Yankee Southern Transplants in the Upper Midwest: Great Lakes fishing adventures

Well, it has been just over a year since the start of the blog and our arrival in Wisconsin. The longest and the shortest year of my life. We have experienced a lot of adventures over the last year- and while it may appear from the blog that we are constantly out and about having fun, we still miss all of our family and friends very much. We try to keep busy to keep us going. So thanks for reading and supporting us!

Last weekend we had a great opportunity to do some Lake Michigan salmon fishing during the height of the season. Our coworker James (my cubicle neighbor) is a avid angler and was kind enough to offer to take us out on his boat very early on Sunday morning to get the true experience. James enjoys taking out newbies and offering them a charter-like experience to get them hooked on fishing. Needless to say, we had a great time.

We met James at the Kewanuee Marina at 3:30 AM (early!), which meant we had to leave Green Bay at around 2:40 AM. The marina was already bustling with anglers getting ready to head out on the water. We boarded James' small boat and headed for the Lake. The Kewaunee lighthouse was lit and the stars were fantastic on our ride out. It was already pretty crowded out on the water with other boats, and we set up and started trolling not far from the shoreline just a little south of Kewaunee. After about an hour, we got our first bite. It was my turn to bring in the fish- after a few minutes of the fish running out on me and bringing him back in very slowly (a lot hard than it looks!), I brought in the first fish of the day- a nice king salmon that ended up being the largest fish of the day at 14.8 lbs. For the next hour, we reeled in fish non-stop and had 4 or 5 in "the box" (i.e., the cooler) by 6 AM. The sunrise provided a beautiful backdrop.

The big guy of the day was our first catch at sunrise

Our ride was pretty relaxing for the rest of the morning. We would cruise and enjoy the sunshine and then randomly catch a fish about once every hour. We learned that trout and salmon are stocked in the Lake and heard more about the history of the fishery. For example, the lake trout population (which relies on wild reproduction) was severely decimated by the 1950s and 1960s and has since rebounded some. Many of the trout and salmon populations today are not sustainable because of reduced populations of "feeder fish" (i.e., smaller fish that these larger guy would eat). The feeder fish are declining because of the water clarity and lack of native vegetation due to the introduction of invasive zebra mussels into the system. Everything is connected.

Another nice king salmon

Bringing another one in- hard work!

Scott caught a nice rainbow trout- see how blue it is?

In addition to 7 nice king salmon, we also got a rainbow trout and a lake trout for a total of 9 fish. James was also kind enough to filet our fish at the marina for us and we now have a ton (i.e., 80+ lbs?) of fish in our freezer. The early morning was well worth it- exciting catches, beautiful weather, and calm seas. THANKS, James!