Results - Fly Fishing

April 25-27. 2008

Largemouth bass provided the competition for the fishing club this weekend in Chelsea, MI. The club arrived Friday evening and immediately started catching fish . Using a “touchdown worm” from their canoes, the anglers caught many big fish, such as Brian Kirkendall’s seven-pound bass. An evening bonfire featuring smores was followed by a 6:30 morning rise. A full day of fishing on Saturday was followed by continued success on Sunday, as the club used the canoes to fish the entire lake. As is always the case with club fishing, this was a catch and release event.

April 4-6, 2008

Notre Dame’s fishing club competed in its first two events of the season, traveling to Fishers, IN for the Ice Box Bass Tournament last week, and to Baldwin, MI for the WMU Steelhead Tournament this past weekend. In the Ice Box, the Irish four man squad placed third behind Indiana and Purdue, ahead of Ball State and Wabash. Garrett Coggon, Ted Kratschmer, Matt Dobertien and Matt Babcock competed against fifteen man squads which had all spent the day before practicing on the lake. Teams were driven on the lake by experienced bass fishermen in regulation bass boats. Matt Babcock caught the second largest fish of the tournament.

The club did not place in the Steelhead tournament, as the only prizes captured were a couple of raffled door prizes. The club will return to the Pere Marquette River with expectations of better fishing in the near future.  

March 23-25, 2007

The Fly Fishing Club traveled to the Pere Marquette River in Baldwin, MI this past weekend to fish for steelhead as they make their spring spawning run up the river. Attending members included Andrew Kowalski, David Patterson, Matt Babcock, Garret Coggon, Victor Zajdel, and Nate Wiegand. The fishing was slow the first day as a healthy dose of 4 inches of rain caused the river to swell well over the banks, making it almost impossible to fish in the raging currents. Fishing from 7:30 AM to 8:30 PM on Saturday, the club landed a total of four brown trout, along with a few other hookups and many snags. By Sunday morning the water level had dropped enough overnight to allow for better fishing conditions. By midday, the club had landed four nice rainbow trout and hooked several large steelhead. Even though the club did not catch any steelhead, it was amazing seeing numerous 20+ pounders leap clear out of the water before snapping the lines. It was hard leaving the stream without catching a steelhead, but the club will return in a few weeks to give it another chance. Overall, the trip was an incredible experience and a great way to start the season. Students interested in joining the fly fishing club should contact a club officer or the RecSports Office.