Answering fishing & hunting questions from readers.

I didn’t pass up this buck.            The author plays a 15-pound brown.

Got a question? I may or may not have the answer so give me a try.

I stockpile questions from readers, and when there are enough to fill a column, out they come. My reasoning is if more than one person asks the same question, it must be a good one.

Here are a number that have come since I began writing outdoor copy for my website.

I like to help my readers. If I can’t answer a question, I’ll try to find out.

Many questions are not signed or are written under a screen name, and frankly, the question is more important than who asked it. Such as these examples.

*What color floating No. 9 Rapala was your nephew, Casey Richey of Frankfort, Michigan, using when he caught the new Michigan state-record brown trout that weighed 36 pounds, 13 ounces, which has subsequently been broken here in Michigan and Wisconsin?.

He caught it on a orange-yellow (chartreuse) floating Rapala. It dives four to five feet on a steady troll.

*How long did it take him to land that fish?

It took him between 15 and 20 minutes to land the fish. The fish took out 150 yards of line, and that gave him some time to reel in the other planer board and lure.

*What is your favorite rifle for all-around big-game hunting?

A good question, and my personal favorite is my pre-1964 Winchester Model 70 in .264 Winchester Magnum. I've used it on bear, caribou, deer, and elk. Loaded with the proper 85-grain Norma bullet, I've shot crows at distances of over 300 yards. I made one-shot kills on the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore property years ago that was almost 400 yards. I had a solid rest and plenty of time to calm down, aim and shoot.

There also is a 7mm Magnum that worked like a champ with a big Alaskan moose and a New Mexico elk. I have a .22-250 that is great on coyotes and deer. My favorite rifle is always the one I happen to be carrying at the time.

George Richey with a beautiful brown trout.    I passed up this buck. No good shot.

*Have you ever caught a trophy brown trout?

I’ve caught hundreds of big browns, fish weighing from eight to 15 pounds. However, most of my big browns were caught in the late 1960s and through the 1970s. I probably caught and released several hundred big browns from the Platte River until 1974 when the Michigan DNR put in their lower harvest weir.

The private contractor hired to remove the salmon that year also removed brown trout and steelhead as well. As far as those jokers were concerned, all the fish in the harvest weir were salmon. The run petered out soon after.

My largest brown is about 20 pounds. I hooked one that would have weighed 25 pounds but lost it near the boat. I can blame no one but myself because I botched the netting job.

*Over 23 years with The Detroit News, and now a daily weblog.  Why?

The answer is simple. It's always been my intention to help people enjoy the outdoors, and there are still things left to be said. Knowledge gained over a lifetime of being outdoors can help other sportsmen. If I can help an angler or hunter understand a fishing or hunting technique or problem, so be it. Besides, writing outdoor copy is a love that keeps me going, and as a blog writer I am my own boss.

*Why have brown trout numbers declined in recent years?

Lots of theories are floating around, and all may have some merit. Some of the reasons include over-fishing, which is foolish. Even when browns were plentiful, many people put them back and they can be difficult to catch.

Other theories include planting the wrong strain of brown trout; a major lack of smelt, once a heavy forage base for browns  in mid- to late-April; a change in water clarity due to zebra mussels; increased pressure from charterboats (another dumb thought); poor planting techniques, heavy predation on fertilized brown trout eggs by alewives and smelt; and the list goes on.

Jack Duffy of Leland, who once held the state record with a 31 ½-pounder, told me that he has boated very few brown trout on his Leland charterboat over the last several years.

*Do you really pass up shots at whitetail bucks, and if so, why?

I do pass up shots at bucks every year. For me to shoot a buck or doe with a bow, it must be at 15 yards or closer because of my bad vision. I've learned how to pick spots, know how to remain silent and motionless, know when to draw and that allows deer to come close and within range.

The reason I pass up bucks (and does) is because I dislike shooting a deer early in the bow season. I want to know what else is out there, and then if I find a particularly fine animal, that's the one I'll hunt.

Over the years I've shot numerous small bucks. It's now my personal opinion that a small buck could be a big buck in two or three years if allowed to live. So they get passed up. The thrill comes from outwitting an animal, drawing down on it as if you were going to shoot, and then let it walk on by. In 1989, when Michigan's herd was peaking, I  passed up 45 bucks before shooting the 46th one.

To do that means hunting where there are lots of deer and some good bucks. However, all things change and a spot that was good five years ago can quickly go sour. It's a part of deer hunting that hunters must accept and deal with.

*I read your weblog three years ago about not getting a Tom. What’s up with that?

I ran into a very savvy limb-walker three springs ago. This gobbler was covering a good bit of ground, and although I had him patterned well, he was call-shy and decoy-shy. Such birds are a big challenge.

I did get into a couple of calling bouts with him, but if I called too much, he would shut up. If I called softly once or twice, and then put my call in my pocket, he would come closer, but would never come close enough for a shot.

I’d call once or twice, shut up and move in the direction he had to come, hoping to get within range. The bird would come out in a new area. He’s a smart longbeard, and if he's still alive and still in the same part of the Hoosier Valley, we might bump heads again. However, I think he is gone because I haven’t seen that ghost gobbler in two years. Someone else may have shot him but I suspect a winter coyote may have pulled him down. He was the toughest bird I’ve ever hunted, and one must respect such a bird.

*How did it feel to be castigated by a few anglers for writing about the Loon Lake perch fishery a few years ago?

Not bad. My job is to cover outdoor news and personal thoughts in my blog, and it doesn't bother me. I’ve deal with similar problems for 44 years. Three hundred people a day fished that lake for a week, andthey think  it's a  big secret? A few people complained but most are mature enough to know that with heavy angling pressure, the word will soon leak out.

I don't make the news but I report it. The weather took care of too much angler pressure because it began to rain two days before that story was published. The warm weather and rain made the ice unsafe. Some anglers think if they got in on the ground floor that it was their personal hotspot. Theirs and that of 300 others. This kind of mind-set stretches my imagination.

*Muskie fishing? Why bother with something that isn’t good to eat?

I know many people who enjoy eating muskies. I, for one, do not particularly care for them and would prefer to release my fish. For me, catching a big one reminds me a great deal of hunting gobblers.

There is a great deal of hunting involved in taking a big fish, and it can take years to catch a really large fish. My biggest is 36 pounds, which is a big muskellunge wherever it is caught, but among fanatics, it isn’t big until it cracks the 40-pound mark. Look for some truly good fish to start coming from Lake St. Clair.

*What three types of fishing do you prefer during the summer months?

That’s right down my alley. I thoroughly enjoy muskie fishing although I don’t get as many opportunities to fish them as I’d like. I’d love to find one or two people who fish Elk and Skegemog and Torch lakes, as well as Intermediate Lake, and wangle an invitation to go fishing with them. I’ll pay my fair share of the expenses.

Anyone out there willing to take an old dude like me out muskie fishing?

I enjoy walleye fishing as well, and spend a good bit of time on Lower Herring, Leelanau, Long and Platte lakes. The fishing can be sporadic on all, and weather conditions often determine success.

I also enjoy catching Chinook and coho salmon on Lake Michigan, and fish it as often as possible. I’ll spend at least two or three days chasing muskies on Lake St. Clair again this year.

Look for more questions and answers in the future. Stay tuned

Title: Answering fishing & hunting questions from readers.

Tags: ((Dave, Richey, Michigan, outdoors, send, in, questions, deer, antlers, trophy, browns, muskies, salmon, smelt))

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors