A rainy and overcast day at the Pike; my camera lens was soaked! The water is full of debris from the trees above; I spent almost as much time untangling my line and cleaning my fly as I actually spent fishing!

Yet another fresh Male Coho (ok, by the time I shot the photo the vigor had left him). Same amazing performance as the week before; simply FLYING out of a deep hole into shallow water, this time after a Red-Headed Black Egg Sucking Leach.

Later in the evening I returned to the rivermouth (hadn't been there in weeks!). Sorry 'bout the shot; my camera lens fogged up! The mouth was open, surf casters were catching steelhead and browns in the Lake, looks like they were using spawn and spoons. Immediately inside the mouth were Coho; not fresh at all; perhaps fish which were coming back from upstream.

11-10-02 - It's all about the Pike River Coho's Baby!

Rivers Fished: Pike River (including the mouth on Lake Michigan)
Fish Caught: 1 fair, 1 foul
Outing Date: 11-10-02
Weather: Rainy and Overcast
Air Temp: lower 60's
Water Temp: considerably warmer than last week, but still cool
Water Level: low
Water Color: clear
Fish Species: Coho, Browns and Steelhead
Pattern Fished: ESL's & Wollies
Pattern Color: mostly darks
Fishing Quality: better than last week

Knowing that the Pike still held Coho, I skipped out on the Milwaukee today and instead was determined to get more Coho. I arrived about 11:30 am; it seemed that all the fish who scoffed at my offerings on Saturday had not bothered to move upstream. The same males, females, and the same little stinking 8" brown were in their same spots. Well, there were more of them than on Saturday. I again fished the same area, trying several different patterns. Eventually (about 12:30) I was rewarded with another Male Coho who exploded out of the same hole as last week, again pounding my offering (a Redheaded Black Egg Sucking Leach)! It's SOOOO cool to see these males hammer the fly, coming out of water about 1.5' deep into less than 6" of water, all just because they're MAD!

Well, I fished the pool immediately above the bridge at A, and found some more success with the red-headed ESL, this time on a male Coho in full breeding dress. I was able to sight fish him; took several offerings but what seemed to be the best was to cast upstream and retrieve across the river, in front of his face. Now I know there's at least one guy on the boards who'd accuse me of trying to floss this fish; sorry, no dice. This fish GOT MAD and opened up, taking the fly. In the relatively CRYSTAL water there's no mistaking a legitimate strike. Well, the first strike, I failed to set the hook in time, only to watch him simply spit it back out. The next presentation was better, and he hammered it with even more gusto than the first time! A quick fight, and he won, throwing the hook. Oh well, dashed my hopes of my first 2 fish day.

After a while I opted for something different, so I headed down to the mouth. Put in some lake casting (great when you have the wind at your back and a 9' rod with wf line ;). Wasn't getting out as far as the guys with the spoons, and space was relatively tight at the mouth, so I didn't fair well. Ended up moving to the interior of the mouth, just inside the river, where several fish were holding up. Got a couple strikes but didn't set fast enough. I did foul on a male Coho, and after again having to land him to remove the hook, noticed how bad of shape he was in. A closer look at the fish in the pool suggested that they were all old Cohos. I did see several steelhead and a few big browns taken from the lake; it appears mostly on spawn or spoons.

Fair Hooks!

  MP