A Private Access Lake
December 29, 2007
Terry Cassidy, Mike Kern and
I packed up the ice fishing
gear and hit a private lake
for the last fishing outing
of 2007. Terry towed
his portable shanty and
after the second set-up he
had drilled holes over a
"hot spot". The shanty
landed some 36 keeper gills
- nice eaters. It was
rather amazing that holes
drilled within feet of the
shanty produced no fish -
zip, nada, zero. I've
never had that happen before
as nearby holes will usually
yield some fish, but not on
this day. Who knows
why, but it happened.
However, it was a nice day
to spend outside, as cabin
fever has already shown its
ugly face.
Chattooga River, GA
December 9, 2007
By Nick Cassidy
 With
Sam in town for the weekend,
we decided to take advantage
of the 75 degree weather and
head up to the Chattooga
River for some trout
fishing. The river was
about 2 feet low due to the
drought conditions. We used
small dries with nymph
droppers to catch a few
trout. I spotted several
trout on a shallow gravel
bar, including a couple
descent sized fish. They
acted like they were
spawning. Sammy put on a
small streamer and drifted
to them several times before
hooking a 15-16 incher in
the motor. It was a
perfect day to be on the
water and we felt good about
getting out there and
bringing a few trout to
hand. That is until I spoke
with a guy who was walking
out who claimed to have
landed nearly 100 fish on
that day, including a 20
inch rainbow.
Hammond Bay
November 17th
By Sam Licavoli II
Uncle Vince and I went over to a
Hammond Bay public access site
Saturday during
what was a valiant effort at
keeping our tradition of
catching a fish or two while he
was visiting alive. For the past
few years he has come home and
the two of us have ventured over
to Hammond Bay and a few other
places in search of a steelhead,
brown or a salmon that was still
identifiable and not a rotting
shell of what was once a
beautiful fish.
The weather was just about
perfect wind was from the north
blowing inshore and it was an
overcast day. I waded out in the
surf as far as I could; tossing
a few different “Little Cleo”
patterns in every direction I
could. Uncle Vince decided he
was going to go for a hike and
ended up with a very wet foot
because of a pair of rubber
boots that were older than I am.
We made one more stop a river
that will remain in the “Good
Fishing Spots Protection
Program” or GFSPP. The snow
began to fall hard and was
actually accumulating on my rod
as I reeled.
Sadly the tradition of catching
fish while he was visiting was
broken but the tradition of
going fishing with my Uncle home
from Arizona was not.
Salmon on the Betsie
September 27-29
An
email arrived from Nick in August
extending an invitation to go stream
salmon fishing in late September.
Nick was planning on flying back to
fish with his dad Terry, brothers
Terry Jr. and Bret and fishing buddy Sam II.
Terry Jr. had been fishing the Betsie River for a number of years
with very good results. Nick was
also anxious to test a
new 10 wt. fly rod. The
possibilities of catching fish were
encouraging as Sam had traveled
north and successfully fished the
area the prior weekend.
Nick's flight arrived in Flint at 11:00 p.m.
on Wednesday, and Terry, Sam, Nick
and I were on the road north at 3:30
a.m. We were
wading in the stream at daybreak,
throwing flies and using
spinning gear; visually targeting
bedded salmon on gravel bars and
casting at
fish located in the deeper runs. Nick
immediately hooked and landed a
large King, followed shortly
thereafter by Sam and Terry, who also
netted large fish.
The salmon continued to strike flies
throughout the day and into the
evening. Numerous fair hooked fish -
and a few foul hooked monsters -
were either landed or eventually
broke off. Even this old dog found
a couple of bones, but it was
evident that Nick and Sam had the
technique well-mastered, as both
were occupied with fish on the end
of their lines the entire
day. Terry hooked and landed his
fair share as well.
Terry Jr. and Tammy joined the group
late Thurs. and we fished as a group
Friday morning. Unfortunately,
we experienced lesser fishing
activity than the previous day. It
was puzzling that the fish would
strike so aggressive one day, and
then comparatively ignore flies the next. Terry
Jr. was the most productive Friday
morning fisherman, as he spotted,
hooked and landed several large
Kings.
After a
great breakfast at Rosie’s (I
recommend the homemade corned beef
hash.), we drove south to Millington
and watched the home team play
football. Nick, Sam and Bret
returned to the river Saturday
morning and fished until late
afternoon before heading home.
Although no one kept a fish count, I
would estimate that the group hooked
well over 35 fish. An unusual
summary of this trip was emailed
somewhat anonymously:
Broken Salmon Rod- $400
Flies and Leaders- $30
New Glasses-
$9
Seeing Sammy get Salmon
"male stuff"
on his face - Priceless.
Click Here for Pictures
Labor Day On The Au Sable
September 3
By Sam Licavoli II
Elishia,
Joe, and I decided to take a trip
down the mighty Au Sable equipped
with two spinning rods, one fly rod,
a cooler and the canoe with my float
tube tied to the rear end of the
river chariot. It was a
beautiful day with temps in the 80’s
and not a lot of other people
floating with us on the river. Joe
was seated in the float tube where
he swatted horse flies out of
mid-air, behind his head with a
small paddle as if he was a Jedi
Master or something. Elishia
was in the front of the canoe where
she kept us moving down stream while
I cast one of the spinning rods that
I jammed into the canoe.
Not long after pushing off from the
end of the dead end road near my
Grandparent’s cabin I landed a nice
sized rainbow. I asked Elishia if
she wanted to fish too and she
responded with “if you catch two in
a row I will.” This occurrence
never happened but I did catch six
more rainbows and three browns that
were all of decent size for a frying
pan but the state’s regulations made
them a little too small for the
creel.
