Mark, Meg and Wink joined Rod and Susan in Door County for a short get away. We stayed in a quaint airbnb in Sturgeon Bay.
We showed up on Sunday and stayed until Wednesday. The arrival didn’t quite go as planned. Thunderstorms in Chicago kept us on the ground and we didn’t get in until late evening. We had a fishing expedition planned for the next day and the Captain wanted to leave the dock at 4 AM. This meant getting up at 3:30 AM. So that was two early mornings in a row for us. We made it to the dock on time and there was just a hint of glow on the horizon as we left the dock. There was not enough light for pictures on the outbound leg through the canal and into Lake Michigan to get pictures.
We chartered the Angler’s Edge and the captain was Captain Sid. Here is a photo of the boat from his web site.
We traveled out into Lake Michigan for quite a few miles as we were looking for the temperature gradient where the fish were hanging out. The captain found what he was looking for in about six hundred feet of water. That means we were almost in the middle of lake Michigan. I missed it as I took a nap on the way out.
The rods and lures were deployed. There were spoons near the surface. Deeper down were flasher boards with a lure behind it, simulating bait fish. There were three rigs set deep using down riggers. Once the rods were set, it was pretty much hurry up and wait.
It wasn’t long until we got our first strike. Mark got to take on the first fish.
Meg was the next one to take on a fish.
Rod was up third. He put on a good show.
We caught four more fish, all steelhead (rainbow trout).
We hooked up to another fish but we didn’t land it as the line broke. All in all, it was a very successful fishing trip. Rod caught the biggest fish. Meg caught the biggest lake trout and Mark caught the biggest rainbow trout.
We created a video compilation to document the trip.
The fish were cleaned and bagged and we headed back to port.
When we got home from fishing, we were responsible for dinner. As not everyone liked fish, we prepared a surf and turf supper. We got tenderloin and some cherry brats.
There was a sampling of each of the three types of fish. Their colors are slightly different. We basted them with a spicy cherry salsa and broiled them.
We were hungry enough after the day on the water that the food was delicious.
The next night we went to a fish boil. It was quite a production.
All in all, a good time was had on vacation.
Meg, Mark, Rod, Wink and Susan
Question: Does Mark look better with bunny ears or moose antlers?
mjm
Moose!
Looks like fun. It has been years since I went fishing. I grew
up in Kemah, Texas. Shrimp boats were the boats of choice, real working boats. Some times I actually miss the smells of the boats. Shrimp boats are coming!