Shore Fishing Tip

Fishing from shore is one of my favorite things to do. It is nice to feel the sand under your feet and some places you can fish multiple lines. There are times of the year where shore anglers have a great advantage. I have been salmon fishing and walleye fishing, and on more than one occasion witnessed nearby shore anglers out fish those in boats. That being said, how do you find a spot?

The WI DNR website is a great place to start. They have a lot of information on Great Lakes and inland lake access points. Their maps show trout streams and boat landings are also listed. You can search a

lake by county. The Lake Finder section will give you information on what lakes hold what species. It even tells you if the species is rare or abundant. 

One tool I use is a map called the Gazetteer. They make them for each state, and each page has detailed views of streets, rivers and show boat landings. I turn to the page I am on, and look to see what lakes and rivers are near me. If I am driving and cross a stream, I can pull over and see where I am, and follow the stream on the map until I see a public access point. This type of investigative work will find you great spots, plus you will have the satisfaction of having found it yourself.

In WI, the WI River, Wolf River, Rock River, Fox River are all waters where the season is open year round and the shore fishing is great. Look for areas near dams for early spring fishing. Montello  WI calls itself the "Shore Fishing Capitol Of The World" I am not sure about that but I do know I have seen many quality fish caught from the public fishing area right in town. The new dam with a fish elevator makes it a very nice place to enjoy shore fishing.  They even have built in rod holders.

No matter where are you located in the state, there are good fishing spots daily close. I have found them from Jefferson all the way top to Ashland and everywhere in-between. Nothin like stopping and taking a few casts to break up a road trip. The Kings Dam on the WI River near Tomahawk is one of my favorites.  

One time I used the Gazetteer to look for Lake Michigan tributaries in the Door County area. I parked the car and followed a trail along a stream. Once I got in a ways, I came across 4 huge Steelhead, spawning in the river.  I immediately stopped moving and used the most stealth approach I could  to approach close enough to get a cast. My heart begin to race, as I had never seen such huge fish in such shallow clear water. My spawn sack drifted by perfectly numerous times and they never even flinched. By the end of my attempts, I could splash my rod top in the water and they didn't even move. They had other things on their mind but the experience is one I will never forget. 

Another spot to look for is near bridges. Railroad tresses also create structure and will hold fish. Doing your homework at home really helps, but also having a rod ready and with you at all times, will pay off if you come across a good looking spot. Don’t overlook small ponds and bodies of

water that don’t seem like much. Google is your friend. Google searches and google maps, both will provide you with lots of info. Google maps will show you area of water that are deeper closer to shore. 

When casting from shore, it would be difficult to cast to fishable water when the 2 foot sand bar goes out 100 yards. (unless of course they are spawning there) But finding a place where deeper water is within a cast, you will have more luck. Bait shops and online fishing forums can be a great help. The forums must be taken with a grain of salt. Some are lying, or not giving any info. If you stop in to the ma and pa shops in the area, they are usually good about helping out.

Baits of choice to go with my car rod are a jig and twister tail, original floating rapala, husky jerks, and flicker shads. None of those need live bait. If you are planning a trip and can bring live bait, hooks and sinkers, 3 way rigs, floating jig heads, and slip sinkers all come along.

Find fishing buddies. If you are walking about a remote area, be aware of your surroundings. You would hate to become a victim. Safety should be a concern and I always advise Women to have a

safety plan, and to mentally practice it. If you don’t practice mentally, when

something happens you will freeze.

One benefit of being part of a club like WI Women Fish, you can ask a  club member to join you for a day of exploration. Ask for tips and starting points but keep digging deeper to find the best spots there are.

Keep a rod ready to go in your car and a copy of the regulations. Some bodies of water have different regulations in different sections do be prepared. The best anglers I know can find their own spots. It is a skill I try to personally work on myself, both from shore and in the boat.

Gin Review. Hendricks Vs. Kirkland

The chief flavoring agent in gin is the highly aromatic blue-green berry of the juniper. I have vivid memories of drinking gin as a youth and the taste of pine needles remains a clear and awful memory. I pretty much stayed away from gin since then, but in full disclosure, it was probably the cheapest rot gut crap available.  My good friend Pat’s love of Bombay made me rethink gin, and I did get to try Hendricks Gin at a summer visit to her house. I decided I loved it but what is better on a hot summer evening than a good gin and tonic. 

