Black Wednesday

Fished with Uncle Dan, Dwayne and Larry. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s. The wind in the morning was out of the north 10 to 15 knots and then it switched to the northwest at 7 to 10 knots. The water temp is 74 degrees. Got a report that the fish were in close to the harbor in 14 feet of water so that is where we started fishing and that was a good thing because out in deeper water the waves were pretty high. Ran wiggle warts set at 45 feet back. Trolled around this area for a while and we caught 3 walleye of which 2 of them were under size and a few silver bass. After a couple of hours the lake laid down so we headed out past Sputnik. We set up with jet 20s on both sides of the boat set at 90 feet back. The fishing was very slow for us, we would catch an occasional walleye with some junk fish, just enough action to keep everyone busy. Kept 7 walleye and we lost at least 3 walleye at the net. When we were setting up the boat this morning Larry lost his shoe in the drink and we had to net it - that's Dwayne proudly holding it up for the picture.

No Waves, No Bugs, Oh No, No Fishing Pole

Fished with Daryl and Mark. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. The wind was light at less than 7 knots out of the north and there were no waves. The water temp is 76 degrees and on the ride back to port some algae is starting to bloom already. Started fishing just past Sputnik with jet 20s set at 85 feet back and dipsy's set at 120 feet back. Could not catch a fish until we got close to our way points (41 48 300 / 083 07 800). Started to catch a few fish and then we put jet 20s on both sides of the boat and put them back to 90 feet and that sure helped. Best spoon again today was Cat Dog. Caught a lot junk fish again and that kept us very busy. During all the commotion we had a couple of fish on and I was moving the poles around and knocked one of the poles out of the rod holder right into the drink, just a continuation of my bad luck lately. Kept 18 walleye today and the bite seems a little better since the mayfly hatch is winding down.

A.W.W.T.

Fished the A.W.W.T. with Joe and John. Another year of bad weather. The storms came through last night and it rained pretty hard. The only good news is the rain stopped. We had three boats show up and that was enough to fish so away we went. We all headed out to the spot we have been fishing the last few days and set lines. The temperature this morning was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. The wind was out of the south at 10 knots this morning with waves less than a foot. As the day progressed the wind picked up and switched to the west at 15 to 22 knot. When it was all said and done the waves were 2 to 4 feet. All three of us stopped in the same area (41 46 800 / 083 07 600) and set lines. We ran dipsy's set at 120 feet back and jet 20s at 85 feet back. The only thing that we had in common is that most of the fish came off the lure called Cat/Dog. We tried to stay in this general area but with the wind and waves it was very tough. We would pull lines and head back into the waves and reset them but just that fast we were beyond or hot spot. Around 11:30 we decided to call it a day and head in, which was a very long and bumby ride in. We kept 10 walleye, caught a lot of sheephead and a few white perch.

The results for the 2010 A.W.W.T.

1st place-Team Bird's Nest- 61 inches

2nd place-Team Lucky Strike- 57 6/8 inches

3rd place-Team Serenity- 36 inches

Big fish

Team Bird's Nest- 20 5/8 inches

After we cleaned the fish and talked for a while it was decided that the tournament will be moved to the end of May or the first of June, just to get away from the stormy season and the fish are also closer to port.

Prefishing for the A.W.W.T.

Fished with John and Joe, the team for Tuesday. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. The wind was out of the northwest 15 to 18 knots in the morning and then it laid down to less than 7 knots after a couple of hours. The waves were 2 to 3 feet in the morning and then they laid down to less than a foot. The water temp is 75 degrees. We started fishing where we left off on the last trip and the catching was very slow. By far the best spoon was the Cat Dog. We ran jet 20s 80 and 90 feet back and the best set up was the 80 foot. Fished in this area for quit a while and we would pick up an occasional walleye, enough to keep us here but I did not know where to try next. Made a few minor adjustments to our set up and we started to pick up a few more fish. The best area was south of Sputnik (41 48 300 / 083 07 800). This will be are ending spot on Tuesday and we will probably start around McDonald's. Kept 13 walleye and only had 1 that was under size(14 inches). Caught a lot of large sheephead and a few white perch.

Back ON the Water Again

Fished with Captain Daryl and Doug. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was out of the north 10 to 18 knots when we started fishing and then it switched to the south. The waves were 2 to 3 feet and after a couple of hours it started to lay down. Started fishing just past the turnaround buoy heading southeast with jet 20s set at 85 and 95 feet back with spoons that had anything with pink or purple on it. Started to catch some fish and we just kept trolling straight and ended up at 41 46 800 / 083 07 600. Hung around this area for a while and caught a few fish and then we headed back towards our starting spot 41 48 820 / 083 09 500. Picked up a few more fish and then we called it a day. Only caught a few junk fish today, maybe 6 total and we kept 13 walleye. Had 3 walleye that were 14 inches that we put back.

Sewer City, Not Garden City

This video is when the flooding began. The previously posted videos were further into the flooding. We contacted Garden City Police at 2:33 a.m. and they stated that they would notify Garden City DPS. At 2:54 a.m. we contacted DPS directly and had to leave a voicemail. When no one from the city had come to our home by 3:46 a.m., we contacted Garden City Police again. The dispatcher stated that DPS had been notified.

Ours is not the only home flooded with sewage. Four homes in a row here had sewage damage, one home having even more than the 36" we received. Three of us contracted with a professional government certified disaster recovery firm. That crew has pumped out sewage, ripped out tiling, etc. and cut out drywall and paneling to a height above the sewage damage. They also removed every sewage damaged item. The only items left in our basements are things on the walls or shelves above the sewage damage. Our home and two of the neighbors debris have already filled three of the dumpsters brought in by the disaster recovery company. The company crew began working on our three homes Sunday morning and as of Tuesday night, they still aren't finished. I give these guys a lot of credit - they worked until after midnight Sunday and Monday. There is no way we could have done this ourselves. One of our neighbors is a senior citizen whose husband passed away in March 2010.

The only help the City of Garden City offered was Monday night when they stated at the City Council Meeting that they were placing several dumpsters at locations throughout the city for residents to dispose of damaged items. Right, like we can all haul our water heater, furnace, washer, dryer, furnace, etc to these several dumpsters!

June 6 2010 Sewer Backup

Here is another view of the sewage as it first began entering our basement on June 6, 2010. The eventual water depth rose to 36". After all our years of paying premiums to AAA, it was just wonderful to find out that they will not cover any of the damage! Warning to others: Check your insurance - our agent should have advised us, but we hardly ever saw or spoke with him (never in the office). We lost everything - furnace, water heater, washer, dryer, ( a chest freezer full of food was floating on its side). The wonderful city of Garden City, MI says there was nothing they could do to prevent the flooding and no help is available.

June 6 2010SewerBackup 010.avi

Here is a video of the lovely sewage entering our basement on June 6, 2010. The eventual height ended up to be 36". Anyone want to buy a home in the wonderful community of Garden City, Michigan???????

The Mayfly Hatch Has Started

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was out of the west northwest switching to the east with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 73 degrees. The mayfly hatch has started and the husks are floating on the water. Started fishing by the E-Buoy trolling with jet 20s at 55 feet back and dipsy's at 75 feet back. Started to catch some walleye off the jets so we put them on both sides of the boat. Caught a lot of junk fish again today which makes for a lot of work. Picked up 6 of the fish here and then we went out to the Michigan/Ohio border (41 48 600/083 18 150) and caught 2 more. Kept 8 walleye for the day.