I recently talk to a good friend of mine that's a charter captain on the great lakes. He follows the fish from one side of the state to another depending on what's biting. Captain Dan from Stormy Chinook Charters starts fishing in April from Lexington then heads to Drummond Island from the end of May till early June. From June to half of July he's at the tip of the thumb then he heads to Frankfort for the rest of the season. Like my cousin Jojo it's hard to know where Dan is half the time. His daily schedule during the fishing season is very rigorous, we met him at the boat at 4:30 am for the morning fish. He'll get done cleaning fish after 11 pm most nights. That's a crazy schedule and he's booked up most of 6 months. I couldn't last a week let alone 25+ years like Dan has. He says it's a love to do what he's doing, in some minds it would compare to torture. You can tell he really enjoys what he's doing as he sets up ten lines in record time, just don't touch the steering wheel or any other equipment unless ofcourse there's a fish on. Dan is driven to catch fish and it seems that’s a common denominator in successful guides. They start young and fish all hours of the day then develop a way to take others out to make a living. Drive is imperative but some use creativity to keep successful.
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| Stormy Chinook |
Jon Bondy was at the Downriver Walleye Federation meeting this month to talk about fishing the river. He started young fishing for smallmouth and walleye but was then smitten by an incidental catch, a musky. When a big fish hits and tries to yank the rod out of your hands while taking line out of the reel it's an exhilarating experience, one you tend to remember. Jon couldn't forget and the passion he developed caused him to concentrate on catching these fish and using some extreme measures. At least that's how the clubs musky expert tells it. Mr. Johnson also has the musky fever and while he was trying to treat it one day a kid in a tiny boat came up and started to follow him. Mr. Johnson enjoys his solitude during these musky fever treatments and so after some negotiations he showed the kid how he was fishing and actually let him catch one of his musky. That kid was Bondy tying to learn everything he could about the ways of muskies. Jon used Mr. Johnson's techniques and caught many fish while trying different methods like casting. What he found was that after 9 am his catch rate really dropped off causing him to think the fish were moving into deep water. After all that's where he was making the incidental catches fishing for walleye. So after much trial and error he came up with the Bondy bait.
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| Bondy bait |
The baits have been around for a while and Jon has been on many outdoor TV shows and in many outdoor magazines. A smaller version is out now and are being used to catch lake trout and also some saltwater fish. It's nice to see a local guy make good even if he's on the wrong side of the river. Another guide often seen on the Detroit River is Lance Valentine he's often seen because he drives a big white boat and is hard not to notice. Lance's niche is walleye and he likes to talk about anything and everything about walleye. You may have heard of his Walleye 101 web site where the motto is “Teachin' fishin' ...That's our mission”. Check out his site for everything to do with walleye fishing from techniques on fishing, sonar use, gps workshops and fishing reports. His latest endeavor is “Catch For a Cause” along the same lines of Sparky Anderson's charity with a different kind of catch. It's a fishing tournament on Lake Belleville in conjunction with the HOSPICE of Michigan. There is a ton of prizes for a raffle that uses tickets won during the event depending of which fish you catch. There's also a bigger ticket raffle that anyone can buy a ticket to win. Visit Lance's site for more info or to buy tickets.
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| Lance |
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