We set out for largemouth using plastic worms and circle hooks (again), and when I explained the conservation virtues of the circle hook to them they took to it immediately, having used them before. The father wanted me to focus on his kids catching fish, and so that’s what I did.

I pushed the boat along the drop off with short bursts of the trolling motor, in 20 feet of water, and had them cast toward shore, perpendicluar to the boat. This way, the cast landed in 5 or so feet of water, and with an in line swivel only as weight, was perfect when reeled slow, as it slid the worm slowly right down the face of the drop off. I explained our strategy to the kids, and I’ll be darned if they didn’t understand it immediately.

They got bites right away, and it wasn’t long before the first largemouth came to the boat. It was about 12-14″, but it didn’t matter, as the rod and line was matched for just that kind of fish. We were using the 9′ steelhead rods with 6# line. Not only did that fish fully bend the rod and take some drag, but contrary to popular belief, kids can cast longer rods much farther, set hooks better, and control fish better than the conventional “short rod for kids” mentality would have you believe. It just plain isn’t true, and I’ve proven it over 4 years of guiding kids - they fish better with longer, more flexible rods.

Each of them caught 5 or 6 bass that evening, with a couple of giant rock bass too. One bass the younger son had caught was in the 17″ range. I told him to hold his arm straight down, laid the tip of the bass’s tail at his fingertips, and the jaw tip was dang near his armpit! He put his other finger on that spot, and after releasing the fish, I looked up to see his finger still marking the spot near his armpit. “You don’t have to leave it there the rest of the trip”, his dad said. “We’ll remember”. We all had a great laugh over that one.

We moved to a sunken island where we usually anchor in the middle and cast in a 360 degree pattern as the bass constantly move through us feeding, and there is no need for us to keep moving. As we set up, I saw a small splash on the edge of the island in about 15 feet of water. Then another, and yet another. Change of plans.

The father brought his flyrod, and was so patient making sure his kids caught fish, that I was happy when I offered to rig up his rod, move over to the fish, and “give dad a shot” at some flyrod action, and he agreed. He caught a bunch of bluegills on the fly, and had a ball. I switched the spinning rods over to fly and bobber, and the kids caught several bluegills, too.

Darkening skies and lightning flashes in the northwest told us to use our better judgement and pack up, as it was time anyway. Another day on the water with some pretty special people.

I dropped off the folks, headed back out the skinny canal, and noticed the sky had gotten alot darker, and the lightning was flashing brighter. No sound yet, but rather than idle home watching the spectacle, I knew Drake wasn’t a happy guy, as he hates lightning.

As I got out into the lake, I stood the boat on its end, planed off and ran for home. Every time I drop off clients and head for home I feel I have alot to be thankful for.

When I was a kid, I spent almost all of my waking hours on the water. My parents were kind enough to let me live a fantastically free, adventurous life on the water. Learning to sail when I was 7, able to navigate a wood row boat with a 3 horse evinrude motor at about 8, the “water world” was mine, all mine. A typical day found me gone from home at around 8 am, with a requirement to be back home by dark, which in mid summer was about 10pm. Most times I was gone that entire time. No cell phones, no checking in, if a problem came up like engine trouble, thunderstorms, finding something for lunch (or not), etc, etc, I was expected to just plain figure it out on my own…and I did. We were tough, skinny, wiry, smart little kids.

We swam, fished, snorkeled, caught turtles, pulled each other behind boats on my parents’ wooden front lawn table top “circle board”, and the days ran by so fast. I was never, ever bored. I was frustrated that the days weren’t longer, because I just couldn’t get enough of the outdoor stuff. I never thanked my parents enough for the wonderful, wonderful freedom, and for forcing us to figure stuff out on our own. It made us into adults who feel like there’s nothing we can’t do.

Our parents taught us respect and consideration of others. If we went to close with our motorboats to someone fishing, our parents would ground us from the boats, a fate close to death in mid July. We learned fast, I tell you, to give others a wide berth and not disturb their enjoyment of the lake. We saw to it that we didn’t bother others. Yes, even back then the lake was sort of busy, but everyone showed consideration to others, so even those busy weekends were manageable, safe, and fun for everyone, regardless of how you chose to use the lake.

The years went by. The lake became busier. But something else happened, too. People became pushy, selfish, and downright ignorant of boating laws, and in general lost their consideration for others on the water. I suppose it went with a general lack of respect and consideration in all of our society, but on the water it’s even more important, and more evident when folks just think of themselves.

