Tuesdays With Morty

Mort and I picked a perfect summer day last week to get back out on the river.  We fished the normal stretch up from the West River launch.  The sky was filled with huge, billowing clouds. They almost looked like they could hold some rain, but we never got a drop.  It was hot when I started out early in the afternoon, but it cooled quite a bit by the time I picked up Mort at a little after 5:00. 

I had committed my alone time to fishing for smallies and walleye.  I ended up spending most of the time trolling for eyes.  I tried a chartreuse Wally Diver and a crawler harness with a Berkley Alive worm in place of a live crawler.  I thought that it would hold up better against the snaggy bottom.  I ran through all of the deep lanes, spending a solid couple of hours plodding my way up river.  I believe that I briefly had a walleye on the crawler harness, but it was gone after a few head shakes.  Not much of a pay off for all of my efforts.  For the sake of being able to say that I had caught fish when I picked up Mort, I spent the last hour drifting and casting for smallies.  I caught 3 or 4 before heading down to the launch to meet him. 

When I picked up Mort, I suggested that we continue the pursuit for walleye.  He was game.  I gave him the rod with the Wally Diver on it and I continued to troll the crawler harness.  I was still letting my line out when he announced that he had a fish.  It turned out to be a 16 inch walleye.  It was the first walleye that we had seen come out of that part of the river in a long time, so we were quite pleased.  I think that I'm going to focus on them a little more throughout the rest of the summer.  I'm starting to hear stories that guys are doing well for them around there. Later that evening we saw a couple of old boys floating leeches along the bridge pylons under slip bobbers.  They reported that they had also caught a 16-incher.

We spent most of the rest of the evening still-fishing just up and then just down from the bridge.  Mort fished crawlers and I decided to lip hook some smaller creek chubs on a one hook crawler harness.  I figured that the current would spin the blade as it sat stationary at the bottom of the river.  The smallies were hot.  They were jumping on the worms and the chubs.  We caught several.  Most of them were smallish.  Our biggest was a 15 incher that bit on a chub.  This fish really had some shoulders and was built like a football.  It stayed deep like a hog.  I was pretty impressed when I saw that it wasn't a very big fish. 

While we were fishing just down from the bridge, we saw a guy fishing a frog in some slow brackish water that pooled around a small snag.  He threw the frog into the snag and began to steadily bring it back.  When it had just cleared the wood, a big smallie came completely out of the water after it.  She completely missed the frog on her first attempt, but came right back and got hooked up.  The guy said that he had caught another nice one in the very same place earlier in the week.  I think that I still have a couple of those Ribbit frogs.  Something to try.

The flatties are still off, or I have completely lost my touch.  I fished deep water around some beautiful snags.  I used live chubs and cut sucker.  Neither got touched.  At closer to midnight I moved up into the flat next to the snaggy holes looking for some cruisers.  Nothing up there either.  I anchored one last time just above the bridge.  When my third spot didn't produce a whisper of a hit, I finally packed it in.  July has been cruel to me in regards to flatheads.  I've probably just got one more chance to avoid a big goose egg for the whole month.  I may try to get my hands on some different types of bait to better my chances.  I've still got a good supply of chubs, but I'll probably try to get some gills and bullheads before my next outing.  Something's got to work.

Scouting Trips

With the exception of a brief interruption this past weekend, we've had the longest stretch of sunny days that I can remember in all of my 36 Marches.  Thanks to my mom offering to have Luke overnight one night last week and Hayden overnight one night this week, I found myself with a couple of nice days where I only had 2 kids to tote around.  Since I can only fit 2 in the back of my Jeep with their car seats, I jumped on these opportunities to check out the lower end of the Grand River in neighboring Ottawa County.  My first trip took me along the north bank of the river, checking out launches on the side roads off of Leonard Street.  On my second trip I checked out the south bank and got a pretty good look at a couple of my prospective bayous.

I brought Hayden and Lincoln on my first outing.  From what we can tell so far, these two are just about exactly alike.  If they weren't my kids, I'd call them spazzy.  No, you know what?  They are my kids and I can't think of a word in the English language that better describes them.  Case in point; one of their favorite things to do together is scream back and forth.  They take turns yelling in one another's faces, getting louder and louder until I'm able to loosen my clenched jaw and yell, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO?!  KNOCK IT OFF!"  I'm a calm guy, but when these two are in full swing, they can really get the old man's right eye twitching.  So, with the terrible twins in the backseat and a lot of miles and time to be logged on the road, I knew that things might end up getting pretty hectic.  I promised them McDonald's after we checked out a couple of launches.  I also brought Hayden's Hannah Montana CD along to keep her entertained.

