How now brown trout?

Pure Michigan!

In Michigan for the weekend, I had to get my obligatory Michigan fishing in. Saturday morning I waded the Thornapple River near Grand Rapids, but got completely skunked (and very very cold). It was beautiful, but I wasn't able to find any fish. I decided to hit up another river on Sunday, hopefully I'd get into some fish this time.

It was cold, dark, and raining, and I left the house anyway. Mark told me about a great spot on a great river not too far from Grand Rapids- the Rogue River, and I was determined to check it out. It's not every day I get the chance to fish pristine Michigan waters, and I knew there were fish in there I wasn't likely to find at Busse or the Fox River. Fish like trout. Although I've gone salmon fishing a few times in the harbors in Chicago, I have yet to connect with one of those beasts. In fact, the only trout I've ever caught were 3 8" steelheads at Burnham in the summer.

I threw my stuff in the Mini Cooper, plugged my phone into the aux input, and accelerated onto the expressway. I tuned my Pandora radio to Mos Def, but I wasn't listening... I was fantasizing about the steelhead I was about to catch. Or kings. Or coho. I don't really know. Following my GPS and the pin I'd dropped on the secret location, I made my way to Rockford, Michigan, and parked.

I got out of the car, and looked down at the river. My first impression was a little bit of terror: it looked super fast and super cold. Was I ready for this? This would only be my 4th or 5th time wading. And it was cold out, not to mention raining. Like usual, I threw caution to the wind, and suited up.

The cold-looking Rogue River, Rockford, Michigan

I headed down a path, walked under a bridge, and immediately noticed a ton of "PRIVATE PROPERTY: NO HUNTING OR FISHING" signs everywhere, all around the path. Mark told me the day before Michigan law allowed anglers to use a reasonable amount of bank to facilitate fishing public waters, so I wasn't too worried about the signs. But I have to admit, every time I heard a branch crack or a squirrel jump I expected to turn around and see a shotgun-toting Tea Party member wanting me off his property.

Mark told me I should cross the river where there were a bunch of riffles, or a little rapids. I slowly and carefully made my way into the water a little upstream of the rapids, noting how much warmer the water seemed than the Thornapple yesterday. I'd been told the Thornapple was spring fed, and always super cold; either way, the Rogue didn't seem so bad. Looking down into the water, I was absolutely shocked with the water clarity- I could see all the way to the bottom; the water was crystal clear! NONE of the waters I fish in Illinois are crystal clear like this. I don't know if it's pollution, or mud, or the type of bottom... But this was incredible. The bottom of the river was covered with rocks and millions of vibrantly colored leaves recently dropped from the trees. It looked like a quilt, a myriad of bright colors shining up from the bottom. But I didn't see any fish there.

I snapped a Mepp's gold Aglia onto my swivel, thinking that might entice whatever trout or salmon happened to be lurking in these waters. I'd recently read about maggots, skein, and even nightcrawlers being successful on the river, but I hadn't stopped at a bait shop to get any of these things. Also, I didn't have any bobbers. So I was sticking with what I had, which was an assortment of inline spinners (store-bought and homemade), crankbaits, and jigs.

The flow of the river was pretty strong, much stronger than any stretch of the Fox I'd experienced. I started to get nervous, but I persevered; maybe the rapids would be better, I thought. I looked downstream and saw nothing but white water, flowing quickly over big boulders. It was pretty exciting- looking around, as far as I knew I could have been in some remote stream in the Colorado rockies; with the boulders, the pine trees, and the knowledge that there were trout in these waters. The roar of the rushing water filled the air. If there were any cars or trains or planes around, I didn't see them or hear them. I knew there were houses nearby, but I couldn't seem them either. I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere, in a good way!

I stepped into the rapids, and quickly felt the pull of the current. At this moment I was incredibly happy to have my improvised wading staff. Although it was just a broom handle with a hole drilled into it, a rope threaded threw the hole and affixed to me with a caribeaner, it prevented me from falling over in the water. I wasn't used to so many huge rocks, and it was challenging to navigate them while dealing with the very strong current. I took tiny steps, trying not to lift my feet too far off the bottom: when I did, they felt like underwater kites and were pushed by the current.

Every now and then I would pause, wondering if I should turn around and cross somewhere else. I looked around and realized I was already in the middle of the river, I might as well continue. I kept moving, slowly, every few steps almost falling over. I started to sweat. This was a workout- I could feel my entire lower body working to keep me vertical. I'd probably feel this tomorrow! Thank goodness for the wading staff. It saved me more times than I could count!

Finally, I was in a few feet of the opposite shore, when I almost stepped into a deep hole between some rocks. I quickly pulled back, using my broom handle to steady myself, the adrenaline shooting through my body. Whew! That was close! I paused, gathered myself, and carefully continued. At last, I was standing in a foot of water on the other side of the river. I walked downstream, closely following the shore, until I got to an island Mark told me about.

Here the bottom seemed much more sandy, and I sank in a little when I waded out to the middle. I was pretty sure smallies liked gravel or rocky bottoms (not sandy bottoms like this) but I wasn't sure about trout or salmon. I was also pretty sure there weren't really any smallies here, so it didn't matter what I knew about them! I scanned the water, trying to make some sense of all the currents I was seeing. There was clearly one big current coming from the rapids upstream, clearly identified by a line of bubbles quickly traveling down the river. I wondered if any opportunistic fish might sit right in the slower water right next to the faster water (I think that's called a seam...) waiting for a meal to go by. I cast my spinner upstream, and reeled it in right along the seam, just fast enough to keep the blade spinning.

I fan cast the area, eventually casting downstream and retrieving upstream. I'd had much more luck doing that for smallies, even though it didn't make sense to me (if the fish are facing upstream, seems like they'd be less likely to see food approaching from behind). I got hung up a bunch of times- especially casting upstream- but managed to keep my lure. 