So what am I talking about? What do I mean? It can’t be that bad…but it is. I’m talking about trying to fish and a boat coming by at full speed no more than 50 feet away. A joy riding boat, a wreckless and loud jet ski, or a 5 foot wave generating wakeboard boat, or zig-zagging tuber has the whole lake to run around on. Why come so close to people when they are fishing? Why bring their chaotic sport right over to someone trying to enjoy a peaceful sport? Either they don’t understand that the boat noise and giant waves are very disruptive to those that are fishing, or they know and don’t care, or worse, they know and want to disrupt others on purpose. You know, the “in your face” crowd. Yes, the latter does exist. On more than one occasion, I have held out both of my arms to the side in a “what are you doing” gesture to a boat speeding by very close, only to have instant finger signs as a response. They knew exactly what they were doing, and were just waiting for me to say something.

2 years ago a tuber circled around me as I was fishing. As I watched them go all the way around, I didn’t know the waves were compounding and heading right for me. I was caught standing up in 7 foot waves, lost my balance, fell, hit my shoulder and face on the deck and rolled overboard, losing a $200.00 fishing rod and almost my life. As I held on to the boat trying to regain my senses, I saw the boat going away. Those in the boat were laughing and had their fists held high in, I don’t know, some sort of victory sign.

This year I was watching a female loon on the lake for about 20 minutes when all of the sudden I couldn’t believe my eyes. A boat ran her over at full speed, on purpose, as they looked back to see if they “got her”. She of course dove and surfaced unharmed about 100 yards away, but I don’t think I surfaced unharmed. That hurt.

And the l-o-u-d stereos. Why sub-woofers that can be heard around the entire lake? Why try to sing (yell) over the top of them? Why drive your boat slowly, right past someone trying to enjoy the peace and make them hear it? As my Dad would say, “why force everyone else to hear your crap”?

I know what your’e thinking. “Who do you think you are?” Or, “too bad, get over it”…but I can’t. I’ve tried for several years now. I’m sorry, but it was a better world then. If you haven’t been taught (part of the nobody’s gonna tell me what to do crowd), or haven’t experienced the outdoors in a setting where folks are considerate of others, then there is no way anyone can convince you that consideration and respect is better. Conversely, if you have experienced consideration and respect, then you know exactly what I mean, and feel just as desperate about the state of our lake society as I do.

But the lake. I just can’t take it anymore. Most people will admit “it’s crazy, wreckless, and insane out there”, but no one has the guts to do anything about it. So I’m leaving. Forget the childhood memories of a better time. Got to move on to a lake where there is far less of everything above. Big Portage has become, as one of my friends said, a “party lake”, or a “people lake”, as opposed to a place where quiet enjoyment and all sports can co-exist.

So, I leave it to those who would continue to destroy it. They can tear it up. Choke it out with weeds from fertilizer. Tear up the shorelines with the 5 foot waves from the wake board boats that actually pump in ballast water to make bigger waves. Drive the small fishing boats out of Little Portage so they can have it all to themselves. Get in everybody’s face and don’t take any crap from anyone. Rock the fishing people and make them sit down as they go by. Screw the fishing people. I leave it to the destroyers who take over 1/2 of the lake at a time as they zig zag back and forth with thier tubers. They got rights after all. I leave it to those who would shatter any remnant of peace with the jet skis even as they cut in and out of swimming areas and just make the whole environment unnerving general chaos. They can continue to turn up the boat stereos so everyone has to hear them. Damn all others. All that matters is the “woo hoo and yee ha” crowds, and their fun, and nobody better go up against them.

Like a foriegn invasive species, they’ve moved in, arrogantly dominated, and pushed out those that were before them…and were better than them.

 Why go through all that?  Because it’s OUR product.  It’s OUR reputation.  The quality, durability, reliability, and other abilities of this product to provide many, many years of trouble free pleasure is our uncompromised goal.  We purposefully broke parts on our product so we could improve it…so it would not break when our customers used it.  Seems simple, doesn’t it?

Stay tuned.   Other tests are on the way.  We’re going to drop a kayak on pavement landing fully on the mounted Stinger bracket, run the Stinger bracket into rock walls at paddling speed, run other kayaks into the Stinger bracket, soak it in saltwater, shovel sand / muck / weeds / and other stuff on it, then use it. 

As usual, Drake was pumped up, pushed past both of us on the dock, and was going to try to jump on the boat when it was still 10 feet away.  I could see him on the very edge of the dock, crouched and twitching.  “Hold on, idiot”, I said to him, and moved the boat closer.  He jumped on, and my friend climbed aboard after.

