It has been quite some time since my last post!! Between hunting trips, end of season fishing trips, and holiday's, the time has flown by. It is now time to open the chapter on 2011. I look forward to what this year will bring in the way of family, friendships and fishing. These are three of the most important things to me in life.
Family to me is the most important thing of all! My wife and kids always make me happy no matter what. I love spending time with them whenever possible. We look forward to the slow time of the year so we can spend quality time together. Unfortunately, there is no warm weather get away this winter season, just hot chocolate after shoveling snow. I can't wait to get the boat out and take them on the first fishing trip of the year! It is always a great time.
Friendships come and go through the years, but every year I look forward to new friendships that will be made fishing. It is always fun to meet new people and go different places to fish. Watching people catch fish to me never gets old, especially when it is there personal best or there first. Let us not forget about good times to be had with old friends. Fishing with old buddies is a good time that never gets old. There always seems to be the one that got away or a fish tale of great proportion to be re-lived.
Fishing for me, has been more along the lines of work now for over 20+ years. I still look forward to the challenges of figuring those finned critters out. Also, I enjoy taking people fishing, no matter if they are a rookie or the next Fishing Hall of Fame inductee. This is always rewarding no matter what the outcome. This is why fishing never gets old to me.
We will see what 2011 has to offer in the way of family, friendships, and fishing. I'm sure it will be great. Hope to see you on the water Until next time Good Luck and Happy Fishing.
Capt Chris
Monday, February 7, 2011
Saturday, October 9, 2010
What to do?
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
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
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
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