Joey did score a nice pair of Oakley
sunglasses off the bottom of the
river, which I assume he still
hasn’t taken them off the top of his
head yet. Elishia had a relaxing
trip down the river as she made
attempts to tip the canoe just to
see me get a worried look on my face
and after each tip attempt she would
say “I like this game”.
Later that night I grabbed my
six-weight and jumped into the river
to attempt to entice a large brown
or rainbow after dark. All I came
back with was one less streamer and
a nice cardio workout from walking
back upstream. It was a good
Labor Day on the Au Sable.
Walleye Limits – A No Brainer Saturday
August 11, 2007
It was a
piece of cake…like taking candy from a
baby. The walleyes were there for the
picking.
Saturday's Bullet crew included Joe Robbins,
Terry Cassidy, Mike and I. We
finally found calm waters when we
arrived at the marina. It wasn’t
necessary to travel a great distance
from the harbor as
a large walleye school was located on the
east side of the bar. We rigged
harnesses with crawlers and Gulp and set-up at about 9: 15 a.m. in about 14 ½
foot of water.
The rods released steadily all morning
with a mixture of keepers and
sub-fifteen inch fish. Blade color and
the type of bait made little difference
as the walleyes were in the mood to
feed. We used both in-line weights and
bottom bouncers - both were equally
productive. Any ground speed under
2.0 mph. produced fish. It was one of those days
when limits were there for the taking.
The Bullet had it's twenty fish limit by
2:30, even though we lost a few keepers along
the way (plenty of short hits as well).
Fred Curley and the crew of the Time Out
also produced a limit in a relatively
short time.
It was a great day on the bay, sort of a
“no brainer” Saturday morning. And
maybe that was the reward for the two
previous weeks of rough water.
O’ Canada 2007
July 27 - August 4
By Steve
The every
other year Canadian Fishing Trip to
Longlac, Ontario took place July
27-August 4 with Steve, Tim, Nate, and
Tom and Neil Schiefer making the journey
to
Lochlomond Camp. Larry and Deb
Hadenko again proved to be the best
hosts this writer has ever experienced
as they welcomed us to their lodge.
Larry
informed us that there was a bear
roaming camp, but that he had sent for a
trapper to catch the bear and move him
to a distant location. By the next
morning, the bear was caught and taken
to the Manatowaudge area where,
according to Larry a bear exchange takes
place since Manatowaudge brings their
nuisance bear to the Longlac area. After
a quick lunch on the first day, we
headed to Kawakanika Lake and found the
water level to be about 2 ½ to 3 feet
higher than the last time we visited
which made getting into the lake much
easier. We headed immediately to the
“Dad and Mike” spot and began catching
fish.
During the
week, we experienced wind from every
direction, and no two days were the
same. Yet, we caught fish regularly each
day. Nate led the way with having caught
the most fish at 72. Neil followed him
closely with 70. Tim caught the largest
walleye in quite a few years with a nice
26-inch hog. Tom and Nate tied with two
27-½ inch Northern Pike for the largest
in that species. Tim followed them with
a 27 inch Northern, just missing a
three-way tie for that category.
Overall,
the five of us caught 333 fish during
the week, which was an average of about
47 per day. We enjoyed 4 walleye dinners
(always best when they are fresh), and
we brought home our limit of walleye and
a few Northern just for good measure.
We enjoyed
seeing a mature bald eagle both perched
and flying around overhead while we
fished, and the lake was full of loons.
By the end of the week some of them were
within 20 feet of our boat as we fished.
While driving back the lodge from our
last day of fishing, Steve mentioned
that it was everyone’s last chance to
see a moose as we approached a wooden
bridge over one of the rivers we had to
cross. As we slowly crossed, Tom’s keen
eye spotted a cow moose down the river
feeding. We watched it for about 10
minutes before moving on. Tom and Neil
enjoyed their first Canadian Fishing
Trip, and both said they would enjoy
coming back. It was once again a great
experience to share with my sons, just
as my dad shared it with me.
Click here for pictures
West of #1 & #2
August 1, 2007
By Dick Hazel
Boy this was a "Bullet day" on the Bay
today. Counted 14 pontoons out there
this morning. Last report for awhile.
Today fished 23-24 fow using mini discs
(the one I found Monday). They were 80
back with spoons and harnesses. The
harnesses seemed the best today but did
pick up 11 non-targeted species on them
though. Also tried rattle tots
green/chrome 140-150 back and picked up
a few. Had a lot of short hits today.
Good News, Bad News and No Compassion
Also:
REWARD CANCELLED!!
July 30, 2007
By Dick Hazel
Went out of Patterson launch to the 1st Plug
and trolled toward the outer Plug
(green/white #1) staying just left of
shipping channel. Marked many fish (????)
some were perch as we caught 3 nice ones but
the catching was slow.
Now for the Good News. The Reward is
Officially
Canceled... as we happened upon a
free floating Wille Planner board with a Big
Jon mini disc attached and (YOU GUESSED IT)
a shinny Michigan Stinger Spoon in the
Confusion pattern. Now the Bad News.
The hooks were bare with
 NO
8 lb walleye on it. Also, I never caught
another fish while using it. Hey Dave
BEWARE of sons-in-law that keep catching
more fish and keep reminding you (No
Compassion).
I think most
boats were struggling today. Lots of boats
out around #1 and #2 buoys today but not
much netting action plus, the radio chatter
was a little whinny also. Crawlers out
fished the rest of my tackle box. Even the
Good OLE (Ruby Red) #82 Mean streak came up
empty today. I tried PA'S, Tots,
fingerlings, reef runners and most every
pattern spoon. But it sure was a nice ride
out and back today.
