FISH REPORTS 2007

August 27 The Kala Moiakka was washed down and is out of water for the season. I hope the water levels come back next year. They are lower now then they were last year and unless we get a lot of snow or rain they will not recover and it may not be possible to put the boat in at our dock. If so I will be fishing with my little red boat. In any case I would like to thank all my customers for all the fun we had out catching fish and making memories. Fish Camp Charters will not be chartering next year as Marge and I will be boat tourists. Our plans are to head over and visit our friends in Canada and to finally take Marge to Houghton by boat. Thanks again for all your support over the years.

Captain Bob

Sept 10 The Namycush strikes again. Ed and I headed out at 8:30 and quit fishing at 10:00. Our 6 fish came in less than an hour and we had to throw three back while picking lines. It was a great time on the water. The fish were hitting in 110 to 120 feet and near the bottom. There was one rock pile with fish stacked up on it and we were able to catch them three at a time. Quite a day on the water.

Sept 6 We took the red boat, Namycush, our with John and Robin. It was a little crowded in the 16 footer but we got organized and started to catch foot. It was nice to have my dads old boat working again. We caught our 9 fish in just under 2 hours and had a very enjoyable day on the water. The fish were down 145 to 155 feet and near the bottom. We marked some suspended trout at 90 were not able to run lines there in the little boat.

August 26 Tom Strong had a fathers day present of a charter. We have been trying to schedule it all summer and finally got out when his family was up. The weather was nice and the seas calm as we left with Tom, Susan, Tim John, Nancy and Rich. It took a while to find the fish but we went out by the abandoned indian nets and found the trout. Our catch for the day was 12 trout. One salmon was hooked but was "water released" before it could be netted.

August 25 Tim Puuri, Dave, Tim and Casey were lucky enough to win a donated charter from the UP Fire mens Tournament. It was Casey's birthday present to come out on the charter boat. Well the fish were still there so it didn't take too long and we had our limit of 12 trout and one for the captain. The fish were still down at 150 feet with some being suspended at 55 to 70 feet. Picture1, Picture 2

August 23 This is getting to easy, Wendel, Ed, Emil and I hit the 130 foot drop off the fisheries. We really didn't find fish till the water dropped to 150 foot. It was hard to keep the lines in the water after that. Fish were hitting one after another and we ended up with our limit of 12 and make Ed throw back the last 2 fish. He was almost crying, as usual, as he doesn't like to ever throw a fish back. There were suspended fish showing up as we caught one nice 8 pound lean trout at 55 feet and had a couple of others at 75 to 90 feet. All the others were on or near the bottom.

August 19. Our "sailboat" friends from Waukegan walked down the gang planed wearing white pants and deck shoes. Fish Call Bruce and I looked at them and laughed. "We need to get fish blood all over those white pants" he said. Well we tried. We ran out in five footers to where the fish were the day before but they had moved. I have to give the sailors credit because it was rough with high seas from the East making the Kala Moiakka rock and roll. Nobody got sick so I guess sailors are not that bad in rough water. We trolled back twords shore and hit fish at 130 feet. I should have known better because the thermocline had come up to 100 feet overnight. Fish were hitting near the bottom from 130 to 110 feet. All was going well till the starboard downrigger got caught in another ghost Indian net. That is the third abandoned net we got caught in this year. We managed to get the net pulled up to the boat by pulling on the down rigger cable. This was real fun in 5 foot seas. Our cannon ball and clips were caught up in a tangle of net, floats, and drift wood. A large stinky oil slick was forming all around the boat. With a few clips from my wire cutters and we were free of the net. Then our propeller shaft started squeaking. We shifted to the other motor and continued trolling. When we got back to the dock a check of the propeller shafts with an underwater camera showed net rope and material around both propeller shafts. After all that we ended up with 13 trout and really had a good time. The sailors managed to catch fish and not get blood on their white pants.

August 18 WOW, it is not windy. Mike Jaekel, Vickie, and their sons David and Chris came over from Iron Mountain to see what they could catch this year. It was not very windy, finally. The fish were gone from our familiar fishing holes so we had to look for them. We hardly marked a fish but managed to get 10 trout from off the bottom in 150 to 160 feet. The fish were close to bottom and not very aggressive. The thermocline was down to 150 feet. Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3, Picture 4

August 17 WINDY

August 16, WINDY

August 15 We managed to find a day between the wind storms and Ed Keating, his daughter Carrie, and Mark took the trip over from Gratiot Lake for some information on how to catch Lake Superior lake trout. The trout were there but we had to work for them. After the wind the trout are going deep, 150 foot plus, so you have to go down after them. We caught 12 trout by the end of our charter. Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3, Picture 4

August 6 Dave Kangas, his son and grandson, Gordie, and Jerry wanted some trout to eat so we went for the eaters. Fish were on both sides of the 110 foot drop. It was a good time and we ended up with 13 trout for the trip. Jerry did not bring any banana bread so the fish kept hitting this time. Picture 1, Picture 2

August 5 After a day of trying for bigger trout we went after the "eaters" It took a little searching but we found them on a 110 foot reef. They were on the side hill where it drops quickly to 150 feet. Our trip ended up with 18 trout and one salmon so we have some more good eating coming up.

August 4 The family is up and out we went with Jim, Martia, Kris, Bob, Kam and Nikki. We hit the outer reef for the larger trout and they were there big time. We fished down about 130 to 170 feet and fish were showing up on the depth finder the whole time. Large magnum spoons were the ticket and we got 13 trout and 6 salmon on this trip. There will be fresh fish on the grill tonight. Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3, Picture 4

August 1 Brent and his boys came up and we hit a special place where the bigger trout hold. I can't remember how many we got but I think it was 15 trout and one salmon. The seas were calm and it was another good trip with the "Junior Bassmaster Boys" The fish were in 110 to 135 feet of water and most were near the bottom.

July 29 It was a very calm day and out we went with Fish Call Bruce, Lip Ripper Emil, and Submarine Bill. We didn't want to fish in the area that we deep sixed a banana so we ran out past that spot and set up in 130 feet. We found a nice bunch of trout in 150 feet and they were as deep as 170 feet. It only took us a couple of hours to catch our limit of 12 trout. Then we were into catch and release so we hit the shallows (60 to 90 feet) looking for salmon. No salmon were caught but we did bring 5 trout to the boat and they were all released. Some were nice red finns running about 6 to 8 pounds and there were lots of comments about how Drug Store Eddie would have been jumping off the stern after those nice trout. It was a wonderful day on the water.

July 26 Fished with John and his sister Barbara. Things were going slow for the first two hours with only 2 trout coming over the back of the boat. Then we saw it. Barbara was EATING A BANANA!!! OH NO Well we got rid of the banana and things picked up. Our catch for the day was 11 trout. It looks like the salmon have found a better part of the lake to live in. The fish are starting to suspend, down 100 to 130 feet, in 150 feet of water. We had quite a few trips at 90 feet and a line at 130 foot was picking up trout.

July 22 Dennis Wilson and sons Paul, Tod, and Eric got a charter on the Kala Moiakka as a Christmas present from Sue. It was dead calm with a little swell from the SE when we went out. I was trying for "yesterdays fish" but as you all know "you can't catch yesterdays fish" We set lines at 100 and tried the 120 foot reef. Not a hit. The place that was full of fish on Friday was now a desert. Bruce had hit some fish out farther in 160 so we headed out that way. Didn't go far and the fish started to hit the deep lines. It looked like a lot of bait in some places with some trout with them. The fishing was fairly steady from there and after a couple of triples we had our limit of trout. Then we tried the bay for salmon and only caught one salmon for 5 hits. Our total for the day was 15 with 14 being trout and one being a salmon. I am glad the fish didn't know it was a beautiful calm clear day. I thought fish were not supposed to hit on a calm day. Picture 1, Picture 2

July 20 Hurray, Hurray da fish started to bite again today!! The winds quit, the sea calmed down and it warmed up. After many days of having to work to get fish they started to bite. I fished with Tim and his friends. (I have to get my cheat sheet with their names from the boat) Lines were set at 90 feet as we were heading for a reef at 120. A fish hit the first line while the second line was being set. It went that way all morning as the fish were stacked at 120 to 135 on a rock pile. There were also some suspended and deep salmon too. Most salmon were at 50 feet with some hits coming on a dipsey. We ended up with a total of 20 fish, 6 were salmon. You can't do much better than that in a half day of fishing. Picture 1, Picture 2

July 17 The class of 63 consisting of Dave (sac da poet), Paul (da duck), Joe (downrigger Joe) were able to make it. Dan (Enku) and Dave (Pella) could not make it to the reunion this year. The seas were fine but the water was still cold and the fish not hitting well. We marked lots of fish but they would hit and not stay on (no it is not dull hooks) . All we could come up with was a limit of 9 redfin trout and no salmon. Fish were in 110 foot to 120 foot on a rock pile. They still are really hugging the bottom and hitting light. Picture 1, Picture 2

July 15 This is two days after the big blow and the water temperature dropped from 55 degrees to 40 on surface. The fish are real sluggish and we are loosing most of our trout just after they trip the downrigger. The fishing slower as we went out with the Jenisons. Ed, Ruth, Larry, and Martha made up the crew. We only had 4 trout in the box at 10:30 and it was not looking good. It was time to move and out to an offshore reef about six miles out we went. There were fish there and big ones. We filled the box with 10 trout and 2 salmon with the largest being Ed's 15 pounder.

July 14, Still windy. It is too windy for Mike and the boys to go after the slimy green fish in Lac La Belle. They are not bitting anyway as the cold front has moved in big time. It was an offshore wind so we could fish in the bay for salmon. We caught 3 and lost 4 in 50 feet of water fishing down 30. The coho's are running about 2 1/2 pounds to 3 pounds now.

July 13, The hockey guys are here. Our friends from Iron Mountain, Mike, Fred, Sam and Wayne were here for a weekend of fishing trout on the big lake and green slimy walleye's from Lac La Belle. The weather was not good but out we went. The wind is still blowing. We caught 13 trout and 3 salmon so it was a good day on the water. Fresh trout on the grill tonight. The fish were caught in 120 to 150 feet and all were tight to the bottom. They are still not bitting well and many fish were lost. The guys were quick at getting to the lines and many cross checks, hip checks, and elbows were thrown. Good thing they did not have sticks with them or the captain would have had to call some of them for high sticking tooo.

July 8 Marge and I needed some fish so we went out for an afternoon try at the fish. We set up in 120 feet of water and trolled out to an offshore reef at 100 feet. The fish started hitting right away and we made one pass over the reef and we had our limit of 6 trout. We went off the mouth of the Montreal in search of salmon and caught and released one more trout but no salmon were to be found.

July 6 We had a crew of 6 as Al, rick, Tom, Lyle, Bill, and Tom came up from Florence, Wisconsin again this year. Out we went for the "big catch" and guess what, the trout were not there. Back into the bay we came and started to catch some fish right away. Our first pass across some rock piles ended up with a triple with 2 ending up in the box. The spot was crisscrossed a number of times and we continued to find fish. We ended up with 13 trout for the trip with Al taking the money with a 26 incher.

July 5 Max and Pete had a hard time waking up their crew. Derric and John were able to get up to fish. It seems the teens stayed up late and watched the fire works. We were even late for a 8:30 starting time. Doug had 8 fish by the time we set our lines. It didn't take long for us to hit fish and we started to pick them up in 110 to 130 feet of water. Some fish are starting to suspend now and we did catch one at 60 and lost a big one on the dipsey. Our catch for the day was 11 trout. Not bad for an "afternoon" shift. Picture 1, Picture 2

July 3 You should have been here today! Brent, Jack, Ryan, and Brandon came over from Eagle Harbor to try for some trout. They had a fish fry planned and we needed to produce. There were some swells coming from the NE and we had to stay in the bay. We set up on some humps that came up to 120 feet and when we crossed the first one we had fish on. Then it was a double so we realized the fish were there. We had our limit of trout by 10:30, Brent caught one that bottomed out my scale at 25 1/2 pounds. SEE PICTURE OF BRENT After we set high for salmon we caught one king, lost a couple more and got 2 coho's. It was an excellent day on the water. picture1, picture 2, picture 3, picture 4, picture 5, picture 6, picture 7, picture 8, picture 9

July 1, Joe, Jen, Carrie and Berry headed north from the Iron Mountain area to see what life was like north of the bridge, da Houghton Bridge. None of them had been up to the Keweenaw and they were surprised to see how nice it is up at the end of the road. We headed out into a calm sea and that was good as Berry (care bear) said that he has turned a little green when out on the big lake. It was the same kind of fishing with the fish scattered over the 130 to 160 foot flats. There is no pattern to where they are holding so you just have to cover ground to find them. We had a nice bunch of fish in the box and then we ran into a ghost net (abandoned Indian Gill net) Both down riggers were hung up and after 45 minutes of pulling we managed to recover one cannon ball and wreck the cables on both deep down riggers. The lures are still in the net and the net is still there. Lets see if the Michigan or Tribal DNR will pull it this year. It was phoned in to them last year and it is still there catching fish and down riggers. After the net we continued fishing and caught out limit of trout and two salmon. The king was on the bottom in 130 feet and the coho was down 10 feet. We did catch some suspended lake trout at 40 and 60 feet so they are coming off the bottom now. Picture 1, Picture 2

