No Fish - But What A View!

My friends, Jim, Manny and I went back to Racine Harbor yesterday and tried our luck again.  But this time, nobody caught a fish.  In fact, most everyone out there didn't catch one either.

But it's views like this that make going out there worthwhile even if we don't catch anything.

Fishing Again at Racine Harbor - Racine Wisconsin

Once again, I went fishing out at Racine Harbor.  I was able to land two King Salmon this time but lost another one.  I had set my drag a little too low and as I was adjusting it, the fish decided it was time to jump and spit the hook out!  I knew I was going to lose the fish right after I had hooked it... I could just feel it was going to happen.  At least I was able to get two though!

The first one was a 7 lb - male, King Salmon (Chinook) and the other was a 12 lb, 32 inch female King Salmon (Chinook).

Special thanks to my friend Mike whose invaluable tutoring has led me to fishing success this year!  I am extremely grateful!  Thanks Mike!

Photos taken by my friend Jim who was out there with me.  The camera was my Lumix DMC-LX5.

I'm headed out there again tomorrow!

Fishing at Racine Harbor - Racine, Wisconsin

My friends Jim and Manny and I went to Racine Harbor this morning to try our luck.  Before Jim and I got there, Manny reported over the phone that several fish were already caught by others who were there before us.  After we got set up, in just a short time, Jim caught a nice 10 lb. female King Salmon (Chinook).  That fish did a number of aerial somersaults for us!  It took a while for Jim to land it!  Later, he caught a smaller fish, but lost it just before we had the chance to net it.

The winds picked up later and the entire harbor emptied out except for the three of us.  Eventually, we decided it was just too windy to continue.  Jim filleted his fish at the fish cleaning station on site and we headed for breakfast.

Still wanting to catch something, I suggested we head to Kenosha Harbor to give it a try.  We didn't catch anything, but we saw several fish jumping.  The fish were not ready to bite.

We'll try Racine again next week if the weather permits!

The Racine Harbor had a very nice fish cleaning station (see photos below if you aren't squeamish.)  Like last week's fish, this fish was loaded with eggs!  Manny took the eggs and it will become bait for the future.

I've already eaten this fish!  Not bad at all!  I find that if you take off the skin of a fish, a lot of that "fishy" taste (and smell) goes away with it.

All images below taken with a Lumix DMC-LX5 camera.

Final Night Photography Class for 2012

Last night was the last night photography class for 2012.  Here's an image from that evening.  Chicago looks really nice at night!

14 lb - 34 inch - King Salmon - Kenosha Harbor

Last week I reported that I finally caught a fish out of Lake Michigan after years of trying from the piers and never getting anything.  That fish was a 21-1/2", 2 lb Northern Pike.  Well, today, my friend Jim and I went back to Kenosha Harbor in Kenosha, Wisconsin and tried it again.

This time I caught this monster... a 34", 14 lb King Salmon that's just starting to turn bad!  Jim helped again with netting the fish after about a quick 3 minute fight.  I lost another fish just a short time before this one was landed.  It looked to be a brown trout, but it broke off just when it was perhaps only 10 feet away from me.  I was really disappointed.  But moments later, this fish tugged at my line!  Initially, I thought it was another brown trout, but advice from others and looking closer at the fish's photos, it's definitely a King Salmon.  Check out the black jaws... it's a trademark of a King Salmon.

After getting the fish home, I filleted the fish to find that it was a female LOADED with eggs!  We are going to use those eggs the next time we go fishing.  I gave half of the fish and the eggs to Jim and I kept the other half.  Since the fish isn't fully turned yet, it should be ok to eat... I hope!

This photo was taken once again with my LG cell phone.  Not bad for a 3.0 Megapixel camera!

The photos below were taken with my Lumix DMC-LX5 camera (it's around my neck in the photo above!)

9/11

"We will never forget..."

The "Skunk" Is Over! - Northern Pike Caught at Kenosha Harbor - Kenosha Wisconsin

 
For years, I have been "shore" fishing Lake Michigan in hopes of catching a fish.

Sure, I can catch a fish when on a boat in Lake Michigan because the captain sets up the fishing lines in the right depths, uses electronic fish finders and trolls the waters moving the boat at around 2 mph.  But to try to find fish myself from the shores of Lake Michigan meant I was on my own to entice fish to bite my lure.  For years, I never caught anything.  I was always "skunked" walking away with nothing.

Still, I kept going out there in hopes that one day, I'd get a fish.  Well that day was yesterday!  While hoping to catch a Salmon, I happened to catch this guy... a 21.5", 2 lb Northern Pike!  This guy hit my line fast and hard.  At first, I wondered if I had a fish on the line, but after reeling in the line, I knew I had a fish as it was fighting back trying to get the hook out of its mouth.

When he was netted and brought in, he tossed and turned in the net and actually spit the hook out.  Good thing we had a net!  My friend Jim was with me and did the netting for me.  He also took the photo of me with my cell phone camera since I didn't have my normal "fishing camera" with me.

It didn't take long to catch this fish once we got started fishing, but that was the only fish we caught all morning.  We were out there for 4 hours.

We'll try it again next week!