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I got a call from fellow Brownbagger and buddy, Jim Bringhurst, back in Oct. He asked me if I could join him for a trip to Lake Michigan in November. As we discussed his plans, my mind returned to the trip Mark K. and I made back in 2008 for the MT4 DVD project we were working on. By the way, I do have a finished DVD that we are still working on to put in the store as a streaming video that you will be able to download for $3.99.....same format as the Lake Tahoe brown trout DVD that is in there now. It has a lot of action on Mark and I sticking some nice browns ( Mark caught 2 over 10 LB. one morning!!) and some large macks. I hope to have it up before the end of the year. Look for the announcement on the home page soon.

Unfortunately, The Dinkmeister and I had planned a trip up to Kootenay Lake during the same time period, you can read all about that in my article "Kootenay Komeback" on the articles page. I am not sure I could have afforded the fuel for the 4500 mile round trip anyway. I'm sure even a "split-it" would have to run $700-800 each counting the boat gas just for fuel costs.

I got a call from Jim the other day with the score. He had actually booked with guide, Eric Haajata for a couple of days to learn the drill and the water. This time of year, part of the drill back there in Milwaukee Harbor, is to bait fish with egg sacs for the big spawners that are drawn into the bay to do their thing at the warm water discharges found in the harbor. Not doing well and really not all that interested in the bait drill, Jim was anxious the get into some trolling for the big browns and set off on his own. Good thing for him he did. As you can see by the photos, he did well. Scoring (7) browns on his best day, he also managed to stick (4) browns over 10 LB. during his week stay. His top 4 weighed in at 14.75, 14.25, 13.75, and 11.50 LB.! He was able to use (2) rods back there and did release all his browns.

The Great lakes are stocked heavily with both strains of browns, domestic and seforellen, and they do get big with an abundant supply of forage. In fact, the last two ( a tie) World Record Browns caught within the last year and a half weighing 41.5 LB. came from the prolific waters of Lake Michigan. If a guy truly wanted a shot a some big browns, this is the place to go.

Tight Lines,
Rick