We left the driveway happily bobbing our heads to "Hoedown Throwdown," but by the time we got to "The Climb" we found ourselves stuck in a traffic jam in the middle of downtown Grand Rapids.  As I stared at the rusty bumper of the old Ford van in front of me, I got sucker punched in the back of the head.  "Gungy, Gawgy."  That's Linc-lish for "Hungry, Daddy."  Shoot!  I was in such a hurry to get going I threw the kids in the car without giving them their normal after nap snack.  I had also packed like a dad.  I chucked a couple of diapers and a box of wipes on the passenger seat.  Never gave food a passing thought.  "Hayden, try to distract Lincoln for me."  "I can't, I'm hungry too."  Oh boy.

After about 15 minutes in the parking lot on 131, we finally got rolling.  With the car  moving once again and some new scenery in front of them, the kids luckily forgot about food for the time being.  It was tough going on Leonard until we put a little space between ourselves and the city.  It eventually transformed into a winding 2 lane country road.  We could occasionally see the river down in the flooded valley to our left.  After about 25 minutes on Leonard, we found the first launch.  Deer Creek Park is just west of Lamont near Coopersville.  It's basically some green space, a parking lot, and a launch.  The whole park was under water.  We could only see the tops of the handicap parking signs.  The kids weren't even a little impressed.  Still, I had an idea of how long it would take to get there from my house and I'd now be able to find it in the dark if I decided to head out early one morning this spring.  This will be my spring channel cat spot.  Mort and I are hoping to get into some of those fish that push 20 pounds when they make their run up from Lake Michigan.

With the kids begging to go to McDonald's, I pushed west towards the bayous and let them know that it wouldn't be too much longer.  The drive to the next launch was quite a bit further than I had anticipated and I was starting to get a little tense.  Lincoln was absolutely starving and had fallen into repeatedly asking where Mommy went.  Hayden was done with Hannah Montana and fixated on getting a happy meal.  I finally found the launch that I will use to get me to Pottawattomie and Stearns bayous.  It turns out that it's very near the Nunica exit on I-96.  I'll go after pike and bass in these bayous and see if I can figure out walleye in the main river channel of this area.  The launch is upriver from the bayous which isn't ideal.  I generally like to fish upriver from where I launch in case I have problems with the motor.  If I'm upstream, I can always float back down to the launch.  Still, I'm looking forward to getting in our boat and exploring this section of the river.  I'm thinking an early April trip is in order.  Maybe I'll throw in a couple of rods, some crawlers, and a tub of dip bait.  I did finally get the kids to McDonald's and they once again returned to their happy, spunky selves.  Despite my dumb dad stuff, the trip went very well and I got one step closer to putting my spring fishing plan together.

I had a feeling that my outing with Luke and Lincoln would be relatively stress free.  I fed them before we left and I threw in water bottles and additional snacks for the road.  Luke is a big Four Seasons fan, so we traded Hayden's bubblegum pop for some oldies but goodies.  131 was cruel to us again.  Someone had dumped a load of empty plant flats in the left lane.  Even though these things are just about as thin as paper, people were almost coming to a complete stop as they weaved through them.  196 and Lake Michigan Drive were all clear.  When I got out past Grand Valley, I jogged over to a road that runs right along the river.  From east to west the name of the road changed from North Cedar Drive to Green Street to Mercury Drive.  I found a couple of nice parks with launches, but they were quite a ways up river from the bayous.  I eventually wandered over Stearns and then Pottawattomie bayous.  Looking at them on a map, I pictured them as isolated and surrounded by desolate wetlands.  Both have homes on them and are in a pretty populated area.  I won't be quite as alone as I'm used to on the river, but if the fishing is good I won't mind.  I'm curious to see what kind of boat traffic and fishing pressure this end of the river gets.

