Early on the fishing was very slow, and picking our way through the multitude of “fishing spots” was a task in itself.  Houghton is approximately 7 ½ miles long and 4 ½ miles wide, so trying to find the “spot” on this gargantuan of a lake was a crap shoot at best – even my pre-fish “scouting” didn’t seem to help.  And with the beautiful sunset that greeted us that morning a thing of the past, frustration was starting to set in.

Houghton is very shallow and has the grand daddy of all weed beds.  I seriously don’t think I’ve ever seen a weed bed that dense, that thick, that shallow, or that big; it was quite a monstrosity and definitely threw all of us for a loop.   We tried our luck at fishing the drop-offs on the edge of it, but after they only produced one small pike and one huge lost fish, which we can only dream as to how big it really was, we were seriously thinking of throwing in the towel.

Thankfully we all have cell phones.

After 3 hours of slow, slow, slow fishing, Jeff finally dialed us up on the cell phone and let us in on a little secret he had found.  Apparently, after talking with a local old timer who was fishing on the lake, Jeff, along with his son, Tyler, had found a honey hole for walleye.  And, though it was another family fishing tournament, Jeff was still nice enough to share this information and let us in on the secret.

We sped across the choppy water – I’m still sore from a couple of the “bumps” we hit – and headed for the walleye Holy Grail.  Though Jeff and Tyler were using soft tail jigs, I dug through the tackle box and located the rig I sought:  one of the walleye rigs that we used when we were fishing on Lake Erie.  Now, normally, these rigs call for a real night crawler, but not having any of those in the boat, it was time to get crafty – and that is when I remembered that I had some Gulp brand night crawlers in the tackle box, and it was about time they actually caught something.

With the boat positioned parallel to the “run” we wanted to fish, I dropped the rig over the side of the boat, letting it hit bottom before jigging it up and down in the hopes of a strike; it didn’t take two casts before I had a decent little walleye on board; my first fish of the day.  Sweet!  If at first you don’t succeed, keep trying.

The rest of our first drift produced a fish for my cousin, Randy, but didn’t produce anymore fish for me.  After motoring back to the top of the drift, though, I meticulously jigged the rod up and down – slowly and easily – in the hopes of putting the first keeper of the day in the boat and increasing our odds of winning this “tournament”.

Finally, I felt a nice little tug on the line and set the hook.  It was quite a fight, because, not only did I have to fight the fish and the weeds, but I also had to fight the quick drift of the boat – the winds were horrible out on the water.  After a couple minutes of battle, I brought the 15 ½ inch walleye onto the boat – and, since there was only about 20 minutes left in the tournament, I figured this fish was the one that would take home the prize.

But, I forgot I was fishing against Jeff.

Right on cue, and not 5 minutes after landing my fish, I happen to glance over and notice Jeff’s rod bending like crazy.  I started to wish that he only had weeds, but after watching the 17 ½ inch, 2 ½lb largemouth make it to the net, I knew our chances of victory were over.  Obviously, Jeff was going to take home the money.

The trip was worth every penny we had to pay, though.  For one, it proved that you can teach an old dog new tricks – I caught my first walleye actually using a rig and method that is meant to do so, and Jeff caught his first walleye; it only took him 38 years to do it!

It was a great time after a work-filled week.  And, though I lost another tournament to the fish whisperer himself, I still have another walleye fillet to add to the grill.

Yum!

And thankfully we went, because we only had to endure a little bit of rain – the thunderstorms never did show themselves.

With both boats launched before 6am, and with only about 4 hours sleep the night before, we motored up and headed out in the hopes that the fish would be active ahead of the front that was on the way.  As my cousin, Ron, powered back and settled us into our first fishing location, he kept the motor idling and began to play around with his Lowrance fish finder.  As with everything in my family, this morning was about competition – our second annual Family Fishing Tournament – so, not wanting to waste time or opportunities, I threw the Rattle Trap into the water while he played around with the electronics.

The first cast was a bust, but the second cast was much more productive.  It didn’t take many rotations of the reel before something grabbed the rattle trap and started to put up quite a fight.  The fight was a short one, but, even though the fish was over 2lbs, I was a little disappointed.  Why?  Because the rules of this tournament were clear – only bass and pike were included – so, this walleye that I just put in the boat wasn’t going to count.  It was legal, though, and it would taste dang good, so in the livewell it went.

