Some Pics from the St Joe outing

[gunrod]

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/user_gallery/gunrod/dsc00052.jpg

This is Shoeman with a beautiful Steelie he caught this morning. I will let him tell the story. He believed it was Skamani but I can't tell them from Steelies.

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Eric aka. Hasenpfeffer and some buddies. They later caught another and outfished everyone on Saturday.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/user_gallery/gunrod/dsc00047.jpg

Dennis (Mechanical Head) and my dad (riverrat1) with a nice steelie. Dennis was kind enough to captain us around on Friday and is a stellar guide. Thanks again Dennis.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/user_gallery/gunrod/dsc00046.jpg

Just a better photo of the same fish.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/user_gallery/gunrod/dsc00043.jpg

This is Spanky's ride. TBone, SFK and Shoeman are in the back. As you can see everyone is reaching for their cameras so somewhere you will see a photo of us.

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Mechanical Head captaining his fine SeaArk.

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A view of the St. Joe from my drift boat on Friday before everyone made it out there. Ok, that is enough. This post is probably long enough by now.

I am sure everyone else will have photos when they return in the next day or two. And stories to boot.

[gunrod]

It will probably be obvious from the photos but Friday was frigid, Saturday cold with a slight rise in temps in the afternoon and Sunday would have been warmer but a light wind reminded you that it was the dead of winter.

Flows from the dam really seem to activate the fish. This appears to be a great place to fish -even from shore- during the spawning runs.

[knockoff64]

Great pics, I wish I could have made it, but we had a great time today on Stoney!

It is a great fishery, I've seen 50+ fish hooked from shore below the dam in a single Feb. morning. I personally haven't done well there, but the guys who work wobble glo's well hammer them!

I would love to see an early spring outing on the big water out of St Joe. I Know the lake pretty well and can bring my boat.:)

[treehunter2]

looks like it was a awesome :)

[The Whale]

Beautiful pics !!! Nice job, looks like a lot of fun. Looks also that you had some great weather to fish in.

Whale :D :cool:

[broncbuster2]

WOW;
Sure wished i could have made it, looks like you guys had a blast (as usual).
Can't wait to see more pic's.
Do i see the beginning of outing #2, 2002?;) ;) :D

[gunrod]

The weather was brisk but when the sun was out and with the snow on the banks there is nothing more beautiful. Someone once said that they never saw a trout live in a ugly place was right.

I was already thinking about the next outing. Just for starters I have the weekend of March 8 thru 10 off. Other than that it would probably have to be weekdays.

[GoneFishin]

Nice picture taking GR.

Looks like you guys had a great time.

[gunrod]

Thanks GoneFishin, but the truth be known that is less than half of the pics taken. The rest just didn't turn out that well. Thankfully they weren't of fish caught. Guys have to catch more fish on the next outing so that I get more camera practice.;)

[TBone]

KO64,
I have the second week of April off. I plan to split time between St. Joe and the Detroit River. I only have a 16 ft so I watch the forecasts pretty hard. If they call for big water I'll vertical jig the trenton channel. Otherwise, I'll be over that week trying to load up on those tasty Coho and find a King or a brownie. Maybe we'll hook up then.

[hasenpfeffer]

Thanks for posting the pics gun rod. One thing though, I didn't outfish anyone sat, I was just a little bit luckier.
I'd be hip on another trip. I fish almost every sunday somewhere or another. In the winter it's mostly the joe. If I can get a whole weekend I like to head north. The joe is cool until the end of feb but after that on weekends it's not the most relaxing experiance. Trust me! Come march I only fish the joe on weekdays if I can get one off.
How bout an ausable trip? Getting skunked doesn't scare me. As long as I can watch the sunset from my favorite hole I'll be happy:D

[TBone]

I should have said the lake out of St. Joes like Knockoff was suggesting. I imagine that the river is pretty crazy once the steelies start running.

[Spanky]

hey guys, most any river gets crowded in the spring, so don't let that keep ya off the joe.But if you are lookin at april....well the fish are mostly gone up the ladder by the end of march.