Keeping with the advice I gave my daughter when she was a young adult, I say you can drink cheap beer, but don’t drink cheap liquor. My favorite vodka is Kettle One, and I do prefer the Carmel flavor of E & J Brandy, which I know is not an expensive brand, but I like it.  Living a life as a single parent high end liquor was never within my budget, so its a good thing I mainly drank cheap beer. ( Bud Lite now  but early on it was Hamm’s). 

So now that I am older and get to splurge once in awhile, I choose carefully. I went to a party and a friend was serving Kirkland brand liquor and raved about the taste, quality and price. They were drinking whisky but raved about the other Kirkland brands of liquor. I have since bought the Kirkland Vodka and am pleased with that, but have yet to test in in a gimlet.

Back to the gin. Quality mix is important when you are talking about a Gin and Tonic. Don’t make the mistake of splurging on quality liquor and then going cheap on the wash. For this taste test, I used Fever Tree tonic which is excellent. It is available by the case on Amazon. 

I picked two matching typical WI supper club Old Fashioned mixed drink classes. They both had an equal amount of ice and I added one shot of gin. I then added two shots of the Fever Tree Tonic and squeezed a lime wedge of equal size in each glass. A slight stir and the tasting was to commence.

The Hendricks brought a smile to my face and memories of my summer at Pat’s house. I like this gin. It has a smooth light citrus with a hint of the juniper. It finishes smooth with a light linger, leaving you waiting for the next refreshing sip. The label includes flavors such as Juniper, Coriander, Citrus Peel, and Cucumber.  Hendricks runs about $30 for a .750 bottle.

The Kirklands, had more than a hint of juniper, and finished somewhat sharper. I liked it and had no flashbacks of my pine needle gin experience.  I will say that the Kirkland is $18.89 for a 1.75 liter bottle. The label claims Natural Botanicals and mentions Juniper, Coriander, Orange Peel, Rose, Lemon peel and a few others. 

As I sipped on the two drinks, I would take a drink of one, and thought hard about what I was tasting, then I would taste the other. As the testing went on, the more the ice melted the less of a difference there was. The price difference was staggering. Bottom line is, if money is no object, buy the Hendricks. They even come out with special summer blends that are extra fancy. The Midsummer solstice is a small batch, limited edition from Hendrick’s, that would make a great special gift to your special gin friend. 

If you have fishing tackle to buy, and are saving for vacations, you will be perfectly happy with the Kirklands. I am currently drinking in the face of the COVID-19 apocalypse so this may not be the best time to review liquor. At this point volume may outweigh quality. If you haven’t tried Hendricks you should. If you just lost $140000 in the stock market, and you don’t want to risk a trip to the store, the Kirklands will be great. I think I will pick up a bottle of Bombay someday, to do another test between Kirkland and Bombay. They don’t sell Hendricks in my town, and I am being conservative with my cash on hand.

One additional tip, add a splash of tonic to your other favorite drinks such as tequila and orange juice, or a screwdriver. Lightens it up and gives it a little fizz. 

They were both good.

Barbie Gets A Buck!

My first buck!

My early memories of deer hunting were of my Dad and brother donning their red hunting jacket and leaving for the woods to go deer hunting. It was an annual tradition. I was never invited and the thought of hunting deer was appalling.  Who could ever shoot one of those pretty creatures? I kept thinking of the movie Bambi. When they achieved success and brought home the dead deer to hang in the tree, I was mortified. I think I even cried. 

Fast forward 40 years, I actually have friends that deer hunt. One friend named Holly, cooks delicious garlic stuffed venison roast. In the past I had only ate venison a few times but didn’t care for it.  However, the way she prepared it was fantastic, and I found my views of hunting changing. When the next hunting season rolled around, I got an invite to tag along.

