt. Everest? If you look ahead of Gary, you will see small ridges that are steep on each side. You are to walk on top of the ridges to get over to see the lake.

The wind is bad here and we are trying to find a spot for a picture. I can taste sand in my mouth and in my eyes.

This is as good of a picture as I could take. I had my head turned against the wind and just snapped the shot. The wind was throwing snow and sand everywhere. It will be fun to return this spring and actually hike some more.

It has been an hour of fun but now we have to head back. Gary is leading the way down. The snow is deep and my hiking pole would slip down half of it's length down into the snow.

Gary, Gary.....you didn't even drink any liquid on the trip. He is either marking the territory or lightening the load!

Well, that was a fun trip. It was only about two hours long but it was fun to snowshoe in dunes. Check the Traverse City paper and you will find that Sleeping Bear and Arcadia Dunes both have snowshoeing trips on weekends. Any suggestions for our next trip?

* Gary called and said it was "gale force winds".

Into the Wilderness!

2011-01-29T15:30:00.004-05:00

Did you see the movie - "Into the Wild"? Well, this is sorta like that in just 3 days! Four rugged men head out into the Wilderness for a 3 day cross country ski trip. We will only take in what we can carry in on our backs ............................ and on the toboggan.

We arrive and drive to our trailhead. Here we park the car and start packing.

*Remember to click on any picture to enlarge it.

We decide we will have to make two trips. The cabin is 2 miles down the trail.

This is Nebo Trail Head. We were the first campers this week so the ranger takes a snowmobile and grooms the trail. That was nice but since he was going to the cabin he could take a load in. ...Ha, Ha...this is what we came for....hard work and a long trek into the wilderness.

Nebo Trail to Nebo Cabin - 2 miles.

This was prior to the grooming.

We are packed for the first trip in. That is 2 miles into the cabin, unload, then 2 miles back out to the parking lot, and 2 more miles back to the cabin. Then we can start skiing.

John is lightening the load for the first trip in.

Remember the toboggan goes under the gate. We can't wait. Into the Wilderness!

Here I am ready for the trip with my backpack. Phil is the Captain of the Lighthouse boat and FILA board member. You can see the snowmobile blazing the trail for us to the cabin. Having the groomed trail really helped the job of going in and out.

My brother, Gary, was ready. He did several, multiple miles practice runs before this trip to get in shape. I wish I had!

The woods had this nice trail to the cabin. Two sets of tracks, go in on the right and out on the left. It didn't matter, nobody was on the trail and the forest was quiet. Actually we did see one skier go by and then return but other than that, we had the whole place to ourselves.

Is this the cabin? What? No windows? No, that is the outhouse. It is close to the trail so the Rangers can come by and service it once a season or so. The cabin is up the hill behind the outhouse.

Home sweet home. Gary is getting the water pump primed so we can get set up. The cabins were built by the CCC way back in the 1930s?. The cabin is very tight and has a wood floor.

A nice wood stove and 5 beds( two bunk beds) along the far wall.

The table had two benches and two chairs. The mattresses were vinyl covered firm ones that could survive in the wilderness.

The front, left side of the cabin was for the kitchen stuff. No running water, no electric lights, no curtains, no sink, but all you need for a campout. I had a small candle lantern that I fixed above the kitchen area.

I had a single mantle gas lantern above the table but next time, I'll just bring the candle lantern as it worked so well.

This was one of two stacks of firewood outside the cabin. We moved wood up beside the door and some inside the cabin. Once we fired up the woodstove, it was plenty warm inside. We opened the windows a crack all the time we were there. It was so warm we let the fire burn out after going to bed. In the morning, Phil would shout out "Hey, firestarter....it's time!" Gary would jump out of the sleeping bag and presto..fire!...

This is the view from the picnic table in front of the cabin down the hill towards the outhouse.

This was the fast pit stop area. You did not linger here long. You did your business and got out! No reading on this John.

