Icing Lake Trout: First Lifelisters of 2013

Lads and Ladies Lure Lake Trout - Higgins Lake, MI

Written by Joy Leisen, 2/18/2013

 

After a long hiatus from fishing, Josh and I finally got a chance to wet some lines this weekend since it was Free Fishing Weekend in Michigan. Even better, we arranged to meet up with Professor Fish and Carly for an afternoon- it's always fun to hang out with fellow roughfishers!

 

Josh and I got started on Saturday morning on Higgins Lake near Roscommon, MI. It was a calm, sunny morning and the lake was abuzz with snowmobilers and people enjoying the annual WinterFest near the boat launch. Armed with a lake map, we trudged about a mile out, then wandered around drilling holes until we found the shelf we were looking for, with a depth of 80'.

 

 

 

Despite setting out lively baits and performing some spirited jigging, we were completely snubbed at this spot- not even a nibble.

 

 

By about two or three o'clock, Professor Fish and Carly had gotten their shack set up nearer the boat launch, and we trekked over to join them. We had a nice afternoon/evening of conversation and hot chocolate sipping, but alas, the targeted smelt were elusive and sly and avoided our baits flawlessly. Even though the action was slow (nonexistent), Josh and I had a great time and were super glad to have met two like-minded anglers. 

 

 

On Sunday morning we sprung out of bed, ready to give it another shot. This time we headed out with our friend Garrett to a different spot on the lake. We consulted the lake map and headed for a ridge near a sunken island, about a mile from shore. 

 

 

Within ten minutes of setting up a tip-up, a flag sprung up and Garrett landed a nice lake trout. Encouraged, we got the rest of our lines out and hunkered down for some serious jigging. Luckily it was another gorgeous day and there was hardly even a breeze, allowing us to peel off some layers and fish in comfort.

 

After about an hour, Josh's tip-up flag heralded the arrival of a fish. Unfortunately it must have felt the hook and spat the smelt, so Josh dropped the bait back down.

 

Soon afterward I tired of jigging and felt inspired to drill another hole. Since I lack manly upper-body strength, it was a rather pathetic ten minutes before, breathless and exhausted, I finally succeeded in breaking through the foot-thick ice. I threaded a large headless minnow on the end of a heavy spoon and dropped it down. Apparently my laborious hole-drilling paid off, because after ten minutes of enthusiastic jigging, I felt something. When I set the hook, the line started whirring from my reel and we knew there was something monstrous on the other end. After a nail-biting 15-minute battle, I pulled my first lake trout out of the hole.

 

 

 

 

It was a magnificent beast. I wish I could have let it go, but it was bleeding quite a bit and wasn't going to make it. I always struggle with a guilty conscience when I decide to keep a fish, but I try to remind myself that we have to eat something, that it's just part of the circle of life, and that the meat will be well-utilized and enjoyed. 

 

After the excitement of adding the lake trout to my lifelist, I really wanted Josh to catch one too. Fortunately he got the chance about an hour later, when he noticed a rod going and grabbed it just before it got pulled down the hole. He landed this nice lake trout:

 

 

 

Josh let this one go. Now that all three of us had caught a laker, we were all satisfied, agreeing that any more action would be just icing on the cake. I was able to bring one more to the surface, and this was actually my first-ever fish caught on a tip-up:

 

 

This one was also released to swim another day. As darkness fell we took one last photo and hiked off the lake, satisfied with a perfect day of fishing.

 

 

It was an excellent weekend. We were so thankful to get the chance to hang out with Prof Fish and Carly, to log some hours out on the ice, and to add lake trout to our lifelists. We're looking forward to March 1st when our fishing licenses will take effect, so we can really get back into the swing of tracking down new lifelisters! Next on the list- burbot and smelt!

