Dave Mull

Despite how good they taste and (often) how easy they are to catch with basic gear, Great Lakes whitefish don’t get a lot of attention from Michigan anglers. Al Lutz shows a nice three-pound whitefish caught on the pier at St. Joseph, Michigan. And right now, almost any Lake Michigan pier offers a chance to grapple with these small-mouthed relatives of trout and salmon. Martin Moore of Hartford invited me and our mutual friend Bud Roche for a morning of whitefish fishing off of the pier at St. Joseph in the southwest part of the state. Moore is a longtime pier angler and has his whitefish program dialed in. He insisted on supplying the rods, holders and bait—salmon eggs he pre-cooks, adding garlic and other scents to different batches. “I put them in a pan of cold water, turn on the heat and bring it to a boil, testing the consistency of the individual eggs with a needle,†he explained. “Start testing after about two minutes. I want them to have the consistency of peanut butter. When they’re ready, I drain ‘em and put them in cold water to stop cooking.†News of whitefish biting draws anglers to piers. This picture was taken the first week of November at St. Joseph, Michigan. This day he brought a natural, no-scent-added batch, a couple of different garlic-scented bottles and some with his “secret†scent, which is the juice squeezed from steelhead skein. We started fishing well before daylight, rigging rods and baiting up with the help of headlamps. Like most whitefish anglers, Moore likes long rods with limber tips that show bites, but with enough backbone to toss a two-ounce pyramid sinker. The heavy weight is needed to keep lines pinned to the bottom so they don’t get carried into other lines by ever-present current. The sinker is rigged to slide on the main line so a fish can swim a bit with the bait. His main line is a non-stretch 20-pound braid that is strong for its diameter and shows bites immediately. A four-foot leader of 12-pound test P-Line-brand fluorocarbon goes between the swivel that keeps the sinker on the braided line and the size 6 octopus-style hook. Moore threads three eggs on the hook and carefully tosses the rig 30 to 60 feet straight out from the pier—straight out helps avoid tangles with other lines. Rods get set in rod holders, home made of 16-inch long PVC pipe attached with duct tape to three-foot sections of rebar or other bar stock that can be pounded in to holes in the concrete pier. Some piers don’t have such holes, and anglers must attach rod holders to the carts and seats they bring out with them. Garlic is a popular scent to add to prepared single eggs when whitefish are the target. As we were out before daylight, Moore slid a tiny glow stick into bells on a clip designed to attach near the end of the fishing rod. The glow stick showed bites in the dark and the bells alerted us when a fish was biting. While the fishing had been hot for the past several days, the curse of an outdoor writer with a camera went into effect—we only caught one small one, and action wasn’t a whole lot better for the other anglers on the pier. Al Lutz, one of Moore’s pier friends, was set up on the shore side of our nine rods and wrangled a nice fish of about three pounds. A pair of anglers farther out caught a couple, but overall, the consensus was the bite had cooled off from earlier in the week. A nice whitefish on the pier next to a home-made chum thrower, used to toss corn or salmon eggs and attract fish. Right now is just the beginning of prime time to catch these fish, as they foray into shallower water after living all summer in the dark depths of the big lake—200 feet and deeper. As the water temps fall, the whitefish follow spawning lake trout onto the shallows and prepare to spawn themselves in depths of less than 25 feet. While pier-bound anglers may watch rods for hours between bites, schools of fish can move in and heat up the action in a hurry. Natural food for whitefish includes insects and insect larvae, freshwater shrimp and small fish in addition to fish eggs. That means anglers without easy access to salmon eggs can still catch fish with wigglers, maggots, waxworms and other live bait. In places where casting won’t interfere with other anglers, small jigging spoons and blade baits such as Cicadas can get hits from fish. Moore points out that most of the time, whitefish swallow the hook, and are difficult to release alive; anglers generally keep their catch. And few anglers complain about that, since the delicate white flesh of whitefish is among the best of any fresh water fish species.

Wire Dipsy rods also make great Torpedo rods.

I'm with Ryan and Troy. Ernie Lantiegne showed me that little trick long ago on Lake Ontario, and it's compact and easy and won't blow out of the boat with all your leaders wrapped on it.

Anyone catching anything at St. Joe or South Haven? Enquiring minds want to know. Thanks!

Book Review By Mull "Muskies STILL Suck" By Pete Maina OK, I’m definitely NOT a musky angler. I’ve fished for them a few times and even caught a 38-incher trolling on Lake St. Clair, but this does not bring me close to understanding the insanity that takes hold of a fellow in pursuit for a really big freshwater fish that features teeth and is known to eat poodles. I am not a muskie fisherman. There is no 50-inch replica hanging over my fireplace and not just because I don’t have a fireplace. When I fish, I like to set a spread of lures, uncork a beverage and chat with friends, waiting for the next silvery salmon to hit so I can thump it on the head and slap it in the cooler, destined for the grill or smoker. I just don’t get what’s fun about grinding one’s palms into cole slaw on a reel handle, chucking a three-pound lure time and time again, hoping against hope to see a fish follow the lure back to the boat, maybe hook it, fight it into a big net, take a picture and let it go. Not that I’m against catch-and-release, I just never have understood the rest of it. So, what am I doing reviewing a musky book I don’t intend to read? I just got done putting the goats and chickens away and have a little time to do something while sipping a cold Budweiser and waiting for the Monday night football game to start I guess. Pete Maina, a guy I once saw across the aisle at a tackle show apparently wrote a book called Muskies Suck, as he recently announced the release of a book called Muskies STILL Suck. I’ll admit, I sort of would like to read it based on its cover, which shows Pete, wearing what is apparently his trademark pink fuzzy hat, arms spread wide apparently showing the size of a suck-o musky that made Pete think it might bite. So not finding a press release about the book, that’s it for the review. Nice cover. Probably would read it as Pete does seem like an entertaining guy. I know this because I just watched some of his Maina Vents on his petemaina.com website. He vents about the Packers getting screwed by replacement refs, about too many people in Florida and about people who blame poor walleye fishing on protecting too many bass. It really is funny and he has the kind of big personality that doesn’t ooze big ego that makes for a good TV show host, which he also is. So check out his book and his site. It’s something to do while waiting for a football game to start.