June 28, We fished with Dee, Susan, Dean and Gary. The fish have been straight out of the harbor in 130 to 160 feet so we started there. It wasn't long till we had action and Dee landed the first fish. She wanted to give it the little wack on the head that we use to quiet them down before they go into the cooler. As soon as she swung the bat I said, "I recognize you, your the Detective from Oregon". She is trained in the use of a baton and now teaches self defense so don't get in her way, especially if you are a lake trout. The fish kept coming and we ended up with 16 trout and one salmon. The fish are scattered and most are near the bottom but some suspended ones are starting to show up. The salmon are right up near the surface.

June 23, The Kala Moiakka left the harbor with a full crew of 6. There was Jamie, Bill, Faith, Rich, Jody, and Grandma. We headed out to our 130 foot hole and set lines. Bad luck, we hit a fish within the first minute of setting the first line, the second line was not even set. Of course we lost it. Then it was about 1/2 and hour till we found the fish. It was slow and steady from there. We had a lot of hits that did not stick and had to work hard for the fish. The boat was devided between the "green team" and the "hoods" It was neck and neck with each side having 6 fish. The contest was on till the ships clock would strike 8 bells. Thirty seconds shy of 8 bells the port downrigger went off and Jody brought in the winning fish, the "green team" won. Then while pulling lines we had a hit on the deep starboard side rigger. It was grandma's turn and she fought the fish like a veteran, we even had to stop the boat so she could gain line. It was the biggest fish of the day and would have hit the 10 to 15 pound mark (fishermans estimate) but it saw the boat and started to shake its head and "there it was, gone". We ended up with 13 trout, most of them came from 140 to 150 foot of water.

June 21, It was a beautiful day, a little cool, but nice for this time of year. The seas were calm with an occasional ripple coming from the southwest as we set lines in 130 feet of water. With Bruce and Emil as the experienced crew it didn't take too long for us to get 8 lines in the water. There were lines from the top of the lake to the bottom and the first line to go was a dipsey. It turned out to be our first salmon of the season, a small coho. When we reached 140 feet we started to pick up a few trout on the deep lines. They were nice red finns ranging in size from 3 to 6 pounds. We ended up catching our limit of trout and the one salmon. Almost all the fish were in 135 to 155 feet and near the bottom. It was such a nice day that we decided to troll back twords the harbor and try some new lures. We did a catch and release on another 4 trout, one was our nicest fish of the day but with a quick flip of the hook he was free to catch another day. Our total for the day was 13 trout , 1 salmon and lots of good company.

June 16, Bruce, (the one with the fish call) invited me and Frank out to try out his new downriggers. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to fish so I was over at his place at 8:00 to board the Roamer. We took his 24 footer out to 130 foot and set lines. We got all our lines out till the first fish hit. Then they were coming pretty regular for a while. We would get a fish on the line and Frank would bring him close enough for us to see what size he was and then he would do a water release. He lost three in a row and we involved the "three strikes and your out" rule and he had to watch us catch the next couple of fish. Then they quit, and we searched for the next hour for the fish, then we found them at 140 foot on a drop off to 200 feet. We had a number of doubles till we caught our limit of 9, When we pulled lines we found one hanging on another line so we had to release it. The sun was out and the water was calm so we had a very enjoyable day on the water.

June 3, Foggy again so we decided to jig for trout in 150 feet. After 2 hours with only one hit we decided to troll back since we couldn't go fast in the fog anyway. We caught 5 trout and lost 3 in one hour. The crew wouldn't let the captain tough the rods as every time he did the fish was gone. Back to camp we came with big smiles on our face. The trout were running about 4 to 7 pounds so we had quite a bunch of fish in the cooler. Nice to see that there are good numbers of fish out there and that they are scattered over a large area. This is starting to look like another good season on the lake.

June 2, Still foggy. The fog was worse than yesterday. We headed out to catch "yesterdays fish" but with the east wind everything had changed and we couldn't even mark a fish. It was time to move so we pulled lines and headed out to 170 feet. We didn't even have the lines in the water when the first fish hit. Six fish came over the transom before we headed in to add an extension onto the dock. Even with the extension the Kala barely fits at the dock this year. It is unbelievable how low the water is.

