The Harbor Patrol, Madness On The Water

HARBOR PATROL

Ever been stuck in a slow-moving elevator when it’s nearly impossible to breathe because you’re packed in like big sardines in a small can? Ever been in a strange dark room, and can’t find a door to get out?
People get a bit claustrophobic under such conditions. Now imagine being in a boat with two or more lines down and trolling for Chinook salmon that range up to 25-30 pounds, and there are a hundred boats packed all around and there’s no place to go except around in what seems to be a never-ending circle.
That adequately describes what some anglers call The Harbor Patrol. Most harbors around the Great Lakes are quite small, and when the fish move in (like right now) before bolting upstream on the next rain, it’s touguh to fish. Countless boats follow the salmon into the harbor from various launching sites, drop some lines and begin fishing.
What many people find, especially on weekends, which can be worse than taking a beating, is it gets monotonous. The Harbor Patrol beats up your brain, and many wonder how they got into such a mess.
The answer is simple: they want to catch a big Chinook salmon. Some should be careful what they wish for because they might succeed.

RULES-OF-THE-ROAD

Everyone has heard about one basic boating principle. It’s called the Rules of the Road. When boats are nearly gunwale to gunwale, and bow to the stern of the boat in front of you, and someone nearby hooks a big rampaging king, those rules go right out the window.
All except one, and it’s a necessary rule for everyone to remember. Forget about which boat must give way: the only rule that makes sense is to do whatever is necessary to avoid colliding with another vessel. And that can be tricky when a salmon is hooked by an angler two boats over, and it suddenly leaps from the water and lands in your boat, along with a gigantic tangle of fishing lines from two or three other boats.
Even worse is when a big King wraps heavy mono two or three times around the prop and shaft, and the boat stops. The mess is worse than a four-car pile-up on Detroit’s Lodge Freeway during rush hour.
Civility and common sense fail when some idiot accuses you of trying to steal his salmon, as is you had anything to do with it jumping into your boat. People on the piers holler because they don’t have room to fish, and you’re being crowded too close to the jagged rocks.
Throw several big charterboats into the fray, and it turns into a gigantic mess because the smaller boats are soon forced into each other.
Does this sound like fun? Well, it can be, and it can be very nerve wracking. I’ve watched first-timers to The Harbor Patrol bolt for open water although it may take them an hour or more to thread their way cautiously through the floating mass of boating humanity.
The savvy anglers work the outside edges of the river current where it flows between the piers and into the big lake. They work the color line where dark river water meets clean lake water, but this can get a bit jammed up with boats as others see someone catch a fish.

Spoons and glow-in-the-dark J-plugs work as do luminous

• Little Cleos
• Kastmasters
• Krocodiles and
• other spoons

It’s when the sun goes down, and the night gets dark, that pier fishermen begin casting luminous spoons. The trick is to cast out, let the lure sink to bottom and then reel them slowly along bottom.
The average trolling speed also is quite slow but be aware that a very short 10-foot speed up-slow down can trigger a strike. Fish lures quite close to the cannonballs, and don’t be afraid to switch lures. The luminous lures work best just as dusk turns to dark.

Salmon trolling between the piers at

• Frankfort
• Manistee
• Ludington
• Pentwater
• Muskegon
• Grand Haven
• Saugatuck
• Benton Harbor

St. Joseph along Lake Michigan can be a hoot. Just keep a sharp eye out for people making sudden turns, and if you’re smart, you’ll get an early start to avoid the harbor area and its early-morning crowd.
Find a clear spot to troll just outside of the piers, and plan ahead to have plenty of open space around you. That works for me.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors