What a wonderful time of year! The leaves are turning to there vibrant colors,the smallmouth are starting to put on the feeding frenzy, the madness of chasing whitetails has begun and waterfowl season is in full swing. This leaves me with this question every year. What should I do, hunt or fish? I'm not sure If their is a right answer for this. I love all of it! Lately the fishing has been fairly tough. However, it has picked up steam here lately.
Since my last post, I have been out to Kansas chasing the MONSTER whitetails that live out there. What a great hunt, seeing friends you haven't seen in a while and enjoying the outdoors. I spent a full week in the stand and did not fill my tag. That is completely fine with me. I saw several deer all week long and had opportunities to shoot small bucks, but that is not what you travel 1200 miles for! I'll make the journey back in December to see if we can seal the deal then.
For now, I am getting back into the fall fishing groove. The fish are starting to sense the change of season on all fronts. The salmon fishing in the rivers is still going and the big lake is starting to heat back up with steelhead and three year old salmon action! On the inland lakes, perch and walleye action is heating up as well. The inland water temps range from the high fifties to low sixties depending on what lake you are on. The smallmouth are starting to move up on the flats from the depths. Some lakes they have been shallow, less than 12 feet. Other lakes they are still up to 40 feet deep. I am looking forward to the upcoming week! I will let the weather dictate the question of what to do. Until next time, Good luck and Happy Fishing!
Capt Chris
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
The Doldrums
What a change the last few weeks have brought to the entire fishing community here in Northern Michigan. We went from the best fishing some of us have ever seen, to the worst fishing that I can remember. Mother Nature has not been very friendly to either big lake or inland lake fisherman. The bite has been extremely difficult.
Over the last week I have been chasing the mighty bronzeback with little success. We did catch fish, however nothing like it was three weeks ago. The fish in the bay have moved to the deep haunts and hideaways. Most of the Smallies we found were from 35 feet to 60 plus feet of water. The average size was down as well. I did switch gears and go inland for a couple days. The fish that were caught were dandy's, just not many. These fish were found in less than 12 feet. The water temps are still in the low to mid 60's and it won't be long before the fall Malay begins.
The salmon bite on the big lake has been extremely poor to say the least. I have talked with several charter captains that say the same thing 1-5 fish a trip if your lucky. I did run a salmon trip last week and for the first time ever in four hours of trolling never had a bite!!!!!!!!! not even a sniff. The up side to the salmon bite is there are several fish in the river ready to do battle with any angler that wants to chase them.
The other up side is walleye's and perch have begun to put the fall feed on. As of yesterday there are scattered reports of decent perch and walleye action on a handful of lakes in the Traverse City area.
I will be back at it next week after a quest in the land of Oz for a giant whitetail. There early muzzle loader has presented me with a tag and I am going to take full advantage of the early season. Until next time Good Luck and Happy Fishing.
Capt Chris
Over the last week I have been chasing the mighty bronzeback with little success. We did catch fish, however nothing like it was three weeks ago. The fish in the bay have moved to the deep haunts and hideaways. Most of the Smallies we found were from 35 feet to 60 plus feet of water. The average size was down as well. I did switch gears and go inland for a couple days. The fish that were caught were dandy's, just not many. These fish were found in less than 12 feet. The water temps are still in the low to mid 60's and it won't be long before the fall Malay begins.
The salmon bite on the big lake has been extremely poor to say the least. I have talked with several charter captains that say the same thing 1-5 fish a trip if your lucky. I did run a salmon trip last week and for the first time ever in four hours of trolling never had a bite!!!!!!!!! not even a sniff. The up side to the salmon bite is there are several fish in the river ready to do battle with any angler that wants to chase them.
The other up side is walleye's and perch have begun to put the fall feed on. As of yesterday there are scattered reports of decent perch and walleye action on a handful of lakes in the Traverse City area.
I will be back at it next week after a quest in the land of Oz for a giant whitetail. There early muzzle loader has presented me with a tag and I am going to take full advantage of the early season. Until next time Good Luck and Happy Fishing.
