Lake Michigan Fishing Trip

Jennifer and Ken were kind enough to invite Dad, Kyle, Nate, Holden and I along on their family vacation fishing for salmon on Lake Michigan. It was awesome. Here's what happened.

We started off with a lottery to see who would get to reel in the first fish. I drew number one and earned the right to catch the first fish....

...which I promptly lost. This became a recurring theme whenever I was given a pole and I'm sure I led the pack with most fish lost--although Kyle was a quick second with his Incredible Hulk hook setting technique!!

Here is Holden in front of our boat Lucky Boy IV, ready to go out on our first day of fishing.

We motored straight out from the harbor and set up 13 poles trailing lines behind the boat.

When you hooked a big fish on one of the long lines it was an epic battle to bring in the fish. Here I am battling a 15-pound King Salmon. When we hooked him he was almost two football fields behind the boat--that's a lot of reeling. It would take 20-25 minutes to land one of the big King Salmon.
By the time I landed this fish I had blisters all over my hands. It was great!! Here dad and I joke around with the first fish we caught.

Holden hooked into a big King--the first one he ever caught.

Here Ken starts off his fish derby--he caught more kinds of fish than anyone else on the trip.

Whenever Kyle would rush for a pole we all had to yell "Don't set the hook!!" His restraint paid off and here he brings in a big King. Gotta have that tongue sticking out!

All too soon the day came to an end and we headed back to the harbor.

We laid out our catch in front of big group of people that came over to see all the fish.
The next morning we had to get up at 1:30am Phoenix time to head out on the water. Holden texted his girlfriend who was going to bed as he was getting up. This early morning schedule led to a few naps on the boat.

The fishing was a little slow but with great company to enjoy, who cares.


If you spend enough time on a boat, you begin to notice things about each other. For example, Ken seemed to enjoy kissing his fish.

While Kyle preferred to smell the bait.
Ops, my mistake--he actually caught that wee little thing. We ended up catching 7 fish that morning.
The next day Jennifer joined us on the boat.
And thanks to her and a rainstorm we had the best day of fishing yet--12, including Kyle's first steelhead.


Kyle and Dad left shortly after we landed so Ken, Jen and Chandler took us to Green Bay where we went to Lambeau Field.

And I demonstrated my amazing gracefulness.

Everyone was rightly impressed.

While none of us wanted to go home, that is the only way we were going to be able to BBQ up some of the delicious fish we'd caught.
Thanks again Ken and Jen for a wonderful trip!