11/17/03 8/14/03 5/26/03 4/21/03
October 2003
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11/17/03
8/14/03
5/26/03
4/21/03
October 2003
10/31/03
I wish the sand blaster guy would finish the sand blasting, because in less then a week I need to be on the river. He's had my trailer for a complete week now, and I haven't heard a single word from him. If you ever move north, don't expect anything to get done with the tempo of down-state. I'm rebuilding my
original boat motors (from the Cherokee), as to have a spare set and shipped off the long blocks to have them bored out. Now is the time for projects like this.
10/30/03 I went to pay my last respects to Pete Ruboyianes last evening in Ludington. The funeral parlor was jam packed with all the luminaries in the Salmon fishing industry that I knew, and many I didn't know. The legend of Pete will surely transcend his 54 years on this earth. The next time you pick-up a lead core outfit, remember he was
instrumental in developing it to it's present day's prominence. For those of you who like to set elevated goals for yourselves?......Pete has given you a reel-mark to take aim at. His exceptional tournament winning record over the many years speaks decisively for it's self, and will in the years yet to come!
10/29/03
A trip to Ludington this evening is in store for me to pay my last respects to Capt. Pete Ruboyianes. Bud Raskey, Dick Boyajian, Tom Rasummen and myself are going to meet-up at Bud's place around 5:30pm, then travel to the funeral parlor. I hate this kind of stuff with a passion and I'm not very good at it. Captain's Log Supplemental: It's been said, bad things come in threes. In the past little bit, I've lost 3 friends that all broke new ground and were leaders in their own right. Capt. Sam Ciaramitaro showed the world how to run a highly successful charter business out of Grindstone City. George Richey showed Great Lakes fishermen what a quality trolling fly was made of. Capt. Pete Ruboyianes brought a standard to the tournament fishing that will be hard, if not impossible to ever match. Each of the afore mentioned fishermen enriched my life and gave me insights into the sport of fishing I might never have had. Our Great Lakes fishing community is a small one and we've lost enough leaders as of lately. So, I hope I'm done with "threes thing" for a goodly long time! 10/28/03
Capt. Pete Ruboyianes Passes Away: We've lost probably the
best tournament fishermen that ever set foot in a boat on the Great
Lakes. I knew Pete personally and always counted him as a
friend. Pete never read, or believed in all the press hype
about him. He lived as Pete, a man who loved and pursued Trout
and Salmon in a first class manner. "Pedro" won just about
every big money tournament and will be remembered as the best, as
far as I'm concerned. I used him as a reference point and he's
mentioned several times in the many articles I've written. Pete's
home and home port was Ludington for over the past 3 decades.
He died from cancer and was 54 years old at the time of his passing. 10/27/03 I changed to poll along with my
clocks. If I do decide to do a couple of winter presentations,
the poll will be instrumental in making any decisions. The last
poll showed general interest in all the topics that need to be
covered. 10/26/03 *** Daylight Savings
Time *** Be sure to turn your clocks back an hour,
because of the fall-back time shift. Sure, we'll get back the
hours sleep we lost last spring, it never seems like it to me. 10/25/03 Gonna try to make time in the next few days to finish up an article on getting maximum results from boats in the 18 to 24 foot range. I started this piece last June and it just needs a few finishing touches. I'm replacing the anchor winch cable on the riverboat and the trailer is finally getting sandblasted. I hope to start painting on the boat trailer sometime by the first of next week. General home duties will take most of time today and tomorrow. 10/24/03 Damp, rainy and chilly is what's the deal is here in Manistee County. Rain, or snow is predicted for the next 5 days. I haven't heard anyone expounding the praises of the Steelhead in the big river. So, make take on the fishery is that's it's on the slow side still. Need a break in the rainy weather to complete my project on the riverboat trailer. I blocked up the riverboat (click here to see) and I'll be taking the trailer to the sandblaster today. Progress is slow, but steady on this project. 10/23/03 I sent out an E-mail contact letter and went to Bear Lake to pick-up my riverboat. As soon as I get a window of good weather, sandblasting the trailer will be done. The new shifter cables and control box was a 400 dollar hit in my billfold, but it needed to be done. I hate working with things that are only half right.
