By Mac Arnold
MAHFS Editor

We interrupt this pre-season obsession over the upcoming spring gobbler opener to steelhead and salmon fish.

The annual outing was basically shelved while I was recovering from my most recent shoulder surgery but here it is April and I actually feel fairly decent.

The initial question I had was whether I would be able to pull a whopper in if I did actually hook one -- it's been awhile -- then there was the casting part.

And even though the wall setup in Port Huron requires little in the way of casting, I still didn't think I could heft a fish over the rails if it was in the major leagues size-wise.

But then my coyote hunting pal George Boesch of Clinton Township sent an invite my way to either fish off the Lake Huron beach in front of his Sanilac County cottage, and/or depending on the weather, possibly out of his small boat.

Couldn't pass it up.

I just hope it isn't too cold but most of the steelhead trips I remember always come with runny noses and numb fingers.

It wouldn't be spring if I wasn't trying recapture the glory of the 37-inch, 13-pound steelie I caught off a Grand Traverse Bay pier with no net and 8-pound test years ago when I was attending Michigan State University.

Either method seems doable with my situation the way it is now just as long as I don't expect to zing casts 30 yards.

And now, this just in from George: If the wind is not permitting, it will be a coyote hunt across the street.

Already sighted in the .223 so it's all good. I'm ready for either one.

***

The search in West Virginia for my father-in-law, who is presumed to have drowned after falling into the Monongahela River on Feb. 28 while fishing from a dock, has been called off by search and recovery officials.

Over the past weekend, a Coast Guard vessel used sonar to look from Star City, W.Va., all the way to Pittsburgh, which is nearly an hour-and-a-half drive by auto.

Closure for the family will have wait.