Lake MI Kings in Wisconsin 2016
My long-time friend, John Beth, and his friend, Scott Allen, just returned from a trip to a Lake Michigan tributary, fishing for kings and browns.
Wisconsin has experienced more than its share of rain this year, and the river finally fell to just a little over 300 cfs. John was understandably anxious to get over and see what was going on. The water was still dirty, but fish could be seen splashing and moving, and so he and Scott stayed and fished. John nailed a king of about 15 pounds, and then a bit later, Scott hooked into a nice one. He had not caught kings before, so John coached him on putting the fight to the fish. No success. And then the fish jumped, and the reason was obvious—it was a really nice one. Scott fought, John coached and fretted, and finally the beast was subdued—but not before John had to reach arm deep and grab it by the caudal peduncle and shove it into the net. It was a 28 ½ pound king, 39 inches long. That was ol’ fighter! No wonder Scott had a hard time.
John, knowing that browns are usually in when the kings come in, and eat drifting eggs, drifted his egg fly down over a lip and into a deep hole and nailed a 28 inch, hook jawed male. Great battle, and great photos to follow.
Nice work, guys!
If you live anywhere close enough to Lake Michigan to get to a tributary, get there. Now is the prime time, and the fishing can be outstanding.
John’s king–nice but Scott has got you beat.
At a boy, Scott. Nice, nice salmon.
And, John, nice, nice brown.