After a few hours of fishing, we were still without a keeper fish in the boat.  We had landed many fish – pike and bass included – but just not any above the 14 or 24 inch mark needed to keep each variety of fish.

Finally, though, Ron sets the hook on what appears to be a great fish.  We knew that one good keeper fish, especially a pike, could help us and be the break we needed in the tournament.  I feverishly pulled the net out of its compartment, and netted the fish just as it broke free from the Rattle Trap’s grasp.  We had another fish in the boat – the problem we had, though, was that we had landed another keeper walleye.

We were having an unbelievable morning on the water, but, of course, we weren’t catching the right species of fish in order to win the tournament.  That didn’t manage to wipe the smiles off both of our faces, though, as we kept casting in search of a fish that was included in the tournament.  Though we knew we weren’t winning, having fish of such caliber in the livewell was making “losing” that much more bearable.

Unfortunately, the fishing tournament came to an end without Ron or myself landing a keeper bass or pike.  And, because of that, we had to give Jeff and his son, Tyler D., the win because of the two keeper bass they put in the boat.

Ron and I still had a great time, though.  And even if we didn’t win the tournament, we had a great time catching fish, and we managed to take home 4lbs worth of walleye, which will taste amazing.  Also, I managed to end the fishing curse that had been haunting me so far this year.

And I’ve decided I really enjoy catching walleye, even though I’ve only caught two in my life – both on Duck Lake.  One was 7lbs, and 28inches, and the other was 2lb, 19 inch specimen I caught this morning.

And you can bet that walleye will be included in the list of species that count during our next family fishing tournament.

Saturday was all about turkey hunting preparation.  Jeff and Matt, along with a few of the kids, will be out trying to put a couple of turkey breasts in the freezer on Monday.  So since everyone was getting ready for their seasons to start, I took the opportunity to get the wife sighted in and ready as well.  Our season doesn’t start for another couple of weeks, but who I am to sit back and let everyone else shoot.

Jeff got his youngest stepson sighted in and ready for his first turkey season, my wife is sighted in and ready to put down her first bird, and we even managed to get another one of our cousins to shoot a gun for the first time.  After a little lesson on how to shoot the gun, she managed to put a few shots right in the kill zone, so Jeff may take her out sometime this week and let her try her luck, especially since Michigan has its wonderful new Apprentice Hunting License.

Then, yesterday, the wife and I bundled up little Abby and took her out to the 10 acres that her Papa and Grandma own.  This is the place that has the private pond, and is just a little piece of paradise that all of us are fortunate enough to be able to enjoy.  We blew all kinds of bubbles, rode around very slowly on quads, played in the sand pit, sat around the campfire, and I accomplished the one thing I set out to do – catch Abby’s first fish.

Considering it’s the early season, the fishing was a little slow, but I still managed to land one little bass – with Abby’s help of course.  You never know how the little ones are going to react to new things, but Abby didn’t have any problem reeling in the fish…….touching the fish…….or laying a Jimmy Houston kiss on the fish.  It was hysterical, and made for an awesome afternoon.

Spring has definitely sprung, and with it the outdoor activities are really starting to ramp up.  Turkey season begins on Monday, and camping will be here before we know it.

This weekend was perfect.  I got the wife sighted in and ready to kill her first bird; we managed to recruit a young girl for hunting; and I managed to make a memory that will last for a lifetime – catching Abby’s first fish.

Not bad.  Not bad at all.

Author’s note: And, though I loved getting outside during the winter months, it was still nice to be able to head out this weekend, let Abby play outside and have a good time, and not have to dress like we did in this picture.  Oh….winter in Michigan.  You definitely have to wear plenty of layers:):)

In the meantime, and while I get geek-ed up and ready to get my wife sighted in this weekend for her first year of turkey hunting, check out the new video we have posted on SOTV.  It’s a typical fishing experience for those involved – sitting back and watching Jeff catch all the fish.  But it’s worth watching for Jeff’s safety tip at the end.

And, not only will you learn something, but you’ll get to see what all the rest of the SimplyOutdoors’ crew was doing last Sunday while I was almost dead.