Caye Caulker 2: Another Week in Paradise

Caye Caulker Revisited
October 2012

---

Written on 2/4/2012

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Barton Creek Jungle Fishing

Jungle Fishing: Barton Creek Outpost, Cayo District, Belize
September 2012

---

Written on 12/31/2012

Joy and I lived and volunteered at Barton Creek Outpost in the Belizean Jungle from August 31 to October 2nd, 2012. In exchange for food and board we endured parasitic infections and a workload heavy on meal preparation, dishes, raking, and shoveling. Living in such a remote area was a new experience for us. Electricity was limited to the few hours each morning and evening when the generator was running. Gasoline was precious and, like food and drinking water, had to be brought in from the town of San Ignacio, which was about 7 miles but 40-some minutes away along a very rocky, rutted road. Creek water was pumped up to a cistern. Sometimes we washed dishes by candle or lantern, and the water pressure was pitiful. Yet, we could use toilets that flushed and even had occasional internet access.

Most afternoons or nights we found time to read or swim in refreshingly cool Barton Creek, which flows out of Barton Creek Cave just a few hundred meters upstream from the outpost.

The Outpost:

Reading Jeremy Wade's "River Monsters" book in a jungle hammock:

Joy cliff jumping near the entrance of Barton Creek Cave:

And, of course, we found time to wet a line and catch some new species. Joy and I each added 8 lifelisters from Barton Creek. We caught them from these three spots:

Now for the fish! We had anticipated the lack of tackle stores by bringing plenty of split shots, egg sinkers, and various sizes of hooks (including size 26 micro hooks) with us to Belize. But we had to find something to use for bait. Thankfully, the schools of tetras living in Barton Creek went nuts for bread or bread dough, pinched on a hook. The tetras bit day and night, so it wasn't too difficult to catch them and use them as bait for larger species.

We each caught the same 8 lifelisters at Barton Creek:

We caught dozens of Banded Tetras. These feisty little cousins of the piranha don't get much bigger than this and pose no harm to humans, but I sure wouldn't want to be a small fish or insect! The abundance and aggressiveness of these fish compensated for the difficulty of hooking them in their small mouths. Pieces of tetra meat were the bait that led to our other Barton Creek lifelisters.

Another ubiquitous species was the Northern Checkmark Cichlid (Vieja intermedia). Loose schools of these distinctive cichlids cruised around in the clear water and they were easy to catch on cut tetra, but the bigger ones were wary.

Although they bit best after dark we caught several Guatemalan Chulín during the day - when it was easier to get a good photograph. These are cool little catfish with really long adipose fins.

Another after-dark species we both caught was a species as unusual and unexpected as its name suggests: the Obscure Swamp Eel (Ophisternon aenigmaticum). A group of them lived under the canoe steps, and we'd see their heads sticking out when we'd go down after dark to rinse out the compost bucket. Not sure how many there were living there, but the most I saw at one time was four. Using live or cut tetra for bait we hooked these guys numerous times and failed before finally landing them. This is because upon grabbing the bait they would retreat under the concrete steps and would either bite the line or we'd be forced to break it when they got too snagged up to extract from their lair. Unfortunately, it was very tough to get an in-focus photograph of these slimy, squirming eels in the dark. We're both glad to have this strange fish on our lifelists though!

We did some snorkeling in the creek and saw some fire-belly cichlids and mollies (which we both failed to catch) and blue-eye cichlids. The blue-eye cichlids schooled along a rock wall in the deep pool where the canoes was kept. We did some fishing from the canoe and caught Blue-eye Cichlids and Belizean Silversides using micro hooks and tiny flecks of tetra flesh, freelined along the rock wall.

The canoe:

Blue-Eye Cichlid:

Belizean Silverside

At a spot a couple hundred meters up the road from the Outpost there is a bridge (see the photo of the spot above; this spot is actually a tributary to Barton Creek) where we saw some Pike Killifish, which appears like a cross between a guppy and gar. Towards the end of our stay in the jungle we each caught our lifelister Pike Killifish at the bridge. We also caught cichlids, catfish, and another lifelister, the Two-Spot Livebearer at this location. Mike's Place, where canoe tours of Barton Creek Cave are based, neighbors this spot, and we took time to do some zip-lining there.

Pike Killifish:

Two-Spot Livebearer:

The entrance to Mike's Place, with the beautiful tropical valley in the background and my beautiful wife next to the sign:

Joy zip-lining:

Mid-way through our time at Barton Creek Outpost we took a four-day trip to Guatemala and we lifelisted the Yellowbelly (AKA Salvini) Cichlid. After that, I caught one in Barton Creek:

We caught lots of fish, and more new species than I expected from Barton Creek, but we definitely worked for it! Here are some photos of us in action at the Outpost.