Capt Chris
Monday, September 13, 2010
Fishing is Fun!
Over the last week and a half the charter fishing has slowed a little and the preparations for hunting season have began. Since my last post, I have been out to Kansas and back to prepare for hunting out there. I have a muzzle loader tag in hand and I am extremely excited to get the first crack at the giant bucks that roam out there.
Since my return, I have been fun fishing(practice) for the upcoming Lake Leelanau Invitational. This is the twenty third year that this tournament has been happening. It is a great time to get out, have some fun and see people you don't see every day. best of all you get to go fishing!
Practice can be mind boggling on this lake. One day they are there and the next, gone with no real explanation why. I know this is true anywhere you fish, but here it happens more than any other place I have fished. Practice started out with a bang catching good fish cranking and throwing a spinner bait. The biggest was a 5 1/2 pound fish. I caught a handful on a drop shot, but they seemed to be smaller fish. This was a lot of fun being out on the water, looking at some slight changes in color on the trees, feeling the cool northwest wind blowing on you back and ultimately felling Mr. Smallie pull on your string.
Day two was great as well, I met my friend Jon in the morning and we headed to the lake. He asked if I had brought my rain gear, fortunately I did. We fished for a couple hours catching a couple here and there, then the rain started falling. We laughed and joked as the rain kept coming down & down & down. We only caught a few fish, but we were mainly looking, rather than fishing. After driving around and fishing in the rain for over five plus hours, we felt like we had a game plan. Did I mention it rained while we were on the lake? Neither one of us were ready to throw in the towel, nor be the first to give in, but finally I mentioned it was five o'clock somewhere and off the water we came. Drenched and cold it felt good getting back on shore.
Tournament Day was a complete opposite of the day before. High sky's and beautiful sunshine was the hand we were delt on Sunday. The conditions did get extremely tough in the afternoon. The wind whipped the lake into a mess to say the least. Up and down, side to side we bounced. We ended up catching three smallies for the tournament, but we had fun all day long. No matter how tough thing's were, we did the best we could on that given day. We fished hard all day long.
At the end of the last few day's and as I write this, I am reminded that fishing is fun no matter what the outcome may be. From the highs catching big fish to the lows of being cold and drenched You have to be thankful that you get to spend time in the outdoors. Until next time Good Luck and Happy Fishing.
Capt Chris
Since my return, I have been fun fishing(practice) for the upcoming Lake Leelanau Invitational. This is the twenty third year that this tournament has been happening. It is a great time to get out, have some fun and see people you don't see every day. best of all you get to go fishing!
Practice can be mind boggling on this lake. One day they are there and the next, gone with no real explanation why. I know this is true anywhere you fish, but here it happens more than any other place I have fished. Practice started out with a bang catching good fish cranking and throwing a spinner bait. The biggest was a 5 1/2 pound fish. I caught a handful on a drop shot, but they seemed to be smaller fish. This was a lot of fun being out on the water, looking at some slight changes in color on the trees, feeling the cool northwest wind blowing on you back and ultimately felling Mr. Smallie pull on your string.
Day two was great as well, I met my friend Jon in the morning and we headed to the lake. He asked if I had brought my rain gear, fortunately I did. We fished for a couple hours catching a couple here and there, then the rain started falling. We laughed and joked as the rain kept coming down & down & down. We only caught a few fish, but we were mainly looking, rather than fishing. After driving around and fishing in the rain for over five plus hours, we felt like we had a game plan. Did I mention it rained while we were on the lake? Neither one of us were ready to throw in the towel, nor be the first to give in, but finally I mentioned it was five o'clock somewhere and off the water we came. Drenched and cold it felt good getting back on shore.
Tournament Day was a complete opposite of the day before. High sky's and beautiful sunshine was the hand we were delt on Sunday. The conditions did get extremely tough in the afternoon. The wind whipped the lake into a mess to say the least. Up and down, side to side we bounced. We ended up catching three smallies for the tournament, but we had fun all day long. No matter how tough thing's were, we did the best we could on that given day. We fished hard all day long.