We hit a park on the way home.  It was pretty windy and cold, but the boys had fun walking a trail and then playing on the playground.  On the way home "Walk Like A Man" played.  When it was done Luke said, "Hey Dad, you need to walk like a man, okay?"  I chuckled and said I'd do what I could.  He said, "No, you really need to walk like a man."  More chuckling, "Okay, buddy."  After a little pause I said, "Hey, wait!  Why are you saying that?  You're being funny?"  He remained completely deadpan.  "No, Dad.  You walk like a girl."  Not long after, another song started and Luke joined in, "Pretty as a midsummer's morn, they called her . . . Dad!"  How did Luke get so smart and where did he get such a smart mouth?  I always thought with my general love for the outdoors and my tendency to shave maybe twice a week that I had a certain rugedness about me.  Apparently I have some work to do to toughen myself up in my boy's eyes.  He later told me that he "was just trying to be funny like you, Dad," so that made things better.  I've got to hand it to him, he kind of had me going.  I didn't know that he had the aptitude to kid like that.

Nothing is stress free when it involves a couple of preschool age kids, but my scouting trips went very well.  I have a better picture of this new section of river and I know right where to go to get on it.  Time will tell  if my efforts translate into fish.  I think they will.  I can't wait to make that first cast.

A Look Towards Spring

I spent a good part of this past Saturday getting my ice fishing gear stored away.  I took my time to make sure that everything was clean and dry, and then stored it all neatly away in my basement.  With ice fishing completely behind me, it's time to turn towards spring and start to make my plan.  I'm finding that, especially with my new passion for muskie fishing, I have a lot to figure out in the next 45 days.  If I want to be ready for the pike, muskies, walleye, and channel cats by the end of April, then I'd better get it in gear.

The good news is that as far as catfish, I'm pretty well set.  I can always update and upgrade, but I've got what I need and I could be ready to fish the river tonight if I wanted to.  I buy my cat hooks in bulk, so I still have plenty.  The same goes for swivels.  I still have quite a bit of line left to make my leaders.  As for the line on my reels, I loaded that 80 pound PowerPro on them last year and I think that it has plenty of life left in it.  I may decide to get fresh line later in the year, but I don't think it's a must before the season starts.  I have my eye on an Abu Garci Ambassadeur 7000 C3I reel, but that too can wait.  I'll stick with my two 6500's and my old Shimano Cordair for now.  I'm set for cats.

It's thinking about getting ready for muskies that makes me feel overwhelmed.  I'm finding that it's almost like a whole new sport if you want to get off to a good start.  Bass gear obviously won't handle throwing the big lures and especially won't hold up to fighting the savage fish.  I like the St. Croix Premier 7'6" MH power, fast action casting rod.  Gander Mountain has just one.  I know that I can order one if this one sells, but it will be nice to save on the shipping.  It will probably be my first big purchase.  I've been drooling over the Shimano Calcutta 400 reel for years now.  They make a B series that is over $100 cheaper than the TE.  I'm in the process of saving for this reel right now.  Of course, Michelle and I are working hard to Dave Ramsey our debt, so just about the only money that I am able to put towards fishing is the money that I get for giving plasma.  Not a complaint.  I just have to think things through and really decide what I need and what I can live without.

The rod and reel are already a huge set back, and then I have to think about building some kind of starter arsenal of lures.  Muskie lures are usually much bigger than the average lure and, therefore, much more expensive.  I found a couple of Super Shad Raps at Dick's that were on sale for about $10.  I grabbed a couple and will get a couple more after I donate tomorrow.  I still want to get some bucktail in-line and safety pin spinner baits.  I also want to pick up some big plastic baits like the Bull Dawg.  Who knows what else I'll end up with.  Lures are like candy to me.  I'm drawn to them anytime I'm in a sporting goods store and it's pretty easy to talk myself into getting a couple more in case I find myself in just the right situation for them.  I kicked around the idea of getting the Terminator titanium leaders.  They're more expensive and it looks like I'd have to order them.  They can wait, too.  I can get a decent steel leader in the store for relatively cheap.  The last thing that I'll need for rigging is 65 # PowerPro.  This is a must right off the bat.  My starter kit is getting expensive.

