The trip to Michigan for salmon fishing and camping was excellent. I definitely want to thank my friends Rob and Greg for inviting me. The trip was like being taken to school by the salmon. Many lessons learned. Here is the course curriculum for Salmon University.

SLMN 101 An Introduction - Instructor: Dr. King
I spent 10 days camping in eastern Michigan along the Pere Marquette river in the Manistee National Forest. The Chinook King salmon (averaging 20 pounds) are leaving Lake Michigan and running up river to spawn and die, completing their circle of life. At first, I was not impressed with the Pere Marquette river. The quality of water looked like that of the many industrial rivers I grew up with in north eastern Ohio. However, once in the water, I noticed how extremely clear the water was as I could see the boots of my waders 3+ feet down below the water (and even retrieved the scissors I dropped). With the water being clear, the color is actually the sandy and rocky river bottom. In fact, eastern Michigan is known for its sandy ground, and the river is filled with logs above and below the water. Even on dry land you find many downed trees. A few places along the river actually look like a tree cemetery, dark and eerie with dead, decaying trees lying around. As you walk though the "tree cemetery", admittedly with thoughts of something grabbing your leg and pulling you down, the dried, dead tree limbs snap like bones under your feet, breaking the silent moans of the dead. The are many types of trees along the river including Spruce, Cedar, Birch, and Oak trees to name a few. The forest had a slight twinge of  fall color along with the beautiful green moss, ferns, and colorful mushrooms that occasionally covered the forest floor. Many other wild life was observed in the area including deer, hawks, owls, beavers, wild turkeys and grouse to name a few. I also brought my laptop computer along to get some work done. I would wake up, go fishing, come back to the camp site, fire up the computer and work for 5 hours or so, then go back fishing for a couple hours till dusk, come back to the camp site, and sit by the camp fire listening to the ball game or the Olympics on the radio. How great is that! Admittedly, I did not get as much work done as I should have.

SLMN 102 Physical Education - Instructor: Mother Nature
Holy cow! What a work out. Imagine putting on neoprene waders with heavy boots and the top of the waders comes up to your chest. Now, imagine hiking a mile or so up river with a nine foot fishing pole and net. The trail mostly follows the winding river as well as going up and down hills. Sometimes the trail is a narrow, sandy, muddy path on the edge of a 25 foot drop off to a pile of logs in the river. By the time you get to the spot up river, you are hot and sweaty. A cool dip in the water will do nicely. You wade into chest deep water, fighting the current and holding your elbows up out of the water for hours. The force of the current and/or water pressure begins to crush your toes. You decide to move on and must walk up stream in thigh deep water about 10+ yards. Something definitely spiritual about the very difficult walk up stream against the current ("Whoever is not with me, is against me..." Luke 11:23 comes to mind). Later, you decide to cross the river and hike up a 50 ft. sandy cliff. You get off the beaten path and take a short cut through seemingly virgin woods, climbing over and under fallen trees that lie crisscrossed along the forest floor. Its time to head back to camp. You're a bit tired from the activity and you are either too cold from being wet or too hot from the hike. What awaits you? Widow Maker Hill. You must climb a 100+ ft. tall hill at a 45 degree angle along very loose sandy trail to get back to camp located at the top. Now imagine doing this workout with a 20 pound salmon or two. Unfortunately, during these hikes, I split my waders and spent the rest of the week performing temporary repairs and drying out wet clothes.

SLMN 210 Snags, Cause and Effect - Instructor: Professor River
Snags, snags, snags. Get used to them. The particular fly pattern was called an "Egg Sucking Leech" and to reach the salmon, the fly must reach the bottom of the river. A river filled with logs and other hazards. Sometimes you could go an hour or so without losing a fly, then bam, bam, bam. You lose three or four in a row. I would say, on average, I lost about 8 to 10 flies a day. I easily used 80 flies during the trip.

SLMN 204 Advanced Knot Theory - Instructor: Dr. King
Obviously, with so many snags, you get a lot of practice tying knots. Also, plan to re-spool your reel at least once.

