Schabs 2023 North Channel, Lake Huron, Annual Fishing Trip Photo Report

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The 2023 Spanish River Fishing Trip took place from May 27th when myself and Paul Rauch arrived in camp to embark upon a week of fishing ahead of the large group of Schabell’s and Ryan Shelton’s group descended on camp on June 3rd, to celebrate my 76th birthday and finish out the trip on Week Two through June 10th.  The water was down about a foot, which caused us a few issues getting to some of our spots, but the fish didn’t seem to mind.  Bright chartreuse grubs and other assorted plastics were the top choices among our anglers.  Mark caught a 45 inch Muskie on a four-inch Yammamoto grub.  The conditions were ideal for surface bait fishing and the youngsters had a ball fishing with Whopper-Ploppers.  Each boat managed over 20 fish per day over the side, and about an equal number of fish got off before being landed.  Every fish that we caught, with the exception of walleye, which went in the box for dinner, were released unharmed.

Our Three Sets of Schabell Brothers on this trip - Lincoln and Jackson Schabell, Eric and Andy Schabell, and Mark and Dave Schabell
It took Mark all of one hour to boat his sixth major Muskie in our past four spring trips
Paul Rauch and I spent the first week and had a great week of quality fishing

Big Pike were the order of the day in Week Two.  Above Andy shows off a trophy Northern Pike, while the picture at lower right is Jackson who was fishing with me when we landed his 32 inch Northern.

Eric demonstrates the versatility of the fishery, with a Northern Pike - Smallmouth Bass double
Lincoln, our youngest member, displays a pair of quality smallies
He also landed a couple of Northern Pike
Lincoln's pike above is a clean, healthy 28 inch Pike.
My brother Mark with a Spanish River Northern Pike
I certainly caught my share of fish on the trip, and show a pair of North Channel Smallies. Most of my time was spent taking my partners' pictures.
I was happy to catch the photoed crappie in Gagen Bay. It is the first one that I had caught in a few years. It's good to see a population of them still exists.
My brother Mark makes a few last casts before calling it a day
Serious Canadian wildfires made for spectacular red-hued sunsets, but also made for smoky fishing conditions during week two.
A float plane stops by and drops off a few customers. Who says we are not a Fly-In Camp???
Randy Hater shows off a pair of Oak Bay Hawg Smallies. What tournament fisherman would turn his nose up at this pair of smallmouth???

Not to be outdone, Jackson displays a Smallie Double.  The ones on the right succumbed to his trusty Whopper-Plopper.

Andy is the king of the creek, which produced this nice pike for him
He also found a spot which produced enough walleye for our annual fish-fry

A Schabell Boys tradition is a visit to Lucky’s Snack Shack for a helping of authentic Canadian Poutine

Ryan Shelton displays a rare Largemouth Bass, which are not common this far north. This one weighed in at over four pounds.
Jackson climbs up on some rocks to partake in a mid-day "Shore Lunch."
Lincoln shows off a quality bronzeback

Andy and Eric both demonstrate the health of the smallmouth population with a doubles each

Ryan Shelton has been coming to the Spanish River since the late nineties when he and Nathan Seiter fished out of a 14 foot boat.  Ryan has improved his lot in life over the years, now fishing out of a bass boat with high speed capability and the latest in electronics.  He is an excellent fisherman who fished tournaments for years with the Kincaid Bassmasters.

The trio of Burt, Menkedick, Geiman trio stayed at an inland camp and commuted daily to fish the Spanish River
Lincoln Silhouette at Sunset
Never before have we experienced such calm, warm, consistent fishing conditions. It actually caused us to revise our tactics. The only rain experienced in my two weeks in camp was on the Friday previous to The Schabell Boys arrival, when we experienced a pop-up storm late in the afternoon while I was taking a nap.
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