A problem arose when washing the meal dishes. We had a flat top on the stove so a pail of water was always there and hot. We would use bread or tea bags to clean out the majority of the leftovers and then wash the stuff inside the cabin. Then you would go outside and scoop some snow to rinse the dishes. One problem. There was lots of yellow snow around the front of the cabin so we carefully found fresh WHITE snow to rinse with.

Phil and Gary ready to ski. It was nice to ski in the quiet area. We saw animal tracks but didn't see any animals during the day. Later, will be another story.

You will note that Gary and I both had hydration pacs. Phil and John were more experienced outdoorsmans and they were minimalists. They traveled light.

We headed south of the cabin on Nebo Trail and then turned East on South Boundary Trail. Then we turned North on Swamp Line Road and crossed Big Sucker Creek and then Big Stone Creek. There we took the Red Pine Trail back towards Nebo Trail. You can see one of the wooden bridges we crossed on this trail.

Gary just crossed the bridge. Note that the wide former trail is now a small single file trail that was described as undulating. We found out what that meant!

Note the blue blaze on the tree. This is part of the North Country Trail that goes from New York , PA, Ohio, MI, Wisc, Minn, and North Dakota - will stretch over 4,000 miles. http://www.northcountrytrail.org/

John is also on the South Fox Island Lighthouse Assocation (http://www.southfox.org/) and his buddy, Terry was meeting us at the cabin around noon. This was to be a nice 6-7 mile morning ski. John and Phil were way ahead and would be right on time to meet Terry. Gary was ahead of me and I was skiing alone across this undulating trail.

Gary was waiting on the dam/bridge. Now I wasn't alone any more.

Gary took my picture and you can see the nice stream in the background.

Off we went towards the undulating part of the trail.

Gary got ahead again as I stopped to take pictures.

You can see the narrow trail through the Red Pine forest. It was a lovely trail, I thought, at this point.

This trail is going up! It is not too steep but I can see sets of herringbone tracks going up. That means that it is a little steep and you have to climb it. Whee, that was fun and on the other side and hill going down. Fun! I managed to get downhill and carried on . There were about 6 more of these, each a little steeper. I managed to make about three hills and fell near the bottom of the rest to avoid trees, turns or a pond. Cross country skis do not turn as easily as downhill.

I took a picture of this tree stump. The birds were busy here. It was getting tougher as I skied along. I was about 3 1/2 hours into this morning jaunt and knew I was behind the guys. Finally I reached the top of the last hill before Nebo Trail. I took my skis off and walked down. As tired as I was I didn't want to fall again. Being alone at this stage, because I was slower, I couldn't risk an injury. Besides, I knew they were having lunch. OK, on I go. It only takes about 20 minutes to get to the cabin.

Wow, it sure is nice to see the familar sight of the outhouse. That means home is near!

Terry was there at the cabin and lunch was on.

Phil had made homemade chili and cornbread. Plus we had that box of red wine to empty before we head out.

The guys were discussing the afternoon ski outing. We had just done a 6-7 mile loop but they wanted to do a big loop. I was tired and my hip and knee were sore so I opted out to read and relax. John and Phil decided to try the outermost boundary trail which would be about 12 miles or so. Gary and Terry said they would ski 1/3 of the way and then come back and ski to the parking lot to take Terry's car over to the most NW part of the park and then ski down to meet the guys around Sturgeon Cabin. That would save John and Phil from doing 6 more miles. They took off at 2:30 pm.

Down the trail south towards the South Boundary Trail went John, Phil, Terry, and Gary. I read for 2 hours and brought in more firewood. Then I got dressed and started to ski down to meet Gary and Terry on their way back. It wasn't long before I met them. When we got back to the cabin, Gary said he was going to stay as his hip was bothering him. He had skied about 14 miles so far that day. Terry had vision in only one eye and was having catarack surgery in the morning. Terry had to ski 2 miles north and get his car and drive 4 miles west and park and ski down towards Sturgeon Cabin to meet the guys. It was about 4:30 pm by now.

