Kids and Kings: A Great Way to Regain the Thrill of Salmon Trolling
Dave Mull 08.01.13
After many years of trolling the Great Lakes for salmon, much of the thrill is gone for many of us.
Sure, the fishing is still fun. But when you have the opportunity to do it a lot, the experience can become almost routine harvest. We don’t enjoy the anticipation, the fight, and the true beauty of the quarry like we once did.
If you want to recapture the excitement of the sport, go trolling with a couple of kids and their dad who have never done it before.
Yours truly had that chance Wednesday out of Saugatuck aboard Black Betty II with Captain Tony Wolte and his first mate T.J. Colpetsir. Tony, who has been chartering Lake Michigan for eight years and fishing it for much longer, had invited Aaron VanEck and his sons Tobin, 15, and Eli, 13, over from their home in Hudsonville. Although the VanEcks fish streams and ponds, this was their first salmon foray.
The dreary dawn smacked of certain rain when I arrived at the Black Betty II’s dock in downtown Saugatuck and found the VanEcks, Tony, and T.J. aboard and ready to go. Tony soon had the 31-foot Tiara headed down the Kalamazoo River to the big water. We set lines in 80-foot depths, where other anglers had reported success with big kings.
Young Eli was first up, and soon reeled in a puny salmon that fell off the hook and back into the lake just before Tony could shake the fish off and back to its freedom.
Ten minutes later T.J. netted a six-pound salmon for Tobin after it struck the flasher-fly combo set on the center downrigger. Tobin said it was his biggest fish ever, and he and Eli took turns lifting the cooler lid to look at it as it lay on ice.
It turned out to be a fairly slow day by recent Saugatuck standards, but with 15 rods in the water, we pecked away at them. Tobin had the golden touch. Every time a fish hit and it was his turn, the fish ended up netted and in the cooler. But Eli was on a run of bad luck. Whenever he started reeling in a fish, it got off. By the time Tobin had coolered two kings and a lake trout and Aaron caught an eight-pound king that would be the biggest fish of the trip, Eli had lost three fish.
“These fish just don’t like me,” Eli said dejectedly. He spent the next several minutes pouting under the boat’s canvas while rain started pattering in earnest.
We all assured him the law of averages was working in his favor, although it was again Tobin’s turn when a fish hit a fly behind a planer board to the side of the boat. While Tobin wrestled with this fish behind 400 yards of copper line, a different fish hit a Double Orange Crush Stinger spoon behind a downrigger. Eli was quickly on the rod as another six-pound king thrashed on the surface and dashed across the transom. With expert coaching from T.J. and Tony, Eli finally had his first fish in the proverbial bucket.
“I like fishing!” he exclaimed, and we soon had great memories burned into our cameras’ memory chips.
Shortly after 11 a.m., six kings and a lake trout lay in the cooler, and as we pulled lines a final fish crashed into a fly behind a diver. T.J. placed the 10-foot roller guide rod in Eli’s hands, and even with Aaron’s assistance, it was a lot for the youngster to handle.
“You want to reel this one in, Dave?” Eli asked, hunched over and trying hard to reel. He handed the rod to me, and soon our seventh king was iced.
After pulling and stowing the rest of the rods, Tony offered Eli the chance to drive the boat towards port. He seemed delighted, pushing forward the throttles and swinging the big Tiara’s wheel.
Many of us trolling fans just don’t fish with kids enough. Having been reminded Wednesday of how much fun they have, and how thrilling the whole experience can be for them, I highly recommend that we more experienced anglers take them fishing whenever we can.
We older guys end up the true winners.
For more information on Michigan fishing go to michigan.org. Click here to purchase a Michigan fishing license online.
