Milwaukee Brown Out

NumenOn the Water

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.

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!

Brownie

NumenOn the Water

Date:  3-13-16

Body of Water:  Lake Michigan, Pt. Sheldon

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target: Brown Trout

Time:  8 AM - Noon

Conditions:  Overcast and rain showers; east wind about 15 mph; 45-48 degrees; water temperatures of 37 - 41 degrees F, but generally about 38 F

After a warm stretch and a couple of sunny days, it was time for Numenon's 2016 debut.  Of course a wet front was sliding through, so although I had the boat rigged with 8 rods and the mast and tethered boards ready to go, nobody chose to accompany me.    I launched, alone, into a steady drizzle that lasted all day.

I was mildly pleased to find 37-38 degree water along the north shoreline as this is at the lower end of the range where I can reasonably expect to encounter a brown, and as I set the second rod, I noticed my inside board slide back.  (I was now using in-line boards since I was alone.)  It didn't feel like much; but it was the first fish of the Open Water season, and it was the targeted species!  But at maybe 12 inches, it was possibly the smallest brown trout I've ever caught on Lake Michigan.  I let it go to grow, and given this fast start, expected some more action.

This fish had eaten an F9 Original Rapala in Brown Trout pattern.  The bait was trolled at about 2.2 mph and was in about 8 feet of water on the outside edge of the first or second sand bar when it was hit.

But four hours and 8 or 9 miles later, All spent in about 7 to 16 feet of water, I'd not had another bump.  There would be no trophies or gift fish by which to remember this trip.  I'll have to remember it as a quiet, problem-free start to a new season.  That's enough!

What do I have to say about this?

A quiet, problem-free start to the season is enough!  Good gear makes bad weather more tolerable, and I was only slightly damp around the edges when I went home for lunch.  I knew odds for memorable success were stacked against me with cold water and easterly winds.  Plus, the season is very young, and I may even have the chance to chase Browns again this season!  The last few have all been one-and-done for Browns, for me, and yet I love fishing for them so much.

2015 Season Summary

I originally may have thought that 2015 was going to be my year for muskies, but it didn't really turn out that way.  I caught a few, I saw many more, I had my lure inside a giant's mouth without somehow hooking up, and I spent many hours in their pursuit.  I enjoyed it all, and I'll be back at it again in 2016.  But for me, I think my 2015 fishing turned out to be almost all about those bass.

Largemouths

An unexpected, quickly enacted change in Michigan's fishing seasons enabled the early pursuit of bass. Michigan's bass season has historically opened on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.  The first liberalization of this traditional season (circa 1989) was the experimental opening of a very limited number of lakes to catch and release bass fishing starting on April 1.  These were the waters I frequented, because the fishing was familiar, uncrowded and could be pretty good.  But the weather could be miserable, and once Spring actually arrived, there were so many non-bass options!  The second liberalization (six or eight years ago) dropped this early start in favor of opening all the inland waters of the Lower Peninsula to catch and release bassing on the last Saturday in April.  This got rid of the problem of those who were "pike" or "walleye" fishing from their bass boats and such, and made early-season bass much more accessible, for the price of those first few weeks in April.  I've experienced some awesome fishing during this season, and in fact, did much of my hard-core bassing in this early season (that is, before I got distracted by other fishing opportunities.)

So, I was surprised when in April 2015, it was simply announced that bass season was now open year-round, but that all fishing from January 1 to the Friday before Memorial Day was strict catch and release.  Later that week I was on a local lake and got a shallow, pre-spawn lunker with a good friend.  It got my season off to a great start, and I know I'm going to like this opportunity; and, I think it's going to be awesome for my future smallie fishing (see below.)

This was also the year that my buddy DC moved into his new home on Whitefish Lake; and his good fortune (and generous, welcoming nature) was my ticket to easily accessing and fishing this pretty decent bass lake.  We did so several times over the season, and I hope to do so again in future years.  We didn't catch any giants together, but we caught a lot of decent to very decent bass; and the action was always good enough that it was fun to experiment and try new baits techniques.  Fishing this water with DC will likely be my Proving Grounds for new baits and techniques in the future; it's a great confidence booster to be on fish with such regularity.  

And I've only mentioned one of the big bass I caught this season; there were some very nice crank bait fish from Reeds Lake and the biggest of the season (over 5, but likely not 6 pounds) was a pure bonus; it ate a Medussa Big Rubber bait while I was fishing for muskies.  This kid from Rhode Island, who had over the years largely gotten away from serious bass fishing (again, all those other fishing distractions here!), isn't used to encountering that many really nice bass in a season.