The first year we headed out to the woods before sun up on opening day. We were hunting on my property out of a deer stand built in a tree. Soon after daylight we heard shots ring out in the distance. My senses perked up and I nearly held my breath.  I remember hearing the snap of a twig and my heart stopped. I think the squirrels were intentionally trying to sound like a deer walking in the woods. I remember it was very cold. I lasted about 4 hours and headed to the house to warm up. I put a pot of soup on the stove and a couple hours later saw Holly walking back towards the house. She removed her blaze orange and left it hanging outside before she came into the house. Seconds later I saw a huge buck saunter through the back yard. I yelled to her that there was a buck in the yard and just like that it was gone. Buckless hunts continued for several years after. 

My house faces the wooded area where I hunt and often see deer. I had never actually seen one while I was hunting until a few years ago. That year I was hunting out of a ground blind, and saw a doe and a young deer walk by. My heart started beating and I felt as if it was pounding in my ear drums. Should I shoot?  It was in range but I decided I didn’t want to shoot a doe. It had a young one with so I would have felt bad taking it. I wanted my first deer to be a buck. I still remember the rush I felt just seeing that deer so close. It was the only deer within range that season. I wasn’t giving up though.

The next year I invested in a Wicked Ridge crossbow and practiced until I felt confident I could hit what I was aiming at. I chose some Muzzy Rage broadheads and soon had everything I needed to give bowhunting a try. I joined other gals who hunted but no one I was with shot a deer. I never got to experience that part of hunting but I knew I liked being in the woods. I enjoyed  the whole culture of waiting for opening day and planning the hunt. I was hopeful my time would soon come. 

Last year I set up my ground blind and decided to put a little more time in. It was easy just to walk out of my house and into the woods to my stand. Each year I learned more. Scent control, blind placement, food plots  and pre season scouting. I even had a couple Hawke trail cams out so I had proof there were big bucks around. I considered myself a deer hunter, even though I had yet to pull the trigger. 

The next season came and I was ready. Bow season opened but somehow it doesn’t have the opening day urgency that gun season does. I got set up and went to my stand one morning. I was alternating rattling horns and using the buck snort call. I realized that my call sounded more like a kazoo or bike horn so I thought I would watch some YouTube videos to get some tips. That evening I went back to my ground blind to give it another go.

What I failed to mention so far is that I have absolutely no patience. After about 10 minutes, out comes my phone and I start looking at facebook or playing solitaire.  I was entertained by a blue jay out my window and even video taped it as it chirped and scratched the ground. I played the video back at the bird just to watch the reaction. Every 10 minutes or so, I would use my call to snort like a buck and this time I thought it sounded much better. I was enjoying myself and felt somewhat on edge knowing something exciting could happen at any moment. 

I developed a pattern, buck snort, a game of solitaire, a facebook check, buck snort, solitaire, facebook check. All while glancing out the window of my ground blind every 30 seconds or so. Buck snort, window check and HOLY COW a HUGE buck walking towards me. I was about 25 yards away. My crossbow was at my feet and I tried to pick it up while barely moving. I set the buck call down on the metal  table next to me and it made a noise when it touched. The deer stopped. I know he heard me. I knew I only had seconds to get a shot. I lifted the sight up to my eye, put the cross hares on target and squeezed the trigger. The deer reared up, turned around, and took off running. I thought I hit it but now its was gone.

My heart was beating out of my chest. It was about to get dark and I didn’t know what to do. I picked up my phone and went to Facebook and posted, “Holy Crap I think I just shot a deer!” Advice started pouring in. “DON’T MOVE”! they wrote. “Stay put and give it some time!” 

I fought the urge to panic. I kept seeing my crosshairs right behind the shoulder blade. I thought how could I have missed! I know my aim was dead on target.   People were messaging me like crazy. “ Are you sure you it it”? They reassured me that if it reared up, I probably hit it. 

As darkness quickly set in I began to get worried. I dreaded the thought of not finding it. I called my neighbor Chuck and asked him for some help. He was happy to come over to help and once he got there, we started looking. It was getting darker and we were looking for any signs of blood. None were found. I paced back and forth with a flashlight hoping to see at least a single drop of blood. I searched for any clue that I actually hit it.  I began to doubt myself. I hoped I had missed completely so there would not be an injured deer or one that had died and wasn’t found. 

