MI Love

Hit the cottage again this weekend looking for some MI Love.  We worked hard for them Friday and managed to sniff out three fish.  Two came to hand one of which was another Personal Best.  This time it was Red's turn at a MI giant.  Late in the day we ran the Hyde up tight to the coffer.  Within a few drifts Red set up and the chase was on.  It wasn't without effort but we pulled it off around the corner from the boat launch.  It was another giant buck pushing well into the teens.  Certainly a great way to end a tough day of fishing.  We broke the rods down, packed up the gear and went to start the motor.  On the first pull the cord broke and recoiled into the housing leaving the black rubber pull handle in my hand along with a look of concern on my brow.  Luckily we were close enough to the launch so I just rowed us to shore and we walked the boat back up .  Friday evening was spent driving to Cadillac for a metric socket set followed by a 2 hour repair session in the garage that included a much needed outboard oil change. 
Saturday  was a totally different day.  The morning brought overcast skies with rain in the forecast.  There was a damp cool breeze in the air and we launched the Hyde with intentions of revisiting the coffer run.  As our luck would have it the run was occupied when we launched so we set up around the corner in hopes of waiting out the occupying party.  With lady luck on our side they pulled anchor within minutes and drifted past us headed down river.  We didn't waste any time and motored up tight to the coffer and set the anchor.  It took a little while to dial it in but once the olive marabou jigs were offered things got interesting.  The first fish to strike was a brute and made short order of my jig straightening it out moments after being hooked.  Yet another bitter lesson on the necessity of running double strong jig hooks when chasing these fish.  It really stung but I shook it off with hopes of redemption in the next few drifts.  Sure enough the float dropped a few drifts later and a decent Lake Run Brown came to hand followed shortly after by another Steelie.  The morning was certainly looking promising but with lots of water to cover we pulled anchor and made our way around the corner and down the straightaway towards Suicide.  It wasn't until we hit the midway point that the action took another turn for the better with 4 fish in 20 mins.  This time beads and Roe bags were the ticket.  It was a nice to trick a few today and feel the rods load up.  It was even more satisfying to put a few in the boat for the photo op.  Deer opener was Friday and the river should start to see a drastic reduction in traffic as the temps continue to travel into the negatives.  We are entering the best time of the year for those afflicted with the chrome addiction.  Good days lie ahead...