MichFish

Bluegills in channels

2008-04-21T09:22:00.000-04:00

Well the Bluegills are starting to move into the shallow bays and channels to feed before they start spawning. Had a chance to eat a few of the tasty treats after my Father caught some last Thursday. He was using the traditional torpedo float with a Black Ant. He tipped them with Spikes. He caught them over on Coldwater Lake and I’ve seen a few others fishing the channels since then. You might want to try your luck on Silver Lake (near Kinderhook). Post a comment and let me know how you do.

Cold Water

2008-04-09T10:29:00.000-04:00

Had to go out to Iowa last weekend to take care of some computer work. While I was out there we managed to sneak away for a little fishing on a Resevoir called Brushy Creek. We had a lot of fun but only caught one crappie. I guess the crappie are starting to bite pretty good here in Southern Michigan right now. I'll post if I find any good info on it.

My First Walleye Trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area

2008-03-18T23:22:00.001-04:00

Day 0

I ran out of work on time and grabbed my daughter from daycare. My wife left work on time as well. After a brief goodbye and some last minute additions to my gear I was off to the airport in Detroit.

I had my usual luck on the flight…it was packed and I was sitting next to another large frame person like myself. I never get to sit next to a little petite thing that only takes up half a seat, I always end up with someone like myself who is to tall and bulky to be comfortable in those sardine boxes they call airplanes. I landed at 9:30 PM local time in Minneapolis and waited for my luggage. Much to my surprise both pieces of luggage made it here. Unfortunately, because of the slow loading time and extra wait before the flight took off, the rest of my crew had been waiting for me for an extra hour.

The rest of the crew picked me up at the jump-n-run loading area and we headed for Ely. I think it was about 4 hours, or a little more, with the stops we made and the deer we had to dodge. You have to watch them, they are thick in there. We finally arrived at Ely at 2:30 AM and decided to nap for a couple of hours before we met with the outfitters.

Day 1

We met the guys from Wilderness Outfitters at the local breakfast joint (I cannot remember the name but they had excellent food) at 6 am. After breakfast we went back to the outfitter’s and packed our gear. We had two canoes, six packs, and two rod tubes. Everything we needed was in those packs including our food, fishing gear, tents, clothes, cooking utensils, etc.

We headed off to the Chainsaw Sisters around 7:30 AM and climbed into the canoes around 8 am. The water was high enough that we could canoe down Pickett creek without much difficulty. I was in the canoe with our guide Jeff. During that first few minutes he went over basic canoe strokes and their effects and we tried them out in that slow moving twisty creek.
Mudro Lake was our first open water to cross and it didn’t take real long. I didn’t realize, however, that the nastiest portage of the trip was at the other end…the “Stairway To Heaven.” I had been told by others in the group that this was nasty but I had underestimated it. The portage path was slimy with mud. The first half of the portage was mostly a gravel path up hill and the second half was an incredibly nasty downhill that was made up of water smoothed rocks like steps, if the steps had been done by a mad man. I huffed and puffed my way up one side and started down the other but I kept slipping with the weight of the double pack. One of the others came back and helped by taking the top pack off my back and that allowed me to finish the portage without falling and braining myself on a rock. After what seemed like forever, but really was just a few minutes, I made it to the end of the portage and arrived at Sandpit Lake.

The paddle across Sandpit was uneventful. While the lake is not really that big it is quite pretty and there are supposed to be decent Walleye and Smallmouth in the lake, but that can be said for a lot of lakes in the BWCA. In short order we arrived at the portage between Sandpit and Tin Can Mike. This portage is longer than the first portage but it is a little easier because the slope of the uphills and downhills is not as great. You still need to watch your footing but you don’t feel like your going to die if you fall over.

After we finished the Sandpit portage we found ourselves paddling across Tin Can Mike lake. On some maps this lake is known as Murphy lake, but no one seems to know why. Tin Can Mike looks a lot like Sandpit, only larger. Again it supposedly has good populations of Walleye and Smallmouth, but we weren’t stopping there. The portage at Tin Can Mike lake takes you to Horse Lake. I don’t remember much about the portage trail between Tin Can Mike and Horse Lake so it couldn’t have been real tough.