After a while, three guys in kayaks came down the river. Two of them seemed like they'd never been kayaking before, and were spinning around and bumping into each other. It was pretty funny. When they saw me, they tried to give me a wide berth, but were unsuccessful. I didn't mind, I know it can be hard to control a kayak! I told them I hadn't caught or seen any fish; one of them said there were lots of fish in this river. I just hoped I could find them!

I continued downstream, slowly wading and casting in what I thought were good places. Places where the water spun in a circle, seams, on either side of riffles, all around boulders; I didn't see any fish jumping, and I didn't see any fish under the surface. Although I wasn't wearing my polarized sunglasses, I had no problem seeing all the way to the bottom. The leaf-patchwork and rock bottom was beautiful to look at, although there weren't any fish. I was surprised I didn't see any baitfish, especially in some slow moving water under tree branches close to shore.

At one point, moving to a good location, I had to wade through some deeper water. Until this point, I thought the water wasn't too cold, and had even taken off my sweatshirt because I was too warm. There was a very particular point when the cold water swirled almost to my waist and I changed my opinion. I decided the water was extremely cold.

Over the course of an hour or two, I slowly waded downstream, and threw a variety of different lures. A few different crankbaits, some Sims spinners (they cast so nice, and seemed to reach the bottom more easily in the faster current. I'd heard trout and salmon might hang out near the bottom....), and some other inlines. I also threw a little homemade spinner that had a bullet weight for a body. It also was able to stay deeper, closer to the bottom, although nobody was interested in it. I wondered about color selection in this water; I was pretty sure in clear water, you should use more natural-colored lures since the fish can see them better. On the other hand, it seemed like most salmon and trout lures where brightly colored and absolutely NOT natural-looking. I'd have to do some more research about this.

Casting to many VERY fishy locations, I started to get frustrated. I hadn't seen a single fish, certainly not any big steelhead or salmon swimming around. No fish jumping, no little baitfish swimming around. I did see some bugs on the surface of the water, but was not able to find any small fish eating the bugs. What gives?

Thinking I wouldn't have any more luck, I decided to head back upstream toward the car. I could cast along the way, but I didn't expect to get into any fish. I made my way to the shore, and started walking upstream on a path. The forest was extremely beautiful. Although the rain had stopped earlier, everything was covered in just enough water to make it shine and glisten as the sun shown from behind clouds. The leaves were tremendously vibrant, covering every square inch of the forest floor. The sound of rushing water was all around me.

I saw a guy fly fishing near where I'd originally entered the water. I had fished there, and got nothing. He was standing only up to his knees in water- could there really be nice trout or salmon swimming around right there, around his legs? I have a lot to learn, apparently. He said he had a nibble, but had only been there a few minutes. I told him about my skunk, and continued up the river. 

I reached the bridge, near where I parked, and noticed some interesting looking water upstream. Mark suggested the river downstream was better, but I hadn't had any luck there. Maybe I'd try working some of the water on the other side of the bridge. Making my way along the path, I saw the river seemed to split; it looked like a little creek joined the river here. Hmmm, I thought, I think this kind of spot might have some fish...

Turns out, there was at least one fish here

The bank was extremely steep, and slippery from all the wet leaves, but I somehow managed to get down to the water. I stepped in, 4" of water barely covering my boots. I figured I would fan cast the area before going deeper. Who knows...

To my left - downstream- the water flowed to a bunch of rocks, which after a small rapids traveled down and met the main branch of the river. To my right, the water was slow, a slow stream seemingly coming from the forest. Having lost my #2 Mepp's Aglia on a branch earlier, I snapped on a #2 Black Fury. I'd had a lot of luck with these lures lately, even though I was pretty sure they were supposed to be best in low-light conditions. This wasn't a low-light condition- it was about noon, and the sun was up in full force. The clouds were dissipating, and it was turning into a really nice day.

I cast downstream, my spinner landing inches from the edge of the rapids. I reeled in a bit, and let it fall. I began reeling again, when I felt was was absolutely a hit. A hit!! This was no snag, this was a fish investigating my lure! After all that wading, crossing rapids, and I got a hit only a few feet from my car. Sweet!

I cast again, trying to get to the same spot. I got it pretty close, but no hit. I cast a third time, this time much closer to the original spot, not even 3" from the edge of the rocks, the mini waterfall. I must have let the spinner fall to the bottom, because it got stuck on a rock or some leaves. I casually began to reel it in, ready to clean off the treble hook, when there was a splash, and I saw a fish. A fish! On my line! It wasn't leaves, it was a fish!

Like a jolt of electricity, the adrenaline started pumping and suddenly I was completely focused on the task at hand. I had a fish on! There was NO way I was going to let this one get away. I quickly reeled, and soon realized it was a tiny fish on the end of my line. There was no real fight, it was like reeling in a bunch of leaves. When the fish got closer, I saw it, and literally yelped for joy. 

I knew it was a trout. I had seen pictures of this kind of fish, although I couldn't remember exactly what type it was. As quickly as I could, I got the fish over land (I was only standing a foot from the bank) so I wouldn't lose it. I had to get a picture of this one!

I dropped my rod, and held the fish in my hand, getting the hooks out of its mouth. I yelped some more, wanting to jump up and down with joy. "Holy $&*@" I said way more times than necessary. It was a tiny fish, and hadn't given any fight to speak of; but I had caught a trout, on a cold Michigan stream, while wading. It was like some Hemingway novel, or some "Pure Michigan" commercial. It was awesome! I was beyond ecstatic. 

This was by far, hands down, the most beautiful fish I'd ever caught in my entire life.

I caught a brown trout!!!!

