Wanted to try salmon fishing
My oldest son made a comment that he wanted to try salmon fishing. This is also something that I have wanted to do and as a family we eat quite a bit of salmon so I figured it would be a great experience and hopefully a fun way to stock the freezer full of fish. I was envisioning all four of us to limit out on fish and come home with a copious amount. I believe the limits would have been five total salmon and trout each so up to 20 fish and depending on the size that could be a lot of fish.
Got there early enough to stop at Selner Park and walk the pier
It was a four and a half or 5-hour drive for us to get there. It's apparently no major highway to take so it was a lot of very small two-lane roads with no shoulders zigzagging across the landscape. It wasn't too bad of a drive and we planned it to get there early enough in a day so that we could stop by a beach and stretch your legs.
The beach was great and had plenty of rocks for the boys to skip, and the beach went for a very long ways which meant we could explore by ourselves and be off without anybody really bothering us.
We were able to explore the beach all the way down until the very bottom of this image where it ran into a part where we couldn't pass without walking through the water and we didn't want to do that given the waves.
Light House & Pier
We also made our way over to the pier and the lighthouse. This gave us a nice little walk out and we got to watch some local fishermen trying to get some salmon. We only saw one kid you're lucky, and a salmon he caught was very dark which means it was already starting to decay as it was doing its spawning run.
Early Dinner and Sunset at the Hotel
We had an early dinner and went out to the hotel because we had a very early morning the next morning. But we got super lucky as this was the view from our hotel room is the sun was setting. It was an absolutely gorgeous night and we sat outside for a little while to enjoy the view and the colors before heading off to bed.
4:15am Wake up and Get to the Docks by 5am
415 came way too early, I got almost no sleep because the room ended up being very hot, and I just couldn't get comfortable. That was probably afraid of oversleeping my alarm and therefore woke up every hour or every half an hour and I was exhausted. Either way we headed off to the docks for 5:00 a.m. pick up and we would hopefully be off on our way. Before we left the hotel we all popped some Dramamine and ate a muffin with a little bit of water to hopefully help us from feeling too ill.
High winds and Waves - we all were feeling really sick!!! - Turned around
Captain was amazing. It was homewrecker charters out of Kewanee and he couldn't have been any better. He called me the week of and offered to cancel because the big 4-year-old fish had already started to respond run and most people want to catch big fish. We still came and was hoping to catch a few smaller ones, and when we got to the docks he told me that one of his friends had already headed out and reported back that it was very rough conditions. Being tourists and already there we said we were take a chance and try the charter since we all took Dramamine and we're hoping it would be okay.
Little did I know that 5 to 10 ft rolling waves out past break or a different beast. I started off the feeling fine and then the cabin got a little stuffy so I started to take off a sweatshirt and a half, the younger son did the same. It wasn't too long before it started to hit me that I was starting to feel pretty jewelry and an easy my oldest boy hung in tough saying he was fine but even after a while he started to look pretty ill. The lady gave us all a big bucket in case we got sick but luckily no one did. We got out a mile away from shore in the captain said that he could technically fish this but no one won't have any fun and it was probably unlikely we would really even be able to stand much to reel in the fish. We agreed we headed back towards shore both relieved and disappointed at the same time.
The captain was amazing, he refunded us I deposit and refuse to take a tip. I felt bad since I was willing to risk the entire charter fee when I said to leave the doc, but he told us just to come back in June or July and weather is calmer and we would get in a good fishing trip for the boys.
Worlds Largest Grandfather Clock
After we got out of the marina, it was still very early in the morning and I wasn't ready to drive home. I was in fact feeling pretty awful still and it took me a long time to stop feeling jittery and just the general feeling of being off and weak. We headed into town where they have the world's largest grandfather clock. They have a nice place there telling you the history of why it was built and when it was rebuilt.
Tried to see the Salmon run at Kewaunee Fisheries Facility
We also went off to see at the recommendation of the boat captain if we could see the salmon run at the local fisheries. We drove off to explore the area and it was pretty cool although we were a little disappointed. The fisheries had a lot of access to shallow water we could see dozen and dozens of salmon in the water. But while we visited the fishery was actually closed and the swim Gates were all closed and dried up. I'm not sure if they were done for the season, or if they hadn't started yet. The pictures of the holding tanks and Waters were much less impressive without the water going through so I ended up not taking any. But it does show the layout of how they help the fish come up stream at the fishery, they extract the eggs, and then they help return the fish back into the waters here for the next group after raising them.
They had a nice fisheries signage and they had a fun little path and follow the fish on the sidewalk stick to get you to walk around and take a self-guided tour. It was pretty interesting to see and everyone enjoyed the time of the fresh air and walking around after being on a boat and feeling so ill
Walked the Pier - and Beach again
Took a Tour of tug Ludington
We also took a tour of the tug Ludington. The interesting part is I have no idea what happened to my photos, or if maybe I was using my wife's phone. We definitely took photos although I cannot find a single photo of the tug or us on it. Much of the tour but just impressed to me on how small the quarters of the ship were and how they had somewhere between 10:00 and 20 men living and working on that boat throughout its life. The quarters were exceptionally tight and there was almost no room for anyone to have any privacy, or even get away. I would definitely recommend it if you've never been on a ship like that before
Headed Home - Will Be back for another try next year.
My oldest son definitely still wants to try salmon fishing so we'll probably go back next year. I'm not sure how I will do is this is not the first time I've gotten seasick and it's going to be an issue. My younger son says he has no interest in going at all so he may ditch us on the trip and do something else.
At least I told my boys that we have all learned an important lesson. They should not join the navy, they should not become a semen, they should not probably join the Marines or Air Force or any other activity that has a high propensity to put you in situations that can get you either seasick or air sick. We apparently do not have the ability to handle that well. Well it was just a pointing to drive back four and a half hours home and not have a cooler full of salmon, it was still a fun experience and we certainly tried to make the most of it.