It is a really good pub and it looks like I'll be contributing to it. Hope they can tune in to what the Great Lakes guys want from way out there in Oregon. I know they'll do their best.

Guys, thanks for the compliments! Always appreciated. Here's some news and I don't know where to post it other than here. Great Lakes Angler was just sold to Amato Publications yesterday. That's the West Coast company that publishes Salmon-Trout-Steelhead. Don't know anything beyond that!

Steelheading Frostbite Style Tony Wolte blasted his tricked-out jet boat “Fat Sally” down the Kalamazoo River, throttled back and stopped along an obvious eddy in the medium-sized tributary of Lake Michigan. The electric winch soon had the 100-pound chain anchor on the bottom, just eight feet below us, and other than the soft sound of water rushing against the aluminum hull, the quiet of an autumn morning in Western Michigan returned. Steve Griffin of Midland, Michigan (right) holds a nice buck steelhead that fell for a Brad’s Wiggler crankbait. Capt. Tony Wolte (left) put us on the fish. Wolte, a licensed captain who runs Frostbite Charters (616-836-8452), soon had two diving crankbaits on either side of the boat, a couple of classic Storm Wiggle Warts to port, and two Brad’s Wigglers—nearly identical to Wiggle Warts—to starboard. Gold and orange or red color patterns were the choice in this grayish day. Before long, the inside port rod bowed and a big silvery steelhead somersaulted out of the water. It was one of four we’d get to hit that day, two on crankbaits and two on spawn. Wolte is a river rat and proud of it. Living on the banks of the Kalamazoo River near New Richmond, he has been a charter captain for six years, taking clients fishing on Lake Michigan as well as area rivers. He spends lots of summer days trolling for offshore salmon and many a summer night anchored on the Kalamazoo waiting for big, flathead catfish to bite hooks baited with live bluegills. However, he admits his first love is chasing steelhead and the occasional brown trout in the rivers. His “home” river, the Ka’zoo, gets most of his attention, but he trailers his 20-foot, covered aluminum boat with its 175-horsepower jet outboard down to the nearby St. Joseph River upon news of good fishing in that tributary. This day, Michigan writer Steve Griffin and John Mazurkiewicz, who lives in South Bend Indiana and handles public relations for Shimano and some other fishing companies, were along. Crankbaits like this Brad’s Wiggler in fall are deadly for steelhead. Wolte usually takes a one-two punch approach to steelies on the slow-moving Kalamazoo, the first punch being crankbaits, the second punch being bait—waxworms or spawn bags—beneath a bobber. On the St. Joe, with its faster current, he leaves the float rods at home and “walks” spawn along the riverbed, bouncing a weight on the bottom. Wolte spools his crankbait rigs with 14-pound Power Pro, terminating with three-foot leaders of 12-pound test Blood Run Fluorocarbon. Reels are Shimano Tekota 300 Line Counters, and lures go back 40 feet back on side rods and 50 feet on corner rods. By lifting his chain anchor and maneuvering with a bow-mount MinnKota trolling motor, Wolte meticulously combs the lower water column. Corner rods are 8-foot, 6-inch medium-power, fast-action St. Croix spinning rods; side rods are nine-footers, custom tied on Cedar brand, nine-weight fly-rod blanks. To cover more width in the river, Wolte sometimes employs Hot Shot side planers, which are small, plastic gizmos that clip to your fishing line and “plane” it out to the side. These are a match made in heaven for crankbaits and the river. They allow an angler to ease a crankbait right alongside of shoreline logs, rocks and other structure that steelhead use to get out of the current. With the crankbait rods set, Wolte hands his guests 12-foot, 6-inch float rods baited up with waxworms or spawn bags. In place of the popular center-pin reels, Wolte clamps on Abu Garcia 5500 baitcast reels with 12-pound test P-Line copolymer line. “I like using bigger floats, too,” Wolte says. “Just so people can see them. When you’re letting a bobber go behind the boat, you can let it go a long way—100 yards and more sometimes. Little bobbers are hard to see.” Baitcasters work great for letting line go out to match the current, and offer some advantages over center-pins, Wolte says. For one, they’re much quicker when it comes to reeling in your float and bait for another drift, since center-pins come in at a 1:1 ratio. And, since most center-pins don’t have a drag, fighting fish takes some practice—you basically let the reel spool spin backwards. The knobs on the reel are prone to hitting your hand, and center-pin reels have earned the nickname “knucklebusters.” “Baitcast reels are just easier for my customers to use,” says Wolte. He is definitely on to something. Although I started trying more than five years ago. I’m basically still inept when it comes to casting and controlling a center-pin rig. Baitcasters are much, much easier. As of this writing with just a week left in October, steelhead were just starting to show up in Michigan tributaries. Time to use a Frostbite technique and start catching them. Boats like the “Fat Sally” featuring a heavy chain anchor with electric winch and a heated enclosure are ideal for river steelhead fishing in the cold months.

