NumenOn the Water
Date: 10-29 through 31-2016
Date: 10-29 through 31-2016
Body of Water: Milwaukee Harbor, Lake Michigan
Boat: Numenon
With: A
Target: Brown Trout
Time: Various, from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Conditions: Also various, but generally windy; and generally overcast to sprinkles. Temperatures from low 40s to upper 60s; water temperatures were 52 to 55 degrees F. Water varied from muddy to almost clear depending on location.
Six hours after leaving the drive-way, but perhaps six weeks after conceiving this trip, our six-rod trolling spread was set. The water seemed a trouty 54 degrees F, and the gap between Milwaukee Harbor break walls resulted in wind-driven current and a pile of bait fish on the sonar screen. I was embarking on my Giant Brown Quest, and things looked promising.
When trolling didn't produce, I eagerly switched to casting crank baits. Again, I sought signs favorable to my quarry; jumping fish, bait, current and rocks. Conditions still seemed promising; it was just a matter of finding some feeding fish!
We finished the afternoon with bait under floats in marina dead ends. There were several fish present (jumps and swirls), and some even appeared to be very sizable brown trout. (Many, if not most, were post-spawn salmon at their end of life.) None were biting, though! We left the ramp, fishless, after a long day of travel and fishing hard.
We returned to the ramp by nautical dawn and, if anything, fished harder and longer. The ratio of trolling increased, and we spent more time trolling with just two hand-held lines in lieu of the complete spread. This made us a bit more nimble and we covered lots of spots. Still nothing!
Like a bad joke, in the seventh or eighth hour of the day's fishing, while trolling a green and white Flick'r Shad about 50 feet behind the boat along a rocky break wall, my rod loaded. As I swung, I missed! But as I gathered some slack from the set, the fish appeared again; and I missed again! The fish hadn't seemed very large... but still; I thought I'd blown perhaps the only chance of the trip! I was feeling rather defeated as we loaded the boat back onto the trailer a bit later.
We still had Halloween morning to fish; the wind had calmed and we launched for our last session. The plan was to troll this same break wall; and if nothing happened to then relocate our efforts to new water. Despite current and bait, we had no bites near our "hot" spot; so soon we were at the southern end of the harbor setting a trolling spread along the inside of the outer harbor wall.
I wanted to stay near the wall and its supporting structure, so we each held a rod with a crank bait, while I also set two boards and a downrigger to the outside. It didn't take long for my fire-tiger Flick'r Shad to get hit, and I carefully played my fish. It isn't large, but I was certainly going to land it! As A got ready with the net, I called her off. I casually swung the 14-inch smallmouth bass into the boat. We weren't totally skunked; but we were still skunked on trout.
We finished our time by casting another rock wall. A got smacked and then battled a decent smallie; both hit a purple and yellow DT Thug crank. Finally, we trolled the harbor's northern gaps and familiar break wall. Conditions still seemed favorable; but empirically, something was off.
We were on the road by Noon, and home by 6 PM.
Six hours after leaving the drive-way, but perhaps six weeks after conceiving this trip, our six-rod trolling spread was set. The water seemed a trouty 54 degrees F, and the gap between Milwaukee Harbor break walls resulted in wind-driven current and a pile of bait fish on the sonar screen. I was embarking on my Giant Brown Quest, and things looked promising.
When trolling didn't produce, I eagerly switched to casting crank baits. Again, I sought signs favorable to my quarry; jumping fish, bait, current and rocks. Conditions still seemed promising; it was just a matter of finding some feeding fish!
We finished the afternoon with bait under floats in marina dead ends. There were several fish present (jumps and swirls), and some even appeared to be very sizable brown trout. (Many, if not most, were post-spawn salmon at their end of life.) None were biting, though! We left the ramp, fishless, after a long day of travel and fishing hard.
We returned to the ramp by nautical dawn and, if anything, fished harder and longer. The ratio of trolling increased, and we spent more time trolling with just two hand-held lines in lieu of the complete spread. This made us a bit more nimble and we covered lots of spots. Still nothing!
Like a bad joke, in the seventh or eighth hour of the day's fishing, while trolling a green and white Flick'r Shad about 50 feet behind the boat along a rocky break wall, my rod loaded. As I swung, I missed! But as I gathered some slack from the set, the fish appeared again; and I missed again! The fish hadn't seemed very large... but still; I thought I'd blown perhaps the only chance of the trip! I was feeling rather defeated as we loaded the boat back onto the trailer a bit later.
We still had Halloween morning to fish; the wind had calmed and we launched for our last session. The plan was to troll this same break wall; and if nothing happened to then relocate our efforts to new water. Despite current and bait, we had no bites near our "hot" spot; so soon we were at the southern end of the harbor setting a trolling spread along the inside of the outer harbor wall.
I wanted to stay near the wall and its supporting structure, so we each held a rod with a crank bait, while I also set two boards and a downrigger to the outside. It didn't take long for my fire-tiger Flick'r Shad to get hit, and I carefully played my fish. It isn't large, but I was certainly going to land it! As A got ready with the net, I called her off. I casually swung the 14-inch smallmouth bass into the boat. We weren't totally skunked; but we were still skunked on trout.
We finished our time by casting another rock wall. A got smacked and then battled a decent smallie; both hit a purple and yellow DT Thug crank. Finally, we trolled the harbor's northern gaps and familiar break wall. Conditions still seemed favorable; but empirically, something was off.
We were on the road by Noon, and home by 6 PM.
What do I have to say about this?
It really was a good trip, because A was able to relax, and I was able to fish hard for the fish of my dreams for three straight days. We enjoyed each other's company, shared a few good meals together, and had no problems with gear or travels. The only thing missing was the brown trout!
That was an important element for me! But not for A, and I know she has the right attitude about these things. So, while I am disappointed in the fishing and my inability to put a nice brown in the boat, that disappointment pales in comparison to the positive elements of the trip. And heck, it's only six hours away, so I can always go back and try again!
It really was a good trip, because A was able to relax, and I was able to fish hard for the fish of my dreams for three straight days. We enjoyed each other's company, shared a few good meals together, and had no problems with gear or travels. The only thing missing was the brown trout!
That was an important element for me! But not for A, and I know she has the right attitude about these things. So, while I am disappointed in the fishing and my inability to put a nice brown in the boat, that disappointment pales in comparison to the positive elements of the trip. And heck, it's only six hours away, so I can always go back and try again!