In my mind I tried to go through the thousands of fishing web pages I'd seen in the last few months, trying to remember trout identication, to put a name with this fish's face. It definitely wasn't a salmon or steelhead; I was pretty sure it was either a brook trout or a brown trout. I seemed to think one of those was the state fish of Michigan. This was great. Michigan is awesome. The night before, Claire and her family and I had gone to a Bell's Beer dinner at the golf club. Besides drinking way too much delicious Bell's Beer, I'd also won a raffle for a Two Hearted Ale baseball cap. Not only was that my very favorite beer, but there was a trout on the beer label- and the hat. Since I was wearing my new Two Hearted Ale trout hat and caught my first Michigan trout while wearing it, I decided this hat was now not only my favorite hat ever, it was my lucky trout hat.

I took about 60 pictures in quick succession (ok, more like 15) not wanting to hurt this little guy. He was such a good looking fish, and I wanted him to grow up to be a bigger good looking fish. Every few seconds he would squirm, and I could feel nothing but muscle on this fish. I wonder if that's how all river fish are, since everything in their world wants to push them downstream. It's like constant exercise- no wonder they're all ripped!

After 30-45 seconds of pictures with my new buddy, I put my phone back in my waders, and bent down to the water, carefully putting him back in the stream. He didn't do anything but sit in my hand, so I moved him forward in the water, running water through his gills. I'd heard of people killing pike by moving it forward and backwards in the water, apparently suffocating it (I guess gills don't work backwards). I did my best to only move this trout forward in the water, reviving him. After a few seconds, he suddenly realized he was back in the water, and swam off.

I stood there, in awe of the amazing fish I'd just caught. Although it wasn't a 10 pound steelhead, or even a 1 pound fish, I landed a trout while wading. I felt like a real fisherman- with waders, a thick unkempt beard, and a hat and an iphone library with trout on it.

I worked every square inch of the entire little stream, but was not able to locate any more trout. I really didn't understand why a little fish like that would position himself so close to the edge of a little waterfall. Seemed like any momentary lapse in concentration and he'd be pushed over the falls by the current. I moved a little farther upstream, again going above my waist in very cold water. Again I didn't think the water was cold until it reached a certain point. Now I was cold!

It was early afternoon, I was cold, and I was hungry.. and I'd had in my mind a completely successful fishing outing. I waded a roaring, rocky, beautiful Michigan river and caught a trout. That was really more than I could have asked for on a rainy Sunday.

I crossed the river, this time NOT at the rapids (which I found much, much easier to do), and reached my car. Very satisfied, I pulled off my waders, untied my boots, and broke down my fishing rod. A few short minutes later I was headed back down 131, the foot heaters blasting, my iphone photo library filled with pictures of a single beautiful trout.

Another shot of my first brown trout
(note the bell's two-hearted ale hat, with a trout on it)

New friends and no salmon

Sunrise at Diversey Harbor

Last week, I put up a post on windycityfishing.com advertising I was going to try salmon fishing diversey on Frday, asking if any other WCF'ers were going to be there. I got a response from Osprey (who I later learned was also called Rob) who said he'd be there. Great! I know almost nothing about salmon fishing, maybe I could learn a thing or two... Or even more.

Walking up to the wall at the mouth around 5am, I said hello and met Rob. After our introductions, I immediately proceeded to tangle my line beyond repair. First cast.

Rob was nice enough to help me fix my line, and another fisherman came over to assist. I felt horrible to show my noob-ness so quickly and keep them from casting- but I was also thankful for their help! After a few minutes, my line was cut, we pocketed the birdsnest, and Rob tied on some terminal tackle for me.

Throughout the next few hours, Rob and I talked about fishing, and other stuff, but mostly fishing. He'd been fishing a long time, and although I was extremely new to the sport, he was nice enough to share some tidbits of information. Like that the salmon we were fishing for were put there to bring down the alewife population. I knew the salmon were stocked, but I was foggy about the specific reasons. Or why a longer flexible rod can be a good thing. Stuff like that. Rob also let me use a bunch of his lures- there were a lot of names I'm foggy on, but I think some of them were clackin' raps, and one was a J-13 (or something like that).

A great day for fall fishing

It was great- I have to admit; as much as I love the internet, and I've learned my fair share of stuff staring at my computer screen, there is no substitute for conversation with another person. Especially when the other person knows stuff you don't.

After an hour or two, a guy near us started battling a fish- I tried to hide my gaping jaw and kid-at-christmas...These were serious hardcore fishermen, they didn't necessarily need to know how giddy I was.

The fish jumped, ran, splashed, lept, ran again, but the hookset was good. Rob grabbed his (giant) net and helped the guy land the fish. It was a great looking fish, although not quite as big as the salmon last week. They said it was a 7 pound coho, which wasn't huge.

Seriously, I'm glad I didn't catch it, I would have been giggling like a school-girl amazed at its size!

I payed close attention to the lure he had caught it on- I think it was a 3/4oz silver and green Mr. Cleo spoon. I had one of those! It's so great to know I'm not too far off base- I actually had in my collection stuff that would catch these fish. Pretty soon I tied one on - to a swivel, since I recently learned why that's a good idea - and began casting.

A little while later another WCF'er, Handler (Alex) showed up, ready to catch the big one. His dad caught a MONSTER king the week before; I showed the picture he texted to me to pretty much everyone I saw that day. What a monster. So huge. That was a big part of why I hadn't stopped casting, given up, and called it a day. The idea that THOSE are right here in the lake, swimming around, and all I have to do is figure out what will annoy them... That's why I was there.

And think about the facebook profile pic. That would be some real fisherman street cred. (Or would it?)

