Great Lakes Angler

While working in Grand Rapids this week I made sure to make it down to the fish ladder and falls on the grand river, get some photographs, and talk with some of the fishermen.  It would seem that numbers of King Salmon, Coho, and Steelhead have made it to the base of the dam.  They are not, however, there in large numbers.  One or two fish jump up a section of the fish ladder every 5 or 10 minutes and some are very small stockers.  Spawn sacs fished on river rigs on the bottom took all the fish I saw caught, and most came from the first 50 feet below the falls.  Continue reading

The recent rain has not only brought a torrent of water, but a torrent of Coho Salmon into the tributaries as well.  I predicted this would happen Sunday or Monday after those rains, and suspicions have been confirmed by this report by friend of the Great Lakes Angler at Illinois Wisconsin Fishing.  The link to the blog is on the right bar there, go take a look! Continue reading

Strong west winds and cool September nights have turned the lake over and has set the wisconsin harbors and river mouths in motion for shore fishermen, and small craft fishermen alike.  Water surface temperatures from the state line all the way up past Milwaukee range from 48 degrees to 53 degrees.  Water inside the Milwaukee harbor runs an average of 55 degrees as of Sunday. Continue reading

It seems that just when you think you’re on some big fish lately an email rolls into your inbox that makes you think…. “man that King Salmon, that huge one that towed your Kayak all over Milwaukee… that thing only weighed half as much as this fish!” Continue reading

After a long week of work and the fact that I would be up bright and early for work again on Sunday I loaded the car and readied the Kayak for another tour in Wisconsin Saturday afternoon.

I launched at a different spot this time, from the beach just north of the north arm of the Racine breakwater.  The kayak was easy to drag through the sand and I could load it next to the car and then pull it down to the water’s edge.  The waves were 2-3 feet and rolling in the long gradual rise to the beach there in Racine, which made for a perfect spot to launch when waves would prevent launch on other beaches with steeper banks.  I paddled out through the break, keeping as dry as one can in a Kayak in 3 foot waves.  After the break the swell was very easy to handle and proved no challenge.  Water temperature was near 60 degrees at the beach and clicked down degree by degree as I headed east into the lake, finally resting at about 54 degrees.  I started marking fish almost immediately in 6 feet of water, and continued to mark fish all the way out to 30 feet of water, where marks started becoming less frequent.  Bait was not present in any large numbers but the sheer volume of large marks on the depth finder kept my hopes up.  I did about a 2 mile loop and after receiving a phone call I decided to head back to shore and meet friends further north. Continue reading

After a busy week I’ve finally found time to get a bit of writing in for you all here.  Internet is finally up and running here at adventure headquarters and I expect I’ll be doing a bit more posting here. Continue reading

An email rolled into my inbox today from someone who I’ve had the pleasure of talking to a couple of times through emails this year, who I hope to fish with this fall.  He’s been making some sly moves on the Root River and you can find some gems of information in his blog.  Fish, though you may have to hike, climb, and search for them, are to be found in the Root River contrary to popular belief. Continue reading

A buoy in the middle of Lake Michigan hit 80 degrees last week; the first time it’s hit that mark since 2001.  The warmest it’s ever been was in 1995, it hit 81 degrees.  Warm water means more plankton and faster growth rates for your favorite species of fish.  This may mean some big perch coming to the end of your line next year, and even bigger salmon and trout in the years to come as well. Continue reading

As you will often hear from old timers next to you fishing for perch along the miles of shoreline on Lake Michigan, things aren’t what they used to be.  The good old days died in the early nineties with mussels, alewifes, overfishing, and dwindling bait fish populations to name a few.  Here’s a graph that not only tells you the state of fishing this year, but can be used to help predict years to come. Continue reading

Each year I am lucky enough to spend a week or two at a cabin in Northern Minnesota with some wonderful scenery and world class fishing.  The lake the cabin sits on is full of large Walleye, mean Smallmouth, big Musky, and a good smattering of Largemouth Bass and Northern Pike. Continue reading

Dear friends and followers, it has been long since I’ve posted anything.  My days are long and my nights short, time for fishing is scarce, and time for blogging is more rare even than fishing time.  Tonight, however, I find myself in South-Carolina after 13 hours on shoot, we’re photographing a major bank headquarters in Charlotte NC this week. Continue reading

