. . .AGAIN! (?!)
By Big Chuck Kaminskas.
Well, there we were again. . .pinned down by sniper fire. . .it was coming in from everywhere. Just then this little girl. . .Oh wait a minute. . .my bad. . .I must have seen that on CNN, my mistake!
Anyway, Bob and I went back up to Higgins Lake to take another shot at the smelt and to have a good time. . .again!
We took a less traveled route. . .US10 through Midland to 30 north, through Gladwin on 61 to 18 north into Prudenville. I like going that way because it is very scenic; farms, tractors on open fields and through old towns. I just love it.
It was very sunny Saturday, getting up to 30. On every open field, we passed there were 30 to 50 deer grazing on newly sprouted greens and turkeys were in full strut!
Gladwin also has a percentage of Amish people, it is common to see horse, and buggy’s traveling along the side the road. Takes me back to a more civilized time!
Houghton Lake still has ice on it. We didn’t go on Houghton this time but I’m guessing it had at least a foot and there were quite a few folks out there. We fished on Higgins.
We checked in at the Great Escape Motor Lodge. Great place, we stayed there last time.
After checking in we scouted around the lake, then went down to the Silver Dollar for lunch, and put our plan of attack together.
Next, the bait store for minnows and wigglers...
On 29th and 30th of March it was sunny, 34 degrees and we had about 18” of ice. Everyone was fishing for perch, gills, crappie and smelt, mostly smelt, THAT was what we wanted to see. Our record this year for smelt 'aint the greatest!
They were using minnows for perch and crappie. Wax worms for 'gills and we met a guy with his son who were using cooked shrimp for the smelt. Not a bad idea! If you don't get any smelt, you can at least have a shrimp cocktail! I saw him later that evening and it seemed to have worked. Smelt were slow in the day but heavier at night, from 4:00pm to 2:00am, catching 25-30 in the day and 100 or better at night. A good day could get you up to 200 or better.
We fished mostly during the day and a little at night. It's good to have a folding shanty at any time especially if the wind kicks up but it's a must at night! Get yourself a heater and a lantern as well. The locals use a tube light that they hook to a cycle battery and then drop it down into the water to attract the fish. If any of you guys or gals could tell us how to rig this up and where we get the gear we sure would appreciate it!
We fished that afternoon without much luck then went back to the lodge for dinner. Steak and taters!!! It don't get much better than that although fresh fish sure would have hit the spot!
Sunday. . .same temps and cloudy. We fished some more with about the same results. . .zippo! But you know what? We were still having a great time! That Uncle Bob, what a great liar. . .I mean STORY teller!
Early in the afternoon the winds picked up, it got a little colder due to an incoming front. We went back to the lodge to warm up talk about the weekend and how we could improve our chances the next time out. There’s only a few more weeks of ice fishing left for this year, if we're lucky.
Two things we need to have next year. An ATV and a POWER auger! No more dragging my gear across the ice and I am NOT hand drilling through 2 feet of ice any more! It was tough even though Bob did most of the work. . .NOT!
Later on Bob made marinated country style ribs for dinner. . .man. . .were they good! Old Bob, not only is he a heck of a lie. . .uh. . .story teller, but he's a pretty good cook (although that boy can't fry an egg to save his life!). I’m sure he will be happy to share his recipe with all of you.
We had another
great weekend, lots of fun
and we learned a little
more than we knew before
and that’s always good.
So get out if you can, only
a couple more weeks of ice
left. . .maybe! As always,
be safe because there’s
much more fun to come. .
.spring is right around
the corner!
Big Chuck Kaminskas.
