Thursday, September 26, 2002
Fished the bay with the same crew plus Ed from across the lake. We caught 3 salmon and 7 trout. Weather had cleared up and the salmon went back to the bottom of the bay. Moved out a little for the trout and found them 70 feet down in 80 feet of water. Pulled the boat and started to winterize it. This will be the last fish report for 2002. I will still be fishing but my late in the season fishing is a SECRET!!!!!!! See you next year.
Wednesday, September 25, 2002
Joe and Ernie came up to help me pull the boat. We fished on Wednesday in terrible conditions of wind and rain. We tried to go out for trout but it was too rough. Came back into the bay and found the salmon. We caught caught our limit of salmon and then had to throw a couple back. Our count was 13 salmon and one trout. Fish were running from 35 foot to 50 foot down and hitting on black and white spoons.
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
Fished the afternoon with Marge, Bob, Arve and Harriet. Got one salmon and missed a couple. Fished the next day with same crew plus Carrol and Vince. Rough and windy both days. We went out and got 2 trout and then had to retreat back to the bay as it was too rough to walk the deck. We got one more salmon in the bay on the way in.
Thursday, September 12, 2002
Sold the Kala Moiakka to John from the North Shore. Took the boat out for a test run and caught 6 salmon in the bay in a couple of hours. Salmon were from 30 feet to surface and hitting green spoons. Had coho, kings, and pinks.
Saturday, Aug 31, 2002
Fished labor day weekend with Joe, my brother in law, and we caught nine fish the first morning and eight the second morning. We were fishing the trout down 80 to 100 feet and the salmon and steel head down to 24 feet. Most salmon were right near the surface. They were mature coho running in the 3 to 5 pound size.
Monday, August 26, 2002
Ken, Nancy, and the two boys, Jacob and Joe, went out. We were going to head for Stannard Rock but the seas were too rough. We had to stay in Keweenaw Bay. Fishing was good with a number of trout caught suspended down 100 feet in 180 feet of water. We managed to get a couple of salmon too.
Sunday, August 25, 2002
Went to Stannard Rock with Dennis, Jim, Willie, Joe, Bob, and Tom, a crew from Iron Mountain area. We limited out on trout and then tried for some salmon in the bay on the way in. Was a real good trip with calm seas and lots of fish. Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3, Picture 4, Picture 5, Picture 6, Picture 7, Picture 8, Picture 9, Picture 10, Picture 11, Picture 12, Picture 13, Picture 14, Picture 15
Monday, August 19, 2002
Had a big blow on Saturday, The freighters tied up in the Bay. One of them recorded a 74 MPH wind gust. The wind turned over the lake making fishing hard. Fished with Dan, Mary, Joan, and Roger. Was fairly rough off Keweenaw point so moved into the bay. We ended up with 4 fish for the morning.
Thursday, August 8 through Sunday, August 11, 2002
Marge's family arrived for the weekend. We fished a number of times and we caught 27 fish total. Had a number of trips out on Keweenaw bay and caught fish on every trip. Most were larger trout from 5 to 12 pounds. The salmon are getting up to near 4 pounds now. They are really red inside now as they are feeding on fresh water shrimp. Trout are suspended at 100 feet or we are getting some down 20 feet or on dipsey's. Salmon are right ont he surface or down 10 feet. Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3, Picture 4.
Monday, August 5, 2002
Marge and I went to Isle Royale with Jim and Pam Ciesliga. He is a charter captain on Lake St. Clair. Trip over was around 3 hours as we hit some 4 footers about 3/4 of the way across. Was tooo windy to fish on Monday. Tuesday was beautiful and we jigged for trout. We caught our limit of lakers in a few hours. We went in for some lunch and took a walk to look for moose. We saw a cow and her calf. On our way back to the boat we had another cow moose come out and start diving for weeds on the bottom of a bay. Jim and Pam got a bunch of nice pictures of the moose. On our way back to Rock Harbor we saw another moose on the shore. On Tuesday we jigged up a few more trout in another place. The trip back was nice and calm. The auto pilot took us right back to Copper Harbor. We gassed up, shopped and headed back to Lac La Belle. Gas was $3.3 6 on the Island. They just don't want boaters on Isle Royale. It was a fun couple of days. Picture1, Picture 2, Picture 3, Picture4, Picture 5, Picture 6 , Moose, More moose, Pam, Jim
Saturday, July 27, 2002
The hockey players, Mike, Scott, Fred, Gary, and Brian arrived hungry but ready to go fishing. They couldn't find a restraunt to cook breakfast. A quick check of the refrigerator and bacon and eggs were on the stove. Then we went fishing. Fish were surfacing in the bay and we picked up one quick coho in a bug slick. Lake was calm so we picked up and headed for Stannard Rock. We caught a bunch jigging and then headed back to look for some salmon in the bay. Found trout instead so we filled up with our limit of 18 trout. Here is a picture of Scott, Gary, Brian, Fred, and Mike with their catch.
Sunday, July 21, 2002
Marge's birthday so we took a day off and visited Reino who was 92 on July 20. We also picked blue berries and went out to dinner at Fitsgeralds in Eagle River.
