| The Storm by Jim Hurt | |
|
My
best friend, Fred, and I wanted to take advantage of some early spring fishing
outside the pier heads at St. Joseph, Michigan.
Fred and I have fished a lot of places and have had some pretty good
adventures together. This
morning, things got a little more adventurous than we had bargained for, but
if you ever want to get into a mess during an adventure, Fred is a good person
to have along with you.
St.
Joseph is where the St. Joseph River runs into Lake Michigan, and every
spring, the salmon, lake trout, brown trout, and steelhead come into the
shallow water. The river water is
warmer than that of the lake and the game fish feast on the baitfish that also
head shallow looking for warmer water. At
this time of year, if you are lucky and get into the fish, you can literally
load the boat, but don't let the game warden catch you.
We were fishing for fun so we would let most of the fish go. It is nice to keep a couple of the small coho salmon,
though, because they are some of the best eating salmon, one will ever taste.
When
I say shallow, I mean shallow. Sometimes
the fish are right up in the top foot or two of water, just a stones
throw from shore. Planner boards
are a must! On the Great Lakes,
you really can't use those small inline planner boards.
Big ski boards and mast that get the towline up above the wave tops are
the only way to go. Fred owned
the boat, and I owned the ski mast and planners.
Weird, you might say? Not
really if you knew Fred and me.
When
we started fishing together around 1986, I did not own a boat and fished
mostly from shore or rented a boat when I could.
I was thirty one then, and it is hard when you are trying to raise a
family and get your career off the ground.
But Fred was a few years older and was a little farther along
financially. So he bought a boat,
real nice seventeen-foot Sea Nymph, the Fishing Machine model. It had a deep-vee hull and a raised fishing platform in the
bow, right-hand console with a bench seat wide enough for two people, and
chair fishing seats in both the bow and the middle of the stern.
It had a forty five horse Johnson motor that trolled real nice, too.
However,
shortly after he bought the boat I said,
"Fred, We really need a mast and planner skis if we are going to
fish Lake Michigan for salmon."
"How
much are they?"
"About
$180.00."
"Like
hell we do! I’m not spending
$180.00 on planner boards. I just
spent several thousand for the boat so you could go fishing!
We'll get some of those inexpensive Yellow Birds."
Needless
to say I bought the planner boards and mast—when it comes to fishing I want
to do it right, and have to have the latest and greatest equipment. Fred and my wife think it's a bit excessive, but I don't
understand what gives them that idea.
Fred
and I make good fishing partners because I like to be in control and he
doesn't mind going along. Fortunately,
he is a good sport. Now I am, and
always have been, a fishing fanatic. Fred
likes to go but needs someone to egg him on a bit.
Don't get me wrong, he loves to fish too, but I have to be the one to
instigate. I would call him
during the week and say, "Fred,
pick me up Saturday morning at 4:30, we’re going salmon fishing."
"Sure,
great idea. But I'm not getting
up at 3:30 in the morning to be at your house at 4:30!
I wouldn't get up at 3:30 even if I liked you!
I will be at your house at 6:00."
"
I guess that’ll be okay," I would say.
Six is when I wanted to go anyway, but if I’d said six he would say
seven!
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