Nice, early-season LMB on a crank from Reeds Lake.

This girl inhaled my Rapala DT3.

These are the fish that bring me back to my youth, and with which I fell in love with fishing.  There's a simplistic purity to fishing for green bass; they feel like home to me.  They're not the biggest, most beautiful, or toughest; but they are my most comfortable and familiar quarry.

Stripers

I was fortunate to make it back to New England (twice!) this past summer, and the stripers were there for me.  Whew!  I had missed 2014 entirely, so it had been too long since our last acquaintance, and since my time this year was limited again, I knew I simply would have to accept whatever conditions I arrived to.  But I was lucky to catch some favorable tides, to make some bait, and to have some packs of marauding stripers swim by.  Amazingly enough, I caught some really nice fish that were perfectly matched to my tackle; these will tide me over until 2016, when maybe I can be a little more serious in my pursuit of these fish.

My first nice striper in a long time!

Stripers are the perfect Catch and Release quarry.

Smallmouths

More than anything, I think this season re-ignited my love for brown bass.  While Michigan is a Mecca for World Class Smallmouth Bass Fishing, I'd have to say that Central West Michigan... is less so.  We have smallies in many waters, but to access the bass you see on TV, you have to travel a few hours or more.  I'd gotten away from that over the years, but this year I had the time to do a few things.  I executed trips to fish Lake St. Clair, Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan, and select Northern Michigan waters.  Each trip and body of water payed off with fine smallmouth fishing!  In fact, the fishing was easier than it was to simply arrange my arrival at any of these spots; and there are many other opportunities within a slightly larger travel radius.

Lake St. Clair; might have provided the best fishing in the sense of biggest bags and being on fish all the time.  I stumbled on the first group of fish just by using common sense and available cues; I was able to upgrade through refinement, and I was able to find another group of quality fish, just because I simply tried.  The setting and the drive are a little bit more urban than I'd like, but once I'm there, I could care less about that!

The bass I found were just post-spawn, and any soft plastic presentation shined; I need to get a landing net (it will pay for itself) before I go next year, because I lost a fair number of tubes and Ned Rigs as I got careless about lifting, lipping and (in general) landing these fish.

I can only imagine how good the pre-spawn fishing might be.  I look forward to searching with jerk baits and taking advantage of the aggression of these fish!

Not a great picture, but one of many fine LSC smallies!

North Lake Leelanau; offered perhaps my single best day of fishing, but I may not ever hit this lake at just the right time again.  Conditions were exactly as I had hoped, and the fish were more numerous and larger than I could have hoped.  Again, no giants were encountered (perhaps they'd be more available a bit earlier in pre-spawn?), but I found solid fish after solid fish.  The fishing just got better as the day progressed.  It will be interesting to see what I can do with this lake in the future and with a little more experience there under my belt.

The NLL smallies were beautifully golden, and plentiful!

East Bay of Traverse Bay; was perhaps the toughest to fish and provided perhaps the smallest average size, but clearly offered the highest quality total experience.  Unlimited, uncrowded clear water; bass in three feet of water and in 50+ feet of water at the same time; sight fishing the flats, searching with top-waters, grubbing for monsters or drop-shotting;  and pretty much unlimited size potential for the bass.  What's to complain about?

7 AM; Red Sky in Morning, sailors take Warning!

I missed out on this for too many years!

9 AM; conditions can change quickly on the Great Lakes!

My smallmouth game to a giant leap forward this year, and I hope to build on that in 2016.  There are other Norther Michigan waters to try (or in many cases, re-visit); Hubbard Lake coughed up a 9+ pounder for a new state record this fall; and there's always Door County, Wisconsin to consider.   I'll have many choices, let's hope I make the right ones.


But Let's Not Forget About...

But wait, there's more!    Of course, I enjoyed and will need to incorporate all sorts of other experiences into my future fishing.

Salmon; we'll see what 2016 Brings.  With little pelagic bait, the Kings have been suffering, and nobody knows to what extent they'll be available in the near term future.  Of course, there will be trout, but it's the King that drives this fishery. We did well in our return to tournament fishing, and one of the biggest decisions of next year (especially in the late spring) might be defending our success in the 2016 Salmon Circuit, or chasing smallies.

Tournament Fishing, again!

Brown Trout; I've always loved the spring Brown Trout fishery here, and I usually start my boating season in their pursuit.  But now I've gotten a taste of the other-worldly brown trout fishing in Milwaukee; and I have to do some more of that.  So whether it's in the spring for numbers, in the summer with the wind at our back and cold waters in the harbor, or in the fall/winter, casting/trolling, chasing these browns just makes sense if I have the time.

