The southwest corner of the state has some of the best trout fishing streams in the country, and don't evenget me started on the great hunting opportunities up here. Yep, I landed in the right state!
There are a number of tributary streams to Lake Michigan that turn into a great steelhead fishery each spring. Steelhead are nothing more than rainbow trout that migrate from the stream where they were born into the lake or ocean for most of their life; only to return to the stream of their birth to spawn as adults. Unlike true salmon which spawn once and die, steelhead return to the same stream year after year.
Spring's increasing stream flows trigger the fish to move upstream to their spawning locations. There are a couple of streams that I have fished many times since moving to Wisconsin in 1984. One of my favorites, Oak Creek, becomes loaded with steelhead; and steelhead fishermen, each spring.
I decided to introduce Diane to stream fishing the spring after we got married. Diane had never fished for steelhead, or any other fish for that matter, so I thought it would be a good idea to set her up on the shoreline next to a deep hole where she could catch lots of fish.
In no time at all, Diane was joyfully reeling in fish after fish. Now when steelhead fishing, as in most other fishing, you can fish for quantity or you can fish for quality. As a beginner, I figured I would get her started on quantity. I didn't want her to get bored by not catching anything.
That philosophy worked fine for a while; until Diane noticed that some of the other fishermen were catching large steelhead while she was relegated to catching fish in the ten to twelve inch range. It didn't take long for Diane to become impatient and ask, "How come they're catching big ones and I'm only catching little ones?"
Catching big fish requires different techniques than I had her using and I didn't think she was quite ready for fishing a drift in a snag infested stream without a bobber. I told her that I would take care of it and work to hook up a bigger fish that she could fight and land. She kept on fishing as I stepped a few feet downstream to work a chute the fish had to pass through when making their way upstream.
By the third drift through the chute I had hooked up a big steelhead. I worked the fish out of the snags and up into the hole and handed Diane the rod. She was delighted as the steelhead fought like all steelhead do, with a mixture of deep runs upstream and dances on the surface. I talked her through allowing the rod and reel to do the work of tiring the fish so we could safely land it. She followed my instructions and was bringing the fish toward the wall we were fishing from in just a few minutes.
Two young boys were fishing just downstream from us. They came rushing up with their landing net to help land the fish. They were young, but far more experienced at catching and landing steelhead than Diane was. That didn't stop her from trying to instruct them in what she wanted them to do to make sure she didn't lose that fish! The problem was, they knew exactly what they were doing and Diane's instructions would certainly increase the risk of losing the fish.
I just reminded her that they knew exactly what they needed to do to land this fish and she should just continue to follow our instructions and she would have the fish safely netted in a few seconds. She did and the boys had the fish in the net in nothing flat. They were so excited to be able to help her land her first big fish. She was so excited to have "finally" caught a big one!
We took a picture of her with her beautiful fish. (Keep in mind that this was 1988 and her hair and glasses were actually stylish then. Also notice her "June Cleaver-ish" approach to fishing while wearing earrings!)
Whenever I look at this picture I am struck by how excited Diane was with her fish. Maybe it should concern me that her dazzling smile is much bigger in this picture than in any of our wedding pictures.
That should tell me something; although I certainly can't dispute that the fish was a better catch.
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