Saturday, July 20, 2002
Marge and I went out for the evening bite. We caught 4 large trout in an hour. Marked lots more on the graph. We pulled our lines up so we wouldn't catch any more trout. We were looking for a large school of salmon that I had spotted the night before. The trout were up eating black beetles. Steve, Dave, and the boys caught 5 trout and one salmon in the bay. Their total for the week was 54 fish. Good thing I bought a freezer!!
Friday, July 19, 2002
Had a charter with Greg Dean and his wife Kathy. Their sons Jamson (rabbit) and Dave (turtle) were also along. We ended up with 9 trout and 2 samon. Was a good afternoon charter. Most fish were caught down 72 feet in 80 feet of water. The salmon were shallower and hit on dipsey divers or on sliders. Here are pictures of Greg and Rabbit, Greg and Turtle, The Dean Family, and Greg with some trout.
Wednesday, July 17, 2002
Had to make a run to town to buy a new freezer. Steve and Dave are catching so many fish that the small freezer is full. Sue is comming up with the boys later on Wednesday.
Tuesday, July 16, 2002
Fished With Steve and Dave and we got 8 redfinns. They were smaller but excellect eating.
Monday, July 15, 2002
Out with Steve and Dave again. Emil joined us. We caught 10 coho's and 4 trout. That is 24 fish in the last 2 days. Fishing is excellent now. Heading for town tomorrow to get a bigger freezer. Need a place to store more fish.
Here is a picture of Emil and Dave.
Sunday, July 14, 2002
Marge headed back to Iron Mountain, Steve and Dave came up in their motor home. We launched the boat in the afternoon and went out for an evening fish. Was a brisk SSW wind so we stayed in close. Got three trout in deeper water (120 feet) and then moved into the shallows (60 feet). We picked up 3 salmon and 4 more trout in the shalllows. One salmon was a nice King.
July 12, 2002
Went out with Ed Schneiderhaun, Carol, and Marge in the "Prime Time". We fished off of the green can in 120 feet of water. We caught 6 trout and lost another one in the net. Was a very enjoyable morning and lots of good trout to eat. Ed's auto pilot is working well.
July 11, 2002
Marge and I went to the Harbor House in Copper Harbor for supper. Excellent restraunt. On the way back we took a troll throuth the Manitou channel We got 2 coho and one large trout.
July 10, 2002
Lake calmed down. Went out with Klei's Jammie, Joanne, Jenifer, Brad, Randy, and Brad. Tried jigging for 2 hours and got one fish. Trolled for another 2 hours and got 8 more trout. Lots of suspended fish down 72 feet in 120 feet of water. Here is a picture of the crew.
July 9, 2002
Fished with the Klei's. We went out at 11:00 and back by 2:30, Caught 2 Lake Trout by channel and 2 by Smiths. Was a little choppy out there. See picture of Klei girls,
June 24, 2002
Fished Bete Gries Bay with Marge and Emil Dyni. We ended up with 2 coho, 2 kings, and 4 lake trout. Coho's were on the surface and hit dipsey divers out 50 feet. Trout and salmon were down 32 to 45 feet in 50 feet of water. Fish were full of black beetles and very small smelt.
June 23, 2002
Fished Bete Grise Bay with the first mate. Fished for two hours in the evening and landed 7 trout. Had to throw the last one back. Fish were in 72 feet of water and full of black bugs. Caught them on dipsy divers and suspended lines down 40 to 60 feet. Had one tripple that caused much excitement. Fish are headed for the smoke house. Preferred colors of spoons were watermellon and frog. Here are some pictures of the first mate with the catch.
June 21, 2002
Fished Stannard rock on the Kala Moiakka with Doug Wills, Ed Schneiderhan, Whitefish Willey and Dave Rittenhouse. We landed 6 trout in the first 5 minutes. Then the fishing got better. We caught at least 50 to 60 trout while jigging. The guys got tired of cranking them up so we went exploring. Found a few big trout with the largest being in the 12 pound category. See pictures of Ed with big trout and Doug and Willey.
June 18, 2002
Fished Bete Grise Bay in 40 to 55 feet of water. Caught one trout about 35 foot down and lost 3 others. They were large trout that were in the shallows. Sea was rough with 6 footers comming in.
June 6, 2002
We noticed a large number of lake trout surfacing just off the mouth of the channel while we were on our way to Stannard Rock. Our thought was that they would be there the next morning. We went out and tried in 10 to 40 feet of water. Two trout were caught just off the drop off in 30 feet of water. Both trout were large red fins, one was tagged.
June 5, 2002
Steve Hadden, Bill Lukes and the captain were up early for a run to Stannard Rock. It was foggy so we had to run by GPS and Radar. It took us 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to the rock. We located the fish located near the top of pinnacales in 90 to 120 feet of water. The depth finder would light up with fish in some spots. We landed three tripples with three people fishing. We kept out limit of eaters in the 4 to 6 pound range. We landed and released over 40 trout. I have to add a clicker on the boat to keep count of the fish. Stannard is a great place to fish with lots of trout available. Here is a picture of Steve with a typical Stannard Rock trout.
