Milwaukee Browns

NumenOn the Water

Date:  11-11-15

Body of Water:  Lake Michigan, 

Boat:  Captain EH's 20-foot Alumacraft

With:  Captain EH

Target:  Brown Trout

Time:  8 AM - 2 PM

Conditions:  This was an opportunistic day-trip to Milwaukee Harbor for Giant Browns (or at least to learn local approaches to fishing for them) with respected multi-species, light tackle guide Captain EH.  It was during the day of the Full Moon, and a nasty Midwestern storm was coming in later that day.  At 20+ mph and beyond, it was too windy to think about Great Lakes fishing in West Michigan; but this protected harbor seems to be pretty robust to conditions.  It was a pretty mild day (other than the wind), generally clear, and water temperatures were about 48 - 50 F depending upon location.

We started with small brown trout egg sacs under small fixed floats.  The long spinning rods were outfitted with 6- or 8-pound braid and long 6-pound fluorocarbon leaders.  Our egg hooks were tiny and the drags were light; this was going to be finesse fishing.  But on the first cast, the float went down with authority, and I think anybody could have hooked up.  This initial fish fought hard and deep, and in the pretty darn clear water I had plenty of time to see my brown materialize and fight.  After a couple of minutes it was in the bag; and a successful trip was virtually assured.

First Cast!  Perhaps 12 pounds of egg-sipping Brown Buck Goodness!

We stayed here in this spot a bit longer.  I caught another nice brown quickly, followed by a couple of tiny steelheads.  Then I hooked, turned and lost a broad-tailed fish of considerable size.  The commotion of that fish on the surface seemed to have scattered the school, and so then we changed tactics; it was time to cast crank baits!

Second Brownie of the day!

Captain's Choice for cranks for casting were simply common bass and walleye baits.  I was equipped with a nice Abu 6-foot, 9-inch (or so) medium light spinner with a beautiful Abu Revo reel and 8- or 10-pound braid.  I could cast my Strike King square-billed crank quite a ways and easily feel it vibrate through the water on a slow to medium (but definitely trending towards slow) retrieve.  Meanwhile, he baitcasted a Strike King flat-sided shad, and collectively we covered water.

It was pretty low-tech fishing, but I'm pretty sure you could make it as complex as one wanted. We were looking to take advantage of some pretty obvious clues (jumping fish, bait balls, diving birds, busting fish or current lines), but in their absence, it took me a while to transition from my structure-fishing tendencies and rely on faith that wind-aided long casts and covering water would out-produce covering specific spots thoroughly.

This fishing proved rather slow; in fact we had no action at all as we moved deeper into the labyrinth of Milwaukee Harbor.  By now the wind was blowing 25+ miles per hour and it was rough and wet in the more exposed areas of the harbor.  We worked our way into another dead-end and parked the boat along a secluded section of seawall.  A few minutes of scouting from shore located a couple of pods of sizable browns that were very worthy of our  fishing efforts.  It was back to eggs and floats for these fish.

No. 3.  The egg bite was much more reliable than casting cranks on this day.

Again, the first fish came rather quickly.  After that, they were not easy!  But by moving stealthily and giving them their time and space, by not attracting the attention of others, each pod, in time seemed to contain the occasional biter.  You never knew how big it might be either, because I saw more high-teen-and up browns in a few hours than I think I have in the previous 30 years of living with the Great Lakes' watershed.

The rest of the fishing day alternated between stalking these finesse fish and casting cranks for more active fish.  I got hit once on my crank but didn't connect, while Captain H caught a smallish brown and a late, red coho.

The fish of the day might have been our last brown on eggs.  It provided a cool visual strike that barely moved the float.  I can still see the gaping, white mouth appearing below the descending egg sac and then closing over it.  This might have been the biggest, too (but none of the fish were measured or weighed, so it's not certain that it was bigger than the first), and it certainly provided the most hotly contested fight of the day.    Captain H's enthusiasm was counter-balanced by my calm execution, but I sure was excited inside.  

My last fish of the day was a beauty.

I'd chosen casting for browns over trolling and perhaps more opportunities for multiple species.  I'd gotten what I asked for, but that didn't stop me from asking, talking and learning about other options. Trolling is always possible here, and spoons, sticks and shads are all in the mix.  Divers and up to 3 colors of lead can provide some depth coverage, but otherwise it all sounded very familiar to me.  And where-as our realistic Brown Season in West Michigan's portion of Lake Michigan is (at most) two months long (and usually much more hit-and-miss than that statement suggests),  one can target browns here (by adjusting one's tactics) just about all year!

The Captain's favorite technique might be casting and slowly swimming 4- and 5-inch plastic swimbaits/jerkbaits on 3/8 ounce darter heads.  The same factors go into selecting the locations; breakwall gaps, current, bait, birds and obvious fish.

"Strolling" with jerk baits can help locate fish.  Should one choose, hair jigs or tubes, crawled along the bottom or suspended under floats can produce fish.  Carolina rigging spawn or minnows, or perhaps suspending crawlers, red worms or jig-n-wigs under floats will get bites.

I'd absorbed a lot in a short time.  Of course I'd have liked more and bigger fish, or perhaps to have not lost any opportunities, but in 6 short hours I was exposed to enough to know that I can do this.  I'd love to share it with some friends or family.

Boat or shore; hard water or soft; your choice; let's go!

What do I have to say about this?

I've probably already said it in my other blog; see This and also this.  I am super pleased to have executed this trip .  Like so many other things, I probably waited too long before taking action, but now that I have, I can see myself taking it on.  Simply said; the number of large brown trout (and other quality fish) that seem to be available here, vulnerable to lighter tackle techniques, is astounding.

Time will tell "when, how or if" this fits in with my other fishing priorities (especially given the time and monetary investment required to pull a Wisconsin fishing session off), but I'll add it to my arsenal.   I'll be back, I'm sure.   

Milwaukee Harbor Lessons I know I learned:

• The fish will succumb to the pressure of a long rod, even if the line is thin and the drags are light!
• Years of striper fishing from the float in Maine have prepared me well for teasing trout from municipal marinas.
• Hooksets are free!
• I've got virtually all the stuff I need to employ similar tactics on my own.
• Take advantage of the obvious clues (jumping fish, bait balls, diving birds, busting fish or current lines), but don't live and die in one spot.
• Long casts were important to Captain EH, so they are important to this fishery.
• When near shore, Stealth Matters.
• Slower might be better than Faster; but 
• Don't get locked into specific patterns, colors, lures, etc.  You'll know if it's working.  If it's not, adjust!
• Expect good results and employ your fishing judgment.