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.

Different Story, Different Day

Fished with Joe (Trout King) and John H. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was out of the southwest 5 to 15 knots with waves 2 feet or less. The water temp is 72 degrees. Started fishing north of the E-buoy (41 50 800 / 083 19 300) trolling jet 20s back 55 feet and dipsy's back 65 feet. Caught a lot of junk fish (silver bass,white perch and sheep head) and a few walleye. Pulled lines and ran out to the border and saw no boats so we came back to the original spot. Trolled again for a while and caught all junk fish so we pulled lines again and tried to find some fish, the only problem is the fish finder does not work very well (thanks Lowrance). Wasted some more time looking for some boats and could not find any so we ended up back by the E- Buoy. Stayed there until the storm warning came over the radio and then we headed for the barn. We just got done cleaning the fish and the storms let loose, and they were pretty bad. Kept 8 walleye for the day and caught a whole lot of junk fish. The fish are in the shallow waters but I do not have the program down to catch them, yet.

Just Like the Old Days

Fished with Uncle Dan and Dwayne. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s, The wind was out of northeast around 10 knots and the waves were about one foot. The water temp is 69 degrees. Started fishing just east of the E-Buoy trolling northeast in 20 feet of water (41 49 900 / 083 18 800). Set dipsy's at 70 feet back on one side of the boat and jet 20s at 70 feet back on the other side. The dipsy's were hot right out of the gate, by the time we had the lines set we had 4 fish in the box. Made a pass up the lake and turned around to head back over our spot and the fishing just stayed hot. Took just over a couple of hours to catch our limit and we threw one small keeper back. The fish were so aggressive that they were engulfing the whole spoon. This was the heaviest cooler of fish that we have caught in a long time. Just a great day on the lake. Kept 18 walleye with the largest at 8 lbs.

Clean Water but Still Slow Fishing

Fished with Captain Daryl and Mark. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. On the lake the air temp was in the middle 60s. The wind was out of the east at 10 knots and the waves were around a foot. The water temp is 63 degrees. The lake is starting to clean up very nice, finally. We started fishing the south side of the dumping grounds and picked up one fish right out of the gate. Started running a troll along the Michigan / Ohio border heading northeast and we just stayed in this area (41 49 500 / 083 17 700). We ran jets 80 feet back on one side of the boat and dipsy's set at 90 feet back on the other side of the boat. After a while we put out jet 20s on both sides of the boat. The catching was slow and we kept changing lure colors so I'm not sure that any color was hot but a lot of the fish came off a spoon with a pink back. Kept 7 walleye with the largest measuring 26 inches.

Beautiful Day on the Lake

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was out of the east 5 to 10 knots and the waves were less than a foot. The sky was blue and the water temp is 62 degrees. When we left out of the harbor you could see the lake was starting to clean up from all the east winds lately so we headed for the dumping grounds. We slowed down and looked for some marks on the fish finder and only had a couple so we headed northeast. Made a few more stops with not too many marks on the fish finder until we got to the number one buoy on the River Rasin channel (41 52 400 / 083 16 000). Trolled around here for a while and we would catch a fish every so often, just enough to keep us in this area. Trolled with jet 20s set at 75 feet back and dipsy's at 110 feet back. I do not think the spoon color mattered today. Kept 5 walleye and we lost a couple.

Dirty Water and Tough Fishing

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was out of the southwest 5 to 10 knots and the waves were less than a foot. The water temp is 61 degrees. The water in front of Toledo Beach is very dirty so we headed back to where we were fishing on Saturday. Started trolling with crawlers and gulp worms at 1.5 mph and we could not keep the white perch off the lines. After a couple hours of doing this with no walleye we pulled lines and headed to the International Buoy. The water was very clean so we trolled here with jet 20s and dipsy's without any luck. Pulled lines and made a move towards Sputnik and did not see any boats so we headed back to our original location, set lines and headed towards Stoney Point. Trolled jet 20s 75 feet back and dipsy's 105 feet back with spoons, anything with orange on it. Started to catch a few walleye this way at 41 55 200 / 083 14 800 and then it was time to call it a day. Kept only 3 walleye and we released 2, one at 13 inches and one at 14 inches.

Nice Day Fishing, Slow Day Catching

Fished with Joe, John had to cancel to do yard work. Temperature this morning was in the upper 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 60s. The wind in the morning was out of the northwest at 5 to 10 knots and then around 11:00 AM it switched to the south at 5 to 10 knots. The waves were less than a foot and the water temp is 56 degrees. Started fishing on the east side of the dumping grounds where the water started to clear up. Trolled here heading northeast with wiggle warts and spoons. Caught nothing but silver bass so we pulled lines and headed to Breast Bay (41 53 900 / 083 13 800). Trolled with spoons and body baits and caught nothing so we put on bottom bouncers and crawlers on one side of the boat. Caught a small mouth bass and then we finally caught a walleye trolling at 1.5 MPH. Switched over to bottom bouncers and crawlers on one side of the boat and bottom bouncers and artificial bait on the other side of the boat because we were short on crawlers. We used 2 oz. bottom bouncers set 75 to 85 feet behind the boards. The crawlers caught most of the fish and we caught one gator using a glub worm. Kept 6 walleye for the day.

Time to Start Trolling

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s. The wind was out of the southwest at 10 to 15 knots with waves around a foot. The water temp is 56 degrees. Started fishing on the humps in the dumping grounds jigging hair jigs tipped with a minnow and caught a white perch. Made a move to the flats by Turtle Island and the water was very dirty. Fished here for a half hour and then we made our way back towards the dumping grounds. Caught nothing but white perch so we moved to the west side of the dumping grounds and drifted with crawler harnesses and also jigged. Picked up one walleye off the harness and that was it for us. Saw some other boats catch some walleye in this area so the fish are there.

Detroit River Fishing

Fished with Captain Dwayne out of Belanger Park. Temperature this morning was 67 degrees and when we quit fishing 20 minutes later it was still 67 degrees. The wind was out of the south at 10 knots and the river was in good shape. Made a couple of drifts in front of the steel plant by Belanger Park and the sky started to get dark and nasty. After one more drift the lightning started on the horizon so we called it quits. We just got the boat out of the water and the rain started. That's my second trip on the river this year without any luck. This picture was taken during the storm in the daylight, that's how dark it was during the storm!!

Nice Walleyes and Jumbo Perch

Fished with captain Daryl on his maiden trip. Temperature this morning was in the lower 30 and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 50s. The wind was out of the west around 7 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 53 degrees. We started to head towards Turtle Island and the water was very dirty so we turned around and went to the dumping grounds (41 48 700 / 083 24 800). We were jigging with blade baits and jigs tipped with a minnow. Caught no fish off the blade baits. We had a lot of bites and lost a few fish because they were hitting so lightly. Kept 5 walleye and 3 jumbo perch.

Bubba

Trout fishing 2010 is over. The fishing was very good on opening day and then it just went down hill. Joe caught this hog on Monday and it was the only keeper that we had today. The brown trout was 21 inches long, the largest fish that we have ever caught on opening weekend. Good job Joe!! The weather was pretty nice for the opening weekend, since it was the earliest it could ever be. It rained for 4 hours on Sunday and it was dry for the rest of the trip. We were able to have trout dinners for 3 nights, and they were excellent. For the weekend we kept 12 brown trout.

Sunday's Catch From Grayling

Photo on the left is from Sunday, April 25, 2010. More trout - 1 per person???

Photo on the right is another pic from Saturday's Catch.