Doug Cibulka at McKinley Marina in Milwaukee with a nice catch of brown trout and steelhead that he caught along with Mark Walters.

 

Big City/Big Lake fishing trip

Hello friends,
This week I am writing to you about a go for it, type of adventure, that I went on with a good friend from my days of growing up in Poynette.

Doug Cibulka, who lives in Portage, and I spent three days fishing out of a canoe for brown trout on lake Michigan at the Ports of Sheboygan and Milwaukee.

Monday, April 7th
High 45, Low 35

Our original plan was to fish for steelhead on as many rivers in the area as we could fit into a three day schedule. The steelhead plan started out as planned and with good luck.
At our first stop, which was on the Sheboygan River in the Sheboygan city limits, I caught a two-year-old steelhead on about my third cast while throwing a rainbow trout “Rapala.”

Doug and I spent about three hours on different sections of the river throwing spoons and crankbaits with very little action. About 3 p.m. we tried “Plan B” which was to fish out of the canoe on Lake Michigan at Sheboygan harbor.

This would be my fourth attempt at trolling out of a canoe on Lake Michigan and I was confident that we would succeed.

I sat in the rear of my 17-foot “Old Town” canoe and Doug Cibulka was in the front.
We were using both, crankbaits and spoons and on this day I was the propulsion system.

There was a stiff wind out of the southwest and when I paddled south it was difficult to keep moving fast enough for our lures to keep moving at a presentable speed. There was also some pretty good, sized waves in the main harbor that left very little room for error if one of us made a mistake.

We had been fishing maybe an hour and were making a turn when Doug asked me if I had just pulled on his pole? I said no, and than a good-sized brown trout hit his lure just to prove I was not lying. It was at that time, that the Walters and Cibulka three ring circus began. Trying to land a five-pound brown trout out of a canoe in a stiff wind with no prior practice as a team takes luck and smarts.

On this day, I guess we had both on our side and the captain and his crew were all smiles as they resumed fishing. A half an hour later at the same spot, Doug Cibulka landed another brown trout of the same size and thus we headed to Milwaukee for the remainder of our three-day outing.

Tuesday, April 8th
High 46, low 36

There was a forecast for a cold rain to begin early this afternoon but that would not stop Doug Cibulka and I from fishing on Milwaukee harbor and having a good time while we were doing it.

We had our share of downtown culture shocks on this adventure and had plenty of laughs while observing them.
Today we put the canoe in at McKinley Marina and had a solid report from a local guide as we started our outing. We were told to go with red and copper flutter spoons and put some weight in front of it. Doug and I had traveled maybe 100-yards and were still very close to the boat launch when my pole started doubling over. If landing a car battery with wings and an attitude is tough when the man in the front of the canoe is fighting it, life is absolutely crazy when the man with the paddle has his chance.

Speaking of crazy, landing that brown trout was just the start of an inspiring day. We wore chest waders to keep us warm and dry in a steady, wind driven rain. Our biggest trout of the day was an eight-pounder and all three were on the red spoon.

During one break, which was taken in the truck, the idler arm bearing started spitting steel and making terrible sounds. We loaded up the canoe, found a car repair shop and just over a hundred bucks later were back on the road.
That night we stayed at a motel by Marquette University and the next day tried planer boards on Milwaukee harbor out of a canoe. The rainbow trout Rapala was the hot ticket and I think Doug Cibulka and I just came up with an annual trip!
Live large!
Sunset