At the end of the last few day's and as I write this, I am reminded that fishing is fun no matter what the outcome may be. From the highs catching big fish to the lows of being cold and drenched You have to be thankful that you get to spend time in the outdoors. Until next time Good Luck and Happy Fishing.
Capt Chris
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
No Fish Story
WOW! WOW! WOW! is just a minimal description of today's fishing. I was once again on Grand Traverse Bay with a past client Bill and a friend of his Dave(two great fisherman). They were fishing up on Burt and Mullet over the last few day's and had been catching really nice smallies up there. They had no idea, nor did I of the fishing we were about to encounter today.
We left the dock at 6:45 and we were fishing shortly after. The first two fish set the tone for the day a 6 3/4 pounder and a giant over 7 pounds were the start of today's Malay! It was non stop action almost all morning. We caught fish from 12 inches all the way up to the 7 pound giants(aka SEA DONKEY). Over fifteen of the fish went over four pounds. We caught fifty four fish today in all. The best five would have went well over thirty pounds thanks to two seven plus pounders, two six plus and several in the five pound class. I have had several good days on the bay, but as far as big fish with numbers of them, today takes the cake!!
We fished in 20-30 feet of water today. We were using a Castaway Skeleton series dropshot rod with a WaveSpin DHxL spooled with 8# Vicious fluorocarbon. The preferred fish food was a Poor Boys Goby fished on a drop shot.
Bill and Dave will be sending me pictures of the giants that we caught today and I will be posting them when I get them. Until next time Good Luck and Happy Fishing!!
Capt Chris
We left the dock at 6:45 and we were fishing shortly after. The first two fish set the tone for the day a 6 3/4 pounder and a giant over 7 pounds were the start of today's Malay! It was non stop action almost all morning. We caught fish from 12 inches all the way up to the 7 pound giants(aka SEA DONKEY). Over fifteen of the fish went over four pounds. We caught fifty four fish today in all. The best five would have went well over thirty pounds thanks to two seven plus pounders, two six plus and several in the five pound class. I have had several good days on the bay, but as far as big fish with numbers of them, today takes the cake!!
We fished in 20-30 feet of water today. We were using a Castaway Skeleton series dropshot rod with a WaveSpin DHxL spooled with 8# Vicious fluorocarbon. The preferred fish food was a Poor Boys Goby fished on a drop shot.
Bill and Dave will be sending me pictures of the giants that we caught today and I will be posting them when I get them. Until next time Good Luck and Happy Fishing!!
Capt Chris
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Season of Change
Wow,what a blur the last three weeks have been. The last time I remember writing was when the fishing on all fronts was the best summer fishing that I have experienced in quite some time. The smallmouth and salmon were chewing on anything that you put in front of them! The action stayed good for me right up to the time I left for the BASS Northern Open on the Detroit River. There is not much to say about the time I spent there other than it was a huge learning experience. This was my worst tournament to date and the only thing left to do is learn and move on!
Now that I have returned home and started chasing smallies again, I have noticed a change in the air as well as on the trees. Although minimal, there are a few tree's starting to show the colors of fall(today's forcasted high of the upper 80's has me wondering though). The first real cool down of the season arrived Thursday and Friday mornings trip greeted us with temperature's in the 40's. The run across the bay was definitely an eye opener! We ended up catching over thirty smallmouth with the biggest about 2 1/2 pounds. Lot's of action, but not the giants the bay is known for. We had several laughs and had a great time catching fish.
There are a few salmon starting to charge up the river for there annual spawning run and several fish are still out in Lake Michigan waiting for Mother Natures cue to run the river. This is usually triggered by a huge North blow and rain. Until this happens the action will be fast and furious as the fish try to fatten up for there journey up the river.
It is definitely the season of change as fall begins to settle in the air. The honking of geese become more noticeable, the mornings are cooler, the color's begin to show, the fishing will heat up and the dust gets knocked off the bow case. These are all signs that I look forward to every year.
Until next time enjoy the changes and good luck fishing.