Engaged in fishing conversation, oblivious to my lure, I suddenly get some kind of hit on my spoon. It wasn't weeds or rocks, but it wasn't like a bass or bluegill- it was different. Maybe it was a salmon! Re-energized, I continued casting, desperately trying to remember what I had been doing when I got the hit.

After a few more hours, nobody had hooked into anything, and I don't think anybody even had a bump. They were jumping (the fish) but had no interest in anything any of us were throwing.

Rob called it a day, and some others left too. Eventually Alex moved to a different spot, and I was still fishing, but with a new group of people. Some old guys gave me tips about salmon fishing, which I appreciated, but their tips were mostly about all the big fish they'd caught. Not exactly helpful in that moment.

I was casting a wildly gaudy rattling crank (or is it rat-L-trap?), which every third cast got followed by something big and brown. Again, distracted by conversation, I thought it was my imagination at first. Paying more attention, I saw the full outline of the fish. I couldn't identify it or see how big it was, but it was BIG and BROWN. Brown trout! flashed through my head. But for all I know it could have been some new kind of rock bass I don't know exists.

I stuck around another half hour, egged on by this phantom brown shadow, teasing me. Why wouldn't he take it?? Obviously it had some interest, why not just take the lure already?

And then, I was done. I had been standing, casting, and talking for many hours. My coffee was empty. I hadn't caught any fish. I had to go to work. I was frustrated. It was time.

Would I be back to catch one this year? I wanted to land one, but wasn't jumping for joy at the idea of casting for another 5 hours with no pictures of fish. On the other hand, the conversation, friendship, and of course tips from Rob and the others had been invaluable... So for that, I'd probably do it again.

But it sure would be nice to hook into a monster!

The Big Lake

A Wednesday book-ended with salmon fishing

Morning on Lake Michigan

Part One: Morning

Tuesday night I got a text from my WCF buddy Alex, asking if I wanted to go salmon fishing early in the morning. Of course I did! Claire and I had just started an episode of Mad Men, so after that was over I put together my gear and did my best to fall asleep quickly.

Did what is now my normal fishing routine- wake up, coffee, clothes, gear; biked in darkness to the train, got to Union around 5:30am, Alex was generous enough to pick me up from the station. A few minutes later we were at Diversey Harbor, trying to figure out the parking situation. A short walk from the car, and we were standing on Lake Michigan, fishing for salmon.

At this point, I'd still never seen anybody catch a salmon in person, only YouTube videos and stuff. They were still mythical to me- huge powerful animals swimming around the lake, filled with delicious meat. I was really hoping to see some today!

Alex and I talked about salmon as we rigged up our gear; he put shrimp under a bobber on one rod, and had a spoon on the other. (If I remember right, it was pretty early.) I just had my 6'6" rod, and rigged it with a silver and green Mr. Cleo. A few days earlier- I think when I went out to the Fox- Alex made the hike to Waukegan to go salmon fishing. He said the pier was lined with fishermen, and he did in fact see them being caught (not many). One guy caught a trout and gave it to Alex- this guy was fishing for perch and was annoyed all he was catching was trout. (I hope I'm recounting this story right; I was very tired and hadn't had much coffee.)

We began casting, and noticed the other fisherman around us. Alex talked to one guy who had been there since 2am I think, and only got a few bites. I thought of a WCF post, where someone gave salmon fishing advice: "KFC: Keep f'ing casting."

I was having a lot of problems with my line; it kept twisting up into birds' nests and I couldn't figure out why. As I tried to untie the knots, I heard a splash and Alex said "Did you see that!!??" It was a salmon. I looked up, and of course missed it. I have terrible vision, and can really only see things in certain parts of my glasses. They are progressive lenses, like bifocals; I have to look through the right part of the lens to see things the right way.

At one point I snagged (I think that's the right term) a tiny goby on my 3/4oz spoon. Well at least we weren't skunked..? Alex admired my ability to catch gobies- I wasn't sure if it was an ability or a curse.

does this count?

I cast some more, we continued talking about salmon. I kept getting knots like crazy, and kept missing salmon jumping. Alex couldn't believe I kept missing them! I changed out the spoon for a chrome rat-L-trap I had. Another fisherman showed up around that time, and set up a few yards from us.

All of the sudden there was some activity across the mouth of the harbor- a guy had a fish on! His rod doubled over, his buddies brought up their lines, apparently to give him some wiggle room. There were splashes, this fish wasn't coming in easy.

Then, maybe 50' from the wall where we were standing, a salmon comes flying out of the water, accompanied by a rattling sound. I was startled and quickly cast in that direction; as soon as my rat-L-trap was airborne, I heard the guy next to us shout "Mine! Mine!"

Oh crap! He had a salmon on and I was about to tangle up in his line! That would be a major party foul. I did my best to quickly reel in and get out of his way. Thankfully I was successful.

The fish attached to the end of his line was amazing. I stood there, literally with my mouth open in disbelief, a huge smile across my face. This was salmon fishing. This was why guys came out, casting for hours upon hours. For the chance at this.

Earlier in the week, I had my first real tangle with smallies. Although they weren't huge, they fought very hard, jumping out of the water like surface to air missiles. It was great fun to fight them, definitely a change from your average largemouth bass.

But this salmon made those smallies look like amateurs.

The fish must have made it at least 5' clear out of the water. Its tail swimming through air, I got the sense it was pure muscle. From what I understand about fish anatomy, that is pretty accurate... Every time it leapt from the water I heard the sound of rattling. I realized it was the sound of a rattling lure, just like the one I had been casting. Aha!

Alex dropped his rod, and ran over to the guy. I was catatonic, my mind blank, unable to speak, in awe of what I was seeing. Then I came to my senses, and went over to help.