Besides rod, reel, and tackle there are other things that you should probably have if you're going to chase muskies.  I would like to eventually get a really nice oversized net.  I've noticed that when the guys on the shows catch muskies, they leave them in the net and in the water while they're getting the hooks out.  Modern nets are also made to be a lot easier on the fish.  Hopefully I can get a good net shortly into the season.  I've noticed that some of the time, they have to cut the hooks to get the lure back out of the muskies' mouths with the least amount of damage to them.  I'll have to get some good cutters.  If I'm going to be cutting the hooks off of my lures, I better come prepared with a supply of replacement hooks and rings.  I'm also going to need a split ring tool.  Finally, Lindy makes a really nice glove that protects hands from hooks and teeth.  At something like $30 per glove, I'll have to wait on those.  Mechanics' gloves will have to do for now.    Way down the line, I'd like to get one more muskie rod and Calcutta reel so that I can have a second rod in the boat ready with a different type of lure or for a partner to use if I bring someone with me.  I also want a trolling rod and reel with a line counter.  I like the Shimano Tekota.  These things will have to come after I get some experience and decide that I can have some success with muskies and I really want to make them a fish that I regularly pursue.  Man, there's something to be said for driving 5 minutes to the river and fishing a crawler on a hook and sinker.

Other than putting fresh monofilament on my spinning reels, I'm in pretty good shape for chasing all of the other fish.  I'm going to go after big pike in the Grand River bayous this May.  I can use my muskie gear for them.  This is a new adventure for me and I'm really looking forward to exploring that section of the river.  I'll probably throw the kids in the Jeep before then and take a scouting trip to check out some of the launches over there.  I want to know right where I'm going when the time comes.  I've heard that the walleye fishing can be good on that end of the river, too.  I want to try for them with Josh and Elijah.  Elijah is obsessed with walleye and I've become obsessed with getting him his first one.  I'm sure Mort will come out with me, too.  We can go after those huge channel cats that Dan Lipski put us on a couple of years ago.  I might kick off my year fishing for muskies and walleye on Thornapple Lake on the last Saturday in April.  We'll see.  I have a feeling it will be like trying to hunt state land on the opening day of gun season.  I'm not big on combat fishing.  I'll figure it out when the time gets closer.

I love this time of year.  It's a great feeling to know that the new season is right around the corner, full of big fish and memorable moments on the water.  I get antsy with the anticipation, but as I lose myself in the preparation, time is going to fly by and I'm going to be back in a boat before I know it.      

Oh Canada!

It's pretty common for guys who live in Michigan to go on Canada fishing trips.  Some guys go several times a year, some go annually, and some just go once or twice in a lifetime to try it out.  I'm a try it out guy.  I've actually been up there to fish 3 times.  The success rates varied on these trips, but they were all interesting in their own right.

My first time up there was actually with Michelle and a bunch of couples.  They were all married and we were engaged at the time.  It was one of those deals where we knew one couple really well, but the rest of them were more their friends than ours.  I'm not great with people I kind of know.  I'm the epitome of social awkwardness, introvertedness, quiet, shy . . . whatever you want to call it.  If I'm in a social situation and the natural shuffling of the people leaves me alone in a room with some other poor sap, there always seems to be this jolting, silent vacuum that sucks the air out of our lungs when we both realize, "Oh crap, it's just me and this guy."  Most of Michelle's friends' husbands have given up on me.  Still, she tries valiantly to pull me into conversations with them.  "Really, you like Mountain Dew?  Oh my gosh, Matt likes Mountain Dew!  Tell him hon!"  "Yeah, Mountain Dew is pretty good."  I've noticed that sometimes when the "kind of know" people are women, they turn me into their social charity case.  They nod at me really big with their eyes all wide, laugh too loud, act way too interested, and basically treat me like I'm 3.  If whatever I do elicits responses like this, then I must be some kind of a social dolt.

So here we were, on a long weekend trip with a bunch of people that I really just wanted to get away from.  This sentiment was punctuated the first night when the conversation turned to everyone's pooping habits.  This is what married people talk about?  I felt like one lonely prude in that room, because I seemed to be the only one who wasn't giving up his/her proctological habits.  This even included this very pretty model who announced, "I have to poop every time we go to the mall, don't I hon?!"  "Yep, it's true.  Everytime we set foot in the mall, the first thing she has to do is go poop."  Everyone was delighted.  I wanted to be anywhere but there.  Bedtime finally rolled around, and our close friends actually slept in a bed between us to keep us pure.  I was starting to look for the cameras and Ashton Kutcher.  I agreed with sleeping separately from Michelle before we were married, but couldn't I sleep on a couch or something?