Capt Chris
Now that I have returned home and started chasing smallies again, I have noticed a change in the air as well as on the trees. Although minimal, there are a few tree's starting to show the colors of fall(today's forcasted high of the upper 80's has me wondering though). The first real cool down of the season arrived Thursday and Friday mornings trip greeted us with temperature's in the 40's. The run across the bay was definitely an eye opener! We ended up catching over thirty smallmouth with the biggest about 2 1/2 pounds. Lot's of action, but not the giants the bay is known for. We had several laughs and had a great time catching fish.
There are a few salmon starting to charge up the river for there annual spawning run and several fish are still out in Lake Michigan waiting for Mother Natures cue to run the river. This is usually triggered by a huge North blow and rain. Until this happens the action will be fast and furious as the fish try to fatten up for there journey up the river.
It is definitely the season of change as fall begins to settle in the air. The honking of geese become more noticeable, the mornings are cooler, the color's begin to show, the fishing will heat up and the dust gets knocked off the bow case. These are all signs that I look forward to every year.
Until next time enjoy the changes and good luck fishing.
Capt Chris
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Return of The Giants
Today was absolutely amazing!! The giant smallmouth that have been a little harder than normal to find, finally showed up today. The action was fairly steady with a couple dry spells. We caught 25 fish in five hours with several large fish, the biggest was a six pounder. Our best five fish would have weighed in at 23-24 pounds. One of my clients caught two 4.5 pounders and a 5 pounder today. Most of the fish were in the two to three pound range with a few smaller fish mixed in. All of the fish were caught on a drop shot in 15-30 feet of water. The smallies were chewing on a Poor Boy's goby and a Berkly Gulp 5" leech. I can't wait to get back out there and chase those giant smallies!!
Until next time, Good Luck and Happy Fishing
Capt Chris
Until next time, Good Luck and Happy Fishing
Capt Chris
Friday, August 6, 2010
8/5 & 8/6
The last two day's have been very good fishing considering the conditions. Thursday, I found myself fishing salmon out of the port of Frankfort. The big pond was once again all riled up and it was like being in a washing machine for the first few hours of the trip. The waves were 4-8 foot and coming from three different directions. We had a hearty crew and battled through it(even after a little chumming)! The action started slow, but finished with a bang. We caught 12 total fish with a real mix of species. The only one missing for the Great Lakes Slam was a Brown Trout. We did land a 9.5 pound Coho salmon, a real dandy. I hope this is a sign of things to come for this fall. Most of he action was on Silver Horde green splatter plugs(riggers) and a blue "Chilly Willy" Silver Streak spoon on a double core. The fish were starting to move up in the water column to the 75-95 foot range.
This morning we were fishing Grand Traverse Bay for smallmouth. We had really nice conditions to start with this morning. The fishing started of with a few bites here and there with mainly small fish. As the morning continued on we found some nice two to three pounders that were willing to cooperate. A front blew through around 9:30 and the wind picked up out of the North, churning the bay pretty good. The bite slowed for almost 45 minutes as we repositioned and fought the choppy water. Then the fish god's smiled on us and we found a few more fish that were willing to bite. In all we landed 34 smallmouth, not bad for a morning fishing trip. Today's gear consisted of a Castaway drop shot rods with a WaveSpin DHxl reel spooled with 8# Vicious fluorocarbon line. We fished drop shot rigs in 16-25 feet of water.
Until next time Good Luck and Happy Fishing!
Capt Chris
This morning we were fishing Grand Traverse Bay for smallmouth. We had really nice conditions to start with this morning. The fishing started of with a few bites here and there with mainly small fish. As the morning continued on we found some nice two to three pounders that were willing to cooperate. A front blew through around 9:30 and the wind picked up out of the North, churning the bay pretty good. The bite slowed for almost 45 minutes as we repositioned and fought the choppy water. Then the fish god's smiled on us and we found a few more fish that were willing to bite. In all we landed 34 smallmouth, not bad for a morning fishing trip. Today's gear consisted of a Castaway drop shot rods with a WaveSpin DHxl reel spooled with 8# Vicious fluorocarbon line. We fished drop shot rigs in 16-25 feet of water.
