Salmon Trumps Motion Sickness

Dawn breaks as we set out from Algoma, WI.

The fishing boat, the Grand Illusion 2.

Salmon trumps motion sickness
Pamela O¹Meara
Staff writer Lillie Suburban Newspapers

My box of flash-frozen salmon with a little lake trout thrown in was
delivered to my doorstep yesterday. As I eagerly opened it and looked at the
packages of orange salmon, my mind raced back to my fishing trip in Lake
Michigan. Besides catching the fish, the most memorable part of the trip was
the slow welling up of motion sickness and leaning over the edge of the
rocking boat to throw up.
The last time I threw up over the side of a boat was in Alaska on a boat
ride out of Seward to see glaciers and whales. That time, I at least I
discovered dolphins swimming alongside the boat so everyone came over to my
side to see them. Then the captain told me to sit in the back of the boat
outside in the fresh air to feel less sick.
And that¹s where I spent my whole fishing trip last week near the port of
Algoma close to Green Bay. But it didn¹t do any good. Josh, the captain¹s
first mate, slipped a motional sickness pill into my hand but told me it
probably wouldn¹t do any good at that point.
The boat rocked so much it was sometimes hard to focus my attention on the

Catching fish!

horizon so I concentrated on a low line of clouds instead.
The funny thing is I woke up before the fishing trip realizing that even
with my history, I hadn¹t thought about the possibility of motion sickness
on Lake Michigan ­ after all, it¹s not an ocean -- and I left at home the
extra and very effective motion sickness patch from my Gulf of Mexico
fishing trip last fall. Boy was that dumb. And the fact I had four hours of
sleep the night before probably didn¹t help the situation. We headed two to
three miles out in the big waves to fish, watching the sky lighten and then
turn pink on the horizon just before sunrise. It was beautiful.

Reeling in fish
Capt. Lee Haasch and Josh set up 14 rods around three sides of his charter
fishing boat, the Grand Illusion 2, a 34-foot Silverton equipped with all
the latest electronic gizmox and familiar fishing tackle, and we all watched
for our rod tips to bob down as we trolled. Three fellow anglers and I took
turns reeling in salmon and rainbow trout. Not surprisingly, I was the last
one to take a turn since I was preoccupied throwing up. Clenching the arms
of my chair next to the side of the boat in misery, I watched the others
reel theirs in from 150 to 200 or so feet down. Ed took the first turn,
Rebecca, the second, and Kristy, the third. They reeled and reeled and
brought up their fish. Josh expertly caught them in his net.
Then it was my turn. Seemed like I reeled a long time but suddenly my salmon

Me and Capt. Lee Haasch with a fish.

rose up in the air. I was excited. The fishing turned fun, even though I was
still feeling a bit queasy. Then the fish starting biting fast ­ two or
three caught in moments. Ed got a 10- t0 15-pound salmon, the biggest of the
six our group caught. Mine was about five to six pounds. Not too shabby.
As soon as I got off the boat, I felt better. Someone hung up our fish on
hooks the way you see halibut or salmon hanging up for viewing in Seward and
Homer, Alaska. We all took photos and felt accomplished.
We drove over to Bearcats, an old family fish house, to have our fish frozen
and prepared for shipping, and we sampled chipoltle and brown sugar smoked
salmon while we were there.
The next day, Ed and Rebecca and a couple of others went out fishing in the
rain in Lake Michigan and caught 10 fish all as big or bigger than Ed¹s from
the first day. That was impressive ­ a good reward for braving the rain on
Lake Michigan.
Ed had so much fish in his home freezer that he turned his share over to
Rebecca, Kristy and me to split three ways. So I¹ve now got a good stash in
my freezer and I¹m trying to decide if I should grill it, bake it or zap it
in the microwave. Friends offered several ideas for preparing it. I can open
my freezer door and admire the bright orange chunks of salmon.
So the moral of this story is the Green Bay area is a great place to go
fishing, but if you¹re prone to motion sickness, take precautions in case
the waves are rough. And then enjoy eating your flash-frozen catch delivered
to your door by UPS.

The catch of the day.