And so it begins…

the 2010 pier fishing season that is.  Tonight marked my first journey out to the Grand Haven pier, where, more than likely I will waste spend countless hours this year trying to catch some illusive fish or another, mostly just enjoying the fresh air and sounds of the lake.  Typical excursions to the pier are more about clearing the mind than actually catching fish, tonight was an exception to that rule.  With the ice off the lake and the pier I tried my hand at steelhead and brown trout and came out with a brown trout, first of my life in fact, an exception to the rule.  Using some skein I had harvested from a female salmon catch last year, on a #8 plain shank hook with a couple of split shots on some 6# line turned out to be money and yielded a nice fish.

Tomorrow this tough, I mean really tough, skinned almost too pretty to clean fish will meet some alder wood smoke at about 190°F for a couple hours and hopefully serve as a delicious reminder to the excitement of landing him tonight.  Check back tomorrow for an update on the smoked fish.