10/22/03
Word from the surf, is that's it's on the slow side, a few fish have been taken off the beach north of Manistee, but not loads. While things on Steelhead remain on the slower side, it's still better then it was a year ago at this time.
10/21/03
Manistee guide, Jason Bialik reported a fish, or two per boat on what I call the lower end (farm house to M-55) of the big river. He also added, the run seemed to be improving. Joe Knight fished from Bear creek to the rollaways and he told of about the same results (a fish, or two per boat). Capt. Len Mitchell fished up by High Bridge and took
a fish in that area. While the big river is not "red hot," yet. It is showing more promise then at this time last year. And please remember, it's still quite early in the fall Steelhead season. 10/20/03 I'm kinda in limbo as far as fishing goes. Bear Lake Marine has my riverboat to install a new shifter-control box ands my side curtains are being redone. So, I boat-less for the rest of this week at least. I haven't heard to many encouraging words from the surf guys and desperately need a reliable river report.
10/19/03
Spent most of yesterday making sure no one would steal my couch. Rumors of a band of malicious couch thieves roaming Manistee County prompted this drastic action. If they were gonna take my sofa, they'd have to wake me! Just couldn't get motivated, because a case of being lazy plagued me.
10/18/03
The current poll that I'm running has surprised me big-time. The interest is pretty much across to board on all the topics. No one certain piece of knowledge is in more demand then another, or at least by very much. 10/17/03 Right now at my house, I'm experiencing a heavy acorn drop and I'm not seeing the numbers of deer varmints in the backyard like normal. With nature's bounty feeding the whitetails it will be awhile before they start munching on my shelled corn. I transplanted about 15 pine trees in an effort to make a wind break around my house. The word "Manistee" in the native Chippewa tongue means, "whispering wind" or so I been told. News flash for the Native Americans: the wind don't whisper where I live, it yells from the robust winds across Lake Michigan (12 miles away).
10/16/03
I received a favorable report from resident guide, Brian Bialik on the lower end of the big river. He said, there were fish being caught on both spawn and plugs. I suspect the run is improving and look forward to good fishing.
10/15/03 After an unbelievable string of good weather, it turned rainy and cold today, hindering any outdoor activities. This rain should help improve the Steelhead situation in the big river. Rain draws more fish into the system, if Consumers Power (who controls Tipp Dam) releases enough flow into the Big Manistee River.
10/14/03
Like I said on Friday, I had a legal matter attend to in Manistee. Well, the legal matter was a person suing me, because he showed up late for his charter and I wasn't there. Then he ran up his motel bill to the tune of $177, charged me around $200 for his baby sitter and a couple of hundred bucks for mileage. The Honorable B. Danielson of the
85th District Court here in Manistee dismissed the case against me, as the plaintiff lost his case to recover his exorbitant expenses.
10/13/03
I pretty much took yesterday off, other then working on getting my backyard Deer Cam back online. Then I put a coat of fresh paint on my riverboat floor while the weather is still decent. My efforts this week will be devoted to giving the riverboat mucho
TLC. New tires for the trailer, then a quick trip to Bear Lake Marine to have the shifting box replaced and a shift cable is on my to-do list.
10/12/03
I was busier then a bee yesterday. I filled the corn spreader for the Deer Cam and found I had a problem with one of the cat 5 cables that needs to be replaced. So for now, it's the driveway cam until the cable repairs are
completed. I cleaned and washed the riverboat in an effort to get it ready, because the leaf drop will be over in about 2 weeks and it will be time for some serious Steelhead river fishing. My plans for this week include a sand blasting job on the riverboat trailer and a new paint job. I'll be replacing the shift-box, along shift cable too.