As the fish came closer, I was no less impressed. Alex grabbed the guy's net, trying to reach down to the water, but it wasn't long enough. He ran back to our stuff, got his monstrously-long net, and used that to try and capture the salmon-beast, still thrashing like a berserk drowning viking in the water.

The guy took over the netting duties himself, and after a few tries was able to successfully net the beast while holding his rod in his other hand. He brought the fish up, and set it on the ground.

What a fish. King Salmon? I'm told it's a Coho

To me, this was a MONSTER huge fish. Even my biggest, fattest toad of a largemouth would have looked tiny next to this salmon. If I had caught and landed this fish, I would have literally $&%# my pants out of excitement and fear. I'm glad I hadn't caught it!

Not really. I was super jealous.

I stood there, admiring the fish, as the man unhooked his lure. It looked familiar to me, but I couldn't identify it. It didn't have a lip, it had 2 treble hooks, was bright red/orange/yellow and black, and had rattles in it. I took some pictures, mostly to document this amazing fish, but also to remember the lure so I could buy the same one at the first opportunity. 

The man said it was probably about 10 pounds. A baby. Not anywhere close to full size. He told us of one four times that size he hooked a few days ago, that broke his line.

As soon as I thought it polite, I walk/jogged back to my rod, and cast as quickly as possible, hoping that this catch was an indication the bite was on. Alex came back over, and did the same.

We fished for a while longer, seeing many of the beasts jumping, falling back into the water with forceful explosions. It was like some unseen boat out in the lake was firing 20 pound cannonballs at us.

Soon it was time to go- I had to be to work, and Alex again was nice enough to give me a lift - so we packed up. As we headed back to his car, I couldn't help but feel very satisfied. Although I didn't get so much as a single hit the whole morning, I saw a ton of salmon, and saw a guy hook, fight, and land a salmon. I understood the appeal. This was not bass fishing, this was the closest thing to big-game fishing I'd ever seen. Big, powerful, angry-looking fish.

I had to catch one for myself.

Sunrise on Lake Michigan

Part two: Evening

I had to stay at work late, so I figured I might as well stay downtown a little later and try my luck at some more salmon. I had my rod and gear with me, so it would have been silly not to.. right?

Headed to Burnham, since that was so close and easy to get to from work. I got to Shedd and the Water Taxi stop, and assembled my rod. I started casting my rat-L-trap- the same type of lure that landed that 10 pounder in the morning- working my way along the shoreline. As I made my way, I noticed TONS of weeds, two dead birds, and what looked like a dead and decomposing salmon. A guy walked past me, carrying a big net and gear. He said was salmon fishing. I looked toward the pipe on the lake side, and saw 4-5 people, already there fishing for salmon.

It didn't occur to me I might not get a spot! Most times I'd fished Burnham I was the only one, sometimes there were one or two other anglers there... But the salmon were in, and things were different now.

I stopped casting and made a bee-line for the pipe on the marina side. Maybe there would be more space, and I could set up shop right at the pipe. Maybe I would see some salmon. Maybe I would hook into some salmon. Maybe I would even land a salmon.

Well, really that was doubtful, as I didn't have a net. I imagined my 20 pound test snapping as I brought up a 20 pound salmon. Maybe there would be some way I could maneuver it to land.

When I got to the marina side, I saw a guy by the pipe. I asked him how it was going, he said he hadn't been there long. He introduced himself as Rick (I think) and proceeded to give me TONS of tips and tricks about salmon. He explained all the lures on the myriad of rods he had leaning against the railing; he explained the action of the pipe, and told me the salmon were stacking up when the water was flowing; he told me he often fishes the fox, and showed me tons of pictures of him holding huge fish.

Not only was he incredibly knowledgable, but he was incredibly nice. I was clearly a newbie, and yet he was friendly and gave me all these tips. It's great to meet folks like that; I really appreciated the help.

He even told me where I should cast, which was effectively where he was casting. I'd never fished with anybody who encouraged me to fish in their spot. This was a good guy! How generous.

As I cast my rat-L-trap, and he cast his Thunderstick, he told me tons of fishing stories. He had fished all 50 states, except Alaska and Hawaii (so I guess that's 48). Saltwater, freshwater, lakes, rivers, reservoirs, surf, deepwater, brackish water; he'd fished it all. And been successful! I'm sure the few pictures on his phone were just a tiny sample of the monsters he'd caught.

Soon the water began to flow out of the pipe. He pointed to the water and said he could see them, swimming around. I leaned over, struggling to see. Where were they? I looked and looked, trying to focus my eyes..

And then I saw them. Tons of them. It seemed like hundreds, but it was probably 30 or so. A group of 30, what he said were 20 pound kings cohos (I think kings... maybe coho? Still new to this.) I'd seen plenty of masses of fish like this; always bluegill though, mostly 4" babies, swimming around together eating tiny particles floating in the water.

These were not babies. These were the biggest fish I'd ever seen (except for some big carp). They way the swam suggested the insane amount of power contained in those muscles. I was giddy. I couldn't believe what I was seeing!

Following the lead of my new mentor Rick, I tied on my one and only glow spoon. Before I tied it, I asked him if you were supposed to use a swivel or not... He said yeah, you HAVE to, otherwise it will twist your line like crazy!

I realized why I was having so much trouble with my line earlier- I tied a spoon directly on my line! Somehow, in all the internet scouring, message boards, and research, I missed that key piece of information. I knew it was a good idea on inline spinners, but hadn't been using swivels with spoons.

I cast, Rick cast; soon more guys showed up, and they began casting. This salmon thing seems to be a lot about luck- even if the salmon are there, which they were, you have to figure out what will tick them off enough to attack your lure. And even if you have the right lure, with just the right action, they may be in a different part of the water column. And even if your lure smacks them- which kept happening to Rick - they may just ignore it.

These are some interesting fish.

