Fishing, for me, has always been a universal language that’s spoken only slightly differently from lake-to-lake, stream-to-stream. While the details may be different from species to species and in different states, applying what you already know generally pays dividends due to the confidence you have in personally proven techniques. Such was the case for IDO and Rapala Staffers Grant Sorensen and James Holst, when they decided to pair with yours truly on a salmon/trout mission on Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan. In terms of experience, I brought little extra to the table sans almost a dozen or so trips to Lake Michigan over the years. Grant’s knowledge on Lake Superior is well-documented, as-is James’ trolling experience for numerous big-water species. Enter the ringer, Joel “Boog” Ballweg, who would also be working with us. Joel B. has a pile of experience fishing out of Milwaukee and most ports northward, so this really would be the confluence of a wealth of salmon/trout fishing knowledge from several accomplished great-lakes anglers. Along with a buddy of mine Bobby, my goal was simply to work hard and drink-it-in, without drowning from the deluge of details.
When arriving in Two Rivers, we found James not feeling good, and requesting only some Gatorade while he sat out the post-arrival festivities. After getting groceries and stopping for a bite to eat, we got a message that James had checked himself into the ER. We headed straight to the hospital, only to have a nurse not allow us back because we weren’t family, but we later learned that James’ appendix had burst and they’d be removing it ASAP. Not a great way to start a trip. Man-down. Morning came fast with little other word than to “go-fishing.” “It’s what he would’ve wanted,” we told ourselves as we hit the harbor pre-dawn with a guilty conscience. Hopefully if all went well, we’d be able to visit and James could make the return trip home with us. We later found that his condition was a bit more serious, as those who have been following IDO already know. The good news is that he seems to be on the mend, even though he’s still out there, tantalizingly close to some good salmon fishing right now. As for the fishing itself, the following is my account. Hopefully Joel B. and company can fill in some details I may have missed, but this was my perspective from the mental notes I kept.
We found our trip out of the harbor complete with shore-fishermen up and down the harbor break-wall, a sure sign that at least some salmon were moving back into Two Rivers from where they were initially stocked. Maybe we should be fishing shallower near the harbor? It would be something to try out later, but right off the bat we headed straight out to 100 feet and started working our way southwest in extremely flat conditions. Our initial spread consisted of two downriggers, two dipsy rods, and 3 board rods per side. Right off the bat, we ran rods that had anywhere from 3 to 5 colors of leadcore on the outside board rods, eventually favoring rods that held 7 colors to a full-core of lead on the inside board rods as the sun got higher with the calm conditions. High-riding spoons behind boards gave up fish before and after dawn, especially in greens and whites, but the action slowed at 8-bells, prompting a move away from the slack conditions and constant weeds we were fouling in. It’s likely what brought the fish to that area, but we ran into lots of company as the sun got higher. So we headed south, and spotted an area we had all to ourselves. Lots of gulls, and this time, a floating weed slick that seemed to hold fish along the edges. An experienced Lake Michigan troller, Joel B. had us pull boards with high-riding spoons to the outside, with a more varied combination of flasher/fly combos, as well as a few “meat” offerings in the form of cut-plugs. The meat-rods had cut-plugs stuffed with canned tuna, and these really shined over traditional offerings with high-skies and little wind. We were averaging a fish every 30 minutes, which was enough to keep us interested, but only to a point. Eventually we gave in to hunger, headed back to harbor, and never did get back on that same slick we fished earlier.
Time for a new plan. We’d stake our claim for the rest of the afternoon in shallower water, hoping to score on transitioning fish moving back to the Two-Rivers harbor. Immediately into our trolling passes we found the area to be littered with bait, anywhere from 50 – 80FOW. As the afternoon and night wore-on, we move progressively shallower, getting into impressive numbers of tripped-rods, but only a few nice steelies and lots of “shakers” or small fish to show for it. Not what we were after, but it wasn’t a bad plan, nor were we disappointed to have eliminated it from the game plan. Day 2 started with a bit more wind, and a run out deeper that came just in time to take advantage of a shore-ward wind that literally trolled us back to port. Dawn brought little action, but the bite got progressively better as the morning went on, this time in 215-230FOW. We were trolling shallower due to the size of our craft and the wind direction, but it would’ve been nice to stay in that 200 foot mark. Numerous big steelhead and several great cohos and kings were caught, as were quite a few lost, almost entirely on flasher-fly combos of green/white and little-boy-blue or aqua. Three big fish in a row came un-buttoned at least halfway back to the boat or even closer. Definitely a bummer, but par for the course as Joel B. explained. In his words, “I’ve never left Lake Michigan thinking I caught all of the salmon that I knew I could,” which to me, is the very reason a trip like this keeps tugging away at the walleye angler in me come July and August. It’s also the reason I was so impressed with his knowledge and help, considering we went back with a pile of great eating kings, coho’s, and steelhead!
Joel