Gary decided to ski up to Mt Nebo. He was gone about 1 hour and took this picture of what is left of the fire tower. It was getting dark as Gary arrived. We did a few more cabin chores, drank some wine, read and waited for the guys to return for dinner at 7:00 pm.

About 7:30 pm we started wondering where the guys were. It was very dark out, no moon light to travel by. Did the guys have a flashlight? 8:00 pm and no guys. Now we started wondering about what could have happened to them. By 9:00 pm we decided that either the guys had gone out with Terry to get a flashlight and have dinner in town or they went to Terry's house and would return in the morning. About 9:30 pm we went to bed and shut out the lights. Around 10:00 pm we heard some shouting outside. I lit the lanterns and in came John and Phil. They got to Sturgeon Cabin and saw only one set of ski tracks and knew Gary didn't come with Terry. They skied up to the parking lot on the NW end of the park and no cars. The guys did not have water and only two granola bars with them. They did not have lights. They had skied about 12 miles and were about 6 miles from the cabin and it was very dark. They were tired after skiing all morning and all afternoon and part of the night. Did I mention that there was no cell phone service? They said they could just barely make out the trail and started to falter as they came to the curve by the cabin. They thought they heard sounds and lights as they were near the end but wasn't sure. John saw a coyote.

Gary and I had made dinner about 8:30 pm and we gave them semi-warm spaghetti and fettuccine sauce. They were very de-hydrated. We were all so thankful that this had a happy ending. We talked for a bit and then it was "lights out".

Next morning we started packing up and cleaning the cabin. Oatmeal, raisins, nuts for breakfast.

We survived the wilderness. Oh, wait! We have to pack up the tobaggon and ski 2 miles out the cars, unload, ski 2 miles back to the cabin, load up and ski 2 miles back to the car. Off we go. The snow was wet and sticky on the way out. The last trip out the tracks were slightly frozen and the glide was perfect. We were moving right along on the last trip out. Maybe we should ski another loop? .......................

We packed up the cars.

We were already talking about our next outing. Phil and John are both captains and have sailing boats. They are always up for an adventure. What do you think? Where should we go? Want to join us next time?

Cross Country Skiing at Big M

2011-01-21T13:56:00.000-05:00

I need to get in shape. I know "round" is a shape! I mean I have to do some cardio work to get ready for my three day cross country ski trip to Wilderness State Park. I have been out for a few short outings but I have to do more.

Big M cross country ski trails are close to where I live and has semi-groomed trails. I decided to head over for a little workout.

Disregard the photo date, I finally updated it yesterday. I have my backpack ready and my skis and poles. I packed the pack with some heavy items so it would be like I am ready for my 3 day trip. I wanted to check out my clothing to see if I layered properly.

This is the trailhead for the Big M area in Udell Hills. If you go be sure to get a trail map. After a few crossings, it is very easy to get turned around on the trails. Below the board is a pipe for donations, $8 is the suggested donation. This covers the grooming and upkeep. In the summer, this is a great mouintain bike area.

Here is the topo map of the ski area. At most corners, there is a post with map telling you where you are. One post had a parking sign but no arrow, leaving you to decide which direction to head. I ski here alone, which is not a good idea. I always can re-trace my path if I have to but know the area a little. OK, I have had to re-trace my path once and got lost once, and still managed to find a corner with a mappost. Don't do as I do, be safe. I did have my backpack and sleeping bag, food & water, so what's a little adventure if you don't have a little scare every once in a while to keep you alert!

This is the view as you travel. You have two narrow paths to follow if they groomed the trails. You want to stay in the path and "Do not walk on the trail path". So you end up looking down at the trail. But you want to see the winter sites/sights, so you have to "look around" also as you coordinate your skis and poles. I use to really race on the skis and kick up the back ski, but now I want to enjoy the trail and look for animal tracks. Last time out, I saw where a group of deer bedded down overnight and looked for acorns. I followed the tracks of a squirrel to where he made shelter under a log that had fallen down.

