Morning dawns at Peffley's Wilderness Camp

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Spring update

Hey everyone,

Hope you are enjoying the very slow and deliberate arrival of Spring this year. After being teased weeks ago with some temperatures in the seventies, it has been a treat since to get a sunny day in the 50's. Despite the cooler temperatures, I actually had a chance to get our boat (TrebleTime) out on Lake Michigan twice recently for some early spring coho salmon fishing. After neglecting the boat for nearly the last five years ( being in camp all summer, the home fishing season is pretty short ya know), it sure felt great to get her back in the water. It required a lot of cleanup, mechanical issues to address, new trailer tires and a handful of other things, but on the morning of March 31, we set in at Michigan City, IN for her "maiden" voyage in quite some time.

As luck would have it, the fishing Gods blessed us with some incredible spring salmon fishing which produced a three man limit in just two hours of fishing. It felt really great to be back on the water again, and also to know that I hadn't forgot EVERYTHING about setting downriggers, planer boards etc. that come with fishing the big lake.

With having a such a good time on the shakedown trip, and a favorable weather forecast for the next day, I decided to try to find a boat partner for the next day and return to the scene. Whereas the day before the lake had a pretty good residual chop on it left over from the previous days winds, this trip greeted us with NO wind and a lake as smooth as glass. Not necessarily the best conditions (sometimes) for fishing, but certainly pleasurable to us and comfortable to fish in. Any concerns about the smooth lake hampering the fishing were quickly put to rest as the first salmon came to the net about 10 minutes into the trip. A short hour and 20 minutes later, we were pulling rods to head in with another limit (2 man this time). Not quite the adventure and beauty of fishing Canada, but after a LONG winter it just felt great to be on the water again.

Speaking of Canada....rumors from Ontario also say that spring is SLOWLY arriving. Forecasted temperatures for much of this week and into next are in the mid 40's with some possible rain (come on RAIN!) and snow (yuck!). Still a lot of ice on the lakes, but nothing some warmer temps, rain and winds can't fix in short order if mother nature continues to trend the right way.

Approximately one more short month at home before heading up to open camp and as usual there still feels like a ton of things to get done between now and then to make the transition up north. As always, we are excited about another season drawing closer, as we know all of you are too. We look forward to hosting our guests again this summer and providing you an excellent fishing and/or family vacation with us. Stay tuned for more information regarding the status of ice out on Wabby.

Until then take care and hope to see you all in camp soon!

5 comments:

  1. Saw your salmon pics on facebook Dave, they look pretty tasty! Good read here too. I've been monitoring the weather up north as well, and hopefully the warmer weather is on it's way!!

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  2. Yea, these Spring salmon are pretty darn tasty (especially on the grill) but they still don't compare to those fresh walleye fillets caught from that cold Canadian water!

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  3. mmm, thick salmon fillets on the grill! but but but....the Earll's are READY for a stringer FULL of walleyes!!

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  4. So are the Peffley's, and I know a great place to get them!

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  5. Nice coho Dave. Look forward to seeing you real soon!
    Tom Casper

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