We shot out crashing waves to a couple of hot spots.  The water was so rough, I couldn’t see the bottom to get a bearing on where we should set up.  Our goal was to catch (and immediately release) a 10″ bluegill on a fly, so I was looking for a cluster of nests, as I knew the females had spawned and the big males were in protection mode.  I’d toss out a marker on the far side of the nests and we’d cast across them to the marker.  Nice plan.  We found a few, tried it, and could barely get a good cast, but I felt we covered it ok.  Not a taker.  Northwest test.

We moved to several other places trying the same thing, only to have the same results.  We decided to stop fighting the wind and waves, and moved to a secluded upwind location.  We fished well in good locations, and typically we would have caught fish, but this particular body of water is ultra sensitive to changes in wind direction, temperature, cloud cover, etc., so it was tough.

Like always, it’s great just to be out fishing.  On days like this you have to throttle back a little, understand the fish are not active, and enjoy yourself for the whole experience and not just numbers or size of fish.  “Wow, they are really put down”, I told my friend. 

“Yea, but I’m really just here for the company”, he said.  He’s right.  That should be the focus, everytime, and fish second.  The company of a friend and a dog…who could ask for more.

We did end up catching a giant rock bass, a very nice smallmouth, and a little largemouth, so fish did enter the boat, and Drake did get his licks in.  So, the “northwest test” isn’t seeing whether you can catch fish when the northwest wind blows, or any other weather puts them down.  The “test” is seeing if you can remember what’s important when the temptation is to get frustrated because the fish aren’t biting.

A beautiful clear blue sky.  A soothing sunset with a full moon on the opposite horizon chasing up right behind it.  A friend and good conversation,  a great tasting beer, and a loyal dog at your feet.

When the fishing is slow, stop fussing so much and think about the good stuff.  Hmm…. what about when I’m not fishing….

I threw the anchor out, reached into the cooler, took out a couple ice cold ones, took two ice cold pint glasses with the Golden Drake logo etched into them out of their ziplock bags, and immediately they frosted over.  “Might as well be civilized about this”, I said,  pouring two glasses full.  What an amazing sight to a guy with a parched throat.

We sat on the comortable seats on the Golden Drake “flats” boat, drinking great cold brew, and Drake laid down under our legs for a nap.  We had been using our typical plastic worms and tubes with circle hooks, 9′ light action rods with six pound test - you know the rigs the experts say “won’t work”.  The sun was high, so the fish were here and there,  and deep,  and I was anticipating the evening change of the sun angle and a migration of hungry fish from the deep edge of the drop off up on to the flats to feed.  It was easy to sit there sipping a great beer and talking to a good friend about fishing, business, and life.  This is of equal importance and equally rewarding as fishing itself.

My friend, business associate, and guest of Drake and I for the evening was Bruce Clevenger, our sales rep for Heritage and Native kayaks and a host of wonderful accessories, plus Bruce is the top notch Kayak instructor.  He owns Quietworld Sports in Jackson, Michigan, www.quietworldsports.com .  That’s not a shameless plug, I am confident telling the watersports world about Bruce and his organization.  If you’re into watersports, you’d simply be better off knowing him.

We finished our beers (for that moment in time), and resumed fishing, which had improved, as the sun was lowering in the horizon.  As far as numbers and sizes, I’d guess we were at about 10 largemouth bass, most of which were in the 14″ range.  The bluegills were in the 8″ range, caught on small ultralights and twister tails, or hand tied jigs.  Bruce caught one “pig” largemouth about 16″, but super fat, and a couple of blugills in the 9″ range we simply call “bulls”.  This was good fishin’.

“I brought some stuff to eat”, Bruce said, and proceeded to lay out one of the coolest spreads of boat chow I had seen in a while.  “You can bartend”, he said.  Fair enough.  Cheddar cheese, fresh salami, hummus, guacamole, crackers, carrots… and ice cold top-notch brew in a chilled glass.  Yea.

After solving some more of the world’s problems over dinner, we went back at it.  The sun was just above the trees, and now it was time to get up on the flats.  The fish were there, and hungry.  We caught fish after fish…right time, right place, right stuff.  The circle hooks did their job.  A total of over 30 largemouth, 10 rock bass, and time after time, every single fish was hooked harmlessly in the corner of the mouth.  “I’m sold”, Bruce said.  “Those hooks are amazing”. 

We dropped Bruce off about dark, navigated through the narrow canal and out onto the lake.  I flipped the running lights on.  Anticipating a run across the lake, Drake did his usual…run to the front, run to the back, sit down right next to (half on top of) Craig.  I put an arm around him and cruised home across the lake.