Right after we found him!

We split up. Chuck went across the fence line onto the neighbors land and I checked the wooded area towards where the deer ran. I realized I had to invest in a much brighter flashlight as by now it was really dark.  A trail separates the wooded area and the neighbors property and soon I saw Chuck walking towards me on the trail. My heart sank for a moment as I feared the worst. As he got closer I could tell he was dragging something and I ran over to help. When I got to where he was, I saw it. It was the biggest deer I ever saw. A 10 point buck! Chuck confirmed, “Yes it’s a nice buck!” I helped him drag it onto my property. I ran to the house to get my gutting gloves and my Real Avid Revelation X4 buck knife. I had this knife for a couple years and had never used it. It has a special  built in light that illuminates the area you are cutting. 

Real Avid Buck Knife

I got back to Chuck and the buck. I told Chuck, “I’m gutting it”. With Chucks guidance, I slowly cut thru the deer. Chuck was giving me some direction. I was surprised at how calm and not grossed out I was. I had visualised this part of the process as being much worse. When that was done I got my Honda Rubicon ATV and pulled the deer over to the woodshed where a pulley system for hanging deer had been in place for a number of years. It was the first time I was able to use it.   We hooked up the rope and the ATV pulled the deer to hang in the air. I was still in awe at how big it was. It was time for a beer! 

I called my original hunting mentor, Holly, and she told me I had to go cut out the inner loins so they didn’t get dried out. She told me how to do it and I went right back out and completed that task. The rest could wait until morning.  

I posted a picture on Facebook and the congratulations started pouring in. My friends who lived close by came over to see the big buck and I felt like I was walking on air. The next morning we took more pictures in the daylight and my friend Gary came over to help me skin it and cut it up. Once again I was surprised that it was not a horrible task as I had envisioned it would be. We fried up some backstraps and onion and they were delicious. 

Just like the fishing industry, Women are getting more involved in hunting than ever before. Finding a mentor is the best way to get started. I will never be an expert hunter, but I don’t have to be. Enjoying the hunting culture, harvesting your own food, and keeping the tradition alive are all benefits. I hope to invite a new hunter to join me someday. That is what it is all about and I will forever be grateful for all those who have taught me. Even if it’s just with a facebook message. 

Barb Carey is a USCG Captain and a Co-Host on The Woman Angler and Adventurer. She is the founder and President of WI Women Fish and is a member of AGLOW.

My 10 point buck mount.

Hungary for Fishing

Team USA and Coaches

The horn sounds. I swing the 12 foot pole in a giant sweeping motion flinging a delicate float into the water 25 feet in front of where I sit. I wait for the slight twitch of the float, and with a single lift of the rod the 4” fish that took the tiny bait, swings right to me. I unhook, toss the fish in the net and cast again, all in one motion. It’s a rhythm I have been practicing for months. To my right there is a woman from Russia. To my left there is a woman from England. The three of us, along with 85 other women from 17 countries, are on the bank of the Tisza River in Szolnok, Hungary. We are fishing in the 17th Annual World Championship Match Fishing Tournament. If you would have told me one year ago I would be doing this, I would not have believed you. 

The tournament consists of 2 days of fishing, four hours per day.  I have four teammates who are also on the river bank. We all are wearing red, white and blue fishing jerseys that represent Team USA. We’re all sitting on a “seat box”. The legs adjust for the slope of the river bank giving us a stable

Kristen Monroe on her seat box.

platform. The tray at the side of my chair holds 12  baseball sized balls of bait made from an assortment of “fish food” that get tossed into the water every 20 minutes. Another container holds a paste to be flung into the water every 30 seconds for the entire match. This is done to attract and hold fish in your area.  An inaccurate throw can send fish to your neighbor. The recipes for the bait are guarded like national secrets.  Live bait containers hold bloodworms, jokers and maggots, ready to place on the tiniest of hooks. 