The snow can get deep, especially if you try to boondock across an area or if there are no groomed trails. I sometimes ski a golf course in the winter.

Notice the blue/tan gaiters that I wear. They keep your leg warm and snow off your socks. Cross country ski boots are only ankle high so in deep snow you could get you socks (feet) wet. Gaiters are nice if you are going to be out for a while.

Speaking of clothing, it is vital that you layer your clothing, top to bottom. I have silk or polypro long sleeve/leg underwear and some different weight underwear over that. Then I have my lightweight outer pants and a fleece top and lightweight wind breaker. I found that I did not want my medium weight winter jacket....it was too warm. You need less than you wear for downhill skiing. Cross country skiing is a workout and you will sweat if you don't layer properly. Many times people end up tying their jacket around their waist. If you sweat in the snow, you are going to get wet and cold fast. When you start, you are cold but your body warms up fast and soon you are opening your jacket to release some body heat.

Why didn't I get a picture of the snowcat that grooms the trail? This is what the trail looks like in the woods. You can see the outside tracks of the snowcat and the two ski grooves for skiing. This is nice and makes it easy to travel around the wooded area. You can burn more energy if you bushwhack your way somewhere, but here you stay on the trails.

There are hills in this area and you are skiing around and between them. Sometimes you see a trail break off from the main trail at the top of a hill. This is an easier way, if you want to avoid the gentle hills. I like to downhill ski so I like to go downhill on cross country skis. It is different. Cross country skis are only attached to the toe of your ski boot so you can not turn as you do on downhill skiis. Basically you go straight down. There is usually a long run-off. You learn to do a slight snowplow to turn or slow your skis down.

This is the view at the bottom of the hill. You can see the tops of the trees and clouds above your head as you lay wrecked in the snow at the bottom of the hill. After savoring the view until my head cleared, I got back up and kept going.

It is quiet in the woods. It was in the teens this day in middle January. Yes, I will change the camera date for next time. This is part of the lure of cross country skiing. Going into the places in winter and observing what is around you. Many places will rent skis for a day or weekend. Try it! You can even just walk on the skis and take your time. At least you will be outside and observing Winter.

First Night Time Fishing Trip

2011-01-11T00:16:00.000-05:00

Ok, I had to go to Traverse City for a board meeting and I decided I would be done about 6:30 pm. Sure enough, right on time, meeting over!

Now to hurry to my favorite night time fishing spot. I hope I packed everything. After stopping for a quick fast-food dinner, 45 minutes later I arrived at the parking spot,. There were 6 cars and I could see lights out on the frozen lake. I unpacked all my gear into the portable, one-man ice shanty and started down to the lake. Gee, the rest of the shanties were only out about 20-30 yards from shore. The snow on top of the ice made it a little soft and it did firm up as I walked out. It was dark and I started my lantern. Next I started to fire up my gas ice auger. Somebody shouted at me "the ice is only 2 1/2" thick , use my hand auger". Great, I borrowed their auger and zipped right through the two holes. It had 5" of water on top. As I was setting up, I knocked over the Coleman single mantle gas lantern. It almost started a fire and then went out. It wouldn't run. Darn, it is dark. I used my small flashlight to set the fish finder in the hole and lowered the night light 15 feet down the hole.

Next, I baited up one rod with two hooks and got out the wax worms. I pulled the top of the shanty down.

I could just barely see my rod tip from the light off of the fish finder. I am going to try it.

Bang! A bite in just 3 minutes of fishing.

These little smelt were caught on wax worms. I started catching a couple when I put the bait down to where I could see the smelt on the fish finder. They were at about 25 feet in 30 foot of water. I would watch the bait descend and stop it right above the fish on the fish finder and bang.

