August 11, 2009

Here are more pictures

 

July 31, 2009

 

Hi All

 

Haven't wrote in a while so there are lots of things to fill you in on. It's going to be kind of a long winded report CAUTION...

 

It has been a busy summer. Trout fishing has been steady with all methods catching fish( nymphing , dries, mousing , and small streamers) . The fish have been catching a break this summer with all the showers and cooler than average temps. The P.M. stays pretty cool. It is the tail water rivers of a few different streams where there can be difficulties with warm water due to a hot summer. The Muskegon and Manistee rivers have some bubblers being placed down deep to circulate cooler water and oxygen to keep the tail waters cooler in the summer months. They are still running them but the water temps haven't gotten warm enough to really put them to the test and see if they are going to saving the lives of trout and insects in extreme heat or drought.

 

On the P.M. the TFM (Lampraside) treatment is complete. There are a lot of dead baby Lamprey and the larva in the system. They finished that this past week. They started on Saturday night in the headwaters of the Little South Branch and moved into the Middle Branch and the Baldwin on Sunday the 26 th..The good news is the fish are in better shape this season to deal with any stress the TFM may cause to them. The water was nice and cool because we just had a couple good thunder storms dumping fresh water into the system which also helped them get a good meal before the treatment. Talked to one of the workers for a while doing a water test at the M-37 launch. They were going to the Manistee River below Tippy Dam next this week and so on and so fourth. They have a lot of river that gets the treatment.. 

 

I have been doing quite a bit of fishing on Lake Michigan both in tournaments and for fun. Some big Kings out there this summer. For example, Captains Chucks board has official 28.2 lbs. and on the Ruby Thursday tournament Big Fish Winner at 27 lbs. (1 st.), 25.3 lbs. (2 nd) 23.8 lbs (3 rd.) all other places were 21.8 lbs -- 20.5 lbs. have heard of another 27 pounder since then. So get ready to be defeated by a few fish this fall in the river. We did ok in the tourney. We lost 5 "big fish" = ( smoking the reel and peeling off 50 yd's of line like nothing and when ever they wanted 15 lbs. + category fish)  on Saturday and another 3 big fish on Sunday which would have put us in the top 5 places easy. They just came unbuttoned way behind the boat only one 13 lb fish was lost at the net. That one fish would have placed us in 10 th. vs 28 th. place. Oh Well That's Fishing ! "That's how the big fish get big and that's how they stay big"!! We had them on but landing them is another story.

 

Did some Carp fishing "on the fly" in Traverse City on the bay with Pete Hodgman June 22. The pictures were lost so I will post one from the past years. Pete landed 4 for 4 and I went 2 for 4. Great fun Thanks Pete..

 

With all the early rains and cooler day/night temps the Kings should be running early this season. We will see. The big thing we need is extra rain starting around Mid-August thru all of September, keeps those fish running. I typically start scouting for King Salmon trips around August 13 th. Even if there isn't a ton of Salmon, the Pike usually keep a bend in the rod and there is some big Pike down stream...I have some great opening still left in August and we will do 1/2 day trips then too and some good dates left in September for trips. My open dates in September are 3,4,7,13,14,15,16,20,21,22 if any of those dates will work for your schedule please call and reserve them On Flies or Hard Hitting Spin Tackle, your choice. 

 

 

   

This is where the fishing report kinda ends and my summer trip begins....

 

My mother came up to the Lodge to run it for 2 weeks while we had a family vacation (Debi, Adam and I) June 26 th. -July 6 th. We did a long list of sites and activities. (1st.)We started at Cedar Point for a day of coasters and water park rides.(2nd.) From there we went to the East Coast on Cape Cod region (Chatham Mass.) for 3 days.. 2 of the days I had Captains Greg Wiesle and Kenny Eldredge take me out off Monomoy Point casting soft plastic Squid and flies tied as Squid we surfed them across the rips on the surface and those Striped Bass went CRAZY. For every fish I caught I would have 2 or 3 other miss it or come un-buttoned it was a BALL. I landed 10 with Kenny on the soft plastic with spin gear the first day out all ranged 10lbs to 20 lbs. On the second day with Greg around 20 fish to hand on the fly, most were 6lbs. to 10 lbs. on average with a 9 wt. rod. The largest fish was landed was "on the fly" at 23 lbs. around 40 ". We also went to (Provincetown, Mass) on the last day of our Cape Cod visit to one of the best 5 places in the world to Whale Watch. We went out on a Dolphin Fleet tour. We seen many Humpback Whales some so close to the boat you could have thrown a quarter in there blowhole and one we thought was going to rock the boat with it's back. We took lots of pictures and video of the Whales. That was the #1 reason for our visit to the Cape the fishing was second..  

 

(3rd.) Plymouth, Mass.) We went to see Plymouth Rock, Mayflower 2 and brush up on a little history with the whole Thanksgiving (Indian and Pilgrim first dinner)..

(4 th.) Boston, Mass.) We went to the Boston Aquarium to see Ocean Fish, Sharks, Snakes, Seals, Tortoise, Jellies, Frogs, and Lizards it poured rain that day and was a great place to spend a rainy day. Canceled Salem, Mass.) Salem Witch Hunt due to rain out.( 5 th.) Fall River, Mass.) Battleship Cove The worlds largest collection of historic navel ships. USS Massachusetts( Battleship),USS Lionfish( Sub), USS Joseph P. Kennedy( Destroyer), Hiddensee ( Communist Attack Ship), and PT 617 & 796( US high speed attack boats) boats along with a helicopter and a plane and TONS of war history. You can walk the entire boats, and sub above and below decks. USS Massachusetts is a Museum below deck. Really a one of a kind place to see..

 

Off to New York City, New York. What a city. We stayed at Holiday Inn in Downtown Chinatown and the building would rumble from the subway running underground below. Parked/stored the SUV and took a cab everywhere until our last day after driving in a cab for a while (taking notes). Then I took the SUV through down town for a drive with no disregard to sheet metal and plastic. One foot on the break and one on the gas. We did our tour of the Statue of Liberty, American Museum of Natural History, and Empire State Building. We saw a street show with guys break dancing, live Statue people, singers etc..Dinned in Little Italy in the evenings, seen some of Central Park. Crazy place almost no grass, trees, flowers. Just glass,concrete, steel, pavement etc....We felt sorry for dogs that live in the city..We will have to go back some day for a Broadway Show, Dinning, a ride on the subway and a Yankees Game. If we do we will just fly in forget the car it cost $65 a day to store your car and then pay for a cab to haul you around.

 

Then we drove home. Round trip.... a little over 2 thousand miles. We were tired of living out of a suite case ,doing laundry on the road , and eating out.