Editors Note:
Yes Richard, I think they are taunting me a bit
too. Especially when they send pictures of
fishing trips, and the
pictures have nice fish!
Time Out Runner-up in Pop's Place Tournament
July 29, 2007
 Sam, Joe, Mike
and I pulled the boat to Thomas Rd. only to
turn around due to high waves.
However, we met Fred Curley who just
returned with a limit of 10 beauties.
Fred told us that Kelly, Kelly's brother and
Fred were runner's up in the Pop's
Place Tournament on Saturday, finishing only 3 oz.
out of the winners circle. In fact, it
was so close that the Time Out crew lost on
a re-weigh. Hey Fred...how about an
email address, some pictures and occasional
fishing reports? (Because you catch more
'eyes than anyone and we need all of the
help we can get.)
Arkansas - Trout
July 25-27, 2007
By Nick
Eric Huston
and I decided to make one last fishing
trip before heading back to school and
made the
10 hour drive to northern Arkansas to
fish the Norfork and White Rivers. We
camped at Dam-Quarry Park on the Norfork
River, just below the dam. From this
site we can walk down to the river to
fish. We fished for a couple of hours
below the dam on the Norfork on Tuesday
with little luck. They opened the dams
at about 11:00, so we ate a quick lunch
and headed to the White River
near Cotter (a 20 minute drive). We
both landed a few 12-14 inch
rainbows and I lost a good sized fish.
All fish on this day were hooked on
weighted San Juan Worms or #20 sowbugs
under a strike indicator. That night I
fished back under the dam on the Norfork
while Eric slept. I threw every big
streamer and bugger that I had and never
had a bite.
On Wednesday we woke up at 6 am to fish
below the dam for a couple of hours and
then decided to drift a canoe down the
Norfork to fish the deep holes and get
out and fish the shallow runs. The
river is only about 4.5 miles long from
the dam to the confluence with the
White, but the drift took us over 5
hours. We didn't have any luck fishing
the deep slow water, despite the fact
that every local seemed to be having no
problem pulling out rainbows on corn. I
guess I should have put on a corn fly.
We got out of the canoe at some fast
water just above the catch and release
area. I could see fish feeding on
nymphs, but still could not get them to
hit. Since the sun was shining and the
water was clear I decided to take off
the strike indicator and put on a small
dry with a #22 zebra midge. On the first
cast I hooked and landed a nice
rainbow. I proceeded to pull about 10
or more fish from this run, including a
nice cutthroat. In the next fast run I
had similar success, but we didn't get
to fish much longer before they opened
the dams and pretty much ruined our
fishing.
Wednesday night below the dam on the
Norfork was the best fishing of the
trip. I started throwing a #10 brown
wooly bugger and was constantly hooking
fish. I probably landed 20+ fish. Of
these fish, two were small browns and
two were trophy brook trout, the biggest
of which was nearly 16 inches. Eric had
very little luck with crawlers, but
landed two. We kept a stringer full of
rainbows for dinner. However, we did
have a small stringer with 3 fish on it
stolen by some sort of crane or
heron. It tried to steal the other
stringer as well, but only was able rip
a couple of chunks out of a few fish.
We released all of the browns, cuttroats,
and brookies.
Thursday morning I woke at 6 am for a
few hours of fishing before heading back
home. Eric decided to sleep in and left
the trout to me. I landed 10-15 trout
by throwing a yellow and black wooly
bugger. All fish were rainbows. Eric
came down to the river just as they
sounded the alarm to release water from
the dam. He was able to get in a few
quick casts and on his second one hooked
and landed a trophy (18") brown, which
he released. Once the water levels
began to rise we packed up camp and made
the drive back home. It was a great
trip, but we had to work for them much
more than we did two years ago.
See Pictures Here
Fred and Joe's 2007 Walleye Tourney
July 21, 2007
The crew of the Silver Bullet was again invited
to participate in the Fred (List) and Joe (Dempski)
Walleye Tourney on July 21, 2007. Twelve boats
were entered in this fun event, and all were
crewed by expert walleye fishermen.
We were a bit concerned about the wave height in
the morning, as the 2-2 ½ ft.’ers were about
max. for the Bullet. Most boats fished near the
shipping channel. The heavy waves limited the
Bullet to the east side of the reef for most of
the morning. The fishing began slowly, as the
water appeared rather murky from the previous
couple of day’s windy weather. The radio
chatter indicated that all of the boats worked
hard for every fish taken on this day. The
waters calmed a bit toward noon, and the bite
picked up dramatically between 1 and 2 pm.
The tournament winner was Easy Does It, with a
five fish total of 104 ¼ inches. Solid Gold was
the runner up. (Click
here for the tournament results.) By rule,
the Silver Bullet won the biggest fish award
with a 21 inch ‘eye.
Fred and Mona hosted a great fish fry after the
event. Tom Shreve served as the official weigh
master, and Joanne Shreve fried a mountain of
delicious Canadian bluegills that were
immediately devoured by a grateful group. Fred
Curley did a masterful job of deep frying the
walleyes. The crew of the Bullet would like to
thank Fred, Mona and Joe for the 2007 invite, as
we really enjoyed this day on the Bay and the
wonderful fish fry and fellowship that followed
(Click here for pictures).
Fishing Lake Huron out of Au Gres
Tuesday, July 10th
By Josh
My father (John), sister (Zoe), Kathleen
Zintsmaster, Gary Kendall, Skoie, & I went out
fishing Tuesday, July 10th. We didn’t leave the
dock until 8:15AM (it was rough getting out of
bed after only 1 hour of sleep caused by Cole &
Ty Biggart wanting to party all night long).