Now that we are in Horse Lake our destination is the river. Luckily for us there is not much wind that day, because our guide said that this lake can get quite nasty to paddle across when the wind picks up. We paddled halfway up the lake and turned east into the Horse River. Shortly after that we came to our first river portage. At this point the guide had us get out of the canoes and he took them through the very short rapids one at a time and we climbed in at the other side. There were a couple of short rapids to negotiate before the next river portage and those were uneventful because we took our time and picked a good line through each. The next river portage was quite a bit longer than the first river portage but still not more than a couple hundred yards. Back into the river we went and paddled a while longer before coming to the final river portage before the falls. This is another average portage with nothing special to describe other than wonderful scenery like always. We now are on the last leg of the river before Lower Basswood Falls.

There are two different portages that I know if at Lower Basswood falls, one on the American side and one on the Canadian side. The Canadian portage is a little better in the long run because it positions you downstream from the falls outflow and make the paddling easier to start. After passing Lower Basswood falls we are now in Crooked Lake. The portaging is over for us because our destination is Skull and Crossbones.

Skull and Crossbones camp site is located about 4 miles paddle down current in Crooked Lake. It’s situated on a south facing point next to the current just south of Wednesday bay. The paddle to that location is quite nice because you pass some pictographs located on a high rock wall. As we neared our destination the weather started to turn for the worse as we saw thunderheads start to roll in. We began to paddle a little faster as we heard the thunder crack in the distance and we got to the campsite before the rain started. We got out our rain gear and put up a tarp over the area near the firepit and stored our gear there as we dug out the tents. After the monsoon passed we finished putting up camp and decided to do a little fishing.

Just south of our campsite are two currents separated by a pool with an island in the middle. We began to drift around in the current eddies and jigged for Walleyes. No one caught any huge ones but we did catch enough for our group of four to have supper. By that time it was getting dark so we headed back to camp, had supper, and collapsed into our sleeping bags.

Day 2

Day 2 brought more rain and wind. We decided to fish the currents south of camp and right next to camp that day because Wednesday bay was churned to a froth. While we fished in the cove across from camp we saw two canoes start out into Wednesday bay, a few minutes later they came back after seeing the waves in the bay. Towards the end of the day the sun came out more and the wind lightened a bit, but it was still quite windy. We didn’t catch any huge Walleye but we did catch enough for another supper.

Day 3

Day 3 saw better weather and our tent had a mascot. It seems a local spider liked to sit on the outside of our tent every morning. He was about two inches across and had interesting patterns on his back. That day we went up to third current and fished after netting some minnows in the shallows near camp. Everyone caught Walleye’s and Northern Pike but there were no trophies that day either. Again, we had enough for supper.

Day 4

Day 4 brought more wind so we decided to fish around camp. More eating size walleye were caught and a couple of Northern Pike and Smallmouth made an appearance. The smallmouth bass were 22” and 21” respectively and quite chunky. That night we grilled fish instead of deep frying them, it was VERY good. I would suggest grilling Walleye to anyone. I would even consider leaving oil at home all together and just bring a grill basic, some spray butter, and some spices.

Day 5

We decided to go back to third current this day come rain or shine. The day started out overcast with a nice drizzle. We got almost to American current and the wind whipped into a frenzy. Trying to paddle against the wind through the current was quite intense because it generated some nasty white caps where it met the current in the narrows. We fought on to third current and waited to see if the wind would let up, but it never did. We went back down through American current and found a spot for lunch. After taking a siesta there and watching the weather, we worked back down to fourth current to get out of the wind and fish. We drifted all over the area just above fourth current and caught enough fish for supper. We then tried fishing the points back through Wednesday bay to Tablerock but nothing but a hammer-handle Pike was on the line.

Day 6

This day we broke camp and headed back out. Paddling up the Horse river wasn’t too bad until we reached the little rapids that we had ridden through going downstream. We got the boat stuck both times but were able to get off the rocks. We portaged around the first rapids before entering Horse Lake. Once we reached the lake we had lunch and decided to fish for a little while before exiting the BWCA. We saw several people fishing reefs for Walleye but decided it was too early in the season for there to be much there. We concentrated on the points and islands at the downwind end of the lake. We caught probably five Walleye in the couple of hours we had to spare and threw them all back since we weren’t taking fish out. Then we finished the paddle out.

Once we reached Chainsaw Sister’s we went to the bar and had a couple cold ones while we waited for our ride. Those were the best beers I had in a long time. Our ride picked us up and took us back to the outfitters. Once there we got keys to the bunkhouse and took a long anticipated shower. After that we went to Cranberry’s and had burgers and beer for supper, then it was off to bed.