Kitchen work:

Digging out a Phoenix Palm for translocation...a dreaded task that was hard on the back and seemingly endless, but we finally prevailed! Laying belly down to pick clods of clayish dirt off the root ball was probably related to the development of a ringworm (a fungus common in tropical soil)) infection on my crotch. This gets my vote for my least favorite Barton Creek Outpost project.

Digging the new hole for the Phoenix Palm. Lots, and lots of rocks.

Making fresh-squeezed lime-aid! Delicious stuff, especially after working out in the sun!

Interacting with the kids...Joy and Cyan made jungle wreaths

We often spent the night in a loft at the Outpost, but when there were other volunteers to man the fort we sometimes got to sleep in our own little cabin in the jungle. We heard howler monkeys in the distance, and birds, insects, and some unidentified animals moving around nearby.

Our home in the jungle (some days/nights):

Joy loved encountering these big cane toads!

We also saw giant beetles, tarantulas, and various lizards and birds. The plant diversity was also astounding. Finally, we met lots of interesting people from various corners of the world, traveling for different reasons but all finding Barton Creek Outpost.

Here's a photo of a Jesus-Christ Lizard

Living, volunteering, and fishing at Barton Creek Outpost was a great opportunity and we had a lot of fun, but after a month it was time to say goodbye.

First we had to say goodbye to Justin, another Outpost volunteer that helped train us in. Here he is with Eva and her children, dressed up for a friend's quince años celebration.

Then, we worked with Danny from England and had to say goodbye to him the day he left the outpost.

Then it came our time to go, and we said goodbye to the Britts (minus their two older kids that were off somewhere else).

Tobacco Caye, Belize

4 days in Lifelisting Paradise
October 2012

---

Written on 1/23/2012

After we left Barton Creek Outpost (see Jungle Fishing blog) we traveled for a month before flying home. Before heading to the coast we spent a week in San Ignacio, in Cayo District, and went on several awesome tours. One day we toured the Mountain Pine Ridge, another we checked out the Mayan ruins at Cahel Pech, and before leaving Cayo we went on an epic and totally surreal tour of Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM).

San Ignacio, our "hometown" for over a month.

Rio Frio Cave entrance, Mountain Pine Ridge:

Inside Rio Frio Cave, Mountain Pine Ridge:

Joy swimming at Rio on Pools in the Mountain Pine Ridge. I opted to stay dry, as I was nursing a ring worm infection...

Joy jumping in at Big Rock Falls in the Mountain Pine Ridge.

Cahel Pech, located in San Ignacio, contains some cool Mayan ruins. We walked up a steep hill to reach them. Here are a couple photos from Cahel Pech:

No camera's were allowed in ATM, but I highly recommend the experience. After an hour van ride along the Western Highway and then down a rough trail into Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve, we donned hardhats equipped with headlights and hiked through the jungle, fording a stream three times along the way. The cave entrance was beautiful. Dense schools of banded tetra and loose cruising schools of northern checkmark cichlids swam in the ultra-clear water. Lush green jungle surrounded us, and the cave entrance held a deep pool of blue water. To enter ATM, we had to swim into the cave. Then we waded a mile into the dark (the water was frigid!), spotting catfish and signs of the Mayans before climbing into an upper passageway. There, we removed our shoes, and were lead in awe through chambers full of Mayan ceramics. How they got them up there unbroken, without flashlights or other modern technology, is amazing. But the climax, 3 hours into the spelunking expedition, was the crystal maiden, tucked away in an even higher chamber that we climbed up into, a full human skeleton - the centuries-old remnants of a Mayan sacrificial offering.

The way back was a worthy experience in itself. We took alternative paths where we had to shimmy through shoots of water in constricted passages. Finally, when we emerged into daylight, lunch and another hike in the warm jungle were welcome. While we didn't get to take pictures, any photographs would be poor subsitutes for the actual experience and memories from our adventure in ATM, the Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre.