OK, taking the easy way out for an updated BLOG. This is from our pals at PRADCO, parent company of Lindy. Look For Last Weeds For Fall Walleye By Daniel Quade Lindy rigging walleyes along deep, steep breaklines is a killer fall pattern on many lakes, but such structure isn’t the only place this time-honored tactic holds water. In many systems, weedlines hold the key to incredible late-season catches. “After the fall turnover, many anglers focus on deep structure,†said veteran walleye guide Mike Christensen. “And in the right lakes, it’s hard to beat rigging a large redtail chub or sucker minnow out deep. But in a lot of situations, the weed bite is better.†Such is the case on Christensen’s home waters of mighty Mille Lacs Lake, where he runs ice and open-water walleye adventures out of Hunter Winfield’s Resort. Though the central Minnesota walleye factory offers plenty of structure options offshore, the perimeters of its fertile weedbeds are often overlooked. The same scenario arises in many natural lakes with an abundance of shoreline vegetation. Not only are the weedbeds full of walleye, but with most anglers mining off-shore areas, you can have them to yourself. The reason behind walleyes’ fondness for fall greenery is simple: it holds food. Along with a variety of minnow species, weeds often hold a veritable salad bar of young-of-the-year perch, sunfish and crappies -- offering hungry ’eyes an easy meal. Not all weedbeds are created equal, however. Christensen says that live weeds that still hold some green are key, and broad-leafed pondweeds -- commonly called cabbage -- are the cream of the vegetative crop. A healthy stand of crisp, green cabbage attracts a smorgasbord of baitfish, as well as a trail of toothy predators. Along with walleyes, you often find northern pike and muskies patrolling this underwater buffet. In fact, Christensen said that at times so many muskies move into a particular weedbed and run off the walleyes. Some of the very best weedbeds often lie close to deep water, and offer walleyes easy access to the abyss. These weedbeds are made even better if they exist in combination with structure such as a change in bottom composition or a rock pile. “When you find weeds on a point jutting out into deeper water, you’re really in business,†Christiansen says. “Key depths for prime vegetation commonly range from 5 to 12 feet.†It’s possible to pluck plump walleyes from pockets in the weeds, but Christensen prefers the deadly efficiency of Lindy rigging the edges. “Both the inside and outside edges of the weedline can hold fish,†he said. “I often start deep. If the fish are really biting and all of a sudden disappear, I’ll move to the inside edge. Often, active fish move shallower, so you have to move with them to stay on the bite.†Christensen’s go-to rig includes Lindy’s 72-inch Minnow Snell, which he says helps avoid spooking skittish walleyes. “You’re fishing close to the boat in relatively shallow depths,†he explains. “So the added snell length can be a big plus, especially in clear water.†When the water is off-color to flat out murky, he will opt for the 42-inch Lindy Rig X-Treme or the 36-inch Minnow Snell. Slip-sinkers such as the Lindy Walking Sinker or No-Snagg are key to weedline success because they allow the fish to take line without feeling the weight of the sinker. Christensen matches sinker weight to water depth and other factors, such as wind and waves. “Always go as light as possible to maintain bottom contact with your line at a 45-degree angle to the water,†he says. “You also don’t want the minnow to be able to lift the sinker off bottom and swim away from walleyes that are checking it out.†In general, sinkers in the ¼- to 3/8-ounce range see most of the action in the depths Christensen targets. While offshore riggers typically lean on larger baitfish to trip walleyes’ triggers, Christensen chooses smaller fare, namely rainbow chubs in the 3-inch range. “They’re tough little minnows that remain lively a long time -- much longer than shiners,†he says. “Leeches are another decent option, but they’re hard to find in fall. Nightcrawlers are better earlier in the year, when there are more bug hatches going on.†Standard rigging wisdom calls for nose-hooking the bait, though at times reverse rigging with the minnow lightly impaled near the dorsal fin can be better. Christensen slow-trolls the rig along likely weedlines with his trolling motor only. He said that sometimes he can spot fish with his sonar, or his minnow gets nervous and starts swimming around a little more, letting him know a walleye is moving in for a closer look. In either case, he slows down to give the fish more time to take the bait, or he turns around for another pass at the prime area. Even once you put the right bait in strike zone, bite detection and - skills remain critical to rigging success. It can be challenging to detect the strike and get a good hook-set when the sinker is ticking along a soft, weedy bottom and occasionally hanging up on weed clumps and stalks. To tip the odds in his favor, he fishes with a light-tipped rod, which loads up nicely when faced with resistance and gives him a chance to determine whether the extra weight is a light-biting walleye or simply vegetation. “Let the rod load up to be sure it’s a fish,†he says. “Sometimes you’ll also feel a twitch or thunk when a walleye grabs the minnow, but not always.†Knowing a fish has the bait is half the battle. Sticking the hook in its jaw is the other. After detecting a bite, Christensen feeds the fish slack line, then typically gives it a little time to get the minnow in its maw before driving the hook home. Most often, it’s an amazingly calm 10-count, though fish activity level may dictate longer or shorter counts. He says that he knows anglers who wait a minute or more to set the hook, but that can lead to deeply hooked fish. “I release most of my fish, so I don’t wait that long,†he notes. When it’s time to set the hook, don’t just snap the rod back and hope for the best. Such blind ambition often results in a short set, what Christensen calls “setting the hook on the sinker.†Instead, gently reel up any slack in the line until the rod loads up and you feel the weight of the fish, then execute a nice, strong, sweeping hook-set and you’ll be well on your way to reaping the fall weedline harvest.

