I planned something a little different for this weekend.  Instead of the usual marina routine, I decided it might be fun to fish our way to a different port, overnight there and return the following day fishing our way back to Ludington.  Except for the rain shortened return trip, it all worked out.

We left port and were on the lake at sunrise.

Step 2, get lines in the water.  Lake conditions are ideal.

The northbound trip begins.  Trolling past Big Sable Point.

There was plenty of company as the fleet trolls the "shelf" at the point.

And yes, we found a few fish willing to bite.  Final count was three steelhead and one lake trout.  The salmon did not cooperate today.

After a 3 mph cruise for 5 hours, we picked up lines and entered Manistee Harbor.

It's about 20 minutes of no wake boating through the Manistee River channel.
USCG Station Manistee.

How welcoming!  A police escort.

A river walk runs the entire length of the channel.  It's a pleasant trip through the channel which opens into Manistee Lake.  Overhead clearance is 23'.

Into Manistee Lake and to starboard is Seng's Marina.  It's a small marina with outstanding facilities and an awesome staff.  A very enjoyable stay. 
Floating docks.

Marina park, bath house and boater lounge.

Boater's patio.  Where stories are told.

All this for $30/night.  It's a bargain.

We were shuttled to the Little River Casino (no cameras allowed) by friends where we dined at the weekend seafood buffet and enjoyed a little slot action.  A long day.

Sunday morning saw calm seas and threatening skies as we approached lake Michigan through the Manistee River channel.

We motored south and slowed to fish for a brief period until the rain began to nip at the transom.
It was time to find the harbor.

Back inside Ludington harbor, safe and sound.

Harborview Marina dead ahead.

We have Kathy's folks in town for the weekend.  We were treated to favorable lake conditions this morning so left the dock at dawn and found some fish to fill the cooler.

The weather has turned for the worse this afternoon, so we'll suffer with an outing to House of Flavors.

What comes after 4 days of calm seas?  The weekend, of course.  The flags tell the story.  20 knot winds from the south and 4' seas.

So...we spent the day tied to the dock and took care of all the spring cleaning chores in the cabin.  After 3 weeks away, Play Dough needed a good bath.  A few shots from around the marina this afternoon.  Other than the stiff breeze, a beautiful day in Northern Michigan...

...and yes, the admiral is aboard now for the season.

Tomorrow, we hope for calmer waters.

Good friend Jerry Bekes was with me for a weekend of fishing.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature had a different idea and served up a day of small craft advisories.  I took advantage of the opportunity to replace the faulty A/C blower in the boat.  With that chore finished, we were treated to a beautiful sunset and calming seas Saturday night:

An early alarm found us on a perfect lake Sunday morning:

After setting lines in 80' of water due west of the harbor, the action began:

Three hours of trolling, brought us a total of nine strikes.  Eight salmon were boated and seven were kept:

A great day on the water.  This is what it's all about.

Put a line in the water for the first time this year just to check out all the equipment.  Left the dock a little after 7am with an air temperature reported to be 28 degrees.  Trolled for about 2 hours on a beautiful lake and had 3 bites and landed 2 salmon. 

The bad news was that overnight the motor on the AC/heat unit in the boat failed.  Looks like there's an AC system installation in my future. 

Lake view this morning.

View from the helm.

Season's first fish.  10.5 lb. king salmon.

The boat was launched today.  Went out for a ten minute cruise to prime the A/C and head sea water systems.  All ran perfect, the bilge is dry, life is good.  Another season begins...

April is here and it's beginning to feel like boating season.  I became tired of dealing with the registration number plaque on my dinghy.  I purchased a vinyl letter transfer to apply ti the inflatable.  The results were very nice.  Durability is TBD.  We'll see how it looks at the end of the year.

First, I cleaned the surface with MEK and located the number.

 Then, removed the paper backing and carefully applied the "decal" and burnished with a fiber stick to force out any air bubbles.

Then, removed the top paper coating.  

...and the final product.