July 2002 Results
|
7/31/02 I had the splendid opportunity to
spend the day with 4 first time, phenomenal Great Lakes Salmon
Fishermen. This crew could be called ultra-good, but they'd be
better known by Walt, Jim, Shaun and Zeke. Now, this group was
"out and out" on the stick when it came to boating Salmon to
over 20 pounds. The secret to their success is that they had the
patience, when it came to dealing with Kings on a tear. The simple
reel fact is, these anglers never lost a hooked up fish and boated well
over 160 pounds of Kings for a final 10 fish tabulation. Click
for their outstanding dockside catch photo 7/30/02 Went to exactly the same place where we scored yesterday morning. Guess what? Couldn't touch a fish in that area and had to move the boat 5 miles closer to Manistee to get into fish. While being on a busman's holiday with Capt. Bob, Ludington's local Lake Trout expert, we still wanted to bend the rod. Well, we had 9 hits and boated 4 Kings to 26 pounds. I was plagued again with lositis, as 2 more tunas fell off on the way to the boat. All in all, it was still a good day and I had the chance to met Bob's brother, Russell. Click here for Capt. Bob's Whopper 7/29/02 Finished up a two day journey
with Matt and Dave Griffin with a respectable 7 fish body
count. We boated 5 Kings to 22 pounds, one Laker and a chunky
10 pound Steelhead. The heartbreaker was the 3 tunas that fell
off the hook, semi-close to the boat and a missed savage rip on the
number 5 rigger. Well, you can't land them all! Matt did
an outstanding job on the rod by only missing one fish and landed
over well 50 pounds of Salmon. Which in itself, is an extreme
feat for a young lad, barely 14 years old. 7/29/02 Finished up a two day journey
with Matt and Dave Griffin with a respectable 7 fish body count.
We boated 5 Kings to 22 pounds, one Laker and a chunky 10 pound
Steelhead. The heartbreaker was the 3 tunas that fell off the
hook, semi-close to the boat and a missed savage rip on the number 5
rigger. Well, you can't land them all! Matt did an
outstanding job on the rod by only missing one fish and landed over well
50 pounds of Salmon. Which in itself, is an extreme feat for a
young lad, barely 14 years old. Click
here for Dave & Matt's catch photo 7/28/02 11:00pm Sometimes in the
charter business it's not about the numbers of fish boxed, it's about
the quality of the experience. Well, this evening it was Matt's
(14 years old) first King Salmon adventure and after losing a couple of
Kings on the diver rods, he developed the angling skills necessary and
expertly landed a While we only ended up with one fish for our 3
hr. effort, I'm sure this trip will loom large in the mind of Matt
forever. Oh yeah, we missed a couple solid strikes too, as the
fish weren't hooking up good for us. 7/27/02 The Indian sponsored Salmon
Splash Tournament starts today, as Fred MacDonald, the promoter,
pockets a goodly chunk of your entry fees. I'm against the
entire "Indian Deal," because I don't believe in sleeping
with the enemy! Also, money generated from the entry fees
lining a promoters pocket is plain stupidity, reel fact! It
would be nice to see a complete monies divesture spread sheet from
the revenue. Maybe, then you wouldn't be so keen on
participating and cutting your own throat.....reel-fact
extreme! Most people don't want to hear the truth! 7/26/02 11am Update: Hit a couple of Kings in the mid-teens in the harbor this morning before inbound and outbound freighter (two different ships) traffic screwed everything up by breaking the weeds lose. Now, throw in a thick, pea soup fog and you'll see why it wasn't worth being there. The group for today included Dan, Jim Jay and "downrigger" Brent. I'd rate my guests a good solid 10, because even on a shortened morning outing (8am), I had several chuckles with them. These guys were too good for the lousy hand that was dealt us. This event is called "Part 1," as Dan is going to reschedule his fishing trip when conditions will be on our side. 7/26/02 Fishing can be a very humbling experience, when the fish don't bite on your stuff. Struggled this morning getting Ed, Brian and Kirsten into 3 fish, a few boats had more and many were skunked, as the cold inshore waters are taking a toll on our close-in fishery. The really good fishing I suspect is way out, beyond half day charter range. Be on the pond today, searching for a new hot spot. 7/25/02 We fished the harbor
yesterday on the Ed Evans charter, because the lake is messed up
from the recent north blow. In 4 fish we had 72 pounds for a
quality catch. Rather than big numbers, we had big fish!