IMHO, that's very well said Jim. Pro staffers are after a piece of the pie that companies allot for advertising, shows and other promotions. Companies that really pay attention to their pro staffs consider just how many impressions they are getting for their buck by supporting an individual with product, tournament entry fees or a retainer and how many sales those impressions lead to. Many moons ago I used to buy ads for Starcraft Marine and handle the company's pro staff. We had six boats in the hands of different walleye fishing teams, and really only one of the guys did enough with magazines and TV shows and other media to put himself ahead of what the cost of the boats would have brought us in ads. These days pro staffers can earn their keep by promoting in forums and social media, but the danger is losing credibility by gushing too much about the products and the benefits. Sort of like what Champ is talking about maybe. Dave

Thanks Frank! As I recall those pics were taken at Racine after a Eucher tournament and you had our buddy Kenny Lyles aboard. I didn't realize that avatar was a pic I took till you mentioned it! Let me know when you start whacking and stacking those perch down there!

Not to say anything good or bad about Lake Assault, but the gent who actually started the company and was in charge of the boat that sank had sold the company assets to (I think the name is) Superior Boat Works. That means he sold the gear to make the boats and all the materials, without selling any of the warranty stuff. At least that's my understanding. I think that fellow is just hoping all this stuff goes away. Far as I know he's not even in the boat biz anymore. So, I'm kinda screwed on getting my cameras replaced at this point. I mean, I already got some of 'em replaced and am back in the saddle as a photog, but I don't think anyone is going to pay me for 'em and that's just the way life goes I guess. Still would be cool if that Pelican case with my good Nikon and Canon video camera showed up somewhere! I do think it was closed and sealed. And Contour was good enough to replace all the video camera gear I lost in the accident that they made. Highly recommend looking at the Contour gear if you're thinking of adding a Go Pro or Contour style camera for extreme fishing videos!

Interesting story. No mention of dead cormorants though. Wonder why?

Keep up the good work!

Thanks Jim. Would be happy to talk to the club. Will work for food (and hopefully fuel). Good point about DSC.

Me too Mike!

Thanks Troy. I hope what happened to us will serve as a cautionary tale that helps it from happening to others. Dave

Apparently Lake Assault.

Guys: This BLOG post originally appeared on a different website with which I am no longer affiliated. I'm doing a radio interview about what happened and wanted to be able to guide listeners to GreatLakesFisherman.com to read the whole account. Just in case you're wondering why something that happened in July is being posted here in October. Dave

