I wrote an article for the site a couple of month's ago. Steve never had time to publish it so I just thought I would post it for people to see. Hope you guys like it.
Fishing the year of 2001
I had always been told, never to give people information over the Internet about myself, and to never meet people on-line but when I got an invitation from Ralf (Shoeman) to fish in his boat, for some reason I just wanted to. I had been invited to do other things with the members a lot but just said no. This time though, I said yes. Last July, was when I got this invite out on lake St. Clair, which I was shocked that The Shoeman invited me out. For a couple of days I thought about it and remembered seeing pictures of them all out having fun. So I decided to go. After about being 5 minutes late, I thought for sure they were gone. I was proven wrong and was welcomed by 5 guys, Shoeman, JNPCook, Northern_Outdoors, and SFK. At first I felt a little weird because I was on a boat with 4 guys I had barely knew but became more comfortable as the time went on. Ralf put us on fish right away to the point where we were catching them one after another.Ralf taught me a ton of stuff about the fish we were after and fish we weren’t after. In the 8 hours of fishing, I had learned more information then I had in the last 2 years. I also had caught many nice fish.
That Wednesday, again I was invited out to stony creek to try float tubing. I was again leary about going but was greeted by 3 people again, Northern_Outdoors, R. Jones, and Jackster. Even these guys were great and R. Jones also gave me some new flies.
We had a great time and caught many bluegills. Don, even was messing around with a nice bass that would not take the fly. We stayed until we were kicked out of the park.
From the last Monday on for next 3 weeks, I was fishing with the guys. On one of those days, I also met Lazy-Boy. We had lots of fun and traveled a lot of lake St Clair. We also talked to Esox and WalleyeMike a few time over the radio.
I was offered a lot more to fish with these guys, but declined for the lack of money I had. To save that, Ralf offered me a job at his shop and that ended up being the best job I ever had.
We did one more trip before the summer was over, Ralf and I. We caught many perch. I hooked my first walleye in over 3 years in Canada at the firecracker.
Ralf also caught a really nice small mouth that he threw back for another day.
In those 3 weeks, I had caught more fish then I could count and I heard some great stories. The guys had started fishing more up north and school had started which meant I could not fish with them. Then my family had decided to go to Ludington and their Chris (chef) had invited us to stay at the hotel he works at. He ended up giving us a great deal and my whole family had fun and Chris even told me where the salmon were.
Then the salmon outing had come up and the guys wanted me there. At first my parents said no, but then they let me with Don (Northern Outdoorsman) coming over to my house and meeting my parents, then my parents said yes to me going to the outing! Thanks Don!
So I borrowed my parents ASTRO van and was off to Muskegon. There I was greeted by many, such as Northern Outdoors, Bronchobuster, Queen Salmon and her son, Getaway, Neapolis, DryFly, Skipper, Deb, Mike and some of his friends. Saturday, we barely got into the fish except for Don who was catching trout left and right. I ended up fishing with Dave (Dryfly) in his double flyboat. These boats are really cool and with one turn around the bend, I wanted to buy one. I enjoyed many stories from Dave and some tips. What a great guy! We then ran into mechanical head and Duchess, his dog. When we got back to the campsite, and rodeo, lazy-boy were there. Later that night, Ralf, Chris, Splitshot arrived with quix20 coming later that night. Chris and Don cook up a great meal. While enjoying some stories at the campfire, ray (Splitshot) pulled out his “caller” and called in some owls. We had the whole campground at are campsite enjoying the owls fly around and calling to ray!
Sunday, I did not get to fish with them do to my parent wanting me home at a certain time. Thanks to Chris though, he told me some great hole. On my way to those holes, I ran into a big pod of fish and went on to hook many fish. There I fish with SIDESHOW from TSS who had taught me some tips and tricks. Many people complain about how bad people are on the river but what they forget to mention is the many nice people you meet on the river!
I ended up getting the chance to fish with the guys one more time before the year was over. This time I met trout that had already beat us out there. We fished many hours and out of 7- 8 guys I was the only person to catch a small goby! On the way home Don, John (JNPCook) and I stopped at the black river. The water was very high and it was nice to learn about a new area.
As The year of 2001 was about over, I got thinking, where would we all be without the help of Michigan-Sportsman? Nobody would probably of meet anyone. I didn’t have any friends that I like to fish with until I joined this site. It is great to hear how everyone is doing and also go fishing with them sometimes. I have learned many new tips and tricks from people on this site. I have fished many areas where I would of never thought about fishing. Even though most my family thinks I am nuts for meeting people on this site, I am so glad I did.
We all owe it to Steve. Thank you so much for your endless hours making this site great. If you’re a member and would like to meet some of these guys, DO IT, you will not regret it!
I also owe a lot of it to my parents for letting me go to these outings. Thanks mom and dad!
I can’t wait for 2002
That's it. I had a bunch of great pics but there are some problems with hunting-pictures.
Fishing the year of 2001
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