Took an outstanding photo of the 7/24/02 Gonna be fishing with long
time friend of Kings Charter, Ed Evans and his guests. While
the outcome of the trip is uncertain, we always seem to catch enough
fish to fill the box (most of the time). Today's strong north
blow has rolled the lake over once again, and if we're gonna be
successful, we need lady luck on our side. I'm sure the fish
are scattered once again and the water is reel cold. 7/23/02 The morning outlook for the
Glass Party is far from good. Heavy seas and high winds are
predicted. I have my doubts about getting off the dock and
will have a pre-charter conference with Mr. Glass at 4:30am, before
I leave for town. 7/22/02 4pm Update: Rode the
Salmon hard today, and put them away wet, best describes the action
Roskey's Raiders experienced. Dick, Jim, Mel and Bob all took
turns in filling the fish box with Kings at, or exceeding the 20
mark. Now, for the best part, the Raiders have their own boat
berthed in Port Huron and were no stranger to the wily ways of Mr.
King Salmon. They boated EVERY hooked up fish. 7/22/02 Bob Roskey and company are
today's highly respected guests. Yesterday's south blow should
have brought a bunch of Kings to the waters surrounding
Manistee. Tune in later for a complete report, or to see if I
was right. 7/21/02 I've have the day off from chartering, but not from being busy. I'll be packaging the first shipment of the new Flea Flicker line and running down local winners from our 7/6/02 tournament to hand out award plaques. A oil change and reading the boat for the Bob Roskey trip tomorrow is in the hot list too! 7/20/02 The Wilkinson Team was
comprised of Irene, Jacob, Andy, George and Fred. George had
booked this trip in 3/20/01 and I finally got them off the dock on
the third try. 42 degree water on the beach and the lake turning
over again, meant we'd have to work for what we caught. We
managed to salvage this charter with 5 quality fish. Our catch
total was a heavy Steelhead, a stocky Lake Trout and 3 Kings from 10
to 18 pounds. Click here
for the Wilkinson Group dockside photo 7/19/02 2:00pm I had a grand
time today fishing with two very dedicated pier fishermen named, Joe
Bob and Randy. What made my day was watching and sharing the adrenalin
rush Randy got when a large King made a line screaming run, to parts
unknown. Joe and Randy adjusted well to handling boat-rod
tactics, compared to the much lighter tackle they're accustomed to
on the piers. 7/19/02
I'll be in quest of tunas with the Joe Bob party this morning and
I'm looking forward to a day away from this box. I was overrun
with orders for the Flea Flicker line yesterday and most is spoken for
until I receive a new shipment, hopefully tomorrow. Those of you
with line orders, if you can't pick it up from me in Manistee, I'll be
shipping by the first of the coming week, if UPS comes this Sat. 7/18/02
12:00am Update: I just increased my initial order of
Cortland's Flea Flicker Line in the 30# test. If you plan on
ordering, do it now! This product is subject to availability from the
factory and it's extremely hard to get. There is no standing
inventory at Cortland, as demand has exceeded supply! 7/16/02
Fished with Mark and Marty
this evening and did kinda OK. We boxed a Coho, a Laker, 3
Steelhead and 4 Kings to 17 pounds for a total of 9 fish. The
action was consistent from 6:00pm, as Manistee's shelf had large
schools of alewives being pushed toward the surface by hungry predatory
game fish. Marty and Mark only missed one hooked fish, even
with Steelhead hitting the high lines and cavorting all over the
surface. Click here for Mark and
Marty's photo
7/13/02 Finally got Joanna and TJ off the dock and into a
decent fish. Lake Placid is what Lake Michigan could have been
called yesterday evening, because it was table top flat. The
nice conditions made up for the slow fishing, as we only boxed a
small Steelhead and a good King pushing the 20 pound mark.
