Day 3.

Woke up this morning to the waves lapping against the hull.  When that happens, it is sure to be a nasty Lake Michigan.  It was bad enough that the ladies fishing tournament was cancelled...

Wimps!

I did a few chores with some tackle (like I'll maybe catch another fish someday) and took a ride down to the beach to look at the lake.  It was indeed a bit choppy.

This is "the" day for the swimmers.  Big waves and a SW wind that blows all the warm surface waters to the beach.  The kids love it!

The appearance of a kite surfer outside the south pier, lets you know it's not the day to untie the boat.

To entertain myself today, I took a drive up to Manistee to wander around a couple marinas up there.  We have talked from time to time about perhaps renting a slip there as a change of scenery.

The municipal marina is right in the middle of town on the river channel.  I could see this being entertaining watching the boats pass.  The occasional lake freighter passes here as well.

Through the channel and just into Manistee Lake is Seng's Marina.  It's a clean, well run facility that is in a quiet cove.

We may or may not ever move, but it's fun to see what is going on in other places.

After driving back to Ludington and grabbing lunch, I got into the dinghy for an excursion out to the beach.  On the way, I ogled the boats here for the tournnament.  There are a couple serious ships here.

The story on this one is that he was the owner of a flatbread company and sold the company.  He's now enjoying the rewards of that sale and hence the boat name "Flat Out".

This one is over at the city marina.  Love the blue hull on this boat.

Then there's this set up.  Many trollers have what is called a "kicker" motor on their boat to run trolling so they don't rack up the hours on the main engines.  In most cases on the boats up to 30', you'll see maybe a 20hp motor at the most.  Well, this guy isn't going to lose much performance when using his "kicker".

This will provide a little kick.  115hp should provde enough push.

...but it is on a 35' Bertram sedan so it's not like a little walleye rig.

And then on to the beach.

I walked up on the south pier to take a peek out on the lake.  I don't get over here too much.  It's a different view of the lighthouse.

The lake still had a bit of motion in it.

And had that Caribbean aqua color to it today.

So the winds are dying and the flag is beginning to relax a little but is there a storm on the horizon?

The weatherman says maybe.  If not, maybe I'll drown a worm a little later.

This sure beats work!

Day 2

Got up this morning and noticed one of the Chicago to Mackinac sailboats was here making it's way back down the lake after last weekend's race.

Upon closer inspection, it appears this vessel has a bad sailor.  This is where you end up when there's no couch for the admiral to send you to.

Actually, it didn't cool off much last night so that may have been a better option to the berth in the cabin.

There was this classic Chris-Craft 35' Commander docked here last night.  Absolutely pristine condition.  There's something about those old Chris-Crafts that turn your head.

The wind was forecast to blow a bit today so I wasn't planning on leaving the dock.  The tournament boats in the marina (charity tourney today) fired up and left about 5:30am so I peeked outside to dead calm conditions.  Never let a good boating day go to waste, so I got up and eventually made my way out of the harbor at 7am.

Being alone and given the terrible fishing the past week, I wasn't going to go too far and would only stay out on the lake until the bugs showed up...which actually only took maybe 5 minutes but I stayed out a little while anyway.

I set lines (all 3 that is allowed since I was alone) a little west of the harbor.

and had a sonar picture that would normally be encouraging.

But it's all a tease.  I circled the area for a couple hours until the biting flies had gnawed my ankles raw and gave up and returned to port...

just as the wind began to build.

The afternoon promises to be steamy hot so a trip to the swim beach is likely in the cards. 

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Well, it got hot enough to fry an egg on my bald head, so I climbed in the dinghy and headed over to the swim beach in the outer harbor.

I took the outboard off and flipped the dinghy over and scrubbed the bottom while I was there and got it looking all spiffy for the warm season.  Pulled it up on the beach...

...and took a dip in the lake.

It took a while, but this heat wave and the SW winds have warmed the water here.  It's like flopping into a bath tub.