Stupid, Adrift and Thanking God for a Coleman Cooler They say confession is good for the soul, but bad for the reputation, but I’m going to tell you about the blunders that led to yours truly hanging on to a cooler in waves of many different sizes, about five miles from shore out on Lake Michigan the day before the July 4th holiday. I was in the water about 3 1/2 hours, while my boat mates stayed in the drink up to an hour longer. But let me interject a quick boat review: I loved my first trip in the 18-foot Lake Assault center console Tuesday, out of South Haven, Michigan. The boat seemed built like a tank, with aluminum diamond plate decking and floors, with lots of convenient storage. Pushed by a super-quiet Honda 90-hp outboard, the boat trolled in three-footers really well. Overall, it was great—until it took a few waves over the transom and capsized, sending me, my buddy Matt, his 10-year-old son Jack and Matt's cousin John (who turned 50 on Monday) into the lake some five miles from shore, largely without life jackets, without time to advise anyone over the hand-held radio of our predicament. Then it sank like the Titanic. End of boat review. I don't think I'll buy one. So, the boat swamped, and Matt, with a boat cushion, and young Jack, the only angler wearing a life jacket, clung to each other and headed for the distant shoreline. John drifted one direction; I drifted another direction. Soon I was as alone and feeling more helpless than I can remember, with waves seemingly ever building and pushing me north, more parallel to the beach than towards it. Although I kicked in moderately sustained spurts for the shore, I never seemed to make headway. And no, I didn't bury the lead. No one died, and other than early signs of hypothermia for Jack, a severely bruised ankle for Cousin John and a sunburned face for me, we got out of the ordeal a lot better off than we might have. I must interject something else, unapologetic to any atheists or agnostics reading this: God is good. And I renewed a direct, personal relationship with Him. Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, I imagine that few atheists bob around for long way offshore, knowing that aside from three other people—also bobbing—no one knows that they’re in trouble. Here's what happened: My buddy Matt, his cousin John and son Jack and I towed the boat about 30 miles from its storage barn in Paw Paw, Michigan to South Haven. We caravanned with our mutual friend and Matt’s business partner Al, who took his 17-foot Sea Nymph with his grandson Tyler and friend Travis. It was one of those moderately uncomfortable days to fish; not really bad wind and waves, but lumpy, occasional three-footers. Not the kind of waves you’d ever expect could sink a boat. After launching at around 5;30 and trolling for about four hours, we had three decent fish in the built-in fish box. At about 10:15, we were starting to discuss heading in to the ramp and thought we had another fish on a copper line, but it turned out to a tangle with the other copper line on that side of the boat. This mess proceeded to tangle with a wire dipsy, and then both downriggers. It was a superb mess, maybe the worst tangle I’ve ever seen—and I’ve seen some loo-loos. If only I'd have listened to Matt, who suggested I just hand-over-hand the massive wad of copper in and worry about untangling back at the shop. But no, I was sure just one more snip of the braided super-line backing and the tangle would be solved. And as I worked on it at the starboard side of the transom, the copper, apparently stuck in the port downrigger, got too close to the propeller on the 90-horse Honda outboard. “B-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d!†Instantly, a lot of copper was wrapped in the prop. Matt ordered John to kill the engine and trim it up. Didn’t actually look too bad, as far as the copper situation, neatly spooled in front of the stainless steel blades. If it had been just the copper, I’m thinking we might’ve been able to fire it up, put it in gear, let it fall to pieces and head in. But remember, we also had a good amount of 7-strand stainless steel wire somewhere in the fray. That stuff is definitely not good for lower units. So Matt and I started to try and pull the copper off the propeller. I just weighed myself this morning—up to 244 pounds. I don't know what Matt weighs, but he used to play defensive lineman for a Division I university, is about 6 foot, 5 inches tall and, well, he’s just a big guy. With both of us at the back of the boat and John (who shares some of Matt's big-guy genes and is no lightweight himself) at the helm, we have a lot of weight at the transom when Matt and I are working on the outboard. So, here’s the first mistake: Not having a sea anchor aboard to deploy off the bow to allow the boat to ride up and over the waves, front first. But in retrospect, I bet that even had there been on aboard, we wouldn’t have deployed it. We just aren’t feeling like we’re in hazardous waves. But we’re out there, no power, transom getting smacked. Little tops of waves are splish-splashing over the cut out transom. Still, nothing to get really concerned about, right? Matt and I are both at the rear and John sits in the helm seat, when we take a moderate amount of water over the back. John turned on the bilge pump, which immediately spurted water to the side, and then he moved to the bow platform to reduce the amount of weight at the transom. Now it’s just Matt and me back there trying to reach the copper to pull it off the propeller. Matt took off his shirt because he didn't want to get it wet. And we take a pretty good wave over the back. I move forward. Another wave. I suggest Matt might want to move forward, and yet another wave swooshes into the cockpit. Matt turns around and sees water rolling around the whole boat, almost up to the level of the front platform, and several things happen in quick succession. The boat is definitely foundering, and I reach into my bag and grab my Onyx inflatable life jacket. I don’t even have time to think about putting it on, let alone inflate it. The boat starts to tip big-time to starboard and Matt jump-falls out of the rear of the boat. John picks up 10-year-old Jack and tosses him clear. I do my best to launch myself to starboard, hoping the boat won’t be on top of me, holding the PFD, still uninflated. Suddenly we’re all four in the water and the boat has turtled. We all got clear of it and maybe we’ll be fine. We can just cling to the boat and await a rescue. Both young Jack and I hang to the hull, I’m straddling the keel, fingers stuck into the holes that I guess drain the livewell near the front of the boat, and sense the rear portion of the boat is sinking. I feel some of the tangled lines around my right ankle and make it my first priority to get my foot free. Matt has a seat cushion-style flotation device, which I believe John was able to throw to him. He’s yelling to see if Jack is all right, and he is, but by now, only about four feet of the boat is sticking out of the water, nearly vertically. John sees the Coleman cooler we had stocked with drinks pinned against the water’s surface, stuck between the water and the triangular bow deck of the last part of the boat sticking out of the water. He debates briefly about pulling it out, since it seems to be the only thing keeping the boat from completely sinking. But the boat is continuing to drop below the surface, so he pulls it out. Seconds later, the boat slips down and is gone. By now I’ve found the pull-tab and the cord to inflate the Onyx. I jerk and it works. I'm not wearing it, but it’s easy to hang on to. We’re all kind of looking around. Matt grabs a yellow dry bag that’s afloat. I see the yellow, waterproof hard-side case I’d gotten at a long-ago Evinrude press event. I’d used it to hold a half-ass ditch kit, kept on the old Starcraft. I’d included the Humminbird hand-held marine radio we had been using that morning to talk to Al, and I know the radio isn't back inside. I try to remember if that radio was supposed to float (it wasn't, but it is submersible) and don't see it anywhere in the waves—it's really not easy to see anything floating around us at water level. The radio had been on the ledge near the horizontal rod racks and I only had enough time to think of and grab my PFD. The radio is with the boat (not to mention all of Matt's fishing gear), on the bottom, 89 feet below us. I recall that I had a packet of four flares in the case, too. So I swim over to the hard-side case, just as we realize there’s a nice-size boat, maybe a 28-footer, an express open, trolling close to the same depth as we were, away from us, maybe 300 yards away. We scream. We wave as best we can. It keeps trolling away. So I open the case and pull out the zippered mesh bag of flares, noting they expired in 2010. Four are inside and I fumble with the zipper, but get the pack open and pull one out. And I have no idea of how it’s supposed to work, so chin-deep in three-foot waves, sputtering the occasional mouthful of water, I’m reading directions. By some act of God, I still have my glasses on so I actually CAN read, and see I need to pull the plunger down, unscrew the bottom cap and yank on the chain. Not simple while holding on to an inflated life jacket, flare inches from my face. I jerk. Nothing. I jerk again and “POP!