A fine Milwaukee Brown Trout; last of the day, but I plan for there to many more in my future.

Muskellunge; chasing these fish is in my blood and I will continue to do so.  They are a time sink, but that is all forgotten when one appears.  I'm enjoying the learning curve, and I've got much improvement ahead of me.  Perhaps I need to expand my list of waters, and perhaps I need to go somewhere where it's not quite a marginal proposition.  I know I need to get others in the boat with me, and I know that if something Really Cool happens on the water, it might involve a muskie.  I've enjoyed the fish I've caught; but it is the fish I've lost that have had the biggest influence on my love for this sport.

One of my three 2015 Muskie Releases.

New Friends; 2015 introduced me to a few new fishing buddies.  I appreciate their generosity, enthusiasm and company.  Here's to more with them in the future; and here's to more of them, too.

Dr. M on the Dog Day

SB

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.

2015's First Lake Michigan Trip

NumenOn the Water

Date: 4-11-15

Body of Water: Lake Michigan (Pt. Sheldon)

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Brown Trout

Time: 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM

Conditions: Bright and clear; mild SW winds <10 mph; about 45 F; 6-inch chop; continuous ice looming on the western and southern horizons.

Pretty continuous ice, a mile or two off-shore.

That ice kept me close to port!  It was a couple of miles away, but I wasn't sure how fast it might move.  As it turned out, it wasn't a factor, other than keeping the water too cold!

Recent high winds and a lot of rain had turned Pigeon Lake into a mud hole, but this dark water was retaining some heat; and the water coming out of the harbor into Lake Michigan was about 15 degrees warmer than the Big Lake's (50 F vs 35 F.)  The mild SW wind was curling this muddy/stained water along the shoreline to the north, and I stayed with this water, hugging shore for as long as I could, trolling stickbaits without a bump.  Even this water was only about 37 F, which is too cold for me to expect a consistent brown trout bite.  When I ran out of stained water and I was left with clear and 35-degree conditions along the shore, I elected to run to "The Bubbler," where warm discharge from the local power plant is released from the lake's bed in about 24 - 40 feet of water.

Stickbaits and boards, trolled slowly along shore.

(Ordinarily, I'd have chosen to run north to unnamed creek outlets where I often find some warmer water, bait and browns.  But I wanted to keep my eyes on the ice and the pier heads, and I recalled several other very-early-season trips here where The Bubbler fished better than the shoreline.)

The discharge rate at The Bubbler was low, but there was a pod of water up to 38 F (and even touching 40 F as I left a couple of hours later; 40 degrees F is my tipping point for confidence when it comes to spring browns.)  The Bubbler also offers some goofy, conflicting currents and some vertical relief, so I typically fish here when the shore-line fishing is not producing; and I've caught enough fish here to know that good results are possible, even if the odds are stacked against you.

In a couple of hours of trolling about here, I marked a fair number of fish; and I even caught one brown trout (a very fat 2-3 pounder) that fell for my standard fare at The Bubbler; a Green Bubble Stinger trolled off a rigger, about 20 feet down.  Meanwhile, every other stick bait or shad bait remained untouched.

Ugly Stik, Green Bubble Stinger, Downrigger Ball and Black's Release Clip.

(To be fair, I should mention that I towed this fish off the rigger for an unknown period of time: it didn't release from the rigger clip and I don't know when/where I hooked up.  So catching this fish wasn't exactly exciting or gratifying; but it was still better than getting skunked.  I released this fish first into my live well, since it was pretty worn out from being dragged about.  But it revived nicely in there and was later released back into Lake Michigan, apparently none the worse for having  been caught.)

2015's First Brown Trout! 

A few more boats collected here and I chose to investigate the harbor; I thought that warm water might hold some bait.  Here, due to tight quarters, I flat-lined a Rapala off one side, while I hand-pumped a metered braid rod with a Flicker Shad on my side.  Things looked and felt good; but no fish were encountered here.  This is where I had the most confidence for catching; it was just the least pleasing fishing option of the day, and so I didn't give it enough time.

What do I have to say about this?
I've had a thing for Brown Trout ever since moving to Michigan, and I love to open my Lake Michigan Season with a couple of trips targeting them.  Usually I'm too early in the season, and sometimes they simply aren't there, so I'm rarely super successful with them.  Each one's a bit special.  This one was super rotund for his length, so maybe that bodes well for the Lake Michigan bait situation this year.  Hopefully I can increase my sample size with a few more trips.

P.S. Here's what happened at the same time in the next port to the south:

Meanwhile, in Holland...