SLMN 227 Weather - Instructor: Mother Nature
As I said before, how great is this? I get to sleep in 55 degree weather (most of the time), fish for a couple of hours in the morning, work during the day, and fish for a couple of hours in the evening. Can it get any better? Why wouldn't more people do this? Then the rains came. It started raining Tuesday night and didn't stop (except for the occasional 20 minutes) until Thursday morning. It rained for at least 25 hours. I went fishing Wednesday morning (with my split waders) during the rain and obviously got soaked. The problem was, it wouldn't stop raining. I couldn't get a fire started back at camp (even paper would not burn the air was so damp). I spent the rest of the day and evening in my cold and damp tent. Now, occasionally, the body requires the release of natural waste products and the camp site had no facilities to speak of. For men, this is usually not too bad as we can perform this function standing up. However, even for men the need to sit is sometimes required. On this rainy day, I had such a need. This is difficult enough when modern day facilities are not available. Out in the open, wondering who or what is watching and the fact is that this kind of performance is not a flattering site. No wonder animals are so afraid of us. But to do this in the cold rain? No thanks. Sounds like a trip into town! I need bread and more flies anyway. During a couple of the warm nights, the crickets and other insects seemed to be have quite the party. I couldn't believe how loud they were. I was having troubles getting to sleep and actually thought to myself, "I need to go back to the city to get some peace and quite!" A couple of nights did see the temperature drop into the mid to lower thirties, but I did not notice until I crawled out of my sleeping bag.

SLMN 314 The Log, a Fish’s Refuge - Instructor: Dr. King
My first solid hit. Reaction time was good and was able to get a great hook set. The 20 pound salmon immediately jumped out of the water, then made a run towards a nearby log, stripping line from my singing reel. My bass/walleye instincts kicked in. I thought I would be smart and flip the auto-reverse on my reel. This would allow me to control how much line to give the fish and prevent my line from being twisted by stripping off the reel. I was quick and my hand was immediately back on the reel handle. But it was too late. I couldn't stop the handle from going in reverse. The salmon reached the log and broke my line. The salmon was my master. I was its slave.

SLMN 322 Momentum Physics - Instructor: Dr. King
Another solid hit and hook set. The salmon made a run toward the nearest log. "Not this time", I said to myself and I was able to turn the salmon away from the log. I actually had the salmon up stream on a shallow sandbar where I could easily wear out the fish in safety, away from logs and other obstacles. "The student has become the master", I thought to myself. WRONG! The salmon charges me. I've never seen a fish charge me before. Should I be worried? Should I get a red cape and shout, "OLE!"? No time to think. I was reeling in line as fast as I could to keep the line tight with no slack. The fish zipped right in front of me (could have grabbed it if I could think that fast and had that kind of talent). I knew I was in trouble. The fish had all the momentum plus the power of the river and I only had a few feet of line out. My line snapped and the fight was over. The salmon then began jumping completely out of the water doing summersaults as if to rub it in. The big show off.

SLMN 342 Snags Vs. Fish, a Comparative Approach - Instructor: Dr. King
I had been fishing this hole for days. Made hundreds if not thousands of presentations. There was a particular snag claiming several of my flies. I developed the skill to delicately negotiate the snag. One day, after fishing the hole for quite some time, I decided to move down stream a bit during a presentation. So my attention was not focused on the fly. I hit the now familiar snag and began delicate negotiations. Then, the snag started swimming upstream. "Odd.", I thought to myself. At about the time I realized I had a fish and not a snag, the fish realized it had a hook. The fight began, but I didn't get a good hook set. The salmon jumped and spit the hook. An evil thought entered my head. How many of those snags were actually a salmon and I was delicately negotiating the fly from its mouth? Let's not go there.

SLMN 349 The Study of Fluidity and Buoyancy - Instructor: Professor River
I was fishing in chest deep waters just up stream and on the edge of a deeper hole with the sand and gravel beneath my feet slowly being washed away. Suddenly, FISH ON! A brief but exhilarating fight begins as the fish runs up stream, jumps completely out of the water, and then breaks my line. This causes me to slightly lose my balance, enough for the river to sweep me down stream. Before a knew it, my rubber boots filled with air came to the top of the water. I could have put a hook in my mouth and been a human bobber if I desired. I was swept away by the river a few times during the trip.