The payoff came the next morning when we headed out to fish for smallies in this beautiful clear lake with a rocky bottom.  My friend caught a huge bronzeback from the dock on his first cast.  I couldn't stay off of the lake after that.  The smallmouth were everywhere and they were aggressive.  I caught monster after monster, slipping around the edge of the lake in a small canoe.  Of course, I was supposed to be doing couples stuff, so I got myself into quite a bit of trouble.  Michelle was mad, the other wives were looking at me with disdain, and my good friend had to give me a "C'mon, dude . . . " speech.  Actually, I think this might have been the first time that Michelle realized that she was in trouble.  My obsession with fishing and avoidance of the pooping couples must have been pretty scary to witness for the first time.  She stayed with me for some reason, but she still fights me on it from time to time.

My other two trips were with my dad.  We went once with some guys from church and once with Tim and Jared.  There is a group of guys at the church where I grew up who went every year.  I think that they even had a waiting list of guys who wanted to go with them.  My dad has always been held in high regard by these guys, so we were extended a special invitation.  The trip started with a long drive up into Ontario in the middle of a foggy night on winding roads.  I offered to drive a couple of times, but I don't think they quite trusted the boy.  We made it to the outfitters, loaded our boats, and then took an hour or so boat ride in to our cabin.  The cabin was set on a small rocky point that was surrounded by extremely thick woods.  The only walking that we would be doing was up and down the short path between the cabin and the dock.  We weren't going to be getting much exercise.

The fishing up there was good.  We caught a lot of walleye between 12 and 17 inches.  We mostly trolled crawler harnesses.  I was put in a boat with this big, happy teddy bear of a guy who liked to sing "Coca Cabana" at the top of his lungs while we fished.  I was also with a guy who was simply fun to be around and a crafty fisherman.  The big guy snuck in a few cigars and they let the kid try one.  I remember the 3 of us pounding down peanuts to get rid of the cigar breath before we headed back to the cabin.  I commented that you know your breath is bad if you have to eat peanuts to improve it.  The kid made a joke!  They liked that.  In the end, I caught the fewest fish, but I did take home biggest fish honors.  We ate fried fish all week, got no exercise, and I found myself unable to perform in the outhouse-speaking of proctological habits.  When we got back, our women said that we looked fat.

The trip with Tim and Jared was the least productive fish-wise, but we had a lot of fun.  We knew that the fishing might not be too hot when the fishing guide that my dad hired got excited when he saw a frog by the lake.  "Amphibian, that's a good sign."  No, catching a huge bass on your first cast is a good sign.  Seeing a frog by a lake is supposed to be so normal that it doesn't get mentioned.  Old Eugene.  He was a piece of work.  Jared nicknamed him "Eu-weenie" and it stuck.  He came wandering up about 30 minutes late the morning that we first met him.  He was a greasy, sinewy, scraggly looking fellow with a thick accent and nose hair curling breath.  We were pretty sure that he hadn't slept at all the previous night but was just getting in from God knows where.  He took us out in a tub of a boat and we trolled all  morning.  As I recall, he had me using a big red leadhead jig with a whole crawler on it.  I picked up a rock bass and he again got way too excited.  He told me to keep it and he'd clean it for me.  Just as he was starting to blame our lack of success on high clouds and a blue sky, I announced that I had a snag.  He said, "Do you have a snag or do you have a fish?"  Turned out that it was a fish.  It was a nice walleye that he also cleaned and cooked for us.

The highlight of that trip for me was when the outfitter set us up in canoes on a lake that was supposed to hold pike.  The canoes were those red plastic kind that are riveted to a frame.  It felt like the shell could pull away from the frame at any time and it was incredibly unstable.  My dad worried about flipping the thing during the whole outing.  We stayed dry, but we did lose one rod and reel.  What made this the highlight started with the outfitter advising us to throw a live minnow just off of a rock face.  He said that there is a ledge under water just off of this face.  The idea was to land the minnow on top of the shelf and then pull it off and let it fall straight down off of the drop.  I did this and hooked into a 29-inch pike.  At that time in my life, this was a really big fish and I was pretty impressed that the guy's advice panned out for us.

When we got home from that trip, I took Jared to a local lake with a lot of bass.  I promised him that we'd catch more fish in one day than we caught all week in Canada.  I'd like to tell you that we killed them and made up for the slow week, but I honestly don't remember.  I'd like to do the Canada thing again sometime.  Maybe when I'm done paying for diapers and sippy cups I can get some guys together and fly in to one of those isolated lakes with the monster pike that are fabled to hit on empty beer cans.  Truthfully, it will probably be decades before I'm able to do something like that.  In the mean time, I'll keep it in the daydream vault.