---

After such a fun week in Cayo, it was hard to imagine things could get any more fun. Yet we were headed for Tobacco Caye, an island right on the barrier reef about the size of a football stadium, for four days of fishing. After a bus transfer in Belmopan, the capitol of Belize, we were conveyed through the Maya Mountains along the beautiful Hummingbird Highway to Dangriga, a laid-back fishing town on the coast, where we negotiated transport to Tobacco Caye.

Capitol buildings in Belmopan, designed to abstractly resemble Mayan architecture:

We had actually planned to spend a night in Dangriga, but when we found the place we planned to stay closed we made the decision to head to the tropical island early. Luckily we brought some peanut butter, bread, rum, and 2 gallons of bottled water with us. Once on the island we realized nobody could accept a credit or debit card, and we didn't have a lot of cash. There are no stores on Tobacco Caye and the Belizean-owned resorts offered a 3-meal plan included with each night's stay. We stretched the trip into four days by negotiating 1/2 price for the first two days, foregoing home-cooked meals the first two days and instead choking down stale peanut butter sandwiches. We had just a few Belizean dollars which we exchanged for a couple packs of cookies and some french fries at the only bar/snack vender on the island.

The fishing, snorkeling, relaxing and reading in paradise made up for the meager meals on Day 1 and Day 2. The food situation improved dramatically on Days 3&4, with gigantic portions of delicious meals thrice daily. Thankfully, the boat captain ferried us to the mainland and let us get some cash from an ATM there to pay for the ride.

Approaching Tobacco Caye from the sea:

View from our cabin porch.

Note the fishable water in the lower right. We caught lifelisters from our porch! You can also see the barrier reef, which broke the big waves coming in from across the Caribbean. It was supremely relaxing and awesome to sit out on the porch at night, face a stiff sea breeze, and look up at the stars, contemplate, chat, and drink rum. The porch was also a prime place to escape the fiery midday sun and do some reading.

We even saw Caribbean sting rays from our porch:

We did a lot of fishing, and caught a lot of fish. I caught 12 lifelisters on Tobacco Caye (putting me up to 202 total species!): Beaugregory, Frillfin Goby, Sharksucker, Graysby, Yellowfin Mojarra, Queen Triggerfish, Sand Tilefish, Red Hind, Redtail Parrotfish, Longspine Squirrelfish, Bluehead, and Yellow Stringray.

Joy added 11 lifelisters on Tobacco Caye: Beaugregory, Frillfin Goby, Graysby, Black Hamlet, Doctorfish, Bluehead, Yellowfin Mojarra, Queen Triggerfish, Yellow Stingray, Peacock Flounder, and Longspine Squirrelfish.

Beaugregory hid in and around conch shells right by our cabin. Bread didn't stay on the hook well, and luckily I found small worms in the sand by digging. We each caught Beaugregory on micro hooks.

We also caught some Frillfin Goby, Schoolmaster, and Yellowfin Mojarra in the sheltered water near our cabin porch:

Frillfin Goby:

Crossing to the western side of the island the first morning, I caught some French Grunts that were schooled in the shallows by conch shells under a dock. I used some of these for cut bait, and watched as a pair of big Caribbean stingrays cruised through and tossed my bait in behind them. Suddenly something was running hard with the bait, and I first thought I'd somehow snagged a ray. But no, this was a fish. I played it in and saw it was a sharksucker, a member of the remora family! Nervous it might get off, I carefully tired it out and reached down to grab and lift it from the water. Note the disk on the head, which this fish uses to catch a ride on rays and sharks.

One of many, many French Grunts:

We also caught White Grunt and Bluestriped Grunt. Not lifelisters, but really cool looking fish. The insides of their mouths are bright orange.

White Grunt:

Bluestriped Grunt:

We dropped bait to the bottom of the deeper docks and pulled up some other cool stuff alongside the grunts.

Graysby:

Red Hind:

Joy got a Black Hamlet.

Doctorfish. These guys could really pull hard! We caught quite a few of them:

A big barracuda grabbed this Doctorfish while I was pulling him in. After tearing off some drag, the predator released its grip and I landed this poor fish. While I had targeted and had barracuda on the line, I failed to lifelist that awesome species in Tobacco Caye.