Until next time Good Luck and Happy Fishing!
Capt Chris
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Big Waves & Good Fishing
The last couple day's on the big pond have treated the fisherman to some very rough water. The NOAA weather forecast wasn't what I would call spot on! However we still fished in 4-6 foot waves with the occasional 7-8 foot gorilla wave that would just show up out of no where. I felt like we were in an episode of "Deadliest Catch" minus the crab pots. OK, maybe it was'n that bad, but it was still pretty sporty.
The fish were still cooperating, but the big waves made it a little bit more difficult to keep them hooked up. Most boats have had catches fro 10-18 fish a trip. The fish have been hanging out in the deep water. Last night our best was a rotater with a Rapture Sour Apple fly on the center rigger at 105 feet. The deep program has been the ticket. The fish have been biting in the 85-150 foot water colum over 150-600 feet of water. For the best action get out the copper line and long lead core with plugs and spoons. The riggers and divers have been best with rotaters, paddles, flies and meat. Untill next time, Good Luck and Happy Fishing.
Capt Chris
The fish were still cooperating, but the big waves made it a little bit more difficult to keep them hooked up. Most boats have had catches fro 10-18 fish a trip. The fish have been hanging out in the deep water. Last night our best was a rotater with a Rapture Sour Apple fly on the center rigger at 105 feet. The deep program has been the ticket. The fish have been biting in the 85-150 foot water colum over 150-600 feet of water. For the best action get out the copper line and long lead core with plugs and spoons. The riggers and divers have been best with rotaters, paddles, flies and meat. Untill next time, Good Luck and Happy Fishing.
Capt Chris
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Fantastic Fishing
Wow, what a last few day's! The fishing has been absolutely spectacular. From salmon to smallmouth, you couldn't ask for better action.
For the smallmouth action, I fished with a father son team that I have fished with before and it is always a pleasure to have the family aboard for some fantastic fishing. They made there way there way here all the way from California to enjoy the great smallmouth fishing on Grand Traverse Bay. Bart and his three son's have fished with me over the last couple years and have reaped the rewards that the bay has to offer for smallmouth fishing. They have seen the best and have had some tough day's, but they are always ready for what ever the day has in store. On this particular trip we fished drop shots and the always reliable tube. The fished seemed to enjoy the Berkley Gulp products as well as the Poor Boy's drop shot goby the best. We fished in 12-40 feet of water and found most of the action in the 18-30 foot depths. We caught 23 fish in a few hours of fishing that were as big as three pounds. The action was steady and as always a lot of fun when it comes to smallies.
The salmon action has been out of this world for the last week. I have been fishing out of Frankfort for the salmon. The last few trips for me have produced numbers in the high teens and last night we caught 20. We had to sit on the cooler to get it to close. This was a 150 quart cooler. The fish have been chewing plugs, meat rigs, and paddle/fly combos the best. All of the fish seem to be 12-18 pounds with the occasional 20+ fish. They have been feeding in the 75-150 foot depths over 150-275 feet of water. Meat has been the best producer overall. Three to five hundred feet of copper with the plugs and Moonshine spoons have worked as well.
Well it is off to fish again this afternoon. Looking forward to chasing the mighty Chinook. Until next time, good luck and happy fishing.
Capt Chris
For the smallmouth action, I fished with a father son team that I have fished with before and it is always a pleasure to have the family aboard for some fantastic fishing. They made there way there way here all the way from California to enjoy the great smallmouth fishing on Grand Traverse Bay. Bart and his three son's have fished with me over the last couple years and have reaped the rewards that the bay has to offer for smallmouth fishing. They have seen the best and have had some tough day's, but they are always ready for what ever the day has in store. On this particular trip we fished drop shots and the always reliable tube. The fished seemed to enjoy the Berkley Gulp products as well as the Poor Boy's drop shot goby the best. We fished in 12-40 feet of water and found most of the action in the 18-30 foot depths. We caught 23 fish in a few hours of fishing that were as big as three pounds. The action was steady and as always a lot of fun when it comes to smallies.