†a smoky trail heads skyward. And that’s it. No burning ball of fire. A smoky trail that the southwest wind disperses in seconds. The express cruiser is now really far away, headed for Saugatuck water. I grope for another flare, but the mesh case is no longer in my hand. I put my face in the water and look down and see the squarish orange case sinking ever so slowly, just below my feet. I dive for it, unwilling to release the PFD. No way to reach it. Now I hear Matt yelling at John to hang on to the cooler and see that John is having a really tough time. John, despite being an experienced scuba diver, is on the verge of panic. In the waves, he just can’t hold on to the cooler and keep his head above water. I kick over to him and suggest we trade, Onyx for Coleman. Except I didn’t really suggest so much as shove the PFD into his chest, whereupon he grabs it, along with the fabric of my long-sleeved Great Lakes Angler shirt. I can’t explain the calm that came over me other than as being divine. “Just the life jacket Bubba,†I say as if it's a joke. “Let go my shirt please.†And he does. And I grab the handles of the cooler and learn immediately why coolers aren't U.S. Coast Guard-approved PFDs. It’s a medium-sized, blue cooler with a white top. I hold it upside down, closed tight, drinks and ice rumbling around inside. Holding the handles sucks my body underneath legs first, leaving me face-up for waves breaking over my forehead and into the orifices I use for breathing. I still have the yellow hard case the flares were in, and before long I realize I can hold the cooler’s handles with my knuckles against the lid, fingers pointed outwards, stretching my arms in front and can keep my head out of water and legs behind me fairly well. The cooler is just the right size for this. My left hand holds the handle of the cooler and the buoyant yellow hard case, now empty, but buoyant. At this point, I can’t explain exactly how, but we go three separate directions. One moment we’re all three swimming towards shore—I notice two Church planer boards, still attached to fishing lines, floating foam side up. The next moment, we’re all far apart. I hear a boat behind me in deeper water and turn to see an IO model, a white and red fiberglass boat maybe 20 or 22-feet long, maybe a Four Winns, complete with fishing rods and downriggers. It seems like it’s less than 100 yards away, just cruising slowly—I don’t think they were fishing. I’m close enough to see two people, young men, talking to each other and for a second or two, I think they've heard me yelling for help—along with Matt, Jack and John who join in, although I find out at the end of the ordeal that no one else even saw that second boat. It doesn’t turn. Now the cooler is obstructing my view of my former boat mates, and I hear Matt yelling for me, maybe because I started yelling help when I saw the boat. “I'm OK!†I yell. “I'm fine.†And that’s the last I see or hear of them in the water. OK, before I get into the circumspect self-analysis and explore those thoughts I remember having while adrift and alone, let’s review all the things we did wrong and some of the things that would have helped our situation. Let’s start with me. 1. I let foolish pride get in the way of just pulling all of Matt’s copper into the boat and ended up getting it tangled in the prop. 2. I wasn’t wearing my PFD. If I had been, it’s likely I would have looked for and grabbed the radio instead of looking for the life vest. 3. I didn’t know how to use my flares. If I did, and if I had been wearing the PFD in the water instead of hanging on to it, it would have been a lot easier to hold on to the other three flares in their pouch and shoot more off, maybe before that boat had trolled so far away. Also, I don't know if that flare I successfully fired was a dud or if it performed correctly. My ditch bag (case) should have had flares that hadn’t expired two years ago. 4. The boat should have had a dash-mounted marine radio instead of relying on a hand-held (which, in retrospect, probably would have been left at home with the rest of the ditch bag anyway). Still, a dash-mount would have been easier to grab and call for help. 5. Another essential piece of big water gear has to be a drift bag that can attached to a forward cleat to keep the boat pointed into the wind, avoiding waves washing over the transom. 6. All of us tough men should have been wearing PFDs, as young Jack was. I used to be in the habit of wearing an inflatable--an unfortunate habit to break. We should have known where they were stowed on the boat, too, and been able to at least pull them out of the compartment before the boat capsized. I take that back. We wouldn’t have had time even if we knew where they were. The boat was gone that quickly. *** So I find myself in the water, alone, clinging to the handles of a cooler, and collect my thoughts—and not all of them, especially at first, are pleasant. “I’m 55 years old. I could have a heart attack.†“I wonder if I could black out with the way I have to take a deep breath and hold it all the time?†“God, please don't let Matt have a heart attack.†“I hope John is OK.†He seemed a lot better with the life jacket, but he wasn’t doing well and, being from Evansville in Southern Indiana, he has only been on Lake Michigan once before. I’m most worried about him. “I've been having weird spasms in my fingers and thumb. What if I have one and let go of the cooler?†“What if a handle breaks with these waves slapping the cooler?†“What if the predicted thunderstorm comes through and pummels this area with icy water or even hail? Water is warm now, but I wonder if it would get cold enough to get hypothermia. And what kind of waves would come with a thunderstorm? It’s hard enough to stay on top and breath with this cooler. If I drop it or some wave rips it out of my hands, it’s over.†The water’s surface temp was warm—really pleasant, and I later learn it was 70 degrees, someone said the warmest on record for early July. But a couple of the press releases I’ve received over the years from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and companies that make safety gear play through my mind. I remember one with a chart that showed how long people have before hypothermia sets in when they’re immersed in varying degrees of water term. I don't remember the specifics, but it seemed like if you fall into 38-degree water, you've got something like a minute. Fifty-degree water and you have half an hour. I wonder how long I’ll have. Maybe four hours? All I can do is hope my teeth don’t start chattering. (Turns out I wasn’t that far off in my guesstimates. Here’s a chart: http://westpacmarine.com/samples/hypothermia_chart.asp). Well, I ultimately decide that the Good Lord is testing me. I think of something some fine Christian said about the burden that God gives us—it’s never more than we can handle. And this thought gives me some comfort. I try kicking towards shore, but it seems like I’m going nowhere. The only time I seem to move at all is when I take a deep breath and hold it, putting my face in the water and stretching my arms forward and legs behind, as close to the surface as possible. Waves roll into the cooler, and I can feel the sensation of rushing forward. But the surges don’t take me directly towards shore, where the treeline appears dark bluish-black through the summery haze. Bad luck for me, the wind and waves come from the south-southwest. When I peer over the cooler in the direction the waves are pushing me, I can’t see the tree line in front of me. I guess that at this angle, I’ll end up in Grand Haven or farther north, and don’t want to do the calculation of how long that will take drifting at about one mile per hour. It’s only around 11 or 11:30 a.m. by my best guess (the cuff of my long-sleeve shirt is stuck to the face of my watch and letting go of the cooler with both hands just to see what time it is is not an option). The sun is still more east than west, but with my current course, I'll be spending the night out here. I keep doing spurts of kicking, but also start dealing with cramps in my hamstrings and calves and—of all things—my toes. When I feel the spasms, I go back to cooler surfing, stretching my legs out, which changes my direction towards the unseen shore. A couple of years ago, I read a book called “Adrift,†by Steven Callahan, who was sailing a small boat, solo, from Portugal to the U.S. One night he woke up when something big—he later speculated a whale—hit his boat and caused it to sink. He had a tiny life raft, barely any food, a couple of water makers designed for a couple days use each and a small survival kit that included fish hooks. He survived on largely on fish. And he was adrift for 76 days. That’s 2 1/2 months. I think of that book and 76 days adrift, no land in sight, and I feel really, really stupid out here, within sight of shore, hanging on to a Coleman cooler. So I try frog kicks, and scissor kicks like I learned as a kid in swimming lessons. I might be getting closer to shore—have to be getting closer—but there’s really no way to tell. Lots of different thoughts about mortality, my career and how I treat my family go through my head. I’m not really worried about dying. I just don’t think it’s my time yet, and don’t allow myself to ponder, “but what if it is?†I really feel like I’m in no immediate danger and figure that aside from the eventual possibility of hypothermia, I can survive out here for a long time. I do at one point hope Kathy has made my life insurance payment. But I’m not in dire circumstances, like if the boat had sunk in April with 40-degree water. I think about being laid off from Great Lakes Angle for the second year in a row as of July 15, with the plan to go back on December 1, and wonder if I really enjoy this Great Lakes trolling that much anymore. Was I even having a good time when we were catching fish? Was it fun to get up at 3:30 this morning? I think of the massive amount of tackle I’ve accumulated for big lake salmon and walleye fishing, and how piles of stuff are in the family room for me to sort, and how Kathy has been overall pretty cool about me not getting it out of there by my self-imposed deadline, although I now have to clean the house—twice—for her granting me a deadline extension so I could go fishing. I decide I’m going to just stack it up, let Al take whatever he wants, and then toss the rest in a dumpster. (I subsequently have decided to have a garage sale after Al looks through it and before heading for the dumpster.) I think about my lost cameras, a $275 Canon point-and-shoot that served as a backup to my Nikon D-70 SLR was in my bag, along with a brand new, as-yet-unused Contour video camera, a $200 deal that is largely waterproof and designed to compete against the Go-Pro cameras. My good $600 Canon video camera and the Nikon are in a (supposedly) watertight Pelican case, hopefully floating towards shore. Maybe I’ll get them back. I hope so, since pictures of John's first king along with some nice photos of Matt and Jack holding a different king are on the Nikon. I don’t really care about losing the main tools of my trade, but it would be nice to get them back so I can get those pictures to the guys. If the guys are OK. I’ve also lost the top to my favorite rainsuit—Frabill—along with a packet of lures in a large zip-style plastic bag I’d put together that morning (turns out a friend of a friend of a friend found that and I’ll probably get that back soon). I didn’t set out writing this tale of four hours in the water to be long and boring enough to take four hours to read, so let’s get on with what happened next. I continue my spurts of frustrated kicking towards the east, resting and letting unrelenting Lake Michigan push me north-northeast. I don’t have anything better to do. I keep my head out of the water and pressed against the cooler while kicking, hoping that keeping my noggin in the hot sun will delay getting chilled. Still occasionally cramping, I do my dead body float routine to stretch and work out the cramp. And I guess I must have looked pretty dead, as Travis later told me when he saw me, he had goose flesh down both arms. After more than three hours in the water, I look up and to my left, and I see a boat, close, and why, it looks like my good fishing buddy Al. A wave obstructs my view, but there the boat is again, a white, 17-foot Sea Nymph with a blue stripe, and sure enough, there’s my shirtless, fireplug buddy, looking and waving and clearing lines with his friend Travis. Later I learn that Al had told 7-year-old grandson Tyler, who normally steers, to sit down on the floor because he didn’t want the boy to see a dead body. Al is shouting into his microphone—I can't hear what he's saying, but I know he’s calling the Coast Guard. Al and Travis are obviously concerned about getting me in the boat and put it in neutral. Hanging onto the side of their boat, I tell them that Matt's boat sank, that Matt, Jack and John are probably still in the water. Al gets back with the Coast Guard, saying three more people are in the water. The Coast Guard says they'll dispatch a chopper. “It’s in neutral Dave,†he tells me as I hang on the side of the boat, one hand still holding the Coleman. Travis takes the cooler and out spills the three or four drinks and leftover ice inside—I’d been starting to wonder what was in there booming around, actually considering that a sugary Coke might be life-sustaining sustenance if the wind shifted and I got headed across the lake towards Milwaukee. I go to the transom to climb in that way, but the boat has already spun downwind so waves are slapping against it. “Al! Get this boat pointed into the waves! I already sank one boat today!†I don’t really remember if he did, but he and Travis hauled me over the side without swamping. I convince them I’m not hurt and other than a little cold, I’m OK. Al gives the Coast Guard his cell number and is soon talking with them again, relaying the GPS coordinates where he pulled me out. Meanwhile, a mid-size older Sea Ray is cruising by and we flag them down. I think the boat was named "I Got My Weigh," and three guys and a gal are aboard. We tell them what happened and they start searching. Within a half hour (I think—actual time is kind of fuzzy) the Sea Ray radios the Coast Guard that that have found John and he’s aboard. This bolsters my confidence that we’re all four going to be OK since Jack had his life jacket and Matt had a seat cushion. Before long, eight or so other boats are in the search, having heard our plight on the radio. The Coast Guard shows up in one of their twin-outboard orange RIBs with blue flashing lights, talks to us briefly and then throws out a life ring with a flashing light and starts a grid search. I think about 15 minutes later, the orange chopper shows up, and within just a few more minutes, we see it start to hover, about two miles closer to shore, and note that the RIB is on plane, blasting towards the helicopter. "They have to have found them," I say, hoping Matt and Jack are together and all right. About five minutes later, the Coast Guard comes on the radio to advise that all four of the persons in the water have been recovered and are in good shape. Al and Travis whoop and high five as I start to break down crying in relief—tears out of nowhere—as Al bearhugs me. It turns out Matt is fine, but Jack had actually shown the first signs of hypothermia--blue lips and shivers. The two had made really good progress towards shore, probably covering about three miles, with two miles left to go. I’m not sure how this happened or if Matt might not have looked at his depth finder right before we sank, but he thought the boat sank in 89 feet of water, while Al found me in 110 feet of water. Makes me wonder if some odd current had me heading more out to the center of the lake. Al points his boat towards South Haven and I ask how many fish they got. “Around ten,†he says. Knowing Al loves to fill the fishbox—and probably the only reason he was still out trolling was because he hadn't gotten a three-person limit yet, I joke, “Well, why we going in? We can get 10 more.†And I think about how thankful I am that Al is pit bull tenacious about getting a limit of salmon. Finally we’re heading up the Black River. We make a brief stop at the pavilion in port where EMTs are waiting with a red truck flashing red lights. I just tell them I’m fine and don't need medical treatment, as does John. Matt, John, Al and I have a tearful reunion back at the launch ramp. Hugs all around. Matt had thought John and I were goners for sure after we got separated. The four of us drive back together in Matt’s truck, discussing some of the things that happened. Jack is resilient and more worried about what will happen when his mother finds out than anything else. Matt tells us something Jack said after they had been in the water for a couple of hours. “He says, ‘I sure wish we wouldn't have lost those fish.’†It makes us all laugh. So assessing what we lost, it all seems insignificant to what we didn’t lose. Thank God, truly, that we all came out of that OK, hopefully wiser and smart enough to be more prepared for that kind of thing happening in the future. Not that it will ever happen to us, of course.