One afternoon Joy hung out to read at the cabin and I braved the direct sun to cast out to some deep water over the reef. I was rewarded with some really cool new species!

My personal best Yellowtail Snapper:

This unexpected Sand Tilefish. The black spots might be parasites...I don't think they would usually have spots. It was a very slippery fish, and pricked me good with its opercular spine. I managed a couple of good photos before releasing it.

On the very next cast I pulled in another unexpected and extraordinary fish. I felt like a kid in a candy store!

Queen Triggerfish:

I also caught a bunch of grunts and Slippery Dicks (a common type of wrasse). After such wild success, I went back and had lunch with Joy, and then we returned together.

Joy also got a Queen Triggerfish:

I caught a handsome Red Hind:

...and my first parrotfish, a type of fish I really wanted to get in Belize! This one is a Redtail Parrotfish:

We did lots of snorkeling amongst all the fishing. We snorkeled along the deep reef a couple times and the large coral formations and diversity of fish made it feel like we were swimming through a scene from a Discovery Channel documentary. We saw patrols of Redtail, Stoplight, Redband, and Princess parrotfish swimming around, stopping here and there to pick at corals. We saw Caribbean stingrays 4 feet in diameter cruising through the water column. We saw some sort of pipefish trying to blend in with some sea grass. We saw a trio of cuttlefish. In the nooks and crannies of the reef hid various squirrelfishes. Yellowtail Snapper swam over the top of the reef, tail swinging steadily from side to side, propelling the fish. Grunts schooled together and colorful wrasses flitted around near the bottom. Rock Hind slid sideways in and out of crevices in the coral. The clear water was deep blue, and we had fun doing flips underwater, loving where we were.

We also snorkeled in the harbor area, where a long metal box-like structure held a line-up of big, grumpy looking Green Moray Eels. Large schools of grunts hovered in the water, hardly moving as we swam past. Damselfish hung close to their territories, swimming in little circles. A huge ray almost swam into me. Yellowtail Mojarra picked at the sandy bottom, searching for invertebrates. A big barracuda swam off in the distance.

Finally, we snorkeled along the docks and sandy flats on the northwest side of the island. More mojarra schooled over the sea grass, and a few barracuda lurked near the docks. A huge school of Bluestriped Grunt sought shadow under the dock, along with thousands of tiny baitfish.

Then we fished some more, excited even more by all that was out there. Joy saw and sight-fished up a Yellow Stingray, making me super jealous!

But then, I caught my own!

Joy didn't take long to catch another fish that I would have loved to add to my fishing lifelist, but I was not able to get one. The Peacock Flounder!

We saw a crazy looking Spotted Moray Eel in a pile of Conch shells. We took turns trying for it, and we each had it take our bait several times, but we both failed to catch it. The hook kept coming out, or the Moray retreated into the sharp pile of shells and we were forced to pull until the line cut.

I also lifelisted the Longspine Squirrelfish. This wasn't just any lifelister, it was my 200th species, launching me into the "200" club. This was a big goal of mine for our trip to Belize, and another step towards my lifetime goal of 1000 species.

We tried nightfishing, and although it was slow, Joy managed to lifelist the Longspine Squirrelfish too.

Joy had trouble getting a Yellowfin Mojarra to bite, and she was relieved and excited when finally she hooked and landed one.

We also spent a good deal of time using micro hooks, and trying to catch Bluehead, a type of wrasse with an awesome color patter. It was challenging to keep the bait near the Bluehead without ubiquitous grunts and Slippery Dick stealing the bait.

Bluehead. The top one is an adult, the bottom a juvenile:

We also walked around and took some photos.

Black-throated Green Warbler (?):

Spotted Eagle Ray cruising past.

Storm coming in from beyond the reef.

After 4 amazing days catching dozens of awesome species, many of them lifelisters for one or both of us, it came time to move on to our next destination. The fact that our next stop was a seven day fishing and "touristing" stay on Caye Caulker made leaving Tobacco Caye a little bit easier.

Sun set over Belize, from Tobacco Caye. You can make out the Maya mountains on the mainland.