After traveling 2-3 miles southeast we threw the
planner boards out (along with some homemade 30
gallon buckets to slow the boat down to the
appropriate speed) and started getting the lines
in the water.
I’m used to hot-n-tots & spoons so when John
broke out the crawler harnesses I was slightly
shocked. He and Gary said the locals swore that
the crawler harnesses were currently the way to
go. I had my doubts, but shortly after getting
the 6th line in the water we got our first hit.
The 1st fish was 17”, a great eater. We ended
up catching 10 walleye in which 6 were keepers
ranging from 16”-21”. The highlight of the trip
was the triple we had around 11:30AM.
Thanks to some nifty netting techniques
walleye’s 5, 6, & 7 were all brought in
successfully. The “angler of the trip” award
goes to Skoie who brought in the largest (21”)
of the day. Everyone on the boat caught at
least 2 (with the exception of Gary, who only
drives the boat and John, who does all of the
netting). The weather was 75 degrees and
sunny. We couldn’t have asked for a better
day.
Couldn't Resist
July 6
By Dick Hazel
Hit
the Bay for a few hours July 6th AM. Little
bumpy on the way out. Stopped just West of 1st
plug (red/white). Today, I was not going to use
crawlers. Spoons and cranks that's it. Put
down a
stinger spoon (confusion) and went to clip it on
the board when one hit. 1st mistake, don't
throw a keeper back. It was close but I felt
good about getting a limit today. Landed 3 more
on that spoon before setting any other lines.
They were all 18/19 inches. 5 minutes later and
it was a 19+, but it still swims along with my
confusion spoon. REWARD - you keep the fish
I'll pay for the spoon. It was downhill for
here as I caught 15 or so but not a keeper in
them.
Went 2 hours with nothing going in the box.
Now comes the COULDN'T RESIST part as I got out
the ol silver/red harness. Man is it beat up.
Anyway, bam 22 incher, then 10 fish as fast as I
reset it. Lost a dandy at the boat then finally
landed the limit with another 22 incher. I
trolled n/w thru the Black Hole to almost the
Pinconning Bar. Caught the shorties on Hot n
Tots, Reef Runners, Shad Raps and Fingerlings.
Never caught another fish on the other spoons.
Quick Run to the Manistee
July 3
Nick and A.J. drove
to Michigan from Atlanta for the week and Nick
suggested a quick trip to the Manistee, hoping
for the possibility of a late Hex drop. Along on the trip
were Terry, Terry Jr., Mike & I. The bugs
were no where to be found as the week featured
cooler than typical temperatures. A few smaller
browns and rainbows were caught during the course of
the evening. The highlight of my trip was
a swim in the river just before dark...... seems
that I can't avoid those logs.
Hex - Manistee River
June
24-28
Each year we make an annual trip to the Manistee
with hopes of timing the hex hatch.
This year there were internet reports of an early
spinner drop which preceded our planned trip.
The temperatures cooled prior to our arrival and
then it heated up again, which provided some hope
that the bugs would appear again. Such was not
the case.
Mike, dad and I traveled north on Sunday afternoon
and we fished on Sunday and Monday nights.
Each evening the bugs were visible at dusk, but none
seemed to land on the river, and no fish fed.
I left for Millington on Tuesday morning, and Steve
arrived on Tuesday afternoon. Mike reported
that there was a heavy spinner drop that evening,
but the fish did not feed. Then a cold front
moved in, and the chance of another hatch
evaporated. Steve fished with crawlers on
Thursday afternoon and caught several browns,
including a 16 inch fish.
River Kennett, Newbury, UK
June 14, 2007
By Nick
What an adventure. I left Cheltenham at
5:00 am and took a train into Newbury
arriving at 8:00. Sue McNiven, a guide
I booked through the internet
http://www.damselflyfishing.co.uk/
, picked me up and took me to the River
Kennet.
The Kennet River, in American terms, would be
considered a creek, with many
branches and catchments. We would
basically stalk the stream, trying to
find good runs and feeding trout. There
was very little surface action, but we
did see many small trout and even a few
grayling in the stream. I did not
receive a strike in the first 3 hours of
fishing. I had two grayling come up to
my dry, but turned away without taking
it. I was getting very frustrated. At
about noon we spotted a couple of nice
Rainbows lying in the tail end of a
pool. My fly drifted over one of them
several times, but he wouldn't take it,
despite seeming very interested.
 I then began drifting a weighted mayfly
nymph trough a deep fast run to entice
my first strike. After a couple of
seconds I realized I hooked a very nice
fish. It jumped a couple of times and
took a couple of nice runs. I was
really trying to horse the fish
downstream as there was a water-control
gate at the front of the pool and if the
fish went through that gate I knew I
would lose him. After battling for a
couple of minutes that "chummy bastard"
(as called by Sue) ran through the gate
into the other section of the stream. I
kept fighting him and eventually he
tired enough where I pulled him back
through. Sue netted the fish a couple
of minutes later. What a trophy! She
claims it is the biggest trout she has
even seen landed on that river and she
has been guiding for 6 years. I didn't
get a measure on it, but would estimate
it at 22 inches. Sue estimated it at
26" but I think she is way off. I only
got one other strike, where I landed
about a 15" rainbow. I didn't catch a
grayling, which I really wanted to do,
but had several make swipes at my fly.
What surprised me was the number of
unwritten rules they have for fly
fishing. It is definitely an elitist
sport in England. You are not supposed
to let your fly drift down steam, you
are only supposed to fish an actively
feeding fish, and dry fly only (for
purists anyway). I think I managed to
break all of these unwritten rules, but
it was well worth it to land such a nice
fish.