SLMN 402 Senior Thesis - Instructor: Dr. King
Over several days it seems like I've made thousands and thousands of presentations. Lost more than several dozens of flies. I've been in the water for hours. My shoulders ache from trying to keep my elbows out of the water. My toes are throbbing from the water pressure crushing my feet. My lower back aches with pain after several days of hikes and standing for hours on end. The area where the rubber boots meets the neoprene waders have been rubbing against my legs and have caused open sores. The split in my waders have opened again. I'm sore, wet, cold and hungry. But I continue to make presentations for another hour. Thoughts of being a "snagger" enter my head. Most of the fishermen I met during the trip catch salmon by snagging them with a hook. Salmons' stomachs shrink to nothing during spawning. So they will only hit a fly out of instinct, annoyance, or keeping their beds clean. It is very difficult to get a salmon to actually hit a fly. I keep repeating to myself, "I am not a snagger. I am not a snagger". Another hour goes by and I start thinking about quitting. "Go get some food and some rest", I reason to myself. Sometimes I give in, and sometime I do not. I decided to stay and fish. Presentation after presentation after presentation. Snag after snag after snag. Then, thump. Instantly all the pain and discomfort goes away with this ever so slight tap on the end of my line. I instantly react and set the hook. Its a solid hook set. Now the fight begins. I happen to be by myself. There are logs on the far bank both up stream and down stream. A deep hole is in front of me and a shallow sand bar is behind me. I fight the fish for about ten minutes. The fish has made several runs towards both log jams. I decide its time for the net. The net, however, is on the bank about 10 yards up stream. I work my way up stream while fighting the salmon. I get to the net and am in knee deep water. The salmon makes a run for a log jam on the near, shallow side of the river. I run out into deeper water to steer the fish away. The fight continues. Each time I think I have the fish worn out, the fish makes another stellar run and rips a hundred plus feet of line off my reel in an instant. I slowly work the fish near me again. Then r-r-r-r-rip! There goes my line. I again work the fish in close and finally try and net the fish, but the fish has other ideas as it zips around behind me. Now I'm doing pirouettes in the river with a 20 lbs. salmon, a 9 foot fishing rod and a fishing net. I survive the encounter and the salmon rips another 100 feet off my reel making a run for the logs. The fight continues. A sharp pain runs through my arms which lack endurance for this kind of activity. My shoulders start to stiffen. My polarized glasses start to fog up. I am no longer cold. Instead, I am hot and sweating. This is turning into a very good workout. My friend's comment, "Only one out of ten salmon hooked are netted." starts to ring in my head. Fighting a 20 lbs. salmon with 12 lbs. test line in a river filled with logs and other obstacles definitely makes this a high risk, high reward endeavor. I again get the fish close enough to try and net. I stuck the net between my legs to free up my arms for the fight. When I went to get the net, the net was tangled in my boot! "One in ten. One in ten..." Working against the current and almost falling in a few times while simultaneously fighting the fish, I try to work the net free. In the mean time, the salmon makes another run and rips line off my reel again. All in all the salmon made at least 10 runs and I fought that fish for what seemed like an hour (but realistically only for about 40 minutes). Finally, I was able to net the fish. I didn't realize the size of the fish until I tried to lift the net out of the water. Holy cow! I put the fish on a stringer and put the fish back in the water as quickly as possible. I sat on the bank for at least 15 minutes totally exhausted. This fish weighed 21 pounds 2 ounces.

Graduation Day
Once again I have to thank my friends Rob and Greg for a great trip. I wish I could have spent more time with them. I had an excellent time fishing (even caught a few brown trout) and camping. Although it was as close to fly fishing as I have come (imagine fly fishing with an open faced spinning reel), I think I am ready for post graduate fly fishing studies. I look forward to the future with enthusiasm, courage, and hope. God bless and see ya in the water!