A fellow emailed me this week and wanted to introduce me to his blog named Illinois Wisconsin Fishing, and now I’d like to extend the same gesture to you, I’ll suggest you click here to visit the site and have a read for yourself. Continue reading

As the days get longer and the water warms we must unfortunately bid farewell to what has been an amazing spring steelhead season, while there is still a couple weeks left of good fishing and possibly a week or so more of leftovers we have to be thankful that we had such a banner spring. I remember last year freezing my knuckles and bearing into the wind while trying to throw casts into stained, turbulent waters from a string of massive March rains. This year I broke sweat in my tee shirt more than once. I casted to clear pools swirling with silver, hard hitting fish while the sun rose and the air temperatures broke sixty before I could see my shadow finding its way along the stones by the river bed. Continue reading

Oak Creek has stabilized and Steelhead are staging nicely. The river has a variety of sized fish in the system right now from 15-20″ juveniles to 30+” four and five year old fish. Chambers Creek and Ganaraska are the strains most prevalent in the river at this time. Continue reading

A fellow named Mike emailed me with some questions about Steelhead fishing a few months ago. I did my best to help him in any way, and so did the Chicago Trout Bum. I had a nice email in my inbox this morning. Continue reading

For those of you not able to get a glimpse of the Chicago River this weekend I bring you some photographs from a unique vantage point. My work brought me up onto the 28th floor of a downtown high-rise on the river where we photographed for the day. I snapped some images of the river and the spot that the river meets the channel, making for an interesting break line where the green water met the discolored North Shore Channel-Chicago River water. Continue reading

The Steelhead fishing has never been better in Southeastern Wisconsin if you are familiar with its water and know how to get away from crowds and fish a variety of water. Continue reading

With a week of warm weather dumping thousands of gallons of water into the tributaries of Lake Michigan the flows have skyrocketed and water temperatures have warmed up. Continue reading

This is what we have been waiting for. Steelheaders and Brown Trout seekers grab your rod and get those leaders tied on. Its time to chase some Steelhead. The Root River is coming around, with the Milwaukee, and Oak Creek following suit. Continue reading

But this weekend… the lakefront and the tributaries are likely the place to be with weather like this:

You’ll find me out with my nose as close to the water as I can get it. You can expect full reports and photos to make up for nearly a month of radio silence. Thanks for sticking around. Life moves faster than it should sometimes and time on the water is hard to come by when the only water I see is in a glass on my desk. Continue reading

Flows are getting low around Milwaukee, water is clearing, and Steelhead are easily spotted in the ends of deeper pools and across most gravel beds. Nymphs are taking fish, and streamers swung through turbid water in the entrances to pools have been very productive. Continue reading

Finally, it is here. I got up to Racine and onto the Root by sunrise this past Sunday to do a little breaking in of my new St. Croix 8 weight accompanied by my Hatch 7+. This morning was fruitful in sun, scenery, and isolation on the water. I did not manage to tango with any Steelhead though. I think I may have been too ambitious as I got after some deep runs that I hoped would be holding early steelhead jockying for position on the beds just upstream. I should have stuck to slow drifting through the deepest of holes… but that just isn’t my style. Continue reading

Recently I posted photographs of a few miles of shore ice attached to Illinois as I flew over it toward New York.

The recent west winds have broken off the entire shoreline and sent it out toward Michigan. I checked out the satellite photos today and found these gems. Continue reading

From the Life Archive.

I’ve made it Black and White day here in the Great Lakes Angler’s Studio. Monotone for February First.

This photo reminds me of many of the boats I’ve used on small Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota and brings back memories of hot aluminum seats, creaking oars, and soft boat cushions.

I apologize to you, my readers, for lack of new substance once again. Work is keeping me very busy at the moment and it looks like before this week is done I will clock somewhere near 70-80 hours. I had a free day last weekend and spent it behind the lens of a camera. Here is one of the images from the shoot. There are loads more that have yet to be sorted yet, but until they are sorted here is at least something to show you I’m still out there. Continue reading

Friends, I’m only able to snap out a couple of sentences before hitting the pillow. I’m in California shooting a series of jobs for an design firm here in L.A. and have been working long hours. I may have a few hours to spare later this week and if I do I promise to bring you photographs from the ocean. Continue reading

From the Toledo Blade

Article published February 01, 2010

White House to host Asian carp talks

BLADE STAFF

The Obama Administration said it will host a White House summit on Feb. 8 to discuss the Asian carp crisis with Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn.