Bucket of Bleak

Small fish are plentiful. It’s a time consuming struggle to thread thin bloodworms onto the tiny hooks due to what seems to be my oversized fingers. I feel my coach’s anxiety behind me and I know I am taking too long for this part of the game. I switch to a longer pole, hoping to get out further to get to the bigger fish. It works! Soon I am swinging back stout Catfish. Catching them as they pendulum swing back towards me on the 14 foot pole is a challenge. More than once I feel the pick of the dorsal fin stab me in the hand. My hands and shorts are covered in blood, but I am not fazed. My stress mounts and I try not to watch the woman next to me operate an even longer pole like it’s an extension of her body. She is swinging fish after fish out of the water like she is participating in an ancient fishing goddess dance I have never seen before. 

Rewind 9 months...I am talking to Mike McNett, board member of the US Angling Confederation. Mike was telling stories about his experience fishing in the World Championship Ice Fishing Tournaments. “There is nothing like it”, he says. I see the dreamy look in his eyes as he recalls the fond memories of fishing for the USA and winning the World Championship. I had heard of “Team USA” and had been following the Ice Fishing Team over the years. 

Our conversation took a turn and the subject of women anglers competing in World Championships came up. The US had never sent a team. The only competition for a women only event is Match Fishing, which is not well known in the US. Being an advocate for women anglers for the last 14 years, my mind began to race. My conversation with Mike unlocked the door and opened the floodgates.Team USA was assembled. Our team, consisting of  professional angler Shelly Holland, outdoor writer and avid angler Kristen Monroe, two experienced Match Anglers, Penny Smit and Elise De Villers, and yours truly. We would make the trip to Hungary along with our coach Mike McNet. Hannah Stonehouse Hudson was the alternate in the event something happened and one of us couldn’t attend.  Another coach, Atilla, Agh, was already in Hungary visiting family and he would be meeting us on arrival.

We set our focus on practicing this finesse style of fishing and needed to raise money to finance the trip. Penny and Elise reside in Florida and practiced on their own. Their prior experience representing South Africa in another World Championship put them way ahead of the rest of the team. Shelly, Kristen and I, travelled to Chicago to meet our coach, Atilla Agh. Atilla is a Match Fishing Champion, originally from Hungary who now coaches sports in the USA.  His coaching experience along with his Hungarian connections would be a great asset to the team. His help with logistical issues and obtaining high quality bait was invaluable. Mike rounded off the group as Team Captain. His experience with US Angling events would be a huge benefit. 

We met in Chicago to practice. A municipal pond held carp and bluegills with plenty of shoreline to fish.We sat at the picnic table which was filled with an assortment of Match Fishing gear. 

Practicing in Chicago 

Size 22 hooks, weights the size of pinheads, special floats and fishing line as thin as a human hair. Total finesse fishing...which is not my strong suit.  We each were issued four telescoping Trabucco poles from 8 to 14 feet long, which are basically high tech cane poles. A crash course in technique was given and we hit the water. 

The practice was interesting. We lost a lot of fish and had a lot of hooks in the brush, but managed to land a few. One pole was pulled in the water by a carp and Atilla jumped in after it. Shelly broke a rod and I fell in the mud. We laughed a lot and it was humbling, to say the least. I quickly went from being a confident angler to feeling like I had never fished before in my life. We left that practice thinking, “What have we gotten ourselves into?”.

Kristen Monroe with her catch net

Our practices continued. We shared videos and pictures and put in as much time as possible. We needed to raise $3000 per angler to attend so the fundraising was quite a burden. In addition to reaching out to fishing companies, we held a fundraiser in Oxford, WI, small town USA. The support from the local community was overwhelming. It seems as if the whole town came out, most wearing USA shirts. They cheered us on, donated money, sold brats, and rallied behind us like we were headed to the Olympics. It made me feel so proud and happy. The big fishing companies I work with really came through with donations. Clam Outdoors, Hot Spots Maps, Bast Durbin Advertising, World Wide Marine, Vexilar, Jiffy, Badger Sportsman, Off Shore Tackle, Stormy Kromer and Two-Way Fillet. Gemini Jerseys provided our Team USA jerseys and Frogg Toggs gave us rain gear. We looked like the real deal!

