Down here the Skamania's are starting to hit on the piers. Should get a real hard bite for a cpl of weeks - now that the temps are dropping a bit to more normal. Love catching the Skam's in summer and Steelhead in the later fall and winter.....I prefer them to Salmon.
Don't get me wrong. Salmon are a blast, that big initial "run" by Kings is fun as hell but, nothing beats the "aerial" adventures of a Skam or a Steely!
The Laker fishery has seriously improved on Lake Michigan over the years. Early boat fishing for the big lake fish, generally mean limit catch's of lakers.....You can catch some seriously large "Footballs" if you get out and literally troll around floating ice in the spring!
Um, that would be Brown trout if'n ya never heard them called "footballs" for the biggest lake living browns, that return to the streams in the fall to spawn...11 pounds plus is fairly common on those.....Not a lot of us get so excited to go out and be
cold to run that fishery.
I go out with a cpl of friends and we drop our winter steel head boat(s) in the big lake to do it.
Boat is like this one..
Heated interior
"FOOTBALL" = Big Lake based Brown trout. Borrowed this pic as an example.....once in awhile you'll get one while early fall fishing rivers for steely's. Mostly at Dam base. But early spring, on the big lake......YEAH BABY! Great fighting fish with masterful leaps!
This is a dang big brown! It does happen though!