I will let all my new friends know when I hear any GOOD news about the fishing at the Joe!;)

[TBone]

Thanks again Spanky. Everything you did was great. You are an awesome host and I'll look forward to hearing your reports!

[riverrat1]

I was going to post earlier but I had to wait for my hands to thaw out. I wanted to thank all the guys I met this weekend for a good time. Spanky, thanks for putting this outing together. A special thanks to mechanical head,Dennis, I enjoyed spending Saturday on your boat and learned a lot about dropback fishing from you. I want to thank you for sharing your knowledge and your time with us, your first-class individual. Hasenpeffer, thanks for the information on Saturday ,it put us in the right spot, you really know your stuff. Mwtrool, your great I'd fishing with you anytime, to bad ray kept hogging the rods.No Threat,thanks for the smoked fish, it was great. Splitshot,sfk, t-bone sorry I didn't get to spend more time with you guys ,next time. Shoeman glad we got time to talk on sunday before we had to leave. Stelmon,your a fine young man ,I was thrilled to hear you got your first steel. Stumpjumper and steinfishski sorry I didn't get to meet you guys hope to on the next trip. I'd like to tell anyone who does't go on one of these outings because you don't know anyone your really missing a good time, after about half an hour it's like you've known these guys all your life. Jack

[fishctchr]

I want to know how many times stumpjumper had to get out and chip the ice off the boat ?, and where are the pictures of him doing it ? Also what nice presents did you get for your birthday spanky ?, I'm sure shoe had something fun for you. Splitshot you need to fish on a boat without heat so as to save on your clothes bill. Did you break any rods on this outing ? Sure wish I could of been there to pick on you guys in person, instead I sat at home coughing my guts up. Love these winter colds.

[riverrat1]

going to have try this another time. My point and speak isn't working to well and the arthritis in my hands makes it difficult to type.I just wanted to say to all the guys I ,met over there, and I'm ready for the next one. Jack

[Shoeman]

Sorry Dave, I couldn't get that thing back from Don. They banned me from the Velvet Touch, I couldn't replace it. lol

[northern_outdoorsman]

Ralf...you are gonna get it back...just wait...it will be a good one!:eek:

[StumpJumper]

He must be waiting for the motor to burn up in it first! :D :D

[stelmon]

Im up for another st joe outing!

[Shoeman]

I hope to go back on the 9th or the 16th of February. A Saturday night, Sunday and Monday trip.

Anyone else game?

[Spanky]

I will be there for maybe a sunday, but not another 3 dayer.Well maybe a couple days we'll see:cool: I'll keep ya posted and we'll see whats shakin as far as work goes. Wife sure has been nice since I got back;) I need to do this every month.

Nope no funky presents, but I am too old for that stuff, just laughin and carrying on was present enough for me. I got a pretty big kick outta makin Stelmon into a river fisherman. I wish we woulda slimed hime though! just for the record it was 1:18 pm on sunday when his first steely came into the boat!

Been kinda numb all day, can't figure it out!:p

[stelmon]

I thought it was 2 o'clock? Spanky, thanks for getting me my first steelhead but I have beem a river fisherman for 6-8 years now. Started with salmon but never could get em steelies. Not anymore though. Oh My God I can't wait for the next steelie to hit!

[gunrod]

Now Stelmon is a river Catcher.....:D

[StumpJumper]

My wife said ok! I'm game. I can make it on the 10th.

[Spanky]

I almost forgot, I did get a present! Sorry splitshot, I forgot about that 20 dollar bill ya gave me for my birthday! Thanks alot! And to think those guys were saying you were cheap!:D

I think I'll use that 20 to pay for most of my EXTRA MINUTES on my celphone bill! You should let loose of some money and buy a good pnone so those of us who hafta answer the calls can actually hear ya!:eek:

Well I have already heard some reports of decent fishing since we left, I just keep calling em liars!;)

[northern_outdoorsman]

Let me know what weekend for sure so I can take Monday off!