Team arrives in Hungary

Before we knew it, we were on a plane headed to Hungary. The first week there would be more practicing. It paid off as we doubled our weight in fish daily. We all caught lots of fish including catfish, carp, roach, bream, and skimmers. We were optimistic. Finally, tournament day arrived. Elise beat others in her peg. Penny caught over 300 bleak in one day. Shelly and Kristen both caught hundreds of fish.  At the end of the 2nd day, we didn’t catch enough in weight to beat anyone. We were exhausted, our fingers were bleeding, and we couldn’t have tried any harder.

After the tournament, we got cleaned up and went to the awards ceremony where we were treated to dinner and celebratory toasts. One by one, teams were being called up to the stage to be introduced. Due to all the chatting and laughing, I didn’t even realize this was happening. Then I heard the announcer call “Team USA”. Just then all heads turned towards our table and they began to stand and clap. They were giving us a standing ovation! This did not happen to any other team, not even the winners. It gave me chills and I was never more proud to be an American. The other teams witnessed our efforts, skill improvement, our hard work and dedication, which left an impact on them.  All the other countries were happy see that the USA sent a team. I felt so honored. It was an extraordinary adventure. 

While I am happy to be back home and fishing out of my boat, I was honored to have been chosen. I made memories for a lifetime and I am proud to have represented our country. US Angling has many teams that compete and I challenge you to go their website. You may find a team that you would like to try out for and create an experience you will never forget.  www.usangling.com

2016 Fish Camp Press Release

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:

Name: Barb Carey

Phone: 608-692-7386

Email address: icefishher@gmail.com

Web Site: wiwomenfish.com

WI Women Fish held it’s 10th Annual Fish Camp in Mercer, WI last weekend.  This year’s theme was chosen by a logo contest and Rikki Pardun’s, “Rosie the Riveter, holding a fish” won.  Three adjacent Iron County resorts, Donner's, Cedar Cove, and Cedar Lodge were filled. A new record attendance brought 70 women from five states including IA, IL, MI, WI and MN. The three day fishing clinic included various seminars, guest speakers, a fun tournament, and the annual WI Women Fish club awards. This annual event started 10 years ago with a group of 20 women camping and fishing from shore.

Over the last decade, the membership, along with the skills, have increased significantly. All of the anglers were able to get out on the water in boats, and hundreds of fish were caught. Fish were even caught on the lures sponsors provided in the goodie bags. The event was held on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage, and the fall colors put on quite a show. The morning fog created an interesting start to the Sunday morning tournament. Laughter and cheers could be heard coming from boats, indicating some were catching fish. The dense fog kept boats fairly close to the shore until the sun burned it off.

The Annual Club Awards were a special part of the weekend. Kori Snedigar won Angler of the Year; Christina Lemke, Rookie of the Year; Bonnie Timm, Most Improved Boater; Rikki Pardun, Service Award; Pat McGrath, Most Determined Angler; Paula Wilson, Most Improved Angler; Samantha Sukupcak the Mentor Award, and Holly Hanson, Meritorious Service Award for 10 years of contributions.

Sponsors of the event included Lund Boats, Jerry's Sport Service, Clam Outdoors, Plano, Cabela’s, Lake Fork Trophy Lures, Rod Sox, Off Shore Tackle, Turtle River Trading Co., Wampum Shop, Subway, Costa Sunglasses, IL Outdoors, RP Custom Lures, Northland Fishing Tackle, Dorn Hardware, Pure Fishing, St. Croix Rods, St. Croix Adventures, Skyline Lodge, Keweenaw Tackle Company, Vexilar, Ego Nets, Gateway Lodge, Ontario Women Anglers, Seafoam, Traditions Media, Great Wild Radio Show, Hobie, Hot Spots Maps,Cubby Mini-Mites, Fishwithme.net and Two Way Fillet.

2017 Fish Camp will be held at the same location on Oct. 6th - 8th.

Additional photos below.