10/11/03 I got the reel-word on what's been happening both on Lake Michigan and how the surf fishermen are doing. I both cases it's very extremely slow on the beach and up until about yesterday Lake Michigan was producing excellent fishing for juvenile Kings. However, the recent rash of wind for the south has hurt the few big lake
fishermen. The disturbing word is that not many Steelhead are around. 10/10/03 What I had been thinking was lady bugs turned out to be Asian beetles and these little critters will bite. Thanks to Mark D. (for the info), they were planted in Wisconsin to control aphids on the soybean crops. It was thought that our cold winters would kill them, but the word thought equates to think. Me?....I know how the word "think" works, and thinking....is a far cry from knowing! I have seen huge slicks of these bugs floating on Lake Michigan before. At least now I KNOW what they're called. Also, I have to be in Manistee this morning to attend to a legal matter.
10/09/03
Finished winterizing my lake boat, while being attacked by swarms of lady bugs and I mean swarms! I don't know where these pesky nuisances came from, but for about the past 7 or 8 years...fall means huge numbers lady bugs! 10/08/03 What a wonderful fall day we had here in Manistee County yesterday and they're predicting more of the same today. I'll be spending most of the day outside completing what needs to be done on the Cherokee. A serious cleaning is in order for the riverboat. The riverboat trailer needs sandblasting and new paint job too. I've heard some sketchy reports about Steelhead in the big river lately. 10/07/03 After a quick trip into town this morning, I plan on completing the winterization of the Cherokee. I pulled out the river yesterday and plan on readying it for service very soon. I pretty much spent most of yesterday doing paperwork and sorting categories in preparation for the 2003 taxes.
10/06/03
I sorted and removed my considerable collection of big-lake tackle from my Cherokee yesterday. This job lasted for about 3 hours and I took a photo to show you how much stuff I carry. Click for tackle assortment photo. I have to admit keeping all that gear organized and at a moments reach, is a
reel-task! After a few more details are worked out, my boat will be going to the factory in Kaleva. 10/05/03 Yesterday, I worked on the website for a goodly amount of time fixing glitches on several pages. My cut-bait article is up to 2800 words and I'm only about 2/3rds done. I hope to pack up the lake tackle today and start readying the riverboat. It's been about 2 weeks since I last fished and I'm in need of a fishing fix to stave off big-time withdrawal symptoms. While it's kinda a in-between season on the Big Manistee River, I'm sure there's a few victims willing to yank on my line. 10/04/03 Snow is predicted today, as it seems like I just can't catch a break in the weather to tie up the loose ends on the Cherokee's winterization project. The outlook for tomorrow is much improved and I plan on making a healthy dent in what needs to be done. On the weather scene, next week looks pretty darn good and I should be fishing the river by mid-week. 10/03/03 Where did the 2003 big lake season go? It seems reality has hit home with the onset of October's chilly beginning. It might be kinda good that our Great Lakes season only lasts about 6 months, because that way we don't have time to get bored with it. Inside word is that Manistee's beach and north pier has been producing decent Steelhead fishing, but these reports are only semi-confirmed. 10/02/03 30 degrees is what I awakened to this morning. Hey, it's a little too early for this stuff, as winter is giving me a sneak preview of what's to come. I have 3 unfinished articles that are waiting for completion, I'd say today would be a good time to focus on this website. This weekend looks a little more tolerable to work on the Cherokee's winterization. I've heard a few semi-decent reports about a few Steelhead being picked up from Manistee's Harbor to Barr Lake on the beach from surf fishermen. Hopefully, the surf guys will have a better season then 2002. 10/01/03 Cold, rain with occasional snow flakes is what Manistee is about today. So, needless to say outside activities like winterizing my lake boat will not be on my hot list. I just might take the day off from all duties, because I can. Constant Flow is ruining the BMR Eco System! It's time to re-examine the constant flow
issue of the Big Manistee River from Tippy Dam to Manistee Lake.
I've seen the water clear to an unhealthy state. I also have seen
no Northern Pike, Walleye or the runs of Lake Trout in the past few
years. The marshy flood-plain along the BMR has dried up, and no rearing
basins for rich aquatic marine life means; a sterile river. Carrying
little, if and phytoplankton (the beginning of the food chain).
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