Floating the U.P. - a small speck in some big water

The setting was Munising, Michigan earlier this week; specifically the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The mission was to see if my kayak could handle the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee" (it obviously did as I am writing this, eh?). I had no doubt the craft could make it on Lake Superior with a beach in sight. Once that beach is out of sight and you are surrounded by 200 foot cliffs that have no shoreline and miles and miles of water on the other side, intimidating is a good word that comes to mind. The ticker kicks a few extra beats while you are initially taking it all in. Thankfully, there won't be any Gordon Lightfoot re-makes of the "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" song as I made it back to shore safely with no drama to report after a nice float. A local told me they had to rescue a kayaker this past weekend from the north side of Grand Island (also in Munising) and the guy didn't start anywhere near there. The wind changes with a splash of panic apparently had something to do with it. 

After the float, I kicked it into tourist gear and checked out the mecca of Marquette, the Superior Dome! That has to be a nice treat for those sub-freezing November football games. While I didn't see any local restaurants with the Izzo/Mariucci sandwich specials, their hall of fame plaques were pretty impressive just the same.

A great getaway it was.

Trail Head

Superior Dome

Bald Mountain Music Festival Pig Roast

The pictures will tell the story for this entry. Good friends and good times. I am very fortunate to have both.

Trail Head

 

BBC - Lobdell Lake - holy shi%!!! is it hot!!!

Slick's fan club running up for an autograph

I fished, I sweated, I sweated some more. I topped my record for sweating while standing in place (beat the time I had to face my parents after the mailbox incident of '84) tonight in the fifth session of the Badwater Bass Club at Lobdell Lake in Argentine Township. To add to the fun, the power was out for residents of the lake so what is one to do while the power is out and you live on a lake? You head to said lake. And head to the lake they did. The sand bar area was a mini Jobbie Nooner; however, Slick managed to get a few nice catches just outside the vicinity of the party barge. For most of us though, it was a sea of 12-13 inch bass (AKA Dunham Lakers) which unfortunately had to be sent back to grow an inch or two.  

Trail Head

tough trolling through there

BBC - Lake St. Clair - can't find my way home

How would you like to be writing a grueling project for work for five hours and have it all taken away because you accidentally closed the program without clicking "save?" Well, two boats yesterday at Lake St. Clair for the fourth session of the Badwater Bass Club forgot to click save. And it cost them dearly. 

The club has a few rules in place to keep the fishing honest and ensure everyone is on the same page. One of those rules states: "A 1 pound per minute penalty will be assessed for late arrivers to the dock for weigh-ins (http://smartbass.org/scoring-system.html)." Yesterday, a few boats strayed a bit from home base for the five hour session and Lake St. Clair is quite a bit of water. You put the two together and the landmark that these guys apparently remember for the boat launch was obviously the wrong one. They both made it back safely, which is priority number one; however, a hard day's work was all for naught. Raj had the day of his life but his 17+ pounds will only count for bar stories at this point. If I could put sound effects on this site, you would be hearing the "waaaa, waaaa" sound right here.

Trail Head