It was really dark inside the shanty without my lantern. I fished for two hours and missed a lot of bites.

I saved a couple smelt to use on the tipup tomorrow and cleaned the rest. I will have to get a light before I go out for smelt again and I need more smelt to make a meal. I have a plan to re-wire a shop clamp-on light with a RV bulb to my 12V trolling battery. I'll let you know how that idea works next time.

Hard Water Fishing......................... better known as Ice Fishing

2010-12-22T21:20:00.000-05:00

I have been playing with my fishing gear and getting ready for "hard water". I went out a few times to get everything in order. I made a list and started to re-organize everything that I will need to go ice fishing.

I thought I would drive down to Hamlin Lake, which is just north of Ludington. I didn't know where to go so I headed for the first launch site. Two cars and someone on the ice, so I thought "This must be the place".

I headed out and walked half way out and drilled a hole. I used my fishfinder to check the depth. Two feet!

Out a ways more, two feet! After getting almost across the lake and still finding two feet of water I decided to head towards Bugg Point. The parking lot was full of cars and there was a village out on the ice. I found a spot and found 14 feet of water so I fished.

I drilled three holes with my ice auger. The red strainer is to remove the slush ice from the hole. I will put my Vexilar fishfinder in the top hole and my two fishing poles in the bottom holes.

I have the top of my portable ice shanty pulled over and it really cuts the wind. I can even take my gloves off. I guess I forgot to mention clothes for ice fishing. Well, you can layer and wear insulated pants and jacket. Then you want a good warm hat and mittens. My boots are Sorel ice pacs and they really do a great job of keeping my toes warm.

You can click on any picture to enlarge it. I am trying to show my jig and hook setup. I have a wax worm on the hook above the jig and a wax worm on the small hook below the jig. The picture isn't the greatest.

On the end on my fishing pole is a spring bobber that is very sensitive to fish bites. The pole is only about 30" long so it fits inside the shanty.

The bobber jiggles and I set the hook. Out comes a 4" perch that could hardly get the hook in his mouth.

A couple more small perch and I am ready to leave. This was just an exploring trip. I found the area but want to fish in deeper water next time.

Another day, I decide to try some new lakes that I haven't fished before. I see that it will be a little tricky getting into this fishing spot. I am going to try a new place. Blacksmith Bayou! It is not plowed but has a two track headed in and down to the fishing area. I hope I don't meet a car coming out. There is only one car here and I head out on the ice. I will have to use 4 wheel drive to get out of here.

The ice is about 4" thick but the depth is only 3 feet. The other guy out is down in the back bay. It is probably deeper there but I don't want to crowd him. I only take the yellow pail and carry my gear as the portable shanty is too big to take down the stairs to the Bayou. I get a bite. Now that feels like a better fish. I haul in a large rock bass. I let him go and fish for another 45 minutes without a bite. Time to move on.

Next I try a small lake near my home. The ice wasn't good three days ago but I see two guys out on the ice so I stop.

Ia m back in the water. You can see the spring bobbers if you click on this picture.

I finally start getting some bites in 24 feet of water.

Now that is more like it. A couple of bluegills. I hope I can find some more.

I forgot a couple pieces of gear. I always carry a hemostat, a whistle, and nail clippers.

The last piece of safety gear are the ice picks I wear around my neck. They are used to pull yourself up on the ice if you fall through. I also have a long rope to be used to help in case of an emergency.

Well, back to fishing. i kept the baits right next to bottom. I can see my bait on the Vexilar screen as I lower it down to wards the bottom.. Fish show up on the screen and i just try to present my bait just above the fish. If I am lucky, I can see the fish rise up towards the bait.

It looks like snow clouds are coming in so I better pack it up for today. How did I do? Just take a peak on the cleaning board.

I brought home six medium bluegills. It is just enough for a meal for me! Are they tasty? You bet! I hope to be fishing more each day after Christmas. Any questions? Want to go out ice fishing, leave me a message, I might not be home and I might be out...............fishing.

