This 9 lb. hen was one of the finest steelies I have ever caught. She was out of the water about 8 times and took 25 minutes to land. It's fish like these that keep me coming back for more every spring. 2007.

On March 28, 2009, Ryan was going to be home from college and said he wanted to go steelheading. March 28 dawned as a bright, sunny day; Ryan didn't roll out of bed until after 9:00 am - unfortunately, fishing doesn't seem to be very important now that he's a college man. He said, "it's probably too late now, huh Dad?" I said,"no we can go if you want". He did, and we finally made it to the river at about 11:30. Harvey was exhausted from our fruitless day and his surgery, so he didn't go. Six hours later, we returned with the limit pictured at right.

All in all, 2009 has been a fantastic fishing year so far! Steehead season was far better than the previous 2 years, and Houghton Lake was giving up limits of slab panfish and walleyes in the spring. Walleye fishing has continued to be very good into July. At left is another best friend, Mike, with a 23" walleye he caught fishing with me in May.

A fantastic day of crappie fishing from June, 2009! Actually, "day" is not the right word - it only took me 2 hours to bring in the limit pictured. Three of these fish were 11" - all the rest were 12 and 13 inchers, with two 14 inchers. For perspective, the walleye at bottom right is just 15".