Bonnie Timm with a huge Smallie

Rita lands a dandy

Tie for first place

PJ gets a Master Angler Crappie

Nice Crappie

Clam boat can fit a lot of anglers

Fish Cleaning class 

Dodie isn’t skunked

Rookie of the year, Christina Lemke

Four hours in the U.P.

Four hours in the U.P.

I was born and raised in the UP of Michigan which is probably the reason I turned out a little wild. I try to get back to visit as often as I can. My last 4 hours here made me realize, that this place is

Michigamme River

 still pretty wild. I was visiting with my Dad and we decided to take a ride out to my brothers camp. We got 100 yards down the road from his house, and had to slow down as we rode by the fox den that is in the same spot year after year. We always slow down when we go by, to see if the fox is around. Just a bit further down the road, there was a fawn that was recently torn apart by something. Of course that led to a conversation about wolves. On the ride out to camp, we saw about 15 deer along the highway, which led to a conversation about how this deer season, maybe we will see an actual deer. 

My brothers camp is located on the Michigamme river. It is one of my favorite kayak fishing rivers and a few years ago I took my friends on a trip there. We caught a lot of fish.

Waiting for dinner

We are going back this summer.  On the “camp” road we saw a Blue Heron fishing at the culvert. We startled it and it flew off, but it returned within a few minutes. I was wondering what fish were in the little stream rushed through the tunnel. Is was definitely hunting for something.

We rode around the old logging roads on the property but did not see anything worth noting. Except that the food plot was growing nicely. The leaves were still thick on the trees so we didn’t even see any birds.

We came back to Dad's house which is on a nice 250 acre lake. As we were standing in the yard, a huge bald eagle came swooping over head. It flew past us, turned around and came back. It swooped down near the edge of the water  and grabbed a dead fish. He started flying away with it, but dropped the fish back into the water.

Eagle in tree

The fish looked like a pike about 20 inches long. The eagle flew up into a tree and landed on a branch. The branch it was resting on was small, and it was swaying back and forth in the wind. The eagle had to flap its wings to keep from falling. I knew the eagle would go back for the fish and I wanted to capture it on video. I decided to try to get a better angle and ran to the other side of the house. As I got to the other side of house, I saw the eagle flying off with the fish. Dang, he was quick. I missed it. 

It started to rain so that put an end to our playing outside. We came in the house and watched the Packers beat the Lions. Technically the UP of Michigan is in Michigan, but most Yoopers are Packer fans. 

The rain continued and I had to force my dog Stella, a Boston Terrier, to go outside. She saw the rain and I practically had to push her out the door. I stood there waiting for her to come back and wondered what was taking her so long. I

Stella and the Partridge

tend to worry if she is gone for very long since the fox usually swings by the yard every day. She only came back after I yelled for her.  She looked like she had been up to something but I didn’t give it much thought. A little while later, I went outside and she was right there ready to come with me, regardless of the rain. She ran to the side of the house and was into something. I went to take a look and there was a headless partridge. It seemed fresh. Stella was munching on the bird.  She had extra interest in the exposed crop and she had a feather sticking out of her mouth. Did I mention she loves dead stuff? Deer parts especially. 

I wondered how the bird died. Did Stella kill it when she was out earlier? I felt it and it felt soft and possibly a little warm. It seemed fairly fresh. The only thing missing was the head. The rest of it looked perfectly good. I decided if Stella would have killed it, she would she would have been more fired up when she came in. I decided to clean the bird and Stella was pretty excited. She would have liked the whole thing given back to her. After all, she is the one that found it. After I cleaned the bird, I examined it and the edges of the breast meat looked a little gray. I was bummed. I was hoping it would be edible. 

Breast meat

I decided to place the breast and the carcass on the shore of the lake near where the eagle grabbed the fish. I brought Stella in the house and decided to grab the better video camera. A short time later I went back outside to find the dead partridge gone.  The only thing left was a pile of feathers. Dang I missed it again. 

My new mission is to film that eagle grabbing some food from the shoreline. I wondered if was the same eagle we fed on Thanksgiving a few years ago. There is a special bond that you get with animals that you share the same space with. Whenever I come here, I fall in love with this place all over again. I think Stella does too.

My bird dog