Manistee County Sportfishing Tournament Champs

I fished a tournament out on Lake Michigan with Dave, Kraig, Alan, and Ken this past weekend and we took 1st place in the amateur division. We caught 12 fish on Saturday and 15 fish on Sunday. We caught mostly steelhead with a few little kings and lake trout thrown in. We fished a temp break around 14 miles out and the steelhead were there. We ran in-line planer boards with various spoons on them. The stinger steelhead stomper was probably our best lure along with the Flintstone green coyote spoon. It was a great tournament to be a part of.

We also fished the ladies tournament on Friday with my wife Gretchen, Jeanne, Stephanie, Nancy, and Jewlee. We took 6th place and had a lot of fun on the water with the girls. They did a great job handling the rods and netting fish. We caught 9 fish that day. I can't wait until the next tournament in July.

Key West Trip

Gretchen and I went on a trip with some very close friends of ours. A group of nine of us went to Key West the week of the 9th to celebrate a 10th anniversary of one of the couples. We spent a lot of time by the pool and eating dinners out together as well as a little time on the strip at night.

I also spent a few hours Tarpon fishing with one of my neighbors down there. We had a great time on the water with only one fish on but after a 60 minute battle Kyle got the Tarpon to the boat. It went around 100lbs. It was my first time Tarpon fishing and I will sure be back to battle one myself someday.

GULF OF MEXICO FISHING TRIP

My wife and I took my kids to Florida for spring break and she was kind enough to let me go fishing for two days out in the Gulf. We fished 100 miles out in the Gulf out of Pensacola around the oil rigs. We caught Amberjack, Black Fin, Grouper, Snapper, and Trigger fish. It was a great break from reality.