Escape from the Great Lakes: Marsh Madness Redfish Wrangling If you like the sound a drag makes when a fish heads for the horizon, I would like to suggest a vacation to Venice, Louisiana and redfish fishing. Venice is less than two hours out of New Orleans, which is where I flew in to the last day of September this year. You might be surprised at how cheap flights are into that great city. Next year, though, I’m planning to drive down so I can bring a couple coolers full of seafood back with me! I was there on a writers’ junket put together by Eric Cosby of Top Brass Tackle, who has enlisted a long and impressive bunch of supporters for the program. It all started about 15 years ago when Eric and his brother Artie invited me down to fish with California bass fishing legend Don Iovino, known then for his finesse fishing. Since then it has grown with more industry people and more writers and more good ol‘ boys with bass boats just about every year. Now, more than 50 people are involved and the project has become known as Marsh Madness. After a long absence because of various conflicts with work and bird hunting camps, I was privileged to be invited back this year. SEAN WHEATLEY OF PLANO MOLDING WITH THE 'MONEY' FISH And what fun we had! First day was delayed by rain—really ugly rain—so I didn’t get out with Paul Rossi, who is a rep for Skeeter Boats, and Sean Wheatley from Plano Molding (the tacklebox people) until early afternoon. The rain had muddied up the waters and made fishing tough. I not only lost a dollar to Sean, who caught the first fish, I missed every bite I felt. Paul got in the groove and caught several, but while I was disappointed by not ripping any lips, I really enjoyed being out in the marsh, seeing all kinds of wildlife, from nutria, the biggest rodent on the planet (basically springer spaniel-sized guinea pigs) to Roseate spoonbills, a beautiful pink bird. Add in soaring flocks of stately man-o-wars above, an osprey carrying a fish like a torpedo and huge numbers of white egrets in bushes, and it’s an experience that doesn’t need the added value of catching a fish to enjoy. SKEETER BOATS REP PAUL ROSSI WITH A NICE RED. So what’s the redfish fishing series doing on GreatLakesFisherman.com? I’ve got a point to make about how “fixing” the Louisiana marsh from hurricanes Katrina and Isaac as well as the BP oil disaster parallels the Great Lakes. Plus, if you like the sound of a singing drag, you really have to experience fishing down there! Next post: Whacking jacks, reds and flounders.

What rivers you fishing for them?

Halloooo...doesn't DNA say they're already in?

Catfish are VERY cool fish! Can't wait to get after 'em again.