Pictures Here
Da Bay - Rough then Calm
June
16, 2007
By Joe Robbins
Dale Manly, Dave, Mike and Joe hit the bay on
Saturday the 16th for walleyes. Due to 2-3 ft.
waves we began fishing on the east side of the reef,
and could only troll north with the wind. We
picked up a couple of walleyes, then pulled the
boards and motored south to repeat the north bound
troll. About the time we were to set up the
winds began to diminish and we were freed from any
location restraints.
The Time Out, captained by Fred Curley and crewed by
Fred List radioed and gave us a report, including
location. We picked up the gear and set a
south-west course to the west side of the reef.
Our move was met by immediate success as we hooked
and landed six more 'eyes. We also landed a
monster catfish (see page 3 of pictures). The
day produced a total of nine walleyes, and all were
caught on Tot's, Kabooms and Thunders. Most on
our favorite color.
Longlac Ont. - The Johnsons
June
15, 2007
By Dave Johnson
The Freeland boys left at 9:30 a.m. Friday, June
15th for our annual trip to Longlac only this
year we
stayed near Longlac at Loclomond Camp. We
received an offer from our old stomping grounds
on Wednesday, for $100.00 less per person but it
was decided that since we made the commitment to
stay at Loclomond that was where we headed.
The trip up was about the same as each year.
Meet in Gaylord at Jays around 12:00 p.m. then
drive to Sault Saint Marie in U.S. and fill up.
We then stopped at the duty free for our liquor
and then continued across the border to the
Casino. We seem to get the best rate there.
For the first time, we stopped for dinner in Wa
Wa. A few of the new people had a chance to eat
Putin for the first time. Wa Wa wasn’t very
busy so the service was great but the restaurant
was not air conditioned.After eating we arrived
in White River around 8:30 p.m. We had the usual
rain storm at night.
We finally arrived in Loclomond around 1:00
p.m. What a nice place. The cabins where
larger then what we where used to and they where
all located on Pamela Lake. At this time, I
would like to thank Dave and Mike Kern for the
great reference. Larry and Debbie where great
to have around. We had the best time when we
came back to camp and had fires by the lake and
of course, drank a few beers. The boys enjoyed
playing some basketball and throwing footballs.
They also have a great fish cleaning house.
We fished Saturday afternoon at the bridge in
Longlac and just cleaned up on the walleye like
we do every year. The water was very high this
year and it was difficult getting under the
bridge but we made it. My nephew, Kenny, caught
a very large and long walleye. It appeared to
be around 30” in length and my brother, Kevin
had it in the net near the boat but due to the
excitement and the fact that Kevin had never
netted a fish before, it fell from the net and
back in the water. Otherwise all of the fish
where around 17” to 19” in size. Almost all of
the walleye caught this year where larger then
usual.On Sunday we fished on the river system
since the winds where bad and we did very well
on the bends. Mainly Walleye.
Monday was a great day. We fished Lake Fernow.
It was the first time for us and what a nasty
drive to the lake. The road from lake Chipman
to Fernow is bad. Many potholes and washed out
in many areas. We arrived in an hour from camp
but the fishing is great on this lake. Dave
Johnson caught a 34” pike and many large walleye
where also taken that day. We fished the south
side of the lake about ½ down from the launch in
8’ to 12’ of water. I guess there are many
large pike caught there in the evening.
Tuesday was a very windy day and it was tough
fishing but we managed to fish Seagram’s and
McKay Lakes. Seagram’s had lot’s of walleye but
the where small. They have a new lunch but it
is still difficult to launch. We need a 4 wheel
drive to use the launch. McKay fished very well
Tuesday with several large pike and walleye and
perch. Our friends fished Tommie and did
very well on Walleye. They caught 5 walleye
around 25” in size.
We fished Chipman Lake on Thursday with little
success. This is a large lake and we didn’t
have the time to cover the hot spots although
Dave and Ryan boated 5 miles north and did very
well on small walleye – 16” to 17” fish. We
mainly caught small pike on the first river to
the left of the ramp. Friday was an
awesome day at the bridge in Longlac. We caught
so many walleye.
We mainly fished with night crawlers but several
of us did very well on Gulp worms and black
leeches. Skinners now stocks gulp. We also did
well with hot n tots for walleye and pike. Shad
Raps didn’t seem to work well this year and we
never used minnows all week.
In summary, it was a great trip. 11 of us in
the party where all very satisfied with the camp
and we reserved space again next year. The same
3 cabins by the water. We where never able
to make the trip to Kanakanika. Thanks to Mike
Kern for the recommendation but I couldn’t get
the other guys to make the trip. That is my
only regret.
Another day on the Bay
June
15, 2007
By Dick Hazel
Little different area as the 1st plug area was too
crowded for me this morn. I trolled the Black Hole
area and it produced 10 1/2 fish but not much size.
I moved to the old river bed area west of the
dumping
 grounds. Caught one 16 inches and lost the
biggest fish of the day. I was already weighing it
and forgot to reel. Actually it was a slower day
overall.
Caught all but 2 on that darn silver
blade/red bead harness. Others came on a Ka-Boom
and reef runner. Harness is 100 back putting it 16
ft down with a 1oz keel weight. Not sure if it's
the right bait or right depth???? Taking the
son-in-law out Saturday and only have 1 silver/red
harness. Hmmm!