Day 7

That morning we had another good breakfast at the something-or-other café (I still cannot remember the name) and settled up with the outfitter. In the midst of all the hubbub of the night before we managed to lock the keys in the truck so we had to wait for a locksmith as well. Oh well, you know how it goes. Once we were all settled up and geared up we made the drive back to civilization. I was dropped off in Minneapolis at the airport and the rest of the crew continued on to their destinations.

Conclusion

What to say about my first trip to the BWCA? I loved it. I would turn around and go again in a heartbeat. The quiet, the fishing, the scenery, it has it all. Even though we didn’t catch any trophy Walleye, and no one we spoke to had this year, I know they are in there. That place also has killer Smallmouth fishing and some huge 20#+ Northern Pike to offer. There is enough water to fish different water every trip for a lifetime if you like to paddle into the back country.

I would also like to say that our Outfitter was very good. Wilderness Outfitters provided excellent gear, canoes, and their guides are top notch. Jeff is especially good, even when the fish aren’t biting the best he has a sense of humor and enough stories to fill the slow time. The owner has been fishing , trapping, and hunting the area since he was a small boy and probably knows as much or more about the area as anyone. Their bunkhouse was clean and they were in the process of renovating it. While the bunkbeds were a little squeaky they were comfortable and the shower room was nice and clean.

As far as fishing gear is concerned you can probably catch all the fish you want with 1/4, and 3/8 oz jigs tipped with leaches or minnows. You can also catch fish on the grub bodies but the live bait seemed to work a little better. You might also want to throw in some lindy rigs in case the fishing gets a little tougher so you can slow down the presentation. Others have a lot of results fishing slip bobber rigs tipped with minnows or leaches. Instead of bringing in minnows I would recommend bringing a net and catching your own. It gives you less to carry and they work just as well.

I will have to say that I didn’t adequately prepare for the trip physically. Next time I will starting taking long walks with a backpack filled with weights. That will help condition me for the portaging. I still haven’t figured out a good conditioning idea for paddling other than just going out and paddling around somewhere.

What is the Difference Between Rod Action and Rod Weight

2008-03-18T23:18:00.002-04:00

For a long time when I would go looking at fishing rods I would get confused by the various desigations on the labels. It wasn't the lure weights that were confusing, it was the designations such as: Ultra-Light, Medium, Heavy, Slow, Fast, etc. After doing some research I sorted out the designations and came to a better understanding of how rods are classified. These designations don't apply to fly rods, they have there own system for classifying the fly-rod weight and action. Rods are classified by two factors: the range of lure weights, and the amount of flex in the rod when it is loaded with the lure.

The rod weight is a pretty straight forward designation. It uses such terms like Ultra-Light, Light, Medium, Medium-Heavy, and Heavy. So a heavy action rod would probably have a lure weight range starting at 1oz and going up from there, while an Ultra-Light may have a lure range that starts at 1/32 oz and goes up to maybe 1/8oz. You probably get the idea.

The rod action is a little different. As I said earlier, it classifies the amount of the rod that flexes when it is loaded with a lure. The general designations are Slow, Medium, Fast, and Extra-Fast. Manufacturers may use some variation on the the wording, but their words should translate into this basic system. Slow action rods flex across the entire length of the rod up to the grips. Medium action rods flex over about the upper half of the rod, Fast action rods flex over only about one-third of tip, and Extra-Fast rods flex over only about one-fourth of the tip. Each type of action has its application and different people may use different actions for the same purpose.

Personally I prefer to use a Fast, or Extra-Fast action rod for most fishing. If I am jig, or texas-rigging I prefer to use an Extra-Fast tip for the sensitivity. If I am mojo-rigging I prefer a fast action because it allows the fish to load the rod before I set the hook. I very rarely use a slow action rod although they do see a lot of use. The "Noodle" type rods used by Steelhead fisherman would be considered a slow action rod. They allow the fisherman to use lighter line while fishing because the rod help cushion the load on the line. One note, however, the slower the action of the rod, the harder it is to get a good hookset because less force is applied directly to the fish.

I hope this has shed a little light on rod action and rod weight. I know the research taught me quite a bit.

Types of Fishing Reels - Part 2

2008-03-18T23:13:00.002-04:00

Casting

Casting reels have a visible line spool that lays perpendicular to the rod so it functions much like a winch. This type of reel has a trigger to release the spool and the spool turns when the crank is turned. There is usually a spoke wheel drag adjustment around the base of the crank handle. There will be a spool tension adjustment knob and sometimes an adjustment for tuning the spool rotation speed when you are casting. The last two adjustments are used to maximize the casting distance while minimizing the amount of backlashes. Backlashes occur when the spool rotates faster than the line is pulled off the spool. This causes the line to start winding back around the spool in the opposite direction and somehow you always end up with a knot or a complete mess that requires clippers to solve.

