I’m Back! Sorry About That.

Well, hello there. It has been a while. My last post to this space was about nine months ago. Seems like a lifetime to me. Before I get into the fishing stuff, I feel I need to proffer a short explanation. I was diagnosed with bladder cancer in April of 2024. Since then, I experienced three hospital stays for a total of five weeks, spent days receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatments. I’ve had painful spasms, along with several infections and medication imbalances which sent me back to the hospital. So, as you can well imagine, my time on the water suffered. Since then, I have improved remarkably. Two CT scans have shown no evidence of cancer. I am in remission as they call it.  It seems with cancer they don’t use the word “cured”. By the end of this summer, I was getting control of my body and my strength was starting to return. Currently, I feel normal, but it is a new normal. A normal with medications, regular doctors’ visits and moving a bit more cautiously.  However, for me, normal means going fishing. Throughout this ordeal, I went fishing as much as I could. This was made possible with the help of my cadre of fishing partners, primarily Paul, Terry and Ed. Fishing was part of my therapy. On the water I could partake in my passion and get perspective of my new life. I did not just want to be fishing, I needed to be fishing and the people around me knew that. I am not delusional enough to think that this chapter in my life is over. The situation could change with the next set of test or scans. For now, I will enjoy every moment of my life and, of course, go fishing.

My summer fishing went well. Despite not getting out as much as I wanted, we usually experienced success when we did. Let me give you a quick rundown of fishing in Door County to this point. Spring brought the brown trout into the near shore, and we boated some nice fish. Paul caught a beautiful 17-pound male brown. Of course, we caught it after the Baileys Harbor Brown Trout tournament had concluded. Typical. That fish would have finished in the top five.  We generally return the larger brown trout to the lake but did keep plenty of delicious “eaters”. Early in the summer I put some respectable smallmouth and walleyes in the boat. I did not get a lot of numbers due to the limited opportunities. Nothing replaces “time on the water”.  I did catch numerous smallies in the 20-inch range and several walleyes close to 30-inches. Steve, a friend and former colleague, nabbed a gorgeous 30-incher casting off Sherwood Point.  The salmon and rainbows started to hit out of Baileys Harbor by early June. Except for a couple of early empty trips, we caught fish each time we went out well into October. My freezer is full of Chinook salmon and Rainbow trout despite sharing much of my catch with my neighbors and producing a few batches of tasty smoked filets. My biggest disappointment this summer was not taking advantage of the yellow perch bite. By all reports, it was terrific. The perch are back and there is nothing better on the plate than fresh caught perch. I must make a better effort this winter and next summer to bag some perch. So many fish, so little time.

That brings us to now, the time we target big pike. The northern pike in Door County are, in my opinion, under appreciated. Perhaps it is because by the time the pike start hitting, most of the tourist are gone. However, many locals take the opportunity to boat the largest northerns of the year. In previous seasons, fish in the mid to upper-30s were common. We have boated a few 40-inch pike. Northern pike are beautiful this time of year as they move into the bays looking for good spawning habitat. These fish can be caught casting over deeper weed beds, but often you need to troll the larger bays if the fish are scattered. I have to say though, so far this season has been disappointing. We have caught some pike, but the larger fish have been notably absent. We have caught few fish over 30-inches. It’s puzzling, but perhaps it is just bad luck.

So, it was with limited expectations that Paul and I headed out earlier this week. With a north wind, the lakeside bays are fishable, and we decided to try Baileys Harbor. It was tricky launching the Maggie Leigh as the docks have been removed from the marina ramps. This did not deter Paul and me.  I slid the boat into the clear, cold water with Paul clinging to the bow rope. I have a Minn Kota Ulterra electric trolling motor which can be deployed and steered using a remote control from shore. I maneuvered the boat to the bulkhead. The water is very low right now, so the drop from the marina deck down to the boat was a bit daunting. It must have been a hilarious site to see two septuagenarians dangling off the pier and tentatively dropping down into the boat below. I’m glad we had no witnesses to our less than graceful boarding.

Once out on the water, we deployed our typical array of lures: Huskey Jerks, large Rapalas, and Thundersticks. Hungry pike like large baits this time of year as they prepare for the winter and spawning activity. It was a pleasant enough day for late November: Sunny with temperatures in the mid 40’s. The north wind made it feel a bit colder, but Paul and I were well prepared, swathed as we were in our cold weather gear. We set out four planer boards and two straight lines and probed the depths for active fish.

Paul and I settled it our familiar routine, Paul staring at the sonar to keep us in the proper depth and me intently watching the planer boards bounce up and down. I had just drunk my first cup of hot chocolate when one of the starboard planer boards exploded backwards. Fish On!!  The strike surprised us because pike usually suck in the lure causing the board to move backwards much more deliberately. Maybe it’s a huge pike. Our hearts started to pump as Paul grabbed the rod. Then we saw the fish blow up on the surface throwing water in every direction. This is not typical northern pike behavior. Pike are dogged fighters, but they rarely jump out of the water especially in these frigid waters. Now the fish buried itself under water and started to run, stripping line off the reel. Even though we had not gotten a clear look at the fish, we had convinced ourselves that this was not a pike. As Paul steadily moved the fish closer to the boat, we both stared into the crystal water trying to identify our quarry.  It came into view. We saw conspicuous red spots on the dark bronze sides of the fish.  It was a Brown trout and a nice one at that. I slipped the net under the fish and lifted a beautiful 27-inch fish onto the floor of the boat. We were both taken aback by the fish. This time of year, we catch Browns on the bay side water, but this seemed early in the year for browns to be moving in on the lakeside. But we were not asking any questions. We took a quick photo of Paul and the fish and released it back into the waters of Lake Michigan. Before the fish had swum completely out of site, we were already resetting the rods. Chances are where there is one brown trout, there are more. We circled around and pulled our lures through the same area. It did not take long before a fish stuck, burying the board and flying, cartwheel style, right out of the water. We could see immediately it was another fat brown. This one was a little larger measuring 30-inches and weighing in at 13-pounds. We quickly got that fish back in the water, as the post Daylight Savings Time sun was rapidly heading towards the west horizon. Our fishing time was getting short. We made another pass and sure enough tangled with yet another battling brown, this one about 29-inches. We were three for three and the sky was getting dark. We decided to call it a day and a good day it was.

This was a great illustration of the only true statement about fishing, “If you don’t go, you won’t catch ‘em.” We were the only boat on the water that day and we had gone out in search of northern pike. Shows you what we know. The fish taught us a lesson this day as they so often do. Here’s hoping I keep getting “schooled” for a long time.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, Bruce

Questions or comments to bsmith733@gmail.com