It was dark, and getting cold. I used my iPhone flash to charge my glow spoon, but it wasn't very effective and didn't last very long. I saw the other guys using special flashes- if I'm going to get serious into salmon fishing, I should look into that. It was very instructive watching these guys fish. Obviously they'd done this before. I tweaked my retrieve speed to match theirs, holding my rod just the same way they did, catching weeds just like they did.

When I'm not catching fish, it's good to know that what isn't working for me is also not working for others... It's not me. They all had glow spoons, so I stuck with a glow spoon.

After a while, tired of the weeds, energized from seeing these fish but deflated from the lack of action, I decided to call it a night. I bid the anglers farewell, and headed back toward the city.

I got on a bus at Shedd, which was filled completely with Shedd Aquarium employees. They all had their sea-colored shirts on, talking about their days; I was sitting there with my fishing gear and my rod. I wondered what they thought of me. Some of them might be responsible for taking care of fish- I made a sport out of catching them.

Got to my train, collapsed into a set, and immediately fell asleep. It had been a long day, but I had experienced salmon fishing second hand.... I had to return as soon as possible and hook into one of those beasts for myself.

Burnham after sunset

New friends and gobies at Burnham

Nice clouds on the way to the water

Things have been crazy with the new semester starting at work; here is the first of three posts from this weekend.

I have been reading the forums on windycityfishing.com obsessively, and recently began posting my own reports. It's great to be a part of a fishing community, especially because most of the guys on there have tons of experience- whereas I'm just a beginner.

I recently got a PM ("private message") from another fisherman on the site, who suggested we go fishing sometime, as we seemed to be at similar levels of experience. Great idea! We were able to work out a day (last Friday) and time (early!), and hopefully we would catch some fish.

Woke up Friday at 4am, clothes, coffee, fishing gear, biked to the train, arrived downtown at 5:30, and walked to a bus stop. I assembled my collapsible rod, tied on a crankbait (one of only 3 or 4 I had) and waited for the bus. 

Breakfast- homemade tamal

Hopped on the #14- the bus driver recognized me from the previous morning. Not surprising, I guess- there hasn't ever been anybody waiting for the bus with me, and I was carrying a fishing rod. He asked me how I did the day before, and I told him about the 17" LMB from Burnham. He seemed impressed, but didn't seem awake enough for my enthusiasm. It was 5:45am, after all, and he had to drive a bus instead of go fishing!

Started making my way to the Burnham pipe, and began fan casting my crankbait. I noticed a guy on the other side of the marina casting as well, slowly making his way toward the pipe. For some reason I didn't think that could be my windycityfishing.com friend, I just assumed he was some other fisherman.

Eventually we both ended up near the pipe, and I said "hi, any luck?" he said "no, I just got here." There was a pause, and I thought, well duh- this must be the guy!

"Are you Alex?" I said, and of course, he said yeah.

Well alright then! As we were making our introductions, another fisherman emerged- seemingly from nowhere- and set up shop directly over the pipe- the prime spot, and the spot we had planned to fish. Oh well, you snooze you lose. We started casting about 20' west of the pipe.

We talked about our fishing experiences, and for the most part we did in fact seem to be at similar skill and experience levels. There were differences though- Alex had caught many many smallies, and I of course was on a mission to catch even a single one. Alex also had an impressive selection of baits and lures in his backpack, but I usually traveled with a very small tacklebox with a few lures. Nice collection! I said.

It was great to share experiences- and misadventures- with another pseudo-beginner fisherman. There were a lot of things neither one of us quite understood, even from scouring the internet and fellow fisherman for information. Things like if a fisherman goes out every day and catches a limit of salmon, that could amount to hundreds of pounds of salmon. How much time must they spend processing the fish to get the meat, and what in the world do they do with so much salmon!!?? Or the logistics of landing such a big fish- once they catch it, do they just carry it by the tail on their back, and throw it in their back seat? Don't their wives mind? From the pictures I've seen, you'd have to have a monster cooler to fit a fish like that.

Eventually the guy at the pipe packed up and moved, and we headed over to the pipe. We saw some bass - largemouths? and a whole mess of giant carp. Between the two of us, we pretty much threw every type of lure in the book! Crankbaits, tubes, spoons, spinners (inline and safety-pin style).... I tied on a 3/4oz (I think) jig with a gulp minnow, and caught an average sized gobie.

Well hey, I'll take it. When you get right down to it, I go out to catch fish, because I love to catch fish. A goby, by almost anybody's standards, is a fish. I caught a fish! I didn't care that it just sat there and took it like a sissy, or that it did that gross goby-foaming-at-the-mouth-thing, or that I snagged it in the side (it seemed perfectly fine). I beat the skunk, I caught a fish!

But it was just a goby. My new friend Alex was a veritable smallie-slayer, so maybe one of us would catch one. That would be great! I caught another smaller goby a few minutes later on the same rig; even though we saw bass swimming around, they weren't interested in our offerings.

Another fisherman came by for a while throwing almost the same thing I was, and gave us a lot of tips, specifically related to salmon. Neither of us had ever even hooked into a salmon, and we had been dreaming about the possibility for some time now. Based on the wise angler's advice, I knew I needed to get some glow spoons!

He left and headed for a different spot, and we decided to do the same. We headed up (well, down) Northerly Island along the wall, looking for promising spots. We'd seen videos of people catching smallies along the wall, but today wasn't going to be our day.

The only fish we saw were monster carp- Alex rigged up some carp bait and threw it out. I'd never caught a carp, but I'd heard about their insane fight. I would love to catch one someday, but there's something about them that doesn't seem as appealing as a smallie or salmon... I think it might be the passive fishing techniques that seem to be needed to catch them- apparently there's no casting and retrieving, just chumming and waiting. At this point, I don't have the patience for that, or the multiple rods to fish for different fish at the same time.