Winter Sports

2010-12-10T17:35:00.001-05:00

What to do in Winter "Up North?" It does get a little slow when the ice and snow comes and stays. I did fish a few days but the snow has slowed me down. I started checking the newspaper for things to do. Boys and girls basketball is starting.

I went to the Brethren girls BB game last week and enjoyed it. This week, Brethren boys were playing Manistee Catholic Central.

The Brethren Bobcats Junior Varsity fought a tough battle but didn't win.

Number 4, Gary Lodin, has a brother, Eddie Lodin, on the varsity.

The game was close but the Bobcats couldn't catch up. The final score was Bobcats 38 and the Sabers 47.

The pep band was comprised of students from both schools. I thought that was a nice idea.

The Brethren Bobcats had only 6 members suited up for the game. One boy had torn his ACL, and 3-4 boys didn't make their grades so it was going to be a long night for the Bobcats.

You can see all 6 Bobcats in the white uniforms. Everyone would play in rotation in this game.

The local newspaper had printed a release that the boys team wanted people to bring in mittens, hats, scarfs, and jackets for youth in the area. It stated that when the hometown Bobcats scored their first field goal, the crowd would throw the winter items onto the court.

The team was ready. Roddy MacNeil, the local bagpiper and baseball star, hits a nice practice shot.

The game was ready to begin.

The boys get ready for the National Anthem.

The cheerleaders were ready also.

The tip off was ready and the game will start. It was nice to see the cheerleaders actually cheering for the team. At some schools, cheerleading is just a sport and they don't cheer a games. I like the old idea better.

Manistee scored first and finally Brethren hit their first field goal and suddendly winter clothing was in the air and on the floor. No technical foul, just a great community project the boys BB team got together. Everyone helped to round up the winter wear.

It was nice to even see the local mascot helping out!

Manistee got ahead by over 12 points but the Bobcats kept fighting back. Manistee had 10 players and they could keep fresh players in the game. Manistee had Nick Doyle, a great forward who could really jump and score.

The Bobcats were getting tired. JR Theodore, the tall, lanky center, hit some threes and several baskets to keep the game close.

Somehow, the score was tied at the end of the game and now it was a 4 minute overtime.

It was fun to watch a boys BB game where they still ran plays, not just 'run and gun'.

The overtime resulted in Manistee getting the lead right down to the last few seconds.

The Bobcats were getting tired and time was running out.

Four seconds to go and the Bobcats down by 2 points. Guess we know what the plan will be as time resumes.

The ball goes in and the point guard, Eddie Lodin, big brother to the VJ point guard, throws up a 3 from the top of the key. Going, going, .................

The Brethren Bobcats win in overtime by one point, having never been ahead in the scoring. They only had 6 players, they organized a community clothing event, the cheerleaders were cheering and the small town supported their players. I love old fashion, small town basketball. I guess there is something to do on a cold winters night!

Random Late Fall Outings

2010-11-10T17:50:00.001-05:00

Sorry, I haven't posted much in the last month. Did I go fishing? Well, I am at 130 days so far this year. I guess I have slowed down, after all I am a retired old......!

The leaves were turning in October. This is a shot of the backwaters of Tippy Dam.

This is one of the first pike of the fall. We were planning on getting some fish in their fall feeding frenzy but haven't found the frenzy yet.

This is in front of Loomis Landing. This is why you have to take time out from fishing and notice the surroundings. The wind didn't kick up until after 10:00 am.

What a thrill to have the pike up close to the boat and think he is ready to land. Not yet, says Mr. Pikey!

The rubber landing net works well to land the fish and prevent hooks tangling in the net.

Now, we have switched down to the Manistee River just below Tippy Dam. My brother, Gary, is into a salmon. It is late for salmon but a few are still hanging around. It was a little chilly but Gary was hot, hot, hot!

