5-07-03 - The mouth of Wilmette Harbor.

The dog beach to the north of the mouth. Look at those waves.

Totally dark & cloudy....looks like the clouds came all the way down to just a hundred feet or so!

We knew we were in the right place 'cause the seagulls were going berzerk...it was a feeding frenzy...at least for them!

5-07-03 - We froze.

Rivers Fished: Wilmette Harbor, Lake Michigan
Fish Caught: 0
Outing Date: 5-7-03
Weather: Totally cloudy & winds from the northwest.
Air Temp: 40's
Water Temp: ?? - haven't replaced the thermometer yet.
Water Level: N/A
Water Color: Blue & Cloudy
Fish Species: None
Pattern Fished: MP's Stock Baitfish
Pattern Color: white & blue
Fishing Quality: too cold to fish!

You can never put in enough time on the water. Bart had made the trip to Waukegan on Tuesday; I got stuck working, so we decided that Wed. we'd try something else...Wilmette Harbor (aka. Gilson Park).

Got there about 6:15...the weather was cold and windy. Overall the conditions were very forboding for a human...ideal fishing weather! Bart noticed that there were seagulls everywhere..and they were actively feeding. We had found the baitfish. There were some spinning at the surface in the harbor. Now it was just a matter of finding their predators.

Bart started casting spoons, and I tossed on my 9 wt. with sink tip and a leaded fly I tied up; MP's Stock Baitfish. It's a white marabou pattern with lots of lead, flashabou and krystal flash (not to mention bright yellow eyes). It was the best baitfish imitation I could come up with in such short notice.

We set up by the mouth of the harbor where most of the gulls were congregating. The rocks to our back did give some comfort from the wind (it's amazing what a difference the trees just back on the beach make in breaking the wind). I tried a couple times to double-haul, but that was simply out of the question; the wind coming at our backs over the rocks simply killed the back cast dead. So for me it was the long-distance roll cast. On my best I was able to make it maybe 1/3 of the way into the channel.

Both Chromeseeker and myself had a couple hits...I found my best option was to let the fly sink and slowly strip-retrieve..about 2 seconds pause between pulling 1 foot of line seemed to work the best for enticing a take. Unfortunately none were very solid..but with a sand bottom and the "nature" of the hits I am confident they were fish of some sort.

Things went on, but conditions deteriorated...simply getting colder, darker, and more windy. By 7:30 we were chilled to the core and fishless (well, Bart did get an Alewife before I arrived). Oh well..you all know what they say about a bad day of fishin.

  MP