A Rough Day on the Bay
June
11, 2007
By Dick Hazel
Had a couple hours free so I
thought I'd try the afternoon bite on the Bay
for a change. Met Bob Ramsey, Bruce Edler and a
fellow fisherman pulling out as I was launching
and they had 12 but said the bite had quit
around 10:30 am. Oh, they said, the Bay was ah
bouncing. I said how could that be as the
report was light and variable 1ft or less. But
let me tell ya... IT BE.
I made it out to 13-14
buoy and turned her toward the river mouth. I
thought I was on the Deadliest Catch as I was
taking water over the stern. The bilge pump
worked good (twice). I long lined with in-line wts and harnesses (silver-red/gold-red). I
landed 3 walleyes and lost 3 whatever. I keel
hauled them into the boat as I was too scared to
get up and get the net. Hitting it again
Friday.
Evening on
Saginaw Bay
June
9, 2007
Les Maxson, Terry Cassidy, Mike and I fished the Bay
in the afternoon to early evening. The Bay was
extremely calm, and the sky was clear, with bright
sunshine. We pulled Kabooms, Hot 'n Tots and
Thundersticks featuring our favorite and most
productive colors at a speed between 1.5 and 2.3 mph. We
fished 11 to 16 f.o.w.. The
action was slow, as we landed only three fish that
ranged from 16" to 18". Several fish were lost
due to light hook sets. From other
reports, the bite occurred in the morning, as a few
boats boasted of limits of walleye.
On a side note, we
were rather amazed at the rapid change of waves as
we were pulling the rods and boards. The bay
was like glass when we decided to quit, and by the
time we had secured the boards and rods, there were
white caps. All within 10 minutes.
First Trip on da Bay
June 2, 2007
By Sam
On June 2 the Bullet took it's 2007 maiden voyage
out of Thomas Road Marina. Sam, Joe, Mike and
Dave were the crew. It was a relatively late
start for a morning trip as we left the barn at 7:30
am.
We dropped our first lines at about 10:00 a.m.
and immediately picked up four walleyes in the first
hour. We were running Hot 'n Tots,
Thundersticks and the new Dave's Kaboom Mean
Streaks. We set most of the lures with
 the
bubble gum colors (ruby red #82).
Our initial set-up was just west of the reef in 16
to 20 ft of water. The following three
hours yielded only three additional fish which gave
us a total of seven for the day. The bay
was like glass and we could easily see the bottom in
18 ft. of water. The Bullet ran fine, and we
were satisfied with the results of our first trip
out (although we would have had our limit if we left
earlier in the morning).
Trout -
Chattooga River
May
31, 2007
By Nick
Gus and I took a trip to the Chattooga River for a
day of fishing and camping. I left the house at 5 am
and
started hiking into the campsite at 7am. It is about
a 3 mile hike. We hit the river as soon as camp was
set up. I was surprised how well Gus did at sitting
right next to while fishing. That is until I caught
a trout
on about my 5th cast. Gus goes crazy at the
site of a fish flopping in the water. He would
repeat this every time I hooked a fish, but it did
give him incentive to stay right by my side while
fishing. I was using a caddis with a dropper nymph
and caught several on both the dry and the nymph. I
landed a beautiful 16" rainbow on the nymph and then
landed another 16" rainbow (kind of on the dry). He
hit the dry and when I set the hook, pulled it out
of his mouth and snagged him in the adipose fin with
a size 18 prince.
As
he started taking out line I thought I had a true
monster. I also tried drifting the very deep and
fast run with two nymphs and a lot of weight (Licavoli
style). On about the 4th drift my line stopped.
Thinking I hung up on the bottom I gave it a small
tug only to have my line go crazy with a trophy
fish. I never got a good hook-set and only saw this
fish briefly when it rolled on the surface, but know
it would have been one of my biggest trout ever. I
am not sure if it was a rainbow or a brown. At night
there was nothing happening and I did not see a
single trout rise. No pictures were taken on this
trip because Gus hasn't learned how to operate the
camera yet.
Jacks River, NC
May 26, 2007
By Nick
Andrea, Gus, and I decided to take a trip up to the
Jacks River in North Georgia. We actually parked on
a trail that had the state border sign about 10
yards from our truck. We hiked in about 2-3 miles
and fished a couple of good looking holes. The river
was very low and the stream is small, so there were
few places for the fish to hide. The first nice pool
I started to fish looked perfect for a huge trout.
After about two drifts, Gus decided to go for a swim
and promptly spooked a trophy rainbow from the hole.
I only caught one small rainbow on the day, but I
have heard the river has some humongous trout if you
are willing to put in 10+ miles of hiking, which I
plan to do in the future. Pictures will be coming
shortly.
Saginaw Bay Walleye
May 26 & 28
By Dave Johnson
Dave
and Dan Johnson fishing report – Saturday May
26, 2007
Fished 5 miles north of Quanacasee launch.
7 :00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Followed 2 guys
who have fished
the
area for weeks. Fished in 3 to 4 foot
waves and 12 foot of water. We caught 2
white bass and that was it. It was very
windy and then it rained with 50 degree
temperatures. The guys we followed caught 6
walleye in the first ½ hour. They used
crawler harnesses with inline weights that
looked like minnows. Only Franks and Bass
World sell them.
Dave and Dan Johnson fishing report – Monday May
28, 2007
Fished 2 miles east of Linwood – Hoyles Marina
in 18 feet of water. Best Walleye fishing
on the bay yet this year. It was sunny and
northwest winds at 5 mph. Waves 1 foot or
less.
We
used crawler harnesses with inline weights – 1
oz and purple and yellow and orange harnesses
worked best. We trolled under 1 mph using
electric motor most of the time. We
limited out in just over 2 hours. The fish
where 15” to 20” in size with many throwbacks.
