When I first pulled up in the marina parking lot I called Bob Hinds from Central Coast Angling. You see, I had never met Bob before so I had no idea who he was or what he looked like. His buddy Brendan and I worked together at the hospital and every time we had the opportunity we would talk fishing. Brendan always talked about his buddy Bob and much they fished together all over north west Michigan, so when Bob passed the invite on to me to jump in his boat, I didn’t hesitate.
Bob pulled into the marina and I made my way over to what I thought was his boat and the first thing he said was ” you wouldn’t believe it but we were breaking ice this morning out of the marina”. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was the second week of may. I stepped onto his Robalo center console boat and was greeted by his first mate, Maude. Maude is an English American Bull Dog and was just as anxious to get out on the water as I was.
Bob and I were going after lake trout, Cisco (a.k.a. lake herring) and possibly whitefish. I for one was pumped to be out on Grand Traverse Bay again as it was my first time on the big water this season. Surface water temperature was at 37 degrees and as Bob hit the throttle the wind began to numb my face even thought it was still 65 degrees out back on shore. Grand Traverse Bay is split into two bays, East and West Bay. The depths of these bays vary from shallow water of just 5 feet and can quickly go as deep as up to 600 plus feet in some spots. To target these fish we found a break where it was a 50 foot shelf dropping off to over 200 feet. Hugging that drop off we began to work the program that Bob had perfected for his clients he takes out. Bob has been a captain now chartering the waters of Grand Traverse Bay for many years. The program he explained to me was simply just casting 3/4 oz blade baits and ripping them back to the boat. At first, I was some what skeptical but then I began to break down the type of body of water we were fishing and it all made sense. For those who are not familiar with Grand Traverse Bay the water is often described in comparison to the Caribbean waters. It is crystal clear. So casting blade baits started to make sense to me. We were ripping these big baits back to the boat sending off vibrations and noise to call these hungry lakers in from far off.
Bob hooked up within a matter of minutes and from there I began to settle into my own rhythm until I finally found success on a 12 lbs laker that hit my bait like a train. Remind you this is all on light tackle. I was casting a 6″10 medium fast action rod with 15 lbs braid, tied to a 12 lbs fluorocarbon leader. You can imagine when that laker hit it felt like my bait had just ran into a wall. I had caught lake trout before but never like this while casting to them. Not to sound too trite but I was hooked.
On this episode of the podcast Bob and I talk about our entire day fishing that day. We break down what we did and how to target this species in big bodies of water like Grand Traverse Bay. This episode is filled with a ton of valuable knowledge that will not only make you a better angler for these fish but also a better conservationist by understanding how to properly handle them.
I am always grateful for the friendships and new anglers I meet from this sport. To me, it is what is exciting and ever changing. I feel it is important to always go outside your comfort zone, jump in a boat with someone new and try out new methods. The difference between being a good angler and a great one all depends on the knowledge you have gained and how many different tools you have in your bag to use.
Enjoy the episode,
Lee