The salmon action has been out of this world for the last week. I have been fishing out of Frankfort for the salmon. The last few trips for me have produced numbers in the high teens and last night we caught 20. We had to sit on the cooler to get it to close. This was a 150 quart cooler. The fish have been chewing plugs, meat rigs, and paddle/fly combos the best. All of the fish seem to be 12-18 pounds with the occasional 20+ fish. They have been feeding in the 75-150 foot depths over 150-275 feet of water. Meat has been the best producer overall. Three to five hundred feet of copper with the plugs and Moonshine spoons have worked as well.
Well it is off to fish again this afternoon. Looking forward to chasing the mighty Chinook. Until next time, good luck and happy fishing.
Capt Chris
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Back In The Saddle
Wow! What a last couple of weeks. The family and I made the big trip out east to Lake Champlain For stop #1 on the BASS Northern Open Tournament Trail. The fishing was great and we had an awesome time out there. I found plenty of Smallmouth and largemouth(with the help of the Humminbird 998 side imaging unit) that were willing to bite for me in practice. I thought that Things would go great for the tournament, boy was I mistaken. As every fisherman knows they don't always read the script. I finished 71st overall. Not great, but not bad for a field of over 200 boats.
I returned to the salmon fishing yesterday. I was fishing with Captain Dave Rusch aboard the "Family Feud". This is where I will be fishing mainly for the next three weeks. Wow, what a great return. The fish were chewing extremely well!! We caught 16 in just a hair over 4 hours. Several fish in the 14-16 pound range and a couple keeper lake trout. They were in the 80-100 foot range chewing on plugs, spoons and paddle/fly combo's. The action was pretty much non-stop. The crew decided that they had enough fish and we returned to the dock with a cooler full!
I will be trying to keep everyone posted on the fishing action. Good luck and Happy Fishing!
Capt Chris
I returned to the salmon fishing yesterday. I was fishing with Captain Dave Rusch aboard the "Family Feud". This is where I will be fishing mainly for the next three weeks. Wow, what a great return. The fish were chewing extremely well!! We caught 16 in just a hair over 4 hours. Several fish in the 14-16 pound range and a couple keeper lake trout. They were in the 80-100 foot range chewing on plugs, spoons and paddle/fly combo's. The action was pretty much non-stop. The crew decided that they had enough fish and we returned to the dock with a cooler full!
I will be trying to keep everyone posted on the fishing action. Good luck and Happy Fishing!
Capt Chris
Sunday, July 11, 2010
The Start of a New Beggining
We are up and running with the new blog page here at Northern Adventures. I will try to give as much up to date information as possible. This will range from the who, what, where, when and how. I hope you will find the information useful and interesting.
Today, I found myself back fishing a salmon tournament out of Frankfort, MI aboard the "JAWBREAKER" Captained by Randy Gum. This was the annual East Shore Shoot Out. We had a great time and ended up fifth place overall. We had several opportunities to put the fish in the boat to win the tournament, but never could quite get it done. It felt good to be back chasing the mighty Chinook again. We caught the majority of the fish on plugs today from 80 feet to 120 feet.
Well it is time to get ready for the next tournament. I am switching gears to go chase bass on Lake Champlain. Until next time Good luck and Happy Fishing!!
Capt Chris
Today, I found myself back fishing a salmon tournament out of Frankfort, MI aboard the "JAWBREAKER" Captained by Randy Gum. This was the annual East Shore Shoot Out. We had a great time and ended up fifth place overall. We had several opportunities to put the fish in the boat to win the tournament, but never could quite get it done. It felt good to be back chasing the mighty Chinook again. We caught the majority of the fish on plugs today from 80 feet to 120 feet.
Well it is time to get ready for the next tournament. I am switching gears to go chase bass on Lake Champlain. Until next time Good luck and Happy Fishing!!
Capt Chris
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