Yes, the spinner is in the jaws so it was a fair caught salmon. I explained to Gary that this fish is in it's final spawning run and you just did "coitus interruptus" for this fish. Gary released the fish to fulfill it's destiny.

This is the morning of November 5th. Winter's first reminder of things to come. It didn't last long but it was the first snow of the year. Time to check the snow blower!

What do we do when it snows up north, we go fishing! This is Guy fishing in the snow. It was a little cold but we could still see a few fish.

The first brown trout of the fall. They are only about 14" but they are fat. They feast on the salmon eggs and get fat little bellys.

This was a nice 16" brown. I was using my 6 weight rod and he gave me a nice battle. I see that he hit the white streamer pattern.

The weather cleared and the fall weather was back. So let's go fishing.....

It is back to the backwaters again. We are bound and determined to find this fall feeding frenzy. Maybe today.....

First we try trolling some Walleye divers. Maybe a walleye, maybe a pike.

If you click on the picture, it will enlarge it. Notice the tall tree stump and fish? I managed to hit four of these deadheads and lost 4 Cabelas Walleye Divers! Lucky I bought the 6 pack! I am going to PA for Thanksgiving so I'll stop at Cabelas on the way. It always makes my trip 2 hours longer to PA!!!

Yup, we have been fishing every day and hope to make 6-7 days in a row. Back at the Manistee, Guy has a salmon hooked to his spoon. How did that happen? I think Guy went 1 landed for 4 on the hook! They are still strong and give a good fight. All salmon caught on this blog entry were released to live again in their natural environment. No fish was seriously injured to make this blog!

The next day we were back on the Manistee. No pictures. Why, you might ask? I left the memory card in the computer on the last download and had my camera on the stream but no memory card! Duh!!

This is Nov. 10 and we decided to try Portage Lake one last time. Maybe a feeding frenzy here??? Guy has on his thermal underware, two jackets and is fishing hard. I didn't dress so warm and can feel the 12-15 mile an hour wind from the east.

There aren't any other boats out on the lake today. I wonder why? They might miss the feeding frenzy!

The east wind is picking up a little. No fish yet. When does this feeding frenzy start? The fish better make up their minds pretty soon or they are going hungry this winter when the water freezes over. Luckily we have the whole lake to our selves. Why aren't other fisherman out?

Well, that is that! We did make it back to the dock as the waves stared kicking up. Not one bite! It still was a good outing. It sure beats staying at home, or working, or sleeping, or cleaning, or cooking, or...........

Meanwhile, I slipped to the basement on my return to check on my ice fishing gear. Yup, it is ready! I still plan to fish tomorrow in the river. Those fish might be in a feeding frenzy.....................

MRT - Fall Colors!

2010-10-10T15:54:00.001-04:00

MRT - Manistee River Trail is one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done. I first hiked the MRT in the fall of 07 and fell in love with the views of the Manistee River and the vivid colors in the fall.

The MRT is between Hodenpyl Dam and Red Bridge. The 18" wide trail is on the east bank of the Manistee River and follows above the river for 10 1/2 miles. The MRT crosses several streams with wooden bridges and you can see several small waterfalls from the spring fed streams. The trail is well marked with blue diamond trail markers.

After two friends cancelled out on the Saturday hike, I recruited two students from my Manistee Glass Bead class. One wanted to bring her dog, which worked out fine.

I drove several two tracks before the hike to find a spot halfway down the trail to park one of the vehicles for a shorter day hike but decided to do a down and back hike to save the newer cars from going down a small dirt trail.

My student and her dog, Cindy, at the start of the hike.

Cindy did turn around for a better photo but she didn't like to cross the suspension bridge. Maria dug out her hiking shoes for the 4 hour hike. We decided that with the Michigan - Michigan State game on at 3:30, we would just do about half of the hike today.

