FISH REPORTS 2008

Link to FISH REPORT 2007 FISH REPORT 2006, FISH REPORT 2005, FISH REPORTS 2004, FISH REPORTS 2003, FISH REPORTS 2002

June 30 You can't catch yesterdays fish. We started fishing the same reef that we were on three days ago. The crew consisted of Ed, Wendel, and Bruce so we had a seasoned crew. One pass over the three day GPS marks and we had three trout. Two more passes and we got one more and the reef seemed to be empty. We abandoned that plan and moved to bluer water. Nothing in the 110 stuff so we were moving out to deeper stuff. The next fish came in 130 feet. Then a triple in 150 feet with one of the hits on a dipsey. All were trout and we landed all three. Then a side rigger at 25 feet tripped and line started ripping off the reel, we lost that one without ever seeing the fish. A few more fish, a couple of tangles and we had our limit. Then we got two more while we were pulling lines and Ed had to cry as we threw them both back. The fish were full of the bugs that hatched a couple of weeks ago and must have sunk to the refrigerated bottom of the lake as they looked like they were preserved. The stomachs were just full of them. Glad to see that the trout have something to eat. Their stomachs have been pretty empty lately.

June 27 Calm and foggy today. Emil and Ed were the crew as we headed out and tried to find the channel in the fog. The radar was a big help and we found the channel entrance and made our way out into the big lake. We set up in 110 feet of water and started trolling. The first downrigger tripped in about a half and hour. It was a smaller trout but it was a "fish in the box". We hit a drop off and then we had a double. A few more circles in the area and we had our 9 trout. One more fish was caught and released as we were pulling lines. It was calm and foggy all morning and the fish were all near the bottom in 100 to 120 feet of water on the side of a steep drop off. It was a great day to be on the water.

June 23 Ed Jenison has 15 finns coming over this summer so we needed to set his boat up for fishing. Well we left the dock and got out on the lake. I set up my two lines and asked him where his rods were. "Well I got one, the other one is leaning against the wall of the sauna." He said. Where are your leaders? "I don't have any" How about stick baits? What is a stick bait. I knew we were in trouble. We set up and started trolling the shallows and it wasn't long and we had a fish on a ski line. Well we got it in about half way and it was gone. Then one on the rigger without a rod and that one just jerked itself free. Anyway, we lost the first four fish. Then we trolled for an hour or so and then went deep and then we found out that he only had 150 foot wires on his downriggers. That limited us to waters shallower than 120 feet and the last reports of deep trout were in 150 foot or deeper. We did manage to get a king and a trout in 100 feet of water so we did have a good day on the water. Ed needs some work on his fishing equipment before the relatives come over the pond. It will be fun when we get out this summer. I have always said, If you want to catch fish take a Finlander fishing with you.

June 20 What a day on the lake. Finally it was a calm day. Ed's boat the "Prime Time" was the boat of choice. In the boat was Ed, Bruce, Wendel and me. We set lines in 30 feet and headed into shore. Probably took and hour before the first ski was jerked back by a nice fish, of course we lost it. A few comments were made about Ed's equipment and then we settled down for more fishing. It wasn't long and a small splake came over the side. Then a lot fish and another small splake. We left that area looking for the mother load. We found more fish about a mile farther down the shore and a 6 pound brown was next. We ended up with 2 browns, 1 steelhead, a 13 pound lean trout, and 4 splake. Not bad for a bunch of old timers on the lake and the shakedown cruise for the Prime Time. On the way back into the break wall we watched a mature bald eagle trying to catch a seagull. He came close a number of times but the gull eventually out maneuvered him. A fine show for the end of a fine day on the lake.

June 19. Ed and I took the Namacush (red boat) out again. We fished the shallows again and found the trout in 15 feet. Some were in 6 foot of water. Our best luck was over rocks and near the drop offs. Stick baits off of ski's seemed to be producing as it was calm and sunny. Since we didn't plan the trip the day before we left the dock at the crack of 10:30 and fished till 1:00. Those fish just don't hit at noon as we quit with a triple on, one of which we landed and two were water released. Our box contained 3 splake when we returned to the dock.

June 15 Bruce's boat again and we won't give up on the shallows. Jim Nickolas, the Vet from Iron Mountain had a good evening the night before catching coho, kings, trout and splake from the shllows. We set up in 15 foot and caught the first fish as we crossed a 7 foot reef. A couple of turns later and we had 2 splake and lost three. We tried the 50 to 60 foot to see if they had moved out there but no luck. It looks like they are feeding on the small smelt along the shore and are staying shallow. The same floating stick baits are the best lures.

