EdB

Nice catch, sounds like you had a fun weekend.

Nice job, wish I was out there today.

Nice job, those are some great memories with your daughter!

We fished the afternoon at St Joe. 3 of us got 15, we hit over 20. Lost our first 4 fish in row. It was never hot, we only had 1 double, but it was steady all afternoon and we got our last fish pulling lines as the sun went down. Our best was DW super slim blue dolphin on a half core and a DW mag chrome frog on a full core, a mag stinger carmel dolphin on a 150ft copper. These all took multiple hits. We also got a couple on a blue bubble spin doctor on a rigger at 66 and a DW mag dolphin on the other rigger at 55. A super slim monkey shine went twice on a half core. Never had a diver bite. We fished 90 to 130 ft of water with 95 to 100ft being the best straight out. Good luck.

Congratulations to both of you!

Nice bird, congratulations!

The title sums up my season with another Waterloo Rec Area gobbler over my shoulder to end it. I had the 2nd general hunt period. Monday and Tuesday were 2 of the slowest hunts I've had in a long time. It was cool and windy and the birds didn't gobble much from the trees. They shut up when they hit the ground. I never heard a gobble after 7:00AM both days. A very discouraging 2 days given all the birds I found scouting this year. The weather turned for the better Wednesday and so did the hunting. I got in extra early to set up close to a roost that held 3 gobblers the previous 2 days. My heart sank as birds were gobbling hot in the distance but there were no birds in the roost by me. I made a move across a swamp and the birds were still ground gobbling. A gobbler was quickly answering and coming to my calls. It looked like it was going to happen and it was exciting until I spotted him. He was jake that gobbled well and I let him walk. He moved off and 2 hens moved in. They were very vocal but even they couldn't call in the 2 groups of toms that were henned up 350 yards out of sight. They moved off and another hen came in with another jake in tow. They slid by at 30 feet. Later, another hen snuck up 10 ft behind me, busted me reaching for my call and started putting. Time to make a move. I got on one more ground gobbling tom that hung up at 120yrds out of sight. He was still gobbling when I had to pull out at 11:30 to get to work. Overall, it was a very vocal morning with hens and gobblers talking off and on for all of it. The weather was going to be perfect again Thursday. I got set up and had 2 birds 130yrds away, 2 more 400 yards away. They were as hot as they can be from the trees erupting in gobbles to blue jays, wood ducks, crows, geese and the one barred owl in the woods. I didn't call until the close ones hit the ground and they responded. 10 minutes later, they boomed back to a few clucks and were coming in. I made one more call, one gobbled back and was getting very close. I shouldered my gun and he appeared 50 yards out a couple minutes later. He kept coming, I drew a bead and was ready to shoot when he turned and ran. My dumb mistake cost me a bird, I left my sunglasses on the brim of my hat and I'm sure he saw them from his reaction. I meant to leave them in the truck and forgot them. The other close birds were still gobbling across a small pothole. I made a move to get around it. Dumb mistake #2, I went too far and bumped both of them. I was dejected at that point and decided to hit the road to a new spot and a fresh start. That is why I love general permits and the awesome land we have around here. I made a move to a big tract of land covering both sides of the road with a nice 2 track I could use to cover some ground looking. I went in a couple hundred yards and laid out a soft yelp, nothing. I laid out a loud yelp on my box call and I heard one way off in the distance on the other side of the road. I headed that way, got in a couple 100 yards and called again. He answered, still a long way back. I kept going and he started gobbling naturally. He gobbled 6 times on his own as I approached, letting me move in closer than I expected. It doesn't get any better than that. It sounded like he was on the same 2 track around a bend 150 yards ahead. Time to set up. I plopped down next to a big oak, no decoys. I made a couple soft clucks on a slate and he answered. About 10 minutes later, a few more clucks and he gobbled closer, sounded about 80 yards out. A few minutes later I was going to call again but he gobbled naturally. This bird was hot! He was close, but I couldn't see him and I pulled up my gun. A minute later, I see some black movement through the brush coming down the lane. He kept coming to 30 ft and I shot. He had a 10-1/16 beard and 7/8 and 1 inch spurs. Here he is: Good luck to everyone still hunting!

The feeder case is only applicable in the county it was held in so feeding is still banned everywhere in the state but that county. I think it was Otsego but not positive. The AG will be filing an appeal.

Congrat's!

Great pics, great hunts, congratulations!

Way to go, congratulations!

Very nice, congratulations!

Nice job and good run down for the boat, plenty of time to get her just right for prime time.

If you guys ever visit Ludington this summer, we'll have to get together and fire up the grill. That brown was bigger than I thought, put a scale on him and he went 8lb 3oz's. Yeah that!

Eric, Yes, I got rid of my camping trailer and my seasonal at Cartier and bought a place in Tamarac. It has a heck of a lot more room. The time spent now making some improvements will be well worth it all summer.

I'm late getting my boat out this spring due to some chores at my new place in Ludington. Got out to the beach early this morning for a couple of hours to fish, had it all to myself. Had one bite early but didn't hook up. About an hour later, fish on! This one went about 5 lbs. The fish came on spawn bags. That was it for the morning and back to chores but at least I got to bend a rod this weekend. Saw a couple boats box some fish in close in front of me. Lot's of room out there on the beach, good luck!

Some of you might find this interested even though it's not fishing related. A pair of peregrine falcons are nesting on the Jackson County Tower building. They have laid 3 eggs. Here is a webcam to watch their nest. http://96.61.192.55:8888/update.html

We got 4 browns to day soaking spawn. This was the biggest of the day. We were pulling rods and down to the last one when this brown hit.

Used it last year and really like it. It is superior to regular copper but you still have to be careful when deploying it. It spools up easy. I'm sold on it and will be changing over all my copper rods to it as needed.

Looks like your the first boat in the marina, good luck on your first trip out.

There are 2 of them dang things when you come from the east. I'm glad you got some work out of the deal but that is one major waste of taxpayer dollars if you ask me. Here's a tip if you come from the east-You can turn left at the BBQ shack and avoid one of them when going to the DNR launch.

An early start and a great catch, well done indeed.

Nice job, that's a very nice catch, even more so considering the brown fishing the last few years.

Good luck Phishtix. Did you notice the unsubsribed hunt period with leftovers in our neck of the woods. That has been my go to can't fail backup pick every year. Got the 2nd hunt this year! The 4th hunt was great last year for my buddy. Lot's of hot gobbling action too.

https://secure1.state.mi.us/rssdraw/ I got mine!