Jerks!

My inaugural ice fishing trip took us to Duck Lake, near Springport, Michigan.  Duck is probably one of the best fishing lakes in southern Michigan, and since my sister and her boyfriend live on the lake, we headed there to see what we could pull through the ice.

Riding on the back of Jeff’s quad, with a sled full of gear in-tow, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t puckering just a little bit.  I’m not sure why it feels so strange to me, but it does.  Since there were trucks on the ice, though, I relaxed a little; and once I noticed the 9 inches of ice Jeff had to drill through to get to water, I relaxed even more.

Using Jeff’s hunting blind as a “shanty”, we started to setup.  Of course, the 20mph winds blowing across the ice didn’t help to make setup any easier, but it was nothing that anchoring the blind to a couple quads couldn’t fix.  And with that, it was time to fish.

This trip was actually quite the family affair.  There were 8 of us total – Jeff, Matt, Ron and his wife, my sister, Melissa and her boyfriend, Justin – all within hearing range of each other…… in three different shanties….. it was fun.

And now here comes the point that everyone has been waiting for:  What did Arthur think of his first ice fishing trip?  Honestly, I loved it!  We all had a blast hanging out, I managed to pull my first fish through the ice (there really is a fish in that first picture, even though it’s hard to see because of the lighting), and even though the fishing had slowed somewhat, I still had a good time.  Plus, ordering, and then eating a pizza in the shanty was just icing on the cake (they have a party store at the launch that sells pizza, and we had quads to make pick-up much easier, so we figured why not).

I could have stayed on the water all day and thought nothing of it.  It felt great to be outside, being able to see the fish in the “lighted” hole was definitely a one-of-a-kind experience, and I can’t wait until we get to go again.

And for anyone who truly knows me, they know what an incredible thing that is for me to say.

It was a great time, and I’m honestly sorry I haven’t been doing it until now.

We headed back to the Grand River, and all the while I had visions of smallmouth bass dancing in my head, especially after Matt’s experience there last week.

I love fishing for smallies on the river, but for some reason the anticipation was killing me last night – I was like a kid waiting on Christmas.  At work I could literally feel myself stepping into the water, and caught myself daydreaming about the way the fish would look as they hit my topwater lure…….and it turned out to be just like I imagined it.

We didn’t catch as many fish as the last time everyone headed out – 3 fish for me, 3 for my Uncle, and none for Matt – but the experience, and the “the time well wasted” as they say, was more than worth it.  The sunset on the river was awesome, hanging out with family was great, and getting to watch a few decent smallies pounch on my topwater offering was just icing on the cake (man I love topwater fishing; so much fun!).

And there is just something about being outside that gets to me.  When everything is weighing on your mind, or after a hectic day at work, there is just something to be said for sliding on a pair of waders, strapping on the backpack full of extra clothes, a pop, and a snack, and heading out into the river ; hearing the sound of the water passing by; the sound of a torpedo sliding across the top of the water; and the anticipation of that next strike.

If any of you anti’s are reading this:  it isn’t about the catch, or about inflicting pain, or outwitting a wary adversary on his own turf (although that is quite fulfilling too)…….it’s about the experience – the experience with nature, and being one with our natural surroundings.

And it was definitely time well wasted.

On Wednesday evening my dad, Jim, his friend, Tim, and I all headed to a classic smallmouth spot on the Grand River. The area we frequent is usually a fun spot to go because the wading is not known to be difficult.

When we arrived to our destination we quickly noticed that the water level was down quite a bit from what it usually is. As mentioned, this makes for easy wading, but as we quickly found out, it also makes fishing a little more difficult – or so we thought! The weeds seemed to get the best of us at first, so we moved farther upstream from where we usually fish. We managed to find some small “holes” that were holding a few smallies. Between the three of us, we managed to land a few fish within the first hour or so.

With about an hour of daylight left, I decided, for whatever reason, to switch from a jig with a spinner on it, to a baby torpedo topwater lure. I am glad I did. The fishing “switch” was officially turned on. Those of you who have experienced something like this know exactly what I am talking about.