We fished from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The
fish hit best between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
Dave caught a 30”, 10 lb. sheeps head. It was
huge and took 15 minutes to boat.
Manistee Trout Camp
May 14 - 20, 2007
The 2007 Manistee River Trout Camp began with cold
and windy Tuesday and Wednesday weather. The
fishing was average and a few 12 - 15" browns were
caught. Crawlers and spinners were far better
producers than streamers and dry flies. The
weather warmed at the end of the week, which made
the camping experience more enjoyable. It
can't be said that we over-fished this year, as the
opportunities to renew old friendships took
precedent over stream time. The morel hunters
were a bit disappointed in 2007 as few of the tasty
morsels were located.
Click here for pictures.
Striper Fishing II
May 4 & 6, 2007
By Nick
I made it to the Chestatee River twice this
weekend in hopes of landing my first river-run
striper. On Friday, Dan and I dropped the girls
off at the mall and drove another 10 minutes to
the river. We were using 7 inch rubber shad
imitations with an off-set hook. The minnow
darts like a wounded baitfish and
looks so good I was almost tempted to bite it.
I had a few fish swirl behind my lure, and
eventually hooked and lost a small striper
(maybe 8 pounds). Dan had no hits. While we
didn’t bring home any fish, the girls provided
the bounty for the evening making good on a few
sales at the outlet malls.
Dan and I planned on floating the river Sunday
morning, but with a late night of cards on
Saturday Dan decided to bail on the fishing. I
drove up by myself on was on the river by 7am.
I was still using the 7” shad and on my second
cast I hooked an absolute pig. The striper was
probably around 20 pounds and fought every bit
as well as a fresh-run salmon. I turned him for
a brief minute and got him to hold up in a pool,
but then he took off down stream again. After
the fish made it more than 50 yards downstream
and I still wasn’t catching up, I decided to
tighten my drag and try to keep him in the next
eddy. As soon as I tried to stop him my 10
pound test snapped. What a rush! I tried to
get one on a fly rod after this, but had no
luck. I will make it out again this week and
will hopefully be able to send some pictures of
fish.
Striper Fishing
April 27, 2007
By Nick
Dan, Ray and I went up the Chestatee River
(about an hour north of Atlanta) on Friday in
hopes of finding some Stripers that have moved
up the river out of Lake Lanier. We were
casting Rapala's, Bombers, AC plugs, spinners,
and even drifting some crawlers. We didn’t get
a hit or see any fish, but I did manage to lose
about $25 of lures in stumps, rocks, and trees.
A couple of the locals told us that they won’t
be running for another week or so. Next weekend
we might try to float a canoe down the river in
hopes of locating some of these monsters.
Stripers coming out of Lanier average between
10-20 pounds. My ultimate goal is to get one of
them on a fly rod.
N.E. Michgan Steelies
April 21 & 22
By Sam II
It
was a warm weekend toping out at 86 degrees as
the five of us spent some time chasing spring
steelies across the red gravel of a stream we
will not name. Dominic and I fished together
most of the
weekend getting to the river a good five hours
before everyone else.
I
hooked and landed one trout/steelhead the
measured around 18-20 inches on my fly rod
Saturday afternoon. Dominic had no luck drifting
spawn by the few fish we saw on gravel.
My dad
and Dave Kern joined us in the evening fishing
the upper stretch of the river around 5:00pm. We
chased a few suckers around but did not see any
steelhead. After giving it a try there we moved
to another stretch of the river to catch a few
small stream trout.
Sunday
was a better day for seeing fish. Dominic and I
worked the same stretch of the river that we had
worked the day before. He caught another 12-13
inch trout/steelhead and promptly let it go. I
hooked into a nice hen that took me for a ride
around the river until I finally lost her just
before Dominic could get the net on her.
My dad, Dave and Uncle Frank all worked
different bends of the river where there were
fish but had no luck. In all it was a great
weekend.
Saginaw Bay Walleyes - Augres
April 20-22, 2007
By Dave Johnson
April 20th with Dave
and Dan Johnson - Sunny and warm with
temps around
70 for a high. Winds light and variable.
Launched at the DNR ramp and trolled in the
river out to the bay. We used
chartreuse Husky Jerk lures and caught a 21”
walleye. We caught 5 walleye from 9:00
a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with most of the big
walleye caught around 12:00 p.m. at the
mouth of the Augres River in 5’ of water.
Trolling at 1.0 to 1.5 mile per hour. We
did not use planner boards. We caught
a 5lb, 25” walleye and the rest where over
20” and around 2 lbs. The lure that
worked best was a blue and silver Rapala
shallow diver. I believe it was a number
13.
April 22, 2007 – Fished Saginaw Bay from DNR
ramp in Bay City on the Saginaw River.
Dan and Dave and Ryan Johnson. On the water
around 8:00 a.m. and fished until 12:00 p.m.
The winds were out of the south at 10 to
15mph. It was windy on the water.
Fished in 5’ to 10’ of water near the
Kawkawlin River. Trolled 1.5 to 2.5
mile per hour and Ryan caught a 22” walleye
around 3 lbs. Dave caught a 23”
northern pike. The fishing was slow
with lots of boats in the area. As we
loaded up the boat some guys next to us
caught 4 walleye all over 20” and one was
about 6lbs and 26” long. They where in
10’ of water using lures that looked like
hot n tots and they where trolling under 1
mph.
Everyone said that the fishing was very
slow. We fished with my brother Mark and
his son. They also caught just one walleye.
