For anglers in the Midwest, the first week of March is that time of the year that signals two things; late ice-fishing opportunities, and our first opportunities at breaking out the long sticks for open water fish. Some opt to stay on the ice which is understandable, many of my best catches have come from the edges of slowly disintegrating floating ice pack on my favorite lakes and ponds. The melt-off and often accompanied rainfall signals new life to the inhabitants below the ice, from here on out the remaining ice-pack is as good as it gets for hot ice-fishing action.

Others however, simply just can’t wait to fish REAL water. There are fish to be caught in river, streams, creeks, and lakes that have been spending the winter hunkered up somewhere waiting for their first sniff of Spring rains. Reports last week were coming in from all over the area telling of good catches of river smallmouth, cooling-lake hybrid striped bass, and even some tributary steelhead. What was most impressive to me was the volume and quality of the reports that have begun to roll out from southeast Wisconsin, specifically Milwaukee harbor.

The majority of the reports consisted of large catches of Lake Michigan run Lake Trout, caught utilizing a large profile jigging method on light tackle. This sounded right up my alley, as fish in the 20 lb. class were being caught with most fish in the 8 to 12 lb. class. So the research began, methods, locations, techniques, equipment, every facet of the situation these guys are putting themselves into was explored. Then I began making phone calls…….. that’s right, it was time to call in the Trout Mafia Don himself, Mike P.

So arrangements were made, and the first open water trip for 2010 was to be underway. Well, after some early morning snafus were hashed out, and the rust from a long winter of doing the bucket-hunch was broken off, our launch into Milwaukee harbor was made at sunrise March 7th, 2010.



I keep a nicely equipped 14′ Alumacraft Deep-V powered by a new 4 stroke 25 hp Mercury outboard in my garage. Not only was this the first trip for this boat this year, it was also the first time this boat has been on Lake Michigan, as well as being the first time this boat has had to break through over 1/8th inch of ice to get to the fishing grounds! This was a bit harrowing for me I must admit, but after getting the feel for it I quickly realized that with all of the weight in the boat we would have no problem busting through that skim-ice.

The sunrise was beautiful this morning, nothing short of spectacular as we headed East over that ice. The way the sunlight danced across the ice as it rippled, flexed, and cracked ahead of us from my boat’s shock wave was something I most certainly will never forget. The lake itself was flat calm this morning, not a single whisper of wind was felt, and the distant horizon blended seamlessly from a blue-grey glass water’s surface to a cool morning’s sunlight sky.

Although there were a few other hook-ups this morning, the one lake trout I caught was the only fish brought to net this day. As I had stated to my fine company this morning and the day before, I was so happy to get the boat out and to get my “big-boy” fishing poles back into service, that I believed any fish caught today would just be a bonus in my book. Quite the bonus I was awarded today, my first lake trout, my first fish of 2010, and my first time fishing new water. I can’t think of a better way to start off the new season, and I only hope that I can enjoy new experiences out on the water like this day many times over this season and every season thereafter.

A big Thank you to my crew Mike and Travis, as well as a local guide who was instrumental in our success, Mr. Ben Kueng of “Ben Kueng’s Guide Service” – http://www.benkueng.com/