Fishing Michigan

If you have never went North and explored the upper reaches of our great state, you have missed out on simple dining pleasure,  the pasty.  Pasties are a small dinner all packed into one item.  Originally popular with the miners of Northern Michigan for lunches at work,  they have spun out into roadside stands, taverns and fancy sit down places to eat.  Eat them plain, or with gravy, ketchup or A-1 Steak Sauce.  The last being my personal favorite.

Made with a pie crust (or something similiar), the tradional pasty contains beef, potatoes, rutabaga, onions and carrots.  Here is a new twist that is easy to make, a little better for you and will help clean out the fridge after one of those wonderful fish dinners.

I have been playing in the kitchen for years, love to cook, grill and bbq anything that will stand still.  I came up this little gem a few years ago when I realized I was out of beef and chicken (another meat that can be used).

 Here is what you need to make your own fish pasty;

Jiffy Biscuit mix, potatoes, onion, frozen corn, celery and some leftover fish fillets, or fresh, and seasoning.

First cube up the spuds and boil, this takes the longest so start it first. Then either flake off some of the fried fish, or bake it in the oven, and then flake.  Take the onion and slice and dice, the same with the celery.  Set out a couple of cups of frozen corn.  I like the Jiffy mix for a couple of reasons.  First of all its just easy to mix up.  Second of all, did doesnt contain any of the lard that the traditional dough is made with, last of all, it fluffs up.  Like a dinner in a biscuit.  Also makes better suited if you decide to make a gravy for it.  A seasoned milk gravy works,  and maybe Dave (The Luna Pier Chef) could suggest another recipe’ with fancy cream or something.

For dinner for two, follow the basic recipe.  You can get two good sized pasties out of the mix.  For more, double or triple up.

So mix up the dough, and roll out like a homemade pizza calzone/pizza pocket.  Spoon in your potatoes, seasoning (just salt and pepper if you like), then the fish and veggies. Fold over and crimp.  You can place on cookie baking tray thats been sprayed with olive oil or non stick cooking spray.

Bake in the oven @ 375 or 400 degrees, until the biscuit dough looks nice and browned.  Nothing scientific about it, everything is already cooked inside.  The hot cubes of potatoes will steam the veggies while it bakes, and a fair amount of moisture is in the onion and celery.  It won’t be dried out, but then again, thats why some folks like the gravy on top.

I’ve done this with perch, crappie, bluegill, walleye and pike.  If you dont feel like fishing for your dinner,  Alaskan Pollack is good subsitute in the oven.

Its a good healthy twist on a Michigan favorite (minus the gravy) and just plain good to eat.

Stuff, lots and lots of stuff.  Stuff is good, but always wanting more,  just stuff!

Stuff is tackle, lots of tackle, and then gadgets, and then rods and reels where does it all end, and how do you stop collecting STUFF.  Repeat after me, ” My name is (insert yours), and I am addicted to fishing!”  They say the first step is to admit you have a problem.

Ok, that was the funny introduction to a fairly serious question.  How do you know when you have enough stuff to get the job done?  Can I take everything I have and be confident in landing that big fish, or getting the limit for the dinner table?  When do you take a look at your lures, and finally say, I have enough to get the job done. 

I have pretty much reached my limit when it comes to muskie fishing, and even pike fishing to an extent.  I probably could use some more spinnerbaits here and there,  but not to the point where I feel the need to rush out and raid a store of its shelves and pegs.  I haven’t really dedicated the time the last two years to justify getting more “stuff”.  I look at what I have and I have the basics covered; topwater, jerkbaits, big and little cranks, spinnerbaits and spoons.  I have a variety of sizes to be successful depending on the season and dailey weather.  Besides,  you have to ask is a FIFTY DOLLAR LURE really going to catch me more fish???

There will come a point in time, when you can honestly say, “That lure has seen its prime, and it can be replaced with a better mousetrap.”  In the case of walleye fishing,  Lake Erie for an example,  “Is the Erie Dearie or my beloved Golden Nugget, really  the best option for me to have a succesful trip?”  Also, someone please justify for me, paying $5.39 for a nugget, hello, its a jig with wings for pete’s sake.  I’ve got just about every walleye crankbait known to man;  Rapalas, Reef Runners, Bombers…etc.  Looking back, what have I used the most over the years?  That old favorite, that still is very effective, the original Storm Hot n Tot.  I have not found another crankbait to be as effective on Erie than the tot.

So, I ll take my tots and what else to Erie? An assortment of harnesses of one form or another.  The lengths vary for casting, dragging and drifting, then trolling too.  The blades vary in size to accomplish the job too, sizes 2 through 5 will cover the bases, as well as the Tigers’ Curtis Granderson stretching out another triple!  The Northland Baitfish Image holographic blades offer a good selection of colors, and if you look around, you can find all the sizes to make your own.