Think I'll lay low for the next couple hours until it begins to cool a bit.

Day 1

Holy heat stroke, Batman.  It's like a sauna in Northern Michigan.

The Goecke crew was on board for a morning of fishing.  At least I hope they were here for fishing becausing catching wasn't part of the program.  The conditions were as difficult as I have fished in.  That was unfortunate and showed in the results.

I took a shot of the guest anglers.

Sam wasn't available for the group photo.

But we FINALLY found a fish with a metal spoon in its diet and Sam manned the lead core.

He did a fine job and landed a small steelhead the was maybe 5 pounds...and that was the extent of the action.  Disappointing for me but sometimes you catch and sometimes you fish. 

They were a good crew so we'll reload and try again next year. 

Vacation

Ahhhhhh!

As the old salts say,  "red at night, sailor's delight."

If the "old salts" are accurate, there should be a nice lake to fish on in the morning with the Goecke clan.  The forecast calls for a SW breeze 5-15 knots.  Waves around 1 foot.  There is a little air this evening so I would guess we'll be looking at a foot plus on the wave height.  Seeing as though it's 90 degrees in the day, a little breeze won't be such a bad thing.

I've got all the weapons locked and loaded for a 5:30am tee time.

Vacation...ahhhhhhhh!

Back tomorrow to continue the story. 

7/14

So, Friday night was pleasant...since the wind was out of the east and the soot was blowing the other way for a change.

We took the dinghy out so I could drag a worm around the harbor for a bit.  We motored out the channel.

And ventured outside the breakwall on a glassy Lake Michigan.

We trolled along the length of the outer breakwall. 

On the way back into the harbor, the sun reflected off the glass panels of the north pier lighthouse, giving the illusion of a lamp from the lightouse.

We waited a bit inside the harbor to experience the evening sunset.

Then back to the mother ship for some shut-eye.

Sunday morning was filled with promise as we ventured off shore to the area we had fished yesterday.  We sat down to set lines eight miles out over 200' of water.

As sunrise appeared and line were set, we found almost instant action.

We (actually, I) lost the first fish on, but the second try resulted in an 11 pound steelhead for the cooler.

Then the fun ended.  The starboard motor just died.  Everything else on the boat was totally functional, but that one motor was completely out of commission.  So the boat was pointed toward shore, the lines picked up and we limped back to the harbor on the port motor.  It took us about an hour.  Ugh!

After doing a little trouble shooting at the dock,  this guy appears to be the culprit.

It's the ignition switch.  I worked on the switch and wiring a little and seem to have it working again.  I'm not real sure what caused it to malfunction but I have a new one to put in now so hopefully, we don't have to do that again.

So much for the weekend.

7/13

What a great weekend this is!  Sunshine and heat...just what summer is supposed to be like.

We arrived last night to a calm and serene marina.

The flag layed against the pole promising a good lake for fishing this morning.

Kathy struck her weekend pose on the back deck with a book.

5am Saturday arrived and we ventured out on a decent lake and set lines in 80' of water.

And trolled and trolled and trolled and trolled.  It wasn't looking good for any "catching" on this fishing expedition.  So I pulled lines and we pointed the boat west toward the offshore waters.  There we found some encouraging signs.

A mark on the sonar.  40' down over 245' of water.

...and a good temperature break.

Then it happened...and this has been rare the past few trips...Fish On!

After a struggle, a 20 lb. 14 oz. king is put in the cooler.  The first 20+ pound fish I've caught in several years.

We had a few more bites and landed four fish total including this nice lake trout.

It was a nice day out on the open lake with the sights to be enjoyed.

Dodging the SS Badger.

Like I said, it turned out to be a real nice day on the lake.  There hasn't been many like this all year.

Looks like it might be a real nice evening to tow a crawler around the harbor later.  Tomorrow promises more calm seas.  Another offshore run may be in order. 

Maybe for a 25 pounder???

I'm due.