My first salmon fishing trip

Hello readers!  It has been all summer since a post and I do have a lot to write about.  This post is a little different than normal, but I really want to share my wife and I's first salmon fishing trip!

My cousin called me up and asked if we could make it up to Ludington, MI for a weekend of fishing.  We finished work Saturday around noon, and headed north.  We got to their marina around 5:00 and were on the lake by 7pm.  The lake was rough and both of us were glad we took our Bonine pills.  Waves were around 4 to 5 feet.  The ride was very exciting!  Once Tony got the lines rigged we started trolling for salmon.  Late in the evening we had two hit the plugs.  My wife landed a 14+ pound King and I landed a 7+ pound coho.  Not too bad for our first time.

We got back to port around 11pm and hit the sack.  We were up the next morning at 5 and were on the lake by 6.  The lake was slightly calmer Sunday morning but as the morning progressed, it got more rough.  We caught 2 more 14+ kings and an 8+ pound king.  Not too bad again!

We had a wonderful trip that we will never forget!  Our cousins were great hosts and even cleaned the fish for us.  They were VERY generous and gave us their catch from Friday night!  We needed to buy a second cooler at Wal-Mart to get all the fish home!!  I think the both of us might be "hooked" on salmon fishing!

Chippewa River May 2010

The first weekend of May found my wife and I and a few friends on the Chippewa River near Mount Pleasant Michigan.  This was a new river for us all.  We packed up the canoes and gear in a light rain and headed North.   We used Chippewa Outfitters to spot our canoes and as our take out point.    http://www.chipoutfitters.com/  We put in at Winn Road.  The access here was a little more than a small pull off along the side of the road with a dirt path to a landing near the bridge.  There was just enough room to drop off our 3 canoes and gear.  We did this quickly as traffic on the road was heavy.

The river was absolutely beautiful and a little more technical in places than what we are normally used to.  We had some tight turns to make around fallen trees and some large boulders to navigate around.  The river got shallow in places where we scrapped bottom a few times.  After a few hours of paddling we arrived at Deerfield County park.   This park allowed camping at designated sites for $20 a site.  We reserved 2 since we were just over the legal limit of occupants per site.  A ranger was supposed to check on us and collect a $3 per boat fee.  We told the livery this and they thought it sounded odd.  The ranger never came.  We were the only people camping there that weekend.  After camp was set up I tried my hand at fishing.  I managed to catch about 6 rainbow trout but none were large enough to keep.  One trout swallowed the hook and I felt it a greater crime to release a mortally wounded fish to the river than eat it.  So, wrapped in tin foil the rainbow went into the fire.  A few minutes later we dined on fresh trout!!  

The next morning we woke up to a downpour.  This thoroughly soaked our entire campsite.  Our tent kept us very dry except a little puddle under my wife's thermarest.  Not bad considering how much rain fell  and we were on a packed down campsite.  The gigantic tarp I brought sheltered all 7 of us very well and we enjoyed fresh coffee, eggs, sausage and more eggs in relative dryness.



Beyond Deerfield Park the river widened in places and we also paddled through several ponds.  This was my favorite section of the trip.  It had a much different feel than our usual trips.  We had a sense of wilderness at times and at other times we did not.  We paddled through a golf course!  The massive houses along the river were impressive!  The covered bridge was a highlight of the trip.  You don't see these everyday!  We had more capsizes than all of our previous trips combined.  TIP...TIP!  All capsizes were experienced by the 3 person boat.  We discovered that a middle seat in a canoe is not the best place for someone to sit!  At least the weather was warm and the river not too cold!

 The take out point at Chippewa Outfitters was fair.  There was a 50 yard walk from the river to a small pull off along side the road.  The livery itself was another 50 yards or so beyond that.  The road was busy so we had to be careful loading the boats and gear.  This was a fun and slightly more challenging trip than previous ones.  I would definitely do this trip again!

New trip reports coming soon!!

It has been a while since my last post.  I was not able to get out and paddle this winter...cuz its COLD!  Although, I want to do a winter paddling trip someday.  My wife and I traveled to Malaysia for the third time so no winter backpacking trips were planned.  

However, we did go with a large group of friends to the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area in middle November.  Swimming, exploring and an epic game of Munchkin were played.   We hiked out of the woods on opening day of Michigan deer season.  It looked like a military campaign was underway!!  I have no idea how anyone takes a deer in that area since so many hunters were walking around.  Great times were had this weekend!  Chug what?  Chug this!!

As the weather has warmed up here in Michigan my thoughts are turing toward my next trip.  Water Weasel (check out her blog) and I are planning a few trips for May.  These will hopefully include one new Michigan River, the Chippewa, and our usual Memorial Day tradition of paddling the Manistee.

A friend of mine and I are planning on doing a "wilderness survival" themed trip sometime soon.  His super rich uncle owns a HUGE tract of land in the U.P. of Michigan.  That is too far for us to go for a weekend, so we are planning on doing this trip on some other family owned land of his a few hours drive from where we live.  We might also plan a trip to one of our favorite hikes called the Manistee River trail.

So I am chomping at the bit to get out and hike or paddle.  Trip reports will be posted!