The trail is above the river and we saw lots of people on the trail and floating down the river. The great weather had someone camping in every other spot along the river. There are about 10 camping sites on the east side of the the river. Most are on bluffs above the river and some are down near the water. About 1/2 of the hikers had camping gear and 1/2 of the kayaks/canoes were going to camp also. The weather was in the high 60's.

The fall colors were about 95% out! What a great day for a hike.

The great weather brought out lots of people on the river. I have never seen the parking lots so full! It was nice to hike along the river and see people hiking up and down the trail. We saw younger people with backpacks, single hikers, and whole families out for a hike. How many more beautiful day do we get this fall? I don't know but I intend to get out every day I can.

You can see how high we are above the river. It makes for great views of the site and sights! Cindy, the dog, was on one of those retractable leashes of about 15 feet. She did a nice job of leading us up the trail and not getting tangled around the trees.

Remember to click on any picture that you want to blow up to a larger picture. The trail was well-maintained and had nice wooden walkways over the small streams. Most of the trail was level but there were a few switchbacks up and down some hills.

The leaves were mostly yellow on the east side of the river and we could see red and orange leaves on the west side.

This young man and his dog hiked in3 miles and set up camp for the weekend. He was reading against the tree with his dog watching the hiking traffic. A nice spot with a great river view.

I love being in the woods and hiking along through it. Being in the woods right beside the river is even better.

As we were leaving, I noticed that the woods beside the road had some great color also. Everyone was a little tired from the 4 1/2 hour hike but we all vowed that we would return and do the whole 10 1/2 miles hike next time.

As we drove by the lower end of the trail, we stopped at Red Bridge and saw an over-flowing parking lot.

Ah, one last look at the river and the foliage in prime colors. Just one more reason that I am happy to live "up north".

Fall Fishing

2010-10-01T17:18:00.000-04:00

Fall is a great time to go fishing. Actually any time is a great time to go fishing. I decided to just post a few pictures of fall fishing.

This a shot of Little Bay de Noc, near Gladstone, in the UP. We fished here for 4 days and the weather and waves were a little nasty.

Chris got a nice pike and the only two walleyes of the trip.

Yes, we know how to take fish photos!

Here is one heck of a sucker.

Yes, the fall perch were biting also. We only caught about 6 perch and only 4 were keepers.

This Chris's boat. It did well on the big bay but the wind and waves were heavy most of the time. The front that came through really slowed down the fishing.

This is Jim's boat. Jim, Gary, and Mikey-Pikey fished out of this boat. I don't have any pictures of their fish because they didn't catch very many. Gary caught a couple of perch but forgot to take them out of the boat to clean. Next day, the fish were dead and stiff. Little Bay do Noc was suppose to be a great walleye bay but the bad weather just put a damper on the fishing.

Here is the everyday scene after fishing. We had wet rainsuits to dry off to put back on and go back out again. We even got wet while wearing our rainsuits. Now that's some rain!!

After we got home, I took my boat to the backwaters of Tippy Dam.

It was a beautiful fall day, not rainy!

This smallmouth bass hit my minnow plug close to the bank. I got a pike on a nightcrawler that day also.

The next day I went back to the backwaters with Guy and managed to catch a few fish. I lost one large fish that ate my Rapala shadrap. I know I should be using a wire leader. I lost two other lures to snagged stumps in the water.

Speaking of snagged stumps. We call them 'deadheads". I recently put on a stainless steel prop protector on both of my fishing boats. Gravel bars, rocks, and deadheads can ruin your prop.

Below is a carpenter's toolbelt that goes around a 5 gallon bucket that I mounted inside my boat to organize things in the boat.

I really like that idea. It keeps things off the floor and I can see what tools for fishing I might need.

The next day we decided to hit Portage Lake. We put in at the DNR ramp on the West side of the lake and fished the bays. I was drifting a crawler harness and casting a Rapala plug. This pike hit my crawler. I later caught two perch, a rockbass, and and a smallmouth bass. I had a 4 species of fish day!

Now, where are those walleyes?