tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-144959352009-02-21T04:06:09.300-08:00A virtual out-of-doors place to talk hunting, fishing and nature.Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1152211217842847332006-07-06T10:41:00.000-07:002006-07-06T11:40:19.816-07:00

Good thing real time is not marked by blogs. I have been negligent in my entries, but I have been wrapped up with integrating my new job description and attempts at serious writing. My submissions to numerous literary journals have resulted in many rejections, but the extra time at the keyboard has not inhibited my sojourns into the great outdoors.My job also took me to the devastated areas of

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1136505774516238272006-01-05T15:56:00.000-08:002006-01-05T16:02:54.530-08:00

Deer season is over and ice fishing is upon me. I did not harvest a deer this year, but season was successful all the same.I saw the monster buck that has been eluding me for two years and he is a magnificent animal. Ten points and a large body.He came in opening morning without affording me a shot. I anticipated his pattern and I was right. He walked the old logging road past two scrapes heading

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1132776877726910572005-11-23T12:07:00.000-08:002005-11-23T12:14:37.756-08:00

Call it Karma, good fortune, luck, whatever. I tend to have it. My friends say I could fall into a manure pit and a guiding hand would pull me up, wipe me off and vaccinate me. Some good people are usually involved in my fortuitous destiny.Case in point. During deer season in Munising this year, an early winter storm dumped a foot of snow and 50 mph winds whipped it ruthlessly into drifts. Being

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1131405924274253512005-11-07T15:20:00.000-08:002005-11-07T15:25:24.290-08:00

There is nothing like a trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to gently nudge you into the next season. Of course, sometimes it kicks you in the seat of the pants and buries you up to your back pockets in the impending weather patterns.All week long I sweated 60-degree sunshine in Alma. Sunday, I woke up in the Superior Motel to two inches of snow. By the time I ate breakfast and hit the road, there

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1130002138204865912005-10-22T10:26:00.000-07:002005-10-22T10:28:58.213-07:00

The Perch are laughing their pectorals off at me. The Salmon are smiling. Between working at the job and slaving away in the yard, I have not been out fishing for a month. Fishes of all kinds are giggled to the gills that the lean mean fishing machine is beached.The Walleye are delighted down to their dorsals. The lunkers are laughing all along their lateral lines. I've heard reports of great

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1126888268482213612005-09-16T09:27:00.000-07:002005-09-16T09:31:08.486-07:00

I'm addicted to hard water.The harder the water, the more I like it. It's awful hard to fish in four-foot to six-foot waves with a 19-foot boat, but splashing through the troughs, running over the top sure is fun.I do not recommend taking a small boat through rough water without boat handling skills and a lot of experience. It can result in a bad day on the water. If you ain't got it, stay at

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1126116009500300632005-09-07T10:50:00.000-07:002005-09-07T11:01:53.900-07:00

As the sun rose over Ludington Sunday morning, I knew it would be a great day for Salmon fishing. Even If if I didn't catch any fish, which I did in great quantities.The sun created a brilliant green, yellow, red rainbow in the west that formed an archway with the red flaring across the sky over the boats fishing deeper water. The dark storm clouds as a background magnified the prism

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1124745409168515312005-08-22T14:10:00.000-07:002005-08-22T14:16:49.176-07:00

Our charter out of Manistee with Captain Paul Owens of Quality Time Charters didn't sail. Mother Nature blew from the northwest at 20 miles per hour whipping the lake into a froth and rolling the water over the piers.The weather report from the National Weather Service predicted winds 20-30 and the possibility of water spouts in the afternoon. The cross-lake ferry plucked a man from the water off

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1124485744927873432005-08-19T14:04:00.000-07:002005-08-19T14:12:40.946-07:00

I seem to be in a bigger slump than Pudge Rodriguez. In the last three Salmon trips I have gone 2 for 17.The action has been hot, but my hookup technique has gone cold. Set the hook; spit the hook. All except a screamer I had on last week. Something took a holographic lure at the end of a full color of lead core, ran well into my backing and broke the leader after 15 minutes.Things will change

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1123537051272650902005-08-08T14:35:00.000-07:002005-08-08T14:37:31.283-07:00

I am not ready to give up on Lake Huron Salmon fishing yet. All the dire predictions about the Salmon leaving Huron for Lake Michigan could be partially true, but there are still fish on the sunrise side of the state.Sunrise Sunday morning my wife and I headed out from Harbor Beach after sleeping in the truck to catch first light. Before I could get the second line in the water, the downrigger

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1123208542690839982005-08-04T18:35:00.000-07:002005-08-04T19:34:39.753-07:00

I'd like to own a fish camp in the U.P. A nice piece on some good water with several rustic cabins and a fishy clientele.My friend owned a resort on Munuscong Bay and it was hard work. I'm a hard worker and I don't drink anymore so hangovers don't keep me in bed til noon. I don't have to quit at 5 (it's always five o'clock somewhere). In fact I have so much more time that I have to fill my day

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1122871557700793172005-07-31T21:36:00.000-07:002005-07-31T21:52:49.343-07:00

A quick fishing report from Ludington. The Salmon are here. Anglers launching before daybreak were back in port by 9 a.m. with limit catches.I wish I could have been so lucky Saturday. I think I was sleep walking or sleep fishing, preoccupied, something. I went 1 for 6 confirmed bites. The fish were biting, but I must have been too slow. I did snag a lost lure when I sent my cannonball too

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1122667047436010312005-07-29T12:33:00.000-07:002005-07-29T13:32:46.046-07:00

Some developments in hunting and fishing technology have me concerned. We fight off the anti-hunters and animal rights activists with the argument that our recreation is a tradition, a return to the land, a way to match wits with our prey.So what the hell is technology doing in our sport?It's not just the recent flap over the Website that offered the chance to log in and remotely blast the big

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1122217535370983792005-07-24T07:32:00.000-07:002005-07-24T09:32:56.980-07:00

I’ll never say any fishing trip was lousy. I firmly believe a day on the water is better than hitting the daily three straight and boxed.The annual Herring fishing trip promised to be another success. Saturday morning WCMU public radio kicked off its jazz and blues show with a fish theme. "The Fishin' Blues" (My baby catches more fish than me), "Fish for Supper" and Leon Redbone's "Goin' Fishin'"

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1121452696222349652005-07-15T11:35:00.000-07:002005-07-15T11:38:16.226-07:00

The day before vacation is always the worst. You're trying to get away with a minimum of guilt or worry. Get the stuff crossed off the list so your vacation days are free of work-related grief.Problem is someone knows you are going, timing their interference, salivating with anticipation. They throw the chimpanzee screwdriver into the mix. Bat guano!If you are reading a blog, you are probably

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14495935.post-1121378408021357682005-07-14T14:36:00.000-07:002005-07-14T15:52:49.896-07:00

This is my first blog put together hastily before I head out for my annual herring fishing trip in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I love herring. Fishin' 'em, eatin' 'em, creamin' and picklin' em.We fish the great St. Mary's River that connects Lake Superior with Lake Huron. The best time to catch them is when they are following the Mayfly hatch up the river from Huron. There is a community of

Oakleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877794398341997093noreply@blogger.com0