So what happens to the collection of other crankbaits?  They still have their uses.  They are highly effective in deep bodies of water, or work just as well trolling weedlines in the inland lakes of Michigan, Minnesota and Canada.  For inland lakes, the tots and harnesses pretty much stay home, its all cranks and jigs at that point.  Occasionally a stealthy 12 foot Roach or Lindy rig is most effective, with a single bead and hook tipped with a minnow, leech or crawler.

Apply it to bass fishing, as well.  There are times to break out the plastics for large and smallmouth.  Sometimes they prefer a crankbait, brought back at a steady retrieve, or jerked along to entice a bite from below.  Spinnerbaits work in deep or shallow, colorado blades for deep,  willow blades for fast and shallow applications.

Steelhead fishing,  whether you go north or just up to Flat Rock on the Huron River.  What do you need to get the job done, two rod and reel set ups are most effective, with these three bait offerenings.  On your 8′ rod or longer, flies and small jigs tipped with waxworms and spikes.  For fishing some areas, some small cranks like the Wiggle Wart, Brad’s Wigglers and Thin Fish, or the original Storm Thinfin and that Tot.  Highly suggest getting the metallic colors for the steelies.  For the cranks a 7 or 7 and 1/2 foot rod would be my choices.

Ok, thats some of the basic stuff you need.  Its so easy to go overboard, but with a little planning and research,  you can get what you need to get the job done.  Stuff is stuff, stuff is good,  but some stuff just works better than other stuff!

This so not going to be what you thought it would be!

If you fillet your walleyes and throw the carcass away after getting your fillets, you are so missing out on a special treat.  Walleyes have a secret (so it seems to the general public) tender morsel of meat tucked into their cheeks.

The texture of the flesh is different than the fillet,  and has been compared to a sea scallop in taste.  You need to take a sharp fillet knive, and start at the back of the cheek bone and slice forward. Once you reach the other side, peel the meat right off the skin.

Keep the cheeks separate from the fillets, and freeze in a separate bag that is labeled.  As you get enough to make a meal with, fry up in some butter,  and makes a great addition to breakfast with potatoes and general table fare.

yummy

I saw something that really irked me yesterday,  and something that you never would have seen 10-20 yrs ago.

Not once, but twice I saw bigger boats leaving Bolles Harbour and passing smaller boats,  with no one in front of them.  Whats wrong with that,  nothing, unless the passing boat has it opened wide and running hard.  In both cases, these two boats came from behind smaller boats and passed them, while the smaller boats were still coming out of the no wake area.

Ok, the law and regulations might allow for this faster speed.  Regardless, it would have taken less than minutes to hold those horses back until they were past these lesser sized craft and out of their wake.  Lesson?  Show some sportsmanship and consideration for those boats around you .

Better to get a friendly wave, than the alternative greeting.

Ever have one of those perfect weekends and when you get back to work on Monday, everything goes PHOOEY at once?  Had a good weekend fishing,  and this morning was just gorgeous,  just launched out of the channel at Bolles, engine running at 3,000 rpm and purring.

Then the ol sputter, sputter….dead.  Start thinking, ok the engine was running like  a top all weekend,  came out of the harbour just fine, barely get to the fourth bouy,  and thats it.  Couple of restarts, sputter, sputter and I’m ready to go swimming to cool off.  Instead I hook up the drive bar from the main engine to the kicker,  connect lines from portable tank, couple of pulls and back to the harbour we go.

I was so ready to go “fishing” with my dad, two guys out, and me getting a chance to hone my drift, drag and cast skills after trolling all season.  Was up till midnight making some of my lil special blades, then tieing the harnesses  and finally finishing building them about 2 am.  Up at 5, loaded and ready to go.

There is no worse feeling than coming in at 8 am, everyone passing you, asking, “Did you slay ‘em?”.  Having to respond that we had engine problems is the worse!  When I come in that early, I want limits, and I want to be done cleaning fish by 10 am!  Just not today.

Spent the rest of the day, replacing a fuel feeder, siphoning fuel,  and finally got to the point where I cannot do any more, without the proper tool.  Seems like the process of removing the fuel screen from the motor is a lil more difficult than it seemed at first.  Nuts, to quote a general from the Battle of Bagstone.

For the guys in the 16′ flat bottom boat, probably the least equipped to help,  but the only boat to stop and ask if I needed any help, thanks much, trully appreciated.  Would be nice if others were as thoughtful, even though not needed in this case,  its hard to tell from the casual passerbye.

Those two guys were real anglers.

Perfect weekend for fishing!! Mid 70’s lights winds and plenty of Walleye
biting on spoons & crawler harnesses in 21 to 24′ of water near Stoney Point,
straight out front and out near sputnik.Good luck and Good Fishing

Don’t forget this weekend is the State’s Free Fishing Weekend.  Great day just to grab a picnic type lunch, throw the rods in the back of the vehicle, gently of course,  the wife or girlfriend, and kids and find a place to relax for the day.

Getting a late start for Saginaw Bay,  will have something to post tomorrw night when I get back,  good luck this weekend and enjoy this gorgeous weather!