May 27, 2002
Same crew and boats
Same location
Weather finely calmed down.
Just a perfect day to bob or troll. Sunny and calm on the sea's.
We try in all the good holes in turn. Hadden Outta caught a trout early bobbing so we thought the bite was finely on.
Wrong! Kala-2picked two on the old Humps that have been the favorite bobbing hole for years of the Old Fisherman (Bob's Father).The sea smelled of skunk for the rest of us??? What the heck. Just a perfect day for fishing but the trout were nowhere to be caught? Guess that's why they call it fishing.
Trolling slow in the sunny afternoon gave us time to chat and relax on the calm water,the boat
was on auto pilot the water was so flat.
A good way to end the Memorial day fishing trip.
You can tell the fishing was slow because the captain had time to compose the following lyric while jigging. It was used to get the crew all jigging at the right speed.
It was the 4'th of July, twas quiet on the ship
The sounder was empty, not even a blip
The lines were hung from the geppo's with care
Hopping that Lake Trout soon would be there
Then from the stern there arose such a clatter
I lept from the helm to see what was the matter
Was Whitefish Willey who let out a shout
I think, I think I have hooked a giant Lake Trout
The reel screem and screeched as the trout took line
I hope he hangs on so we can net him in time
Up Up came the mighty Lake Trout
Willey pulled and pulled, would he give out?
No way, no way he's on his way
Going to put him in the smoker today
Then the line broke with a mighty snap
Willey says "Ohh well, now we don't have to throw him back"
The sea is calm, the weather is fine
Mr Trout will live to fight another time
May 26 2002
Same crew and Boats
Same location
Weather was again bad wind and waves were on the menu again.
Kala trolled shallow so did Hadden Outta for trout. The Geppo pulled Willy Bells in the 140 range again.
Only 6 trout caught by all combined. Shallow water trolling seemed to be the best method that day.
The trout were getting harder to find for some unknown reason.Mabe the changing weather?
May 25 2002
Same boats and crews.
Location same
Weather was fairly calm in the morning with slow rollers coming from the south -east.
Good jigging weather so we all set up on the new net hole Captian Bob and Willy
found last summer.
At145feet we all pulled jigs using cut bait.
Total fish caught were 11 nice eater trout 2-4lbs just what we were after.
I hooked a 12lb fat nice fish on the Geppo but not much for table fair.
Those nice rollers started to take there toll on the crew members that imbibed a little too much the
night before and Captian Bob had to administer some aid to the boys.
Rollers became larger and larger wind picked up and fish stopped hitting and we all
headed to the camp for some rest at 12:00.
The evening run was poor. One nice Brown was landed by the Hadden Otta, nothing on the Kala -2
and the Geppo stayed in the Lac La Belle and fished for walleye. No walleye were caught but a nice 5lb smallmouth bass and 24"northern were landed.
May 24 2002
Location was The Bay Of the Grey Beast, Bete Greise
Wx was cold wind gusty from the south east.
Waves 2 foot giving us a rough ride for the first day of fish camp
Boat's
1-27 foot Tiara- The Kala Moiakka II
1-20 foot Islander- The Hadden Outta II
1-24foot Sea-Star The Geppo
Each had a crew of 3-4 members
Kala and Hadden Outta started flipping for trout at around 9:00 am and the sea was calm.
At 2:00 or so the Geppo was included in the flotilla.
A total of 15 lakers caught all from 5-10 lbs of which 2 were fats.
They were caught using Jigs and cut bait and also Willy Bells in 140 feet of water.
Most were feeding on smelt and deep water chubs.
Fish bite was fair.
May 14, 2002
Willey and I went up to Marquette to fish with Joe Buys (Cooler By the Lake). Was cold and windy and a freighter was tied up in our spot at the ore dock so we told fish stories and looked at equipment for about three hours. Was almost as much fun as fishing. Looked at lake on way home. Whitecaps were showing in the harbor. Waves were breaking over the break wall so we did not fish the break wall either. Large rollers were coming in at the mouth of the Karp. Went shopping at Gander Mountain and were home by noon. A good trip even if we didn't wet a line. (Fishermen are optimists)
May 5, 2002
Report from Ontonagon. The guys who were fishing there caught 17 coho's and 5 brown trout from 10 feet of water trolling small jointed Rapala's and stick baits in 10 feet of water. They were running about 40 to 50 feet back from planer boards. Fire tiger and black/gold were good colors.
May 2, 2002
Tried Tobacco River again. No luck. Still too cold for the fish to be in.
May 1, 2002
Willie tried mouth of Tobacco for white fish, None biting. It snowed last night and rivers are high and very cold. No smelt running yet.
April 30, 2002
Checked Little Gratiot River for smelt, saw 5 smelt near bridge. Went down to the mouth and saw one sucker, no smelt. Weather was clear and cold.
April 29, 2002
Fished mouth of river entering Lake Superior for minominee white fish. Caught one and lost 2. River was high and cold. Steelhead not in river yet.
