It's Been A While...

It's been a long while from my last post, and with plenty good reason. I've had the Hobie out only a couple times since May, but boy do I miss it.  The birth of my daughter in July has brought on a world with much less fishing for me, but it is oh so worth it.  Getting up at 3am to head out the door to fish on the weekend has morphed into waking up to cries for a warm bottle...lol  So with even more responsibilities, fishing has taken the back burner......for now.  I can't wait to get back out from time to time to see what the vast open waters of Michigan have in store for a guy in a small motor-less vessel.

happy family on vacation

little bundle of joy

        




       
          Here are a few pictures and a Musky video to get my blog timeline back up to date a little bit.

Musky caught near Metro Beach on Lake St. Clair mid summer

under the Hobie view

 

A little "Jaws" remake, all in good fun

I did make a short appearance back out on a northwestern Michigan pier for a quick King Salmon fix in mid-August.  There was not much action on this day, but a few fish were around to make the trip worthwhile.

Lake Michigan salmon action

On a recent family vacation near Traverse City, I made a quick run over to a small river to see if there was any action to keep me busy for a few hours.  There were not many fish around, and most seemed to be late season post spawn salmon.  I managed to get a small coho to snap at a spinner for my effort. The river was very low due to a lack of rain in the area.

The little kayak-fisher on my shoulder is daring me to try a go at winter kayak fishing again, so look for a few bone chilling stories, pics soon.

                                                  

New Hobie Gettin' the Slime

This Spring has been nothing short of a blast so far.  I have recently made a few trips out onto the big fish pond about 3 miles to the east of my home.  Lake St. Clair holds a wide variety of fish ranging from the always willing and frisky sunfish to the mighty, "take no prisoners," Musky.  I made plans to drowned a few small lures in the lake and see what she wanted to give up.  I fished with a buddy from Pennsylvania a few days and we really tore into the pike.  The tight shallows gave up a few nice largies, and the smallies made a couple of appearances. My Hobie Pro Angler is getting the stink treatment, as many many fish have come to take a peek at the inside.

 

I had time to throw together a short video.  Hope you enjoy, time to get after a few more!

New Rig, Early Success for 2012

I bid farewell to my Ocean Kayak Big Game late this mild winter, and said hello to the Hobie Pro Angler. This rig is powered by the Mirage drive from Hobie, which is an extraordinary peddle-powered dual fin device that races a kayak fisher through the water like a hot knife through butter. This rig is going to be a blast to fish from, and with added stability and many fisherman friendly features the rig should bring in some quality catches. I already added some custom PVC extras that help make this rig a fish catching machine.

light pole mounted on custom rod/net carrier.

custom through scupper transducer set-up

Ready to chase some early spring salmon, lakers, browns or steelies at Harbor beach,MI




The first trip out of the new Hobie came at Port Sanilac,MI along the Lake Huron coast on April 1st.
This trip resulted in a 1-5 outting where dull hooks seemed to be my biggest problem.  I ventured to the south out of the harbor in 9-15 foot of water and picked up a fury of hits around mid morning, with only one finding it's way to the boat. A nice 21 inch spring Coho Salmon.

I next found myself headed out of a small park in Lakeport,MI also on the southern Lake Huron coast.  I was joined by a fellow Great Lakes Domination teammate. (Kayak Wars)

The morning temps started out at 23 degrees, so I guess you could say it was a tad chilly.  We were not going to be stopped though, and Rich landed the first fish of the morning.

It was a nice little steelhead that put a smile on his face.

I went on to miss a fish shortly after that, then near the end of the morning found myself on the winning end of a short battle with a small Lake Huron Coho.  The bait of choice was a jointed challenger silver and black body bait.

A few days later, to end the long Easter weekend, I decided to try my luck at Harbor Beach, MI.
The conditions heading out were ideal, and I took a swipe down the long rock wall with no hits to show for the effort.  I then decided to head for a small creek to the south of the harbor, and just before I arrived near the creek......WHAMO!  FISH ON!

I ended up going 2-4 for the short morning trip, and I got outta there as the north winds picked up and the waves were building.  Both fish were small Coho Salmon.  The Kings have eluded me thus far.  I know they are there though.

The new Hobie has performed perfectly through the first three trips.

February Fix

                                                         

February without ice, numerous days with slightly above freezing temperatures, and no sunlight to speak of had me in a funk.  So, I asked Dr. Kayak to prescribe me a remedy.  He told me to get off my backside and get out there!  The water wasn't warm, heck, it wasn't even cold....it was fricking FREEZING, but it was in a liquid state so kayak fishing was in order.

I organized my gear, loaded the van and proceeded to a promising location off of Lake St. Clair.  The wind was howling, and the water was too dirty to even give it a chance.  Discouraged, but not broken, I decided to give a new spot a try.  After paddling through frozen chunks of winter's fury, I found a nice calm area upstream from Lake St. Clair to give a solid shot.  I did not mark much of anything, but managed to hook-up and land a fairly large Northern Pike.  The lure of choice was a small, perch colored, square-billed Rapala. Winter funk over.

Winter Kayak Fishing? You bet!

                                                                                                                                                                    

I made an early January trip up to my favorite fishing spot in Michigan's thumb for some quick and on point action recently.  While it was a little cold, it was well worth the effort at the end of the day.  The targeted Lake Trout seemed to vanish from their fall spawning grounds, leaving one other active option......BROWNIES!