The Great Loop: The one that didn't get away.

Leland Harbor is a small facility, maybe 40 slips and has a creek that runs maybe 300 yards to a dam. During the fall salmon run the fish crowd into this harbor so thick you can watch them jumping almost constantly. last night Skip and I fished for about an hour. Skip didn't get a nibble. I had 5 strikes and hooked 3 large salmon. The first fish broke my line due to a problem with the reel (this reel wasn't designed to bring a 20+ lb fish). The next salmon managed to shake the hook after a 10 minute battle. I played the third (and largest) salmon for about 15 minutes until the fish was wore out then slid the fish to the net (Skip was the net man). After two attempts Skip brought the net up with my lure firmly embedded in the net while the fish swam away. Those that know me will not believe that I said the following to Skip when this happened " Don't worry about it buddy, there's a lot more in the lake to be caught". Today Skip netted a nice Northern Pike for me (the one that didn't get away). Skip still hasn't gotten a nibble.

Left Leland early this morning and traveled 95 miles to Ludington Harbor. The lake was actually CALM. What a treat, the sun came out 1/2 way through the day. Tomorrow and Friday are supposed to be nice. We are two days voyage from Chicago (185 miles). I hope Chicago doesn't live up to it's reputation as "The Windy City".