Fishing Michigan

Here’s the weekend report from Captain Mike from Matthews Bait Shop in Bolles Harbour.  Sounds like the fishing has really turned up a notch.

Catching allot of nice fish and have had numerous fish over 6 lbs in this week
from the North towards Middle Sister Island and just east of the Detroit
light~!!!

Mike

Finally got the paper work from Ohio, so will be getting my letters on the duck boat, and doing some muskie fishing this week.

Good luck this weekend, use a lil common sense, be safe, catch fish.

Its always good to have it in writing. Its an old saying that holds true for fishing as well, or hunting and probably a number of other outdoor activities, like maybe hunting mushrooms. Having a reliable reference source can ensure improved success from trip to trip, or even from season to season.

Log in the days, times, months, winds, temps, depths and lures being used. Use a written account, as a backup for your GPS information. Don’t trust anything electronic for the long haul, a GPS or fish locator can crash, go on the fritz or die just as easily as your computer at home.

It is really helpful if you had a digital recorder out on the boat with you, just to get as much detail down as accurately possible. I just thought of that one, so don’t go looking for me on the Crestliner talking into a lil black box. The key is to write it down as soon as possible after your fishing venture.

Writing it down, also is a tool for committing the information into your long term memory. Its a learning tool I learned to use at EMU while working on my bachelor’s degree. The more repitition, the more you tend to retain. Its kind of like learning your multiplication tables, before some brainiac decided it was ok for elementary kids to use a calculator, it was just easier to remember and retain for later applications. Small wonder that the person at the secretary of state’s office didnt understand how I figured out the tax on a $25,000 truck so quickly today.

Anyhoo, when you look back years from now, you can compare past information with present data, good chance what worked then, will work now, as well.

good luck

With the recent loss of my 3 yr old beagle Piper, less than a month later, I had to put down my other 7 year old beagle Shelby.  Here is pic of her as a pup.  Not a better dog ever lived,  a true friend and companion.  Never ran away, didn’t stray and always came when called.  Just a true creature of God, and the most loving animal I have ever known.  She would just be licking and kissing my girlfriend whenever she came by,  and always had that lil’ cry of excitement to see her, or others folks that she came to know.

She also had her funny side.  Not being dressed up in a Halloween or Christmas suit,  but in her mannerisms.  She was a relentless hunter and the best 10 bucks I ever spent,  for thats all she cost me, to cover the shots the owner had given her as a pup.  Here is a pic, with my camera phone, where she is on the left, and my lab Bonnie on the right. They are both trying to find that elusive rabbit that ran to its hole.  Just about dug out the whole ditch bank.  Yes, the rabbit got away.

She was a good dog to be sure.

Just added some pictures to help tell the story…..

Again, this is not what you thought it was going to be!

I am procastinating a bit on getting geared for my tourney this weekend.  There really isnt that much left to do, I have my Tots, Wiggle Warts and Reef Runners all packed,  the harnesses are made up and ready to go, my spoon box is set.  Bottom bouncers are packed,  bought a fresh spool of Trilene Big Game @ Meijers the other day while getting some ribs for the cookout yesterday.  I did put together my new Weber grill, have the charcoal already, into the truck it goes tomorrow with the tent and chairs.

Anyhoo, the kegger in the topic actually refers to a 1/2 barrel keg, specially modified for adding that extra something to any outdoor cookout.  Anyone can do this with with a little knowledge of welding or have access to a shop or friend who can do it for you.

I have two half barrels, and a 1/4 barrel, more commonly referred to as a pony keg…modified and ready to cook any number of things that can be cooked in the traditional trash can.  Yesterday for Lani’s baptism it was 40 ears of corn, used with a single burner that could be used for deep frying a turkey, the corn cooked while I did the ribs and chicken on the gas grill, and the italian sausages were going on the smoker, minus the wood chips.

 Here is how you contruct your keg boiler.  Take a 1/2 or 1/4 barrel.  Cut the side all around, near the top.  I welded handles on the main bottom section.  On the top, I welded slats to fit down tight over the bottom section.  It works better if you can put the keg on the burner and then fill with water. 

I have also used this with a homemade tripod while camping in the Upper,  throwing in cabbage, corn, kielbasa, potatoes and onions.  Started my fire with some good oak logs,  put it altogether and went fishing after the fire had gone down to the point where it wasnt a threat to spread. 7 hours later, and the whole family came down for dinner.  Its a good idea to not leave unattended, so I had a cousin or three taking turns reading and keeping an eye on things.  everything came out great. 

It works great and you will get lots of use out of it, if you enjoy boiled dinners or just corn on the cob.