June 1, Well the boat made it into the water for the first voyage of the season. Joe, Dave, Ernie and I went out near the fisheries and started trolling in 100 feet. We almost went into the trap net as we saw the green outer float going by in the fog. Just after we cleared the net we had the first hit, a nice lean 6 pounder. We trolled around for a couple of hours and ended up with 7 fish. Most were from 150 feet but we did catch one jigging at 104 feet.

May 29, Boat is being worked on and getting prepared for the coming season. The guys are coming up on Thursday and we will put the boat in the water. A dock extension will have to be built so the boat can fit on our dock. The water is 17 inches low and many docks at Lac La Belle are out of water. Lake Superior ia a smaller puddle this year.

Emil and I walked into the mouth of the Montreal yesterday to try for whirefish, There were now whitefish there that we could find but Emil got 2 steelheads and a couple of brooktrout. I caught a couple of brooktrout and a small splake. A couple of small brookies sure made a good breakfast.

April 30, May 1 and May 2 Three of us went up to camp to do some work, the only problem was that we brought fishing rods with us. We put on our waders and fished some local streams or fished where they enter the lake. Out catch was Monday, 1 splake, 4 whitefish,, Tuesday 9 splake, 41 whitefish, Wednesday, 1 steelhead, 1 splake, and 27 whitefish. We really had fun fishing with our little fly rods and catching fish that were bitting. The minominee's are in the smoke house and we ate fish all week. Bob Bicigo and Mike Westrich were happy fishermen.

April 25 I went fishing with Joe Buys from Marquette. I had to get up at the ridiculous time of 4:30 AM to get up to Marquette at 7:00. We headed out to Joe's Point 13 as he calls it. After a short instruction of how to run his downriggers and what spoons to run (he has 3, I brought the fourth) we started fishing. In about 10 minutes we had a hit on my side and of course I lost it. Joe was very patient with me and we got the line back down. He lost he next fish just to make me feel better. Then we started to catch fish, We hit the hot spot and while I was landing a fish there was a hit on his side. Then the Johnson rod went off and I had to take in the fish. Joe had a double on his side and after a couple more hits we were done lake trout fishing for the day. It took longer to drive to Marquette than it did to catch our limit, neat. We tried in the shallows for salmon but never caught a fish. It sure is fun to get out fishing with a guy that knows how to catch fish. Check out Joe's web site at this link to Joe's site. his stuff http://www.superiorfishing.net/main/joe07.htm

April 21, Joe Schutte and I fished Hamilton Lakes near us. It was 80 degrees and windy so we went looking for bluegills. We found them in 6 to 12 inches of water. We kept about 25 or so for supper and threw the rest back. It was nice to get on the water on such a nice warm day. Look for the gills in the shallow bays and the channels connecting the lakes. The lake water is real cold yet so the fish are seeking the warmer water on the north sides of the lake and in the shallows.

March 18 , Sunday, I went over to fish the closer holes. It was a beautiful day and Hanah came out to fish with me. We caught one fish and had fun watching a large freighter come by. He was cruising by and was close enough that the guys on deck waved to Hanah when she waved to them. The ice is 2 foot thick but the shore crack is opening up. We had to find a good spot to cross so we could get the sleigh off the ice.

March 15 We never give up. Steve and I used the four wheeler to get out farther. We ended up out where the farthest shacks were. There was one whitefish caught between 9 guys out there. We headed over to our old holes and there was one guy fishing there. He had 8 fish when we got there and he caught his limit while we were there. We ended up with 2 fish for the day.

March 13 Steve, Dave, and I tried it again. Out to 80 feet and fishing mainly minnows. Dave and Steve were sucessfull with each of them catching one. I never landed a fish.

March 11 Back out to the same hole. I had 2 bites in 3 hours fishing. I caught one whitefish about 20 inches long. Weather was warm and I had a good nap on the ice. Hope they move in before the ice goes.

March 9 I tried Escanaba in the same hole as before. I had a few taps but no bites. I moved and that was a bad idea. The guys where I moved to were not even getting taps. I ended up skunked. (Don't leave fish to find fish).

March 7 Steve and I hit Escanaba in about 80 feet of water for whitefish. We had to use a snowmobile to get out as the snow on the ice is thick. The people who were trying to use 4 wheelers were stuck all over the ice. The fish just are not bitting. We caught 2 and had just a couple of other bites. Hope the warmer weather comes soon and the fish start to bite. The ice is good, about 2 foot thick and should last a while.