May...It's Been a Good Month

So...for May I have had not one, not two, but three new experiences. Morels was the first. A successful charter fishing trip (note the word successful) was second and an ORV Jeep tour was third. I'm sharing details about the fishing first.

On Monday, May 14, I had the opportunity to board the Best Chance Too charter boat with Captain Bill and Captain Dave. I was on a media tour with Kelly Gotch from Michigan Out of Doors TV (PBS, Thursdays at 7pm) and Adam Star from ShowSpan (see picture). It was a glorious morning -- the start of National Tourism Week. What could be better? Well...the day certainly got better...and better and better.

By 8:30am, we were 12 miles out from the port in St. Joseph. The Captains started dropping lines and we only had the fifth down we got our first hit. Adam stepped up to take charge and after about 5 minutes, he had landed a nice King Salmon. More lines were dropped...I don't know...maybe 18 or so. Next fish on and it was my turn. Who would believe that a 12 pound fish could put up such a fight. What a rush! The day continued to progress at a nice pace. There were times when we were reeling in three lines at a time...landing them as fast as we could put new lines down. It was crazy!

By 10:30, we'd reached our limit. We had 20 kings, cohos, 2 steelhead and 1 lake trout. I must brag that I was the one who brought in the steelies and trout...in fact, I was the only one on the boat to pull in one of every species. It was an excellent day on the water! We returned to port and Captain Bill cleaned up the fish with the skill of a master and when all was said and done, I walked away with 25 pounds of filets (20 in all) and enjoyed a fine piece of salmon that night off the grill.

Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE my job??? Life is good.