100 Things I Like About Our Michigan Fishing Trips - Wilderness Bay

Thousand Island Lake at sunset.

Lodge, store, bait shop.

Gravel road to cabins.

Bear cabin by side entrance

We caught a lot of northern this trip.

We kept the cabin clean except for the floor which we swept on our last day.

It's always fun to run the boat.

Substitute chef Tom fillin in for Adam.

Our cabin the Bear.

This lure was a Christmas gift from Adam. It caught the most fish on the trip.

Tom, a casting machine. Can't we go in for lunch?

The road leading to the phone booth, fish cleaning house and the store.

The road behind our cabin leading to the cabin parking area.

Thrill Bill and the last catch of the trip, a large mouth bass.

Seeing my son Tommy and spending a week with him; knowing he needs this time away from his high pressure job that requires him to travel so much and spend so much time away from his family.
Spending time with his best friend Adam.
Visiting with Pat, Malinda, their kids, and Adam's little girl Sophia
Staying in my former house in Wisconsin, happy to see Tom's improvements, walking down to see Cross Lake and neighbors I knew from sixteen years ago.
Seeing Antioch.
Seeing a White Castle.
Having a real Chicago pizza.
Sunsets over the calm lake after a long day of fishing and a satisfying meal.
Guys being guys; guy talk; guy jokes; guy stories; guy trash talk; guy gas smelling up the cabin, male bonding for sure.
Remembering Adam's first tackle box/ food locker. Oooo Weee!
Telling some obnoxious guy who was worried about his raft to go inside and grow a ....
Showing Adam inside a fish's mouth and asking him what that looks like!
Catching fish, all kinds of fish, all sizes of fish.
It's a, it's a it's a bullhead!!!
You can still remember the sound of your shoes crunching the gravel behind the cabins.
The anticipation of the trip; counting down the days; buying new tackle.
Shopping at Bass Pro Shop and Gander Mountain.
Hooking up the boat to the truck and beginning the trip - we are finally off.
Somewhere down the road stopping at a McDonald's and getting something hot to eat and a hot cup of coffee. Delicious.
Listening to the navigation lady telling us where and when to turn.
Listening to Tom's ipad and 2000 songs like "You're a Rich Girl" by Hall and Oates.
Stopping in Eagle River and buying waterproof shoes and lures we couldn't find at the Bass Pro Shop.
Arriving at the lodge, driving to the boat launch and launching the boat
Parking the truck and trailer, meeting Tommy at the dock, buying our fishing licenses and starting our first day of fishing.
Coming in for lunch and unloading the truck and moving into the cabin.
Learning to cast over Tom's 20 rods that hang over the windshield.
Seeing my first robin hunting for worms in the grass in front of the cabins; we don't have robins in Arizona, but they were the first birds I would see the the spring when I lived in Wisconsin.
Eagles soring overhead.
Eagles swooping down the grab a fish with their talons.
The true story of an eagle husband and wife eating a northern pike who was hooked and wrapped around a tree stump, the line prevented them from carrying him off to their nest.
The stories of the fish that got away or the large fish that would swim up to the boat.
The sky filled with stars.
This year Tommy caught a northern that had line wrapped around his middle, before freeing him, Tom cut the line away - I wish people would not leave their line in the water.
Deer swimming across the lake to get to an island.
Deer coming right in front of our cabin to get a drink from the lake.
Loons calling, swimming, and diving under our boat.
Beaver swimming to their dams or slapping the water with their tails making a lot of noise.
Boating from lake to lake; opening up the Honda and motoring at full speed.
Knowing you have a big fish on; playing the fish; keeping the line taunt; working him to the boat; hoping he doesn't bite the line, break the line, or wrap it around the motor, or shake off the lure; working him close enough to net him; getting him in the net and in the boat; getting the off the hooks without hooking yourself; taking pictures; reviving him and setting him free; going back that night and having a cold Bud Light.
Adam eating a bowl of cereal in the morning.
Adam sleeping in a bunk bed.
Adam cooking some memorable meals.
Adam's romantic conquests.
Kidding Adam about his stories that go back to his prom.
Adam's and Tom's mug shots.
Adam and Tom and their incessant calls home to check in.
Catching small mouth bass.
Catching large mouth bass.
Catching walleye.
Catching perch.
Catching crappie.
Catching bluegills.
Catching northern pike.
Catching muskies.
Catching tiger muskies.
Catching anything big.
Catching fish on your rod and reel, a lure you picked out and tied on, your cast, you set the hook, you brought him in without paying a guide $450 to take you out.
Watching Tom or Adam catching a large fish.
Tom's data sheets: fish per person, species per person, per lure, per lake
Staying in our familiar cabin, the Bear.
Memories of former trips going back to 1972.
The different owners and managers of the lodge and our interactions with them.
Denver replacing a spark plug for us - a 6J6, a common plug.
The evolution of fishing with live bait to lures: night crawlers on Lindy Rigs, leeches, minnows, and worms on slip bobbers; Mepps spinners, all kinds of Rapala lures.
Bouncing shad raps off the bottom.
Using floating balsa lures and trying to cast 6 inches from shore or right next to a fallen tree.
Remembering catching fish in all the different locations, our favorite productive spots.
Figuring out the pattern.
Going out with just Adam when Tommy was sick.
Catching fish in all weather conditions: hot days without a breeze; cold days; windy days up to 60 mile an hour gusts; rainy days.
Accepting the fact that you were going to cast into trees, bushes, and logs and you are going to lose good lures every year.
No matter who catches the large fish you are happy.
Making our annual visit to Record Lake - navigating the shallow channels - looking at all the lily pads and fallen trees - seeing where we fished the first time we went to Michigan - Tommy was seven.
Remembering fishing at Record Lake and coming back in a lightening storm with our five horse motor and shouting out all kinds of nautical terms because we were so happy.
Remembering fishing in a small boat with seat cushions and you had to scoop water out of the boat in the mornings with a plastic bleach bottle.
Getting good equipment like waterproof shoes; it is so nice to have warm dry feet.
Looking forward to being there; being there; looking forward to going home; looking forward to going back next year.
Trees, trees, trees - looking for my tree.
Fishing off the pier.
Watching the excitement as other boats came in in the rain.
Finding a productive spot.
Saying "Wilderness Bay!"
Taking pictures.
Adam's DVD pictures.
Fishing Thousand Island Lake
Fishing Record Lake
Fishing East Bay
Fishing West Bay
Fishing Big Lake
Fishing Lindsley Lake
Fishing the channels.
Fishing by the Octagon house.
Fishing Northern Bay.
Fishing Weed Bay
Rippin a jig through a minnow patch.
Getting a double banger.
Eating steaks, cheeseburgers, grilled hot dogs, brats, Italian Sausage, tuna melts, grilled cheese and soup, salad, potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, corn on the cob, homemade chili, BLT's, and bacon, eggs, toast and coffee.
Enjoying the smell of the pine trees while smoking a good cigar.
Every year Tommy brings an old Indian blanket that belonged to my dad.
Having Tommy tell me one of his favorite memories was me letting him look over the front of the boat when he was just seven, he could look into the water and see the weeds, rocks, and fish while we putted in with our five horse motor returning to our cabin.