To cast a rod equipped with a casting reel do the following:

Place your thumb on the trigger and make sure it overlaps the spool.

Press the trigger and use your thumb to keep the spool from turning.

Start your casting motion.

On the forward part of the casting motion remove your thumb from the spool.

As the lure flies through the air, you may need to lightly touch your thumb to the spool to prevent it from rotating faster than the lure pulls line. This usually will happen during high wind situations, or when your lure goes up farther than out.

When your lure hits the water, place your thumb on the spool to stop rotation. If this is not done you can, and probably will get a backlash.

Tips:

When first starting to learn to use a casting reel, adjust your spool tension as follows:

Tie on the lure you are going to use.

Hold the rod out horizontal and trip the trigger.

Allow the lure to fall to the ground/water and observer the spool. Tighten the spool tension so they spool stop rotating on its own when the lure strikes the water. This will help reduce backlashes.

As your skill increases you can adjust the tension and magnetic drag systems to fine tune your reel.

Fly

Single Action Fly Reels

Single Action Fly reels consist of a simple spool with a housing around it. The housing has a large hole for the line to come out of. There is a small handle on the spool used for cranking and a simple drag system. These reels are the most widely used of the fly reels. They are used to hold line and fight a fish when one is hooked.

Automatic Fly Reels

Automatic fly reels have a spring system located inside the reel and a trip lever to wind the line back on the spool. As you pull off line the reel spring loads up. When you trip the lever it releases tension in the spring and causes the spool to rotate and wind the line back in. Automatic fly reels are not designed for fighting fish, and as such, have no drag system.

Casting a flyrod will not be covered in this article because entire books are written on the subject. I may write an article about fly casting at a later date.

Types of Fishing Reels - Part 1

2008-03-18T23:09:00.002-04:00

There are four basic types of fishing reels: Spincast, Spinning, Casting, and Fly. All of them are used to achieve the same result, which is to hold enough line for casting and playing a fish. Here is a breakdown of the types:

Spincast

The spincast reel is completely enclosed with the exception of a small hole in the top where the line comes out. The line wraps around a spindle located inside the upper housing. The spindle sits parallel to the fishing rod so the line comes off in a coil. The line is wound back around the spindle by a collar that catches the line where it comes off of the spindle and rotates as the crank is turned. When the trigger is pushed, the collar moves out of the way and allows line to unspool from the spindle. This type of reel also has a drag that is either controlled by a wheel located on the housing or by a large spoke ring around the base of the crank handle. The drag provides tension on the line for fighting fish and is adjustable to prevent line breakage.

To cast a rod equipped with a spincast reel you start the casting motion and press the trigger on the forward motion of the cast at the point where you want the lure to start flying. When the lure hits the desired location you turn the crank to release the trigger and engage the collar with the line. You can now start retrieving your lure.

Spincast reels usually cast lures less distance than other types, but have fewer line loops or backlashes.

Spinning

Spinning reels have a visible line spool with a wire loop at the top that moves around the spool as the reel is cranked. The wire loop is called the bail and is designed to capture the line and force it into the groove at the base of loop so it can be wound around the spindle when the reel is cranked. At the top of the spool or the base of the reel is the drag adjustment, the location varies by manufacturer and model. There will also be some type of switch to enable/disable the anti-reverse feature of the reel. Anti-reverse prevents the reel from spinning backwards if you remove your hand from the crank. The reel is designed to be hung below the rod.

To cast a rod equipped with a spinning reel you first grasp the rod so that the reel hangs below the rod, and the mounting base shaft for the reel is between you middle and ring fingers. Now, using the index finger of the hand holding the rod, catch the line where it leaves the reel and hold it to the rod with you finger. Using your other hand flip the bail up so it points toward the rod tip. This will allow the line to come off the spool if you release the line held by your index finger. Start the casting motion and on the forward portion of the motion release the line held by your finger at the point where you want the lure to start flying. When the lure hits the water turn the crank and the bail will close. You can now start retrieving the lure.

Spinning reels cast farther than Spincast reels but can sometimes have problems with line loops if the line develops twists, there is slack in the line when it is reeled, there is a lot of line memory, or if there is too much line on the reel.

Part 2 will cover Casting reels and Fly Reels.