I like to try as much of the new products that come to me before I tell customers they rock.  Such was the case on this blustery day when Drake and I set out to do a little fishing on a 1/2 day off.  It was quite windy, 20-30mph, so our venue was a bit constricted.  No big deal, just fish the windward side of the lake and use the wind to our advantage.

We killed the engine upwind of a 1/2 mile long flat, about 6 feet deep, with an infant weed growth.  Perfect.  The water was crystal clear, so that meant light line.  Six pound main line to the swivel, flourocarbon 5 pound after that, to a 1/0 circle hook.  Yes, circle hooks with plastic baits.  If you haven’t heard me harping on that then your’e a newbie to the blog, and get used to it.  No one should be using the “J” hook anymore whenever possible.  It’s nothing more than a gob of flesh grappling hook, and you kill fish even when released, you just won’t admit it.  The circle hook ends up in the corner of the fishes mouth 96% of the time.  If you care about conservation, learn how to use them and lobby your bass tournament organizers to mandate them.  O.K., sermon’s over for now.

As we drifted across the flat, casting to new cover each time, I caught, and Drake licked, a fish about every 5 minutes.  Largemouth and Smallmouth both loved the finesse hand poured 4″.  I was really pleased.  Drake laid down and took a snooze.

In 3 hours, we probably took 20-30 fish, one of the best outings I’ve had, and put a thumbs up on stocking the new custom plastic worm.  Can’t wait to try it in the river.

 The skies turned dark and I felt a sprinkle.  Thunderstorms predicted earlier in the day were finally finding their way eastward to us, and we high tailed it to the boat lift.  Drake’s getting like me.  As we approach the dock he gets right on the nose of the boat and can’t wait to jump on the dock, run to shore, and pee.   I get that, Drake.

Oh, the hand poured plastic worms…OK, here’s the shameless plug.  You can get them at the store, or for the same price and  if you’re not local go to www.NextLevelLures.com, and tell them we sent you.  No, you’re not going to get them cheaper on the “innernit”.  One of these days you guys will realize the shipping costs you pay is real money too, you’ll add it to the product price and figure out you’re paying the same or more,  and you’ll go back to buying some of your stuff at a real retail store.

Later!

 Well, it’s simple.  To meet up with folks at the river, greet them, idly chit chat as you walk to the river, rig up, tell them where to cast, how to fish the lure just right….and not catch any fish and call off the trip early.   Of course!

Years ago it would have torn me up.  I would have sweated and fretted and ripped my flybox to pieces trying everything and anything under the sun because I had to get the client fish, after all…I was the guide.

“Well, we can fish together for the rest of the evening for fun if you like, but the charter is officially over and there will be no charge.”  I said to my client.  For an hour she had fished, well,  previously productive water with previously very productive lures and flies with only one half hearted bite.  Few people know the intense pressure a guide feels when caught in this circumstance, and if we are honest every last one of us has been there.  For some reason, the river was shut down.  It was early in the year, and the water was cold.  I saw no fish activity and no fish, except one big smallmouth crusing in the shallows and it didn’t even give a look at anything we threw at it.

So I felt better immediately after cancelling.  Then I noticed what a fantastic evening it was, how terrific the river and woods looked.  I could more fully appreciate how genuinely nice of a person my client was.  “It doesn’t seem fair”, she said in protest of my refusal to charge her.   How different from the Walmart deal seekers I’m faced with often.  Here’s a full charactered person who understands the value of other’s hard work.  “I appreciate that, but it’s quality or nothing”, I said.  “We’ll reschedule”.  I went on to let the evening soak in, joyfully cast a flyrod, working on my Spey casting, not caring if a fish bit or not.

It strikes me that this is exactly why I guide.   I’m compelled by a business arrangement to get out into fantastic settings with fantastic people, which if left up to my own devices I may opt to do something else.  Guiding forces me to get out and live life in quality settings with quality people when I might chose to go home and sit on the couch and watch T.V. by myself.  What a contrast of choices.

I’ll remember this.  If an outing with a client is goes completely south, I’m going to relax, call it off, look around and thank God I’m blessed enough to be there.   It’s my choice to be negative or positive.  I’ll chose positive.  Life’s too short.  What’s the old saying?  Oh yea, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. 

Anyone thirsty?

After 39, 000 raise and lowers, we will know what kind of durability and reliability we’ve designed into it… or what problems have come up that we can design out.  We’re going to have a completely reliable product!  Stay tuned.  This is the fun part!