The 2:30 p.m. meeting, which the administration has closed to the public, will include Nancy Sutley, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Coast Guard. The participants are trying to settle on how to keep the voracious carp from destroying the Great Lakes fishery, valued at $7 billion. The greatest potential value of controlling the carp is in western Lake Erie, the most biologically productive part of the Great Lakes. Lake Erie holds more fish than the other four Great Lakes combined. Officials have been hoping to diversify the region’s sagging economy by promoting fishing – especially in Lake Erie’s western basin. DNA evidence shows Asian carp, nonnatives introduced to North America via Arkansas fish hatcheries, have breached a $9 million electrical barrier the Corps built southwest of Chicago in hopes of keeping the fish from reaching Lake Michigan. They have been swimming up the Mississippi River for years.Michigan is one of the nation’s leaders in registered boaters. It has more Great Lakes shoreline than any other state. Continue reading

Featuring hatch reels. Thanks to a reader for bringing this to my attention.

“Rise” Trailer from Costa Sunglasses on Vimeo.

It really is a beautiful trailer. There is so much fishing to be done in the world, I’m just thankful I’m right in the heart of it… the Great Lakes.

This is fly, January edition is out and it is certainly worth a read. As a matter of fact I should have just stayed in and read this in the warmth of my apartment today instead of hitting the ice and racking up such a low score on the fish. A report will come soon, until then, have a read. Continue reading

Readers, this last week my work brought me to Manhattan for my first time. As an outdoors-man, lover of open spaces, verdant surroundings, and cool clear water I expected New York to wear on me quickly and that my flight home could never come to soon. I was, however, very wrong about this and the following are my thoughts on this Metropolis. Continue reading

Catching a Musky can be a once in a lifetime experience for an angler. I myself have only logged two of them in my lifetime, caught this past summer and the summer before. Catching them using normal tackle or specialized musky tackle is the method of choice to get the job done. Catching one on a fly rod… well that’s something else entirely. Continue reading

During a flurry of media, accusations, and assumptions about who is doing what and how come this level headed writing comes from Andy Buchsbaum, a name you, my readers, will come to know in the years to come I’m sure. Continue reading

A good friend of mine from my years as a photography student at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee is doing her thesis this semester on a topic that she and her family has been involved with for quite a number of years now. She has created a blog doccumenting Sturgeon spearing on Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin. Steph has “been around sturgeon spearing since [she] was born” and as a photographer who I have a good deal of respect for I expect great things from this project. Continue reading

The Chicago Trout Bum, a (becoming) longtime friend of the Great Lakes Angler put together a good looking slide show of Trout and Salmon catches during the fall run of 2009. I make an appearance sporting a hefty Seeforellen Brown Trout, and a few other photographs I have taken of my own fish or fish friends of mine have landed made the show. There is plenty of eye candy from dime bright hens to tuna sized trout in here so buckle up and have a good watch. Continue reading

Well I finally have a setup worthy of the fish I fight on our wonderful Great Lakes Tributaries.

Continue reading

Tonight I made a bit of discovery using google image search. If you type into the search bar : source:life “xxxxxx” anything you want, it will search their newly scanned archives of all of the Life Magazine articles and feed you the images associated with the articles it finds. Continue reading

What could be better than a wonderful fishing magazine filled with good stories and even better photography that you don’t have to pay a subscription fee for. Sure you don’t get to hold in in your hands but their basic equation holds up : Water + Trees = Fish Continue reading

I bring to you a couple of photographs from the Life Archive for your viewing pleasure today.

The Mackinac bridge, the longest suspension bridge between two anchorages in the Western Hemisphere. Just another of the wonders of the Great Lakes. Continue reading

I haven’t wet a line in 3 weeks and my posts have been scant at best. I apologize for the state of relative radio silence. My work has kept my busy this month, particularly on the weekends.

