I'd Rather Be Fishin'

I’ll never say any fishing trip was lousy. I firmly believe a day on the water is better than hitting the daily three straight and boxed.

The annual Herring fishing trip promised to be another success. Saturday morning WCMU public radio kicked off its jazz and blues show with a fish theme. "The Fishin' Blues" (My baby catches more fish than me), "Fish for Supper" and Leon Redbone's "Goin' Fishin'" set my tone.

A quick stop at Jay's Sporting Goods qualified me for one of their "free" hats. Dan Hudak, PJ Dennis, Tom Freiheit and I met at Riverbend Resort in Detour for four days of chasing Herring on the St. Mary's River system. But a quick check of local fishing reports found that this was probably the oddest year on record for Herring. Not good for Detour merchants like North Country Sports, gas stations, resorts, restaurants and bars who have six weeks to make their year.

The air temperature had been 90+ degrees for two+ weeks and that changed the water temperature. The Herring were in deeper water than I had ever found them. The Mayfly hatch was the largest anyone remembers. In good years the fish have to stack up in the areas where flies are hatching, but this year flies were everywhere scattering the fish. Some anglers said the fish never made it to prime Herring grounds at Lime Island.

The fish had feasted on so many flies they were like my family after our Thanksgiving triptofan fix. I can envision the adults lying on the bottom around Butterfield and Long islands keeping a half-closed eye on the little ones zipping around the baited hooks. The good-sized Herring and Whitefish were not biting.

Tuesday we switched to Salmon and had limited success. We marked a lot of fish between Frying Pan Island and the Detour Reef Lighthouse, but few trips on our program and only one King.

We got sunburnt, we got windburnt, we wasted 24 bucks on a seven-day Canadian conservation fishing license. My lips were so burnt that I couldn’t open my mouth to eat a hamburger. It hurt to laugh and laughing is a huge part of a trip with these guys.

So the trip was a bust? Not hardly. My wife joined me in the middle of the week for some quality time together on the water. We met some honest, decent folks and the eastern U.P. is God's country.

The green islands rising out of the blue-green St. Mary's River to touch the brilliant blue sky salted with white fluffy clouds are an artist's vision. The natural world of the Detour Passage surrounds you and grabs your attention when the fishing is slow.

The area is home to common and not-so common waterfowl. Loons float low on the water magically disappearing behind a swell to reappear near the crest of the wave. Close to the islands you can spot bald eagles sitting in treetops or soaring on thermals. Geese and ducks are plentiful. The St. Mary’s River system is one of the few spots in Michigan that is the summer home of Gadwalls, American Widgeons and Northern Pintails.

The Lime Island breakwall provides a nesting site for a colony of common terns. The hatchlings sit on the edge watching the boats go by or float casually next to the wall while adults skim the water’s surface for Mayflies to feed the young. Get too close and the acrobatic fliers repeatedly dive your boat. Get closer and mom drops a digested load of morning breakfast on your head.

The locals and the visitors are in no hurry to attend to the matter at hand unless it is human interaction. Talking is important and the locals like to tell you about their home. Everybody has a fishing report from a customer, a brother, a sister or from personal experience. I found that the owner bartender of the Mainsail Restaurant in Detour has a good friend who lives in my tiny hometown of Vestaburg. He and my partner Tom once owned the same Harley model.

So we didn’t catch enough fish to take home. A good place and good friends with or without fish make good times. I’m home now getting ready for another week at the Alma College Public Relations Office. A massive thunderstorm delivering lightning strikes just feet outside my window reminds my of the power of nature and I think back on the healing power of nature I experienced the last week.