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