With no luck, it was about time to head to work. I felt bad Alex hadn't caught anything- I think that was his second or third trip to Burnham that ended with a skunk... But we would be back. We would be back for salmon! 

I imagined what it would be like if one of us hooked into one of those beasts; I probably would emit a combination of little-girl-like-giggling and profanity that would make a sailor cringe, all with an ear-to-ear smile. It would be glorious. I've literally been dreaming of catching a salmon- at least for now, the allure of the mighty salmon has overshadowed my quest for smallies.

Alex was nice enough to drop me off at my work on his way out- all in all a great morning, although with not many fish to show for it. That's ok- we would be back, and we would slay them. Or not. But either way, we each had a new fishing friend, and hopefully soon one of us would buy a net. Cause those salmon are BIG!

CB Cooks: Salmon Dill Pasta Salad [experimental]

The finished dish

In an effort to eat more fish and get used to cooking fish, I've been experimenting on some new recipes. I'm a big fan of Kat Keers' Tuna Pasta Salad with Dill, and have made my own version a few times. I have high hopes of catching some Lake Michigan salmon this fall, so I'd better figure out how to use it! This is definitely an experiment- this is my first time making it.

SALMON DILL PASTA SALAD [experimental]

L-R: black pepper, salt, red onion,
dill, crushed red pepper, smoked paprika, mayo, mustard
not pictured: the pasta

WHAT YOU NEED

Salmon (I used canned salmon... FYI there are usually little salmon bones in there with the meat)

Red onion (diced)

Dill

Cucumber pickles (diced)

Mayo

Mustard

Smoked Paprika

Pasta (I like macaroni for this)

Crushed red pepper (optional, but you should really put it in)

Salt

Pepper

Peas (I didn't have any, but I love them in Kat's tuna pasta salad.. they would be a great addition)

Wild! There are little bones in here,
but I think most people just eat them. Calcium!

HOW YOU MAKE IT

1) Make the pasta al dente

2) Mix everything but the pasta in a big bowl

3) Add the pasta

4) Adjust seasoning to taste

5) Refrigerate, enjoy cold

The salad, w/o pasta - could work great on sandwiches

CHRIS' NOTES

I think it turned out great! It looks pretty fancy, with all the bright green dill everywhere, and the pink hue of the salmon. Nice color combination. The flavor combination is pretty great, but I could have really used some peas or some other texture in there. The raw red onions add a great crunch. Next time I'll add way more pickles- or maybe fresh cucumbers. Some hard-boiled eggs might be nice too. The smoked paprika adds a tiny hint of smoked salmon flavor. Straight-up smoked salmon would probably be awesome in here instead of canned. This mixture, sans pasta, would definitely be a pretty kick-butt sandwich, maybe on some nice dark rye with sliced red onion.

If you like tuna salad, and want to go for something different, try this! If you catch a salmon from the big lake, give this recipe a try.

First Burnham Bass

SPOILER ALERT: I caught a bass! It was a hog!

Sprung awake at 4am, quickly made some coffee, got dressed (in that order- priorities!), and checked on my crockpot tamales. They weren't ready yet, so I grabbed something else to eat, put together my gear, put on my headlamp, and hopped on the bike in the darkness. Made it to the station just before the train arrived. Soon I was in the city- which was still dark- and I headed to a bus stop that would take me to Burnham.

on my way to the bus stop at 5:30am

Not wanting to waste any precious fishing time, while I waited for the bus I assembled my rod and tied on a chartreuse spinnerbait. Why not start with something that isn't a tube jig? Hopped on the bus, and a few short minutes later I was at 11th and Columbus, a short walk from the water.

It was hot! I checked the weather, and my phone told me it was 92% humidity. Holy crap.

I began casting, and noticed some fish close to the wall. They were bigger than bluegill or rockbass- they looked like largemouths to me. Awesome! I'd never caught one there. They were clearly not interested in my spinner- whether I jigged it, burned it, or slowly start-and-stop retrieved it, they just watched it go by. I switched to a texas rigged worm, which got me a nice bass last night. Nothing. Switched to a tube. Nothing.

A guy walked past, and asked if I caught anything. I said no, and then he said "Hey look at that, there's a coho right there!" I ran over to where he was - directly over the pipe - and saw a magnificent-looking fish. It looked big, silver and blue colored, and majestic. It was definitely not a carp, or a bass, or anything else I'd ever seen. It was awesome! I'd been doing lots of research on salmon, and it was amazing to finally see one.

He gave me some tips on catching cohos- he suggested big heavy spoons, cranks, and rattle traps, and said I'd have better luck on the other side (north of solidarity drive). The coho was gone, so I packed up my stuff, and headed over, rattle trap tied on. My heart was racing. I figured hooking into a fish like that would probably destroy my little collapsible rod, but I wanted to do it anyway!

Well, no such luck. I set up right at the pipe on the other side, and nobody wanted anything to do with my lure. I did see some more of those same fish, apparently cohos. So awesome looking. I actually had a dream last night I caught one; that's how excited I've been looking at pictures and reading old reports. Big, big, powerful fish.

I tried throwing a few different mepps inline spinners, some cranks... I realized the few spoons I had were in a different box at home. That's what I get for not bring my entire collection of gear with me at all times! I saw some big fish hanging out by the pipe... Some were carp, and I think I saw at least one bass, but there were definitely some fish there I hadn't seen before. Maybe they were salmon....

I tied on a gulp minnow on a red jig, and threw it out. Hey now, I got a fish! Could it be a big 40 pound coho salmon about to give me the fight of my life?

Nope, it was a goby.

only the most talented anglers catch gobies....

