Thursday morning dawned with almost no wind and we were chomping at the bit to see what we could find. After picking up some minnows at Pilgrims Village Resort bait shop, we were off to the launch in the campground. We launched there instead of over on Mitchell lake because we planned on leaving the boat moored in the channel right by our campsite, and Carol could then bring the truck and trailer back while I motored over to pick her up. We decided to look for crappie on a couple of bays on lake Mitchell in the morning, and then stop by the campsite for some lunch before heading out on lake Cadillac.
The water temperatures were considerably higher than I had anticipated, ranging from 64 to 68 deg. After talking with Wicklundrh (Rich) later that day, it made some sense that the water may have "turned over" creating those temperatures. Only a couple of weeks earlier they say there was still ice packs floating on parts of the lakes! We started to mark fish in the smaller bay in 10-12 FOW so we worked those fish for a while but only managed to boat a couple 8-10" fish and release one other. Working in more shallow, and out deeper didn't result in more fish, so we headed over to the larger bay. I worked around the bay with the big motor looking for fish, but just couldn't find any numbers. Our stomachs were talking to us, so we shot back across the lake to the channel and lunch at our campsite.
Gary and Tonda (Fishingcouple) showed up sometime while we were out, so we talked a bit and got some food. Ready2fish (Jim) showed up later and we all went out in our boats to find fish on lake Cadillac. Jim started working the west end of the lake, while Carol and I shot down to the east end and found fish in 10-13 FOW, 5-7 foot down. We managed 6 nice fish and tossed back a few shorts including a couple cats and a nice small mouth that Carol caught. She always catches the first and biggest fish! The winds and rain that was in the forecast started to move in so we moved off the lake.
The rain and wind continued all night, and somewhere along the line Jim and his tent got soaked and he called it a day. Carol felt so bad for him...me too I guess. Friday was a blowout for the most part and the rain let up just enough for us to start a fire and settle in for "Liars Club". RatCityHooker and Snowfish showed up and Snowfish whipped up some awesome bacon wrapped walleye kabobs. Kudos dude! Everyone else tossed some vittles on the table and we all enjoyed the fire, the food, and the fellowship. Joining us on Fri. were Skillett007, Hermin, Crappie 1 and Crappie 2, Wicklundrh, Vettes23, Dale and Janice (Rich's folks), Slab, Bob (Slabs BIL), Garhead, and cousin.
Saturday morning was the Relay for Life "Catching Crappies to Cure Cancer" tournament, and MICDC joined them to show our support. Most of the MICDC members entered the tournament and a few of us bought shirts to support the cause. Gold Coast Outfitters of West Olive donated a couple of nice rod and reel combos, and some other prizes. A big thanks to Matt and the staff for their generosity. Ed also brought up some donations to add to their effort. Even though the weather wasn't cooperating, they still had 50+ sign up for the tournament. They awarded prizes for the top 10 big fish for adults and top 10 big fish for children, along with raffling off a bunch of other stuff to all that showed up at weigh in. it was a great time for a worthy cause.
By the time the Relay for Life event concluded, the snow flakes were as big as silver dollars and coming down hard. Carol and I had stopped by the pavilion to check things out for our fish fry which was scheduled for right after the weigh in. To our dismay, the wind was blowing so hard that the pavilion offered little protection, so we all made the executive decision to head to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner instead. It was certainly much more comfortable in there, and made presenting MICDC shirts that Ed brought along much more enjoyable. I have to say that I am probably "fired" by Billbob as in all the changing of plans, I totally forgot the "Head Gewber" presentation to Ed.
Most of us gathered around the campfire Sat. night, but some of us wimped out...myself included. I think the trauma of terrible weather wore me out.
A huge thanks to all that attended, to the folks at Relay for Life for letting us be a part, and to Ed and his family for joining us in our spring SNOWFEST!!!
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