Huge Rainbows
April 21, 2007
By Nick
April 21st was Scott Selzer's 30th
birthday so we decided to go up to his
Dad's place for a "Mancation"; involving
fishing, horseshoes, beer drinking,
smoking cigars, and grilling. The
fishing conditions weren't the best as
the river was low and clear and the sun
was bright. However, we managed to catch
3-4 fish apiece. The water was so low
that the strike indicators were scaring
the fish so I switched to a caddis
indicator with a copper john dropper and
we started getting hits instantly. I
caught by biggest rainbow ever. I
didn't get an official measurement, but
it was 24-25" and probably 6 pounds
plus.
Click Here for Pictures.
2007 Tour De Thumb -30th Annual
April 6, 2007
By Me
The
30th annual Tour De Thumb featured a bitterly
cold and windy day. The temperatures dipped
into the mid-20’s, and the wind blew hard out of
the north. Our
desire for jumping into waders and casting lures
all but disappeared on this miserable day. In fact
it was so cold that ice was
re-forming in several locations. The 30th
annual participants were Joe, Frank, Dominic,
Sammy, Sam and Dave.
 Joe and Dave had their Man Cards suspended for
sitting in the truck all day - reading newspapers. Sammy
saved the day by casting at both Grindstone and
Harbor Beach, but I suspect it was most likely
a half-hearted effort. Stops included Bayport,
Caseville, Grindstone and Harbor Beach. Mike
and Harry joined the group for a fine dinner in
Caseville. We celebrated Frank’s 62nd birthday,
but it may have been a more joyous occasion
had the weather been a bit more cooperative.
Heck, we even had bad luck playing Keno on this trip. We’ll
get ‘em next year!
Run for the Thumb
March 30, 2007
By Joe
At 10:15 a.m. Dale Manley and I headed out
of Millington on the "Run for the Thumb" to
check on the spring waterfowl migration and
hopefully get a line wet and pick up a few
perch or maybe a
steelhead as a bonus. The birds were few and
the fish were fewer. Word from the locals
was that earlier in the week, before the
cold weather moved in, the perch were in and
on the feed. All these 2 witnesses can
confirm is the fact that 3 to 5 inch perch
were being caught in the marina at Sebewaing.
Not worth the effort of getting out of the
truck.
Nobody
was fishing at Mud Creek which we were told
was so thick with
 minnows people could scoop
them out of the water with their bare hands
during the warm spell. An employee of the
Bayport fish market told us of that, also
she stated that people were getting
whitefish of the break-wall at Caseville.
When we got as far as Caseville 3 hapless
souls sat in the cold wind occasionally
catching a 3 to 5 inch perch. No action at
any other location as we worked our way to
Grindstone City. We did have some good
fortune as the pork chops were running at
the Verona tavern and from there back home.
Not having to clean any fish when we got
home was great.......umm, I mean very
disappointing. Good luck Good Friday gang!
More Georgia Trout
March
23, 2007
By
Nick
With my parents and grandparents in town for the
weekend, I decided to save the men from a
shopping orgarage sale trip and take them
fishing. Ken Selzer took us up to his place on
the Soque River for a couple hours. My
grandfather, Keith, just decided to watch since
he had never fly fished. We got on the river at
about 9:00 and immediately started hooking fish.
They were hitting on zug bug nymphs, prince
nymphs, wooly buggers, and San Juan worms. I
ended up landing about 20 trout and my dad
landed somewhere around 6. However, he ended up
losing the first 7 or 8 fish he hooked. All of
the fish were rainbows.
Click here for pictures.
Georgia Trout and Camping
March
3-4, 2007
By
Nick
Cabin fever got the best of us and we
decided to make a trip to the
mountains. This was a very special
trip as Brett flew down from Flint and
my cousin Mike drove over from South
Carolina. Besides the three Cassidy's
we were joined by friends Dan, Will,
Carlos, and Mike's friends Blake and
Jason.
We
hit the campsite Friday night and
decided to do our best to lighten the
load of the coolers. Saturday morning
Mike, Jason, Blake, and I decided to put
in some miles hiking in an attempt to
find some new water. After hiking a
couple of miles we found a good run and
hit the water. Within 5 minutes Blake
got a small trout on a spinner and I
landed two really nice browns on a #10
wooly bugger. We ended up getting a
couple more over the next few hours, but
we really had to work for them. Jason
didn't catch any fish, but he did get in
a nice swim when he slipped on
a rock.
Mike ended up getting a nice trout
Sunday morning. I hope to get up there
again in April or May.
Real
Early Tour D'Thumb
January 6, 2007
By
Dave
We couldn't
resist.....fishing soft water in January.
Sam, Joe and I left Millington on a rainy, but
warm, Saturday morning for a drive about the
Thumb. We made enough money at Keno during
lunch to buy another (one of maybe 100) minnow
buckets and minnows. Stops in Grindstone,
the Pinnebog River and Caseville produced a big
zero. There appeared to be either browns
or Lakers in the harbor at Grindstone, but we
had no luck with hooking fish.
We enjoyed the
honor of sharing dinner with Cindy and Bob
Peterson in Caseville after a wonderful January
day in the Thumb. (By the way, Sam, Joe
and I beat Nick to the first 2007 Fishing
Report).
Georgia Hunting
January 1 to 4, 2007
By
Nick
My Dad, Terry,
and I went down to South Georgia for another
Deer/Boar hunt. I think we were a little
spoiled from our trip in October as we had
to work twice as hard and did not see the
game that we had previously. We mostly
hunted what the locals call the “River
Swamp” and pushed a lot of the islands.
Terry ended up bagging a nice pig on the
second day. Joel, one of Israel’s and
Emanuel’s friends, walked up on a pack of
small hogs and got all five of them that
same morning. Hunter and I tag teamed
another small hog the third day.
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