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By Louie Stout

Anglers Salvage Cold Day on the St. Joseph RiverAnglers Salvage Cold Day on the St. Joseph River

I knew it was going to be a tough day.

First, there was the issue of answering an alarm clock at 4:30 a.m.
Haven’t done that since last summer.

Then there was the outside thermometer that read 18 degrees. A check of the day’s forecast showed it wasn’t going to get much better than that.

But I had committed to friend Scott Crocker who had a ride on a St. Joseph River Charter Boat and wanted me to tag along.

Now, I’m not going to lie. Winter fishing for trout and salmon isn’t my thing. But the winter had been long and I spent most of it lounging in my recliner watching sports.

It was time to get outside.

We drove through darkness to Shamrock Park near Berrien Springs, Mich. where we would meet Captain Mike Frank of Dial-in Charters. Frank, who guides 130 days a year, was taking a busman’s holiday and invited us along.

The good news was his 24-foot Carolina Skiff river boat had an enclosed, heated cabin. When you spend 70 days guiding clients during the late fall/winter months, a kerosene heater is a must.

The bad news is fishing prospects weren’t good.

“It’s been tough the past few days,” said Frank, a Niles resident who also runs charters on Lake Michigan during fair weather months. “The high pressure system today isn’t going to make it any better.”

Steelhead have been in the St. Joe since last fall and a few stragglers are still coming in. The steelhead will be spawning throughout the river over the next few weeks before heading back into the lake.

We idled downstream before finally dropping anchor ahead of some deep holes that create a crease in the current. Frank and Crocker set out a handful of rods with both diving plugs and spawn.

The gold-and-orange Worden’s Mag Lip wobbled wildly just off the bottom while the spawn chunk swayed with the current.

As we kept watchful eyes on the rods through plexiglass enclosure, Frank reminisced about the season.

“Steelhead fishing has been solid all year, but the walleye fishing has fallen off some,” he said while discussing last season river fishing. “We had a great year for walleye in 2017 and the steelhead fishing the past 10 years has been very good.”

To say the guy loves to fish is an understatement. He’s about to wrap up his river season and start guiding Lake Michigan at New Buffalo where he keeps a 32-foot Chris-Craft and a 30-foot Marinette. And when he’s not on the big lake, he’s bass fishing from his 20-foot Triton bass boat.

We hit at least three or four different holes farther down river before one of the Mag Lip rods began to bounce. Crocker leaned into what appeared to be a pretty good fish and worked him diligently to the boat.

“It’s definitely a nice steelhead,” said Frank once he saw the fish swirl near the surface.

We were cautiously pleased while realizing that you can never count on boating a river steelhead until you slide the net beneath them.

Crocker had this one close and was ready to call for the net when the line went limp and the bait came into the boat.

Close examination revealed the fish had freed itself when it bent one of the treble hooks.

Oh well. That’s fishin’.

We got our hopes up again shortly thereafter when a rod rigged with spawn began to move abnormally. Mike removed the rod from its holder, leaned into it, and sure enough, there was a fish at the other end.

Wrong species, however. It was a foul-hooked redhorse sucker.

Still fishless at noon, we began clock watching because Frank had clients coming for an afternoon trip.

The guide decided it was time for a change-up; he put out another rod baited with an old-school rainbow colored Hot’n Tot.

Five minutes later, that Hot’n Tot was in a steelhead’s mouth and headed for Benton Harbor.

Again, we urged Crocker to take the rod and redeem himself from the missed opportunity a few hours earlier. He did a masterful job, and after several tense minutes, guided the beautiful male steelhead into Frank’s awaiting net.

After some celebratory high fives and back slaps and a few photos, the steelhead was released back into the river.

Neither Crocker nor I wanted the fish and Frank was good with that.

“I give clients the option of keeping some fish but I promote catch and release of mature fish,” he said. “Unlike the salmon, these fish will return to the lake after they spawn.”

We returned to the dock before Frank’s afternoon clients arrived. Crocker and I headed for home knowing that it wasn’t a great day of fishing - but a good day to be on the water.

(For more information about charter fishing, visit www.dialedinfishingcharters.com or call Frank, 574-876-6653.)