June 7 Calmer today as we headed out on the Roamer. Bruce is doing a checkout run on his boat as it had a bad gasket and the engine temperatures were running 180 degrees. After the hermostat repair the temperature was 160 degrees. We hit the shallows and had no hits. We then went out and ran 130 to 150 feet. The waves were running about 2 foot when we started and soon were running 3 foot or more. Waves were coming from the East, SE, and SW. After catching 3 trout we had enough and headed in. When we got back into Lac La Belle the wind really picked up and we fought white caps all the way back in. Won't the wind ever quit?

June 5. Ed and I headed out in the red boat. We fished the shallows in 10 to 15 feet of water using florescent red, chartruse, or black and silver jointed floating plugs. We run two on ski's and two on surface lines. The fish were shallow and we caught 2 and lost 4 in a couple of hours. Ed is getting a little better at getting the fish on the inside of the net and not caught on the outside of the net.

June 2. The wind layed down in the afternoon so I got amy friend Ed to help with launching the Namacush, my 16 footer. We got the boat in and decided to put in some channel markers in Lac La Belle. These markers are on the ends of the sand bars that extend out into Lac La Belle. We had fishing equipment on board so what was a fellow to do but go fishing. Then I realized that I forgot my planer boards, wallet, and fish cooler. It is fun to get old, right. Back to the dock and then back out to The Lake. Two more splake came over the back of the boat and then we hooked a large trout. we fought it right up to the back of the boat where it shook its head and broke 2 points of a trebel hook and said "good bye". Ohhh well, he will be ther next time.

June 1 Sunny and windy again. No jigging in the deep water this year. Back to the shallows with the same crew and we got three more splake and a king. Kings are running from 6 to 8 pounds this year. The water temperature is holding about 45 degrees so the fish are still hanging in the shallows. Bruce joined us and tried his fish call and it worked again. You can find his "secret" fish call on the home page of this web site.

May 31 Still windy with a strong off shore wind. We stuck to the shallows and ended up with 3 more splake. They are nice fish this year and have spread all along the shore of Keweenaw bay. Large stick baits in florescent orange or chartruse seem to be the best lures. Flutter spoons fish at 6 foot on the downriggers has also been producing some fish. It looks like the cloudy days are better in the shallows.

May 30 Wind switched to the west and blew the warm water off shore. Water temperature dropped from 50 degrees to 45 degrees. There were still some fish in the 20 to 30 foot water and we caught 2 trout, 2 splake, and 1 king in the morning and 2 splake after Whitefish Willy showed up in the afternoon. Another fun day on the big pond.

May 29 Joe, Ernie, and Dave came up to Fish Camp and we put the dock in and launched the Kala Moiakka. All the fishing equipment was loaded and we headed out to Lake Superior. As we went through the channel the waves were comming over the south wall, someone said "This is not good". The swells were about 3 footers when we rounded the pier. The slight east wind had also pushed in some warm water and there were big bug slicks on the surface so we set up and fished the bug slicks. In a little over two hours we caught 2 kings, 2 splake, and 5 lake trout. We could hardly keep the lines in the water. Large stick baits fished on the surface were the ticket.

May 12 Rowdy and I went to third lake. All we took was the fly rod this time and fished from the east end of the lake back to the boat launch. The fish were right by the boat launch, in thhe reeds, in about 12 inches of water. Fishing was good except that the dog kept stepping on my fly line as I was trying to cast. Probably caught about 20 or so but they were all put back. Need to get out for some trout or whitefish. Cabin fever is starting to set in.

May 8 I got the 12 footer ready for fishing and tried an evening fish for blue gills at our local lake. They were in about 6 inches of water right along the north shore line. I was using a bobber and wax worms and they liked it. I got enough for two good meals. They were cooked using Panko (a Japanese bread crumb) as a breading and they really turned out great.

May 2 and 3. Marge and I went up to camp and there was still snow on the ground. The neighbors had shoveled a path to the door for us and we were able to get into the camp without shoveling. We tried fishing the mouths of local rivers but they were high and cold. No suckers were in and we did not catch a whitefish or a splake. We did have one good hit on a smelt left on the bottom. It was way to cold and rainy for good fishing.