My first 7 casts with the lure provided 7 hits and 5 smallmouth landed. Most of the fish caught here are not known to be much over 12-14 inches, but they are amazing fighters and acrobats. It was an absolutely amazing hour of fishing. I went on to catch about a dozen or so smallies, while missing some along the way.

Now the funny part of the evening was that I was the only angler who managed to bring a topwater lure. I gladly would’ve shared my lures with the other two guys, but I only managed to grab one single torpedo. It was a last minute decision as we were getting our gear on to head down river. I just happened to glance in the tackle box and something told me to grab it and throw it in my vest. I’m glad I made that choice!

We learned one thing:  late season fishing for smallmouth (and as I learned on Labor Day, Largemouth too!), can be an absolute blast. Between the three of us we managed to catch about 20-25 smallmouth in less than a couple hours. I’m sure most fisherman wouldn’t turn down those numbers!

We fished Higgins Lake; and while the lake is huge it doesn’t have much structure in it.  There are spots on the lake that are 30ft deep and you can still see bottom.  There are also spots as deep as 134ft; not exactly my style of fishing.

Despite all of that, though, we tried our luck in the morning, and never landed a fish.  Jeff managed to land a few rock bass, and my sister’s boyfriend landed a rock bass as well.  But the smallies, lake trout,  pike, and perch all eluded us.  If we had the right gear to be able to reach a certain depth, and do some trolling, the lake can provide some unbelievable fishing opportunities.  But without any of that gear, it made for some tough fishing.

The afternoon found us fishing on Houghton lake, which is south of Higgins Lake.  Houghton is actually much bigger than Higgins, but it actually has weed cover, and is only 22ft at its deepest point.  In fact, you can plot a path across the lake that would allow you to wade the entire thing.

The lake was way more my style of fishing, but despite trying my best to put a fish in the boat, I just couldn’t do it; must be the gypsy curse or something.  I guess it could have had something to do with the fact that I had to wait at the dock for a half hour or so while my cousin learned the hard way that you have to have the tether pushed ALL THE WAY in for the boat to start.  We learned that lesson.

Because of my lack of fish, we ended up losing heavily in the fishing tournament that day.  Jeff, Matt, and my sister and her boyfriend in the other boat, ended up tying; and with darkness falling, it had to stay that way.

I did end up landing a fish over the weekend……it had to be at my Father-in-Law’s pond, though.  I managed to catch a few there, and it helped to boost the ego a little.

On Monday night my ego was back in full force, though.  I’ll explain that in the post tomorrow.

After a long weekend on the waters up north(Higgins & Houghton) Matt and his Dad Jim decided to hit a long forgotten lake. This lake is Narrow Lake located in Eaton County Michigan. This is also the lake my family grew up on. I’ll be honest in resent years this lake has really fell off in the fishing department. But with Jim wanting to check out the narrows for ducks they decided to also take there fishing gear along. Good thing they did!

Matt ended up catching this 1st bad boy on a Rattle Trap and then a 2nd bass on the same lure! the first one weighed in at 4 1/2 lbs and 20 1/4 inches long! The 2nd fish was 18 1/2 inches long..Pretty good morning of fishing if you ask me.

looks like I might just have to take my new Bass boat over there and try my luck out on a lake I cut my teeth on fishing!

We headed out to our favorite fishing lake in the area – and the same one where he caught this bass earlier in the day without me – and tried our luck going after some more bass.  We also knew, though, that this lake holds some pretty good pike, and that it’s the perfect time of year to catch some big ones.

The fishing didn’t go quite as well as we had planned, but Jeff and I both managed to land a pike and a bass a piece.  My pike was pretty close to keeper, but not wanting to clean any fish that night, we put him back for someone else to catch.

It was different fishing this late in the year; it’s just not something I’m used to.  But we had a great time, and despite the cooler than normal temps, managed to put a few fish in the boat.

Jeff’s new boat is SWEET, and it’s too bad he got it so late in the year.  With bow season just around the corner, I’m afraid the boat will not get used much this year.  It will still be sitting there next year, though, and I’m sure we’ll have no problem taking it out and going after some big ole bass.

Maybe now we can convince Jeff to write up a post about his new boat.  I would, but considering I don’t know any particulars of the boat, hopefully he posts something himself.

Stay tuned for that!