Not a tiny one though, and at least I caught a fish. In my book catching a goby is still catching a fish! I wondered what gobies taste like... They're so easy to catch, and nobody wants them in the lake, it seems like the perfect solution would be to catch them all and eat'em! I imagined grilling gobies on skewers, maybe with some peanut sauce on the side. They seem nasty. I bet they taste horrible.

I decided to go back to the pipe, where I knew I could at least catch some rock bass if nothing else was biting. As I walked down the steps, I see two guys fishing. They asked me about the pipe, so I showed them where it was. Actually I wasn't completely sure that's where it was, but after a while we saw water flowing which confirmed my location.

Turns out these were two of CPD's finest, out for some fishin'. Joe and Steve gave me tons of great tips; they fish the area often, apparently usually by McCormick place. They heard about the pipe so they came down to check it out.

Steve had softshell crabs under a bobber, Joe was going through his arsenal of lures, and I threw wacky rigged worms, texas rigged worms, and eventually resorted to my 2" green tube jig. Steve's crabs kept getting eaten by tiny rock bass- he caught one that couldn't have been more than 4" long.

At one point, Joe switched to a 4-5" green tube jig, and saw a bunch of bass right in front of the pipe. They were there, but not interested! I was about 20' to the left of him, doing some tube jigging near some weeds. It's validating to know other serious fishermen use tubes. And then...

BAM! Fish on!

I saw a flash, and I knew it was a bass, and I knew it was a big'un! This was awesome- I hadn't even seen bass here before, let alone hooked into any. Even if he threw the hook- like the one at Busse last sunday- it was still a first for me.

After a very quick fight (I was terrified of losing the fish!) out of the water came the fish, thankfully still attached to my line. A VERY nice largemouth! My first Burnham bass, which I am counting as part of Lake Michigan... so let's just say it's my first Lake Michigan bass.

17" of Burnham Harbor / Lake Michigan largemouth bass
caught on a 2" tube!!

Joe and Steve came over to look- Joe estimated the fish to be about 17" and 2 pounds. I'll take his word for it, that sounded right to me. Amazing! No fish, and then this HOG of a largemouth. Beautiful coloring, a big fat belly, and giant dark eyes.

We noticed some stuff on its belly, Joe guessed it was some kind of parasites. You can kind of see it in the picture.

After Joe was nice enough to snap some pictures for me, I (as carefully as I could from the wall) dropped the fish back into the deep, extremely thankful for its interest in my lure. That's when I realized Joe was using basically the same lure, with no luck. I'll just chalk that up to fickle fish changing their mind about what they want... But either way I was beside myself, so happy to catch such a sweet fish here- 10 minutes from my work.

We continued fishing. Steve's bait kept getting stolen, and Joe cycled through a variety of different lures. At one point he put on some crab as well. The guys gave me tons of tips and suggestions about salmon, baitcasting setups, the best lures, all kinds of stuff. Although I have gotten a wealth of information from the internet and message boards, I especially like talking to other fishermen in person- when they're nice enough to share their secrets. These guys didn't seem to mind I was such a newbie, and were happy to offer their suggestions.

The more they told me, the more I lusted after salmon. I need to use a bigger, stronger rod and reel, and get some more spoons... But I can't even imagine catching a fish like that in downtown chicago. I've heard stories of long fights ending in broken rods or snapped leaders... It's all so epic! These BIG missiles of fish, these predating eating machines, who come in looking for tributaries but settle for battling fishermen.

I stopped daydreaming and came back to reality... I wasn't going to catch a coho or a king today- it was hot, I'm sure the water was hot, and I had to head out anyway. I bid my new fishing buddies farewell, they said I'd see them there again once salmon season started in earnest.

A great morning out on the water, some great new friends, and a big ass fish to use as my facebook profile picture. Fishing is awesome.

I'm Obsessed

Geese at the spot

Didn't have time to hit up my new spot on the way to work this morning, but I did give it a once over to check water levels, weeds, etc. I have nightcrawlers in my backpack, just in case I have some time to hit up some water today. There were some geese hanging out at my spot. I saw them last evening too; I wonder if they are there because they eat the fish, or because there's water to swim in, or because the grass has lots of tasty bugs... I need to learn more about birds!

I also need to learn more about the trout and salmon that swim around lake michigan, because I DEFINITELY want to hook into some of those guys! I caught those 3 rainbow trout at burnham a few weeks ago, and they fought harder than any fish I'd ever caught. Maybe that's why those fly fishermen love trout so much. And they're tasty to boot.

amazing! this guy is my hero
check out his blog here

There are some pretty amazing posts on windycityfishing.com of fall and winter salmon/trout fishing on the lake. Check this out- caught by GEO at Northerly Island - which is 15 minutes from my work. (Click here to view the full report)

At this point I'm pretty obsessed with fishing- I'm wondering if I'll calm down about it once winter hits, when my open water fishing opportunities become much more limited. But it seems like a lot of guys can catch perch, salmon, and trout from shore throughout the winter. That's bad news for my other interests!

I'm tentatively planning on gearing up "music-making" season in the next few weeks, transitioning from all-fishing all-the-time to a nice balance of recreational creative music-making and some fishing. Maybe some smallie fishing... or maybe some salmon and trout fishing... Whups, there I go again. Maybe the cure is to fish MORE! Maybe I'll get tired of it.

If so, I might get cured soon! Planning on hitting up the Fox this weekend, hopefully for some smallie; the weekend after that my lovely wife and I are heading to Flint, Michigan to hang with my family and do some fishing. This will be our third annual "fishing trip;" we rent a pontoon boat, hit Lake Nepessing, Lappeer, MI, and catch a lot of sunfish. Maybe we'll get into some bass, or maybe even pike this year!

Beautiful Lake Nepessing, Lapeer, MI - Fall 2010