Both Joanna and TJ were excellent company and Joanna displayed rod
handling skills beyond the norm, on the way she handled her sunset
King. 7/12/02 Couldn't get TJ and Joanna off
the dock yesterday afternoon, because of a strong onshore NW
wind. Gonna try to get these folks into fish this afternoon.
Plus, it'll will good to locate some fish for tomorrow's "on the
water seminar." As far, as I concerned, our July King fishery
lags way behind last season's (2001). 7/11/02 Yeah buddy, I'll be back in
the saddle again this morning with the TJ and Joanna for a half day
morning on the "big pond" aka Lake Michigan. Our
target specie is: "if it swims, it dies!" The recent
north winds and the lake rolling over again isn't going to make it
easy, I'm sure what Kings we did have, are scattered. Check
back later this evening to see how good, or how bad we did? 7/10/02 The Port Reports Page kept me hopping yesterday. Straightened out that mess of run-on text about charter results my Captains Log by building another page to shorten the load time. If you're like me and on a dialup internet, you come to appreciated faster loading times. Also, morning was partly consumed with a much needed E-mail Updates Letter to the members. Plus, the website set a new record with almost 4000 page views in a 24 hour period. Busy best describes yesterday, with several inquiries about booking charter dates. 7/9/02 Finally got caught up from the
recent picnic-tourney super extravaganza staged this past weekend
here in Manistee. Port Reports
are posted from this past weekend and today will be a well earned
day off for me. My trip for this afternoon cancelled on short
notice, so I plan on lots of rest, including sleeping
in. 7/8/02 Fished a half day event with Dan and Danny from Illinois and while we didn't exactly tear 'em up, we ended up OK. This was Danny's first time adventure on Lake Michigan and the 9 year old did a fine job in landing every fish he had hooked-up. Dan Sr. caught the largest fish of the day, a rambunctious King pushing 14 pounds. Our catch consisted of 2 Kings, 3 Steelhead and a Laker. 7/6/02 What a day! The 2002
Capt. John's Invitational World Championship of Salmon Angling is in
the history books. Team Bang-a Rang and Dottie Kay were
crowned champions until the tourney is held in 2003. Click
here for tourney info 7/5/02 Had a heck of a day with
Grant, John and Dan. We boated at least 12 fish and threw
several diminutive Kings and a Lake Trout back to grow up. The
action was steady, but the fish we caught were small for the most
part and under 9 pounds. The anglers on today's trip are a
blessing from God with their easy going nature and great
attitudes.......thanks guys for making my day! 7/4/02 I regret to inform all we lost
a pioneer in the Salmon Fishing Industry. My friend, Chuck
Cartwright the manufacturer and designer of the Sliver Streak spoon
has pashed away. Chuck was the man responsible for all the
sliver plated spoons we have on the market today, before him most
spoons were painted with white undersides. He knew of the
light reflective power of sliver plating long before most and
brought his product to the forefront of Great Lakes Salmon fishing. 7/3/02
I'll be fishing today with Donald Day and we're looking to better our
record from my last 3 times off the dock. The extraordinary guest
1st mate for today is Capt. Bob (aka "Sarah Ann) Hicks, our expert
authority from Ludington. Bob has promised to show me the ropes on
the tricks and secrets they use in Ludtown. 7/1/02 I'll be fishing Wednesday
morning and that's good. It gives me a couple of days to plan
a revenge attack on my scaly adversaries. Need to change a
faulty thermostat and re-install a security light at my dock in
today's heat wave. |
