Monday and Tuesday of this week were outstanding. Monday, I was fortunate to host my friend (96 yo) and his son from Texas on lake Michigan. He had told me his "boy" was coming home from Texas and he would love to take him out perch fishing. Every dad should have a chance to fish with their son. We left my house in Valpo about 8 and after a stop at the world's, not just the state's, the world's (possibly universe's) best bait store - Slez's - and an enlightening discussion with the owner Ritchie, we were headed to the launch. Traffic was cooperative and we were on the water about 9. It was enjoyable to watch my friend at age 96, engage with his son, who must be mid 60's or higher with advice and tips on just how you catch these perch. I guess you never quit being a dad. It made me smile to hear my new friend from Texas tell me a few times during the day - you know, it's gonna be 80 in Texas today... yep, not here... We motored up the Calumet River and went up past the skyway bridge and stopped just short of the large silo complex on the north(?) or northwest(?) side of the river. There was a small (12) flotilla of boats meandering around being mindful and watching for barge traffic. We pulled over to one side and the fun began. It did not take long for the perch to cooperate and the Garmin was loaded with bait fish with perch below. We caught our share of dinks but decided to keep nothing under 8" and very fitting, the biggest perch of the day was caught by the senior member of the boat. At age 96, you would have thought he was 10 based on how excited he was over that catch. Apparently, he forgot about the agreement to send back anything under 8". He tends to treat every fish caught as if it is a T-bone and at times had to be talked into letting the little guys go. While looking in the live well from time to time, I decided to let a few of the little guys go when no one was noticing. We had our 45 by 11 AM and headed back to the launch. As we were boating up the river back to the big lake, I was noticing the structures on the shoreline. I was also noticing the amount of "goods" deposited on shore by barges. Besides huge piles of road salt, large stacks of aluminum billets and gravel mountains and scrap steel, the shoreline had fisherman from time to time set up seemingly enjoying their day, fishing industrial style... The wind was favorable and we had a very pleasant ride back. I was home in plenty of time to get the grandson's (8 and 6) from school and engage in conversation and a good family evening meal with them and their little sister. They get pretty serious when mac and cheese hits the table.
I looked at this week's forecast and saw Wednesday was gonna be a mess. I knew Tuesday would have a howling wind but I watched a video from lake X where a fellow named Shawn, I think, was throwing jerk baits and catching fish. I consulted with my son regarding jerk baits and he schooled me on technique. I was on lake X at about 8 am and it was indeed howling. The toughest part of the day was launching and retrieving the boat as the wind was pounding directly into the launch. After launching, I headed into the wind down towards the channels. It made me smile that surprisingly, no one else was on the lake and I never saw another boat the whole day. Plenty of parking for everyone... I fished the channels for a bit and the water temp was 32 degrees. I marked a lot of fish but they seemed neutral at best and too smart for me. After the first hour, I ventured out on the lake and set up in about 10' of water. I am amazed at the beauty of using spot lock with our trolling motors. No more throwing out an anchor and retrieving a wet rope with an anchor loaded with weeds in the cold. Just push spot lock and the nose of the boat heads into the wind and you put up your gortex hood and cast away...I fan casted the area with various jerk baits and another bait my son suggested called a Lucky Craft pointer. I fished the entire day, moving occasionally, using the same technique and ended up with a 21" and an 18" walleye and a 19" and 17" largemouth. The wind, the waves, the birds, the clouds/sky dominated my thoughts throughout the day and I found myself rocking and rolling, literally, on lake X, extremely grateful to be there. All those years in the office, which I truly enjoyed and am grateful for, I used to think and imagine what it would be like to just go fish for the whole day, whenever. Well, now I know... it is pretty awesome... Surprisingly, if I stay home, I tend to nibble and munch but I never really got hungry or thought about snacking until I got back into the truck.
Tomorrow looks like another decent day to get out for a few hours. Morning opportunities with friends will be fun and the afternoon is open for a few hours of trying that jerk bait fishing again. Possibly after tomorrow, the days may be few and far between for getting the boat out. Never winterizing the boat and keeping it in the garage allows me to get out to the big lake on the right days. It won't be long before casting and jigging for spring cohos will begin... enjoy the season everyone... Merry Christmas...