The good news, however, is that I was able to take my new fly casting set up out in the vacant lot behind work today and nearly hit a wall 50 feet away with some of my casts. This rod acts like a spring and punches line out. I’ve never been able to throw a cast and have it pick 8 or 10 feet of line up from my feet. It’s a wonderful sound hearing it zip through the guides. Continue reading

The three week dry spell is over and Great Lakes Angler is on the board for 2010, catching 52 perch in an hour and a half yesterday. Conditions yesterday were more than favorable and, being as I was only on call for work, I headed downtown with rod and reel and some bait and picked a spot on the pier. As I strung up my rod folks were pulling in the standard 5″-8″ navy pier perch that one expects to sort through while fishing there. I baited both top and bottom hooks with a chunk of shrimp and casted 30 feet off the wall. I brought up my slack and checked tension and as I did I felt resistance and set the hook. The fish felt bigger than it should and I reeled in an honest to goodness Jumbo Perch on my first cast, running between 12 and 13 inches. Not Bad. Continue reading

A photograph from 1942, actress Ginger Rogers holding fly rod as she sits on ground while taking a break from fly fishing on her 1,000-acre ranch in the Rogue River Valley.

Continue reading

A fellow by the name of Ed, a prominent Great Lakes (and beyond) fisherman just launched his blog over at Andrew Ragas’s website, fishing headquarters. In an effort to build a network of stories and up to date fishing information I believe it is important to continue to build a community of bloggers who share the passion for fishing that we do. So please, if you have the time, have a look at Ed’s new blog and enjoy. Continue reading

I treated myself to watching this beautiful video detailing some of America’s fly fishing in Oregon this evening after work. The soft yellow leaves and smooth grey cobbles makes me yearn for fall on the Root River and the Milwaukee, or spring on Oak Creek. Our rivers may not be as picturesque, but a day hooking into half a dozen Steelhead of similar quality to their far western brothers and sisters is unheard of. Our strains are hard fighting, high flying bulls with enough power to snap a rod or leave the water for a second at a time. Beautiful. Continue reading

I suggest picking up a copy, or at the very least read through some of the article online here. The article speaks of the “boondoggle” that is the barrier, and of the poisoning of the channel tomorrow (Wendesday). Just under 7 miles of the river is going to be poisoned to prevent the advancement of Carp, although Dale Bowman does bring up some good points in his column, citing half a dozen or so cases of carp being found or caught in Lake Michigan already. Continue reading

I think I would like to try this type of fishing some day. It would seem that in this wonderful part of the world we live in, a willing fish isn’t more than a quick car drive away, no matter where you are. Continue reading

As I reported here a couple of weeks back they shocked the water pre-poison and removed as many game fish as possible. I only now have run across a tally of what was saved and in what numbers. Thanks to Dale Bowman at the Chicago Sun Times I’m able to bring those numbers to you today. Continue reading

The ice is beginning to move in and perch are harder to find as a result. I found today at montrose harbor that getting away from the open water and fishing between the floating ice floes was the best way to find the fish. Perch were very scattered and the bite was lite when it did happen. Continue reading

As promised, I made it up to Milwaukee today to find some Lake Run Trout.

I started at my favorite spot on Oak Creek at first light, and was able to snap up a foot long steelhead right away. It wasn’t long until the weekend party of “fishermen” walking down the middle of the river went ahead and spooked the entire river. I couldn’t take it today, I just got in my car and headed for Milwaukee where my friend Mike was waiting at the harbor. I should mention that I did count a dozen steelhead moving in holes and bedding in what little gravel there was. I would have had a chance at these fish and likely would have stayed for a couple more hours had I not had the river ruined rudely by these guys who don’t respond to my questions or comments about their style of fishing. Continue reading

A very well written article in the Niagara Falls Review.

An excerpt:

“The Great Lakes were pretty much a closed eco-system for thousands of years. The plants, animals and fish within this system co-existed with one another in a relatively balanced level. The early arrival of explorers from the east had little impact on this balance. The arrival of settlers in greater and greater numbers began to change the landscape. Logging and farming re-shaped the lands around the rivers and streams feeding into the lakes. As the human population grew, the once-balanced environment became unbalanced.” Continue reading

It’s getting cold on the fifth coast, warmer waters and blue skies are looking nice. This video is full of great footage of Tarpon grabbing up big flies, breaking a few rods, and jumping clear out of the water. Continue reading