When it comes to fishing Lake Michigan, as far as Marc Wisniewski is concerned, sometimes, too much prior knowledge or history can be a curse!

One of the greatest things, and one of the most frustrating things in fishing, is that there is never perfection. You can’t ever achieve a perfect score in fishing like you can other endeavors. There is no “300 game” in fishing.

For some people, this could be why they don’t like fishing. For most of us, this is what drives us. It’s a never-ending search to figure out where fish live, what they eat, and why they eat or won’t eat. It’s a lifelong study of recreational science.

I caught my first fish on Lake Michigan’s shoreline off a small jetty near St. Francis, Wisconsin in the spring of 1974. The rest is history…lots of history! Forty-eight years of slinging lures off piers, breakwalls, jetties, beaches and anywhere they will let me fish for Lake Michigan trout and salmon. That time frame probably translates to somewhere around 9,000 to 10,000 mornings or evenings chasing brown trout, steelhead and chinook and coho salmon.

With that much time on the water, you are probably thinking, “That old guy probably just knows where to go on any given day, tie on the right lure, make a cast blindfolded and catch a 20-pound brown.” Well, we know that isn’t even close to being the real story. Fishing is very humbling!

I have had several occurrences in the past two years that have made me stop and think about an aspect of fishing success and failure that I call, “fishing history.” What I mean by that is, solely relying on past catches and fishing experiences as the basis to plan your day-to-day approaches.

Now, I am not saying to just throw all your experience and stored knowledge out the door and to start from scratch every day or year. Everything you learn from a successful day, or an unsuccessful day, is building your life-long bank of fishing knowledge. Taking either physical notes or mental notes is very valuable in the big picture.

What I see, and hear, and am guilty of myself at times is strictly fishing “history.” The “I caught them here on the second week of April last year, so this is where I am fishing all week,” scenario is very dangerous. It can work occasionally, but on Lake Michigan, so many things change year to year, week to week, day to day, and even hour to hour that completely relying on history will lead to inconsistency.

The answer is a balance. Rely on your stored knowledge of trout and salmon behavior. Learn their reaction to weather. Know where to find baitfish and how wind and water currents affect baitfish positions. Learn how to adjust your tactics to different water clarity. Stay up-to-date and do your homework every day. Don’t just “fish history!”

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