MANSFIELD — On June 1, 2021, Richland County native and resident David Bautz loaded his Jeep Patriot and drove 141 miles to a primitive campground near Atlanta, Michigan — a task he does annually, without fail.
Almost two weeks after arriving, he was reeling in what would turn out to be the fourth-largest bluegill caught in the state of Michigan for the year.
At the age of 71, with 68 years of fishing under his belt, my father David is a seasoned angler that has taken his share of trophy fish. He has spent his time on the water and paid his dues. He has done what all good fishermen do and he has endured hardships and overcome obstacles with an elemental tenacity that often defies logic.
Last year, just two months before his annual trip, he had surgery on both wrists due to carpal tunnel syndrome. His recovery wasn’t easy, mostly because it’s hard for a man who has been a tradesman and lived an outdoorsman’s life to not put his hands to use.
The tedium of not being active irritated him.
I remember about a month after his surgery he was discouraged; wondering if he could reel in a decent fish, or even net it alone. What about camping? All these years he has camped in a primitive campground and he didn’t intend to change that habit.
Whatever passed in and out of his thoughts, whatever doubt assailed him, if any, I imagine he asked himself one last question” Would he skip going where he could listen to the haunting song of a wild loon as he drifted off to sleep?
I imagine he must have thought of the nights he loved to spend in solitude in the northwood country where you look up at the night sky and the stars are bright and close, because he took that trip to Michigan.
The week before his trip he practiced tying fishing knots. Although some of the pain had been eliminated, he did not recover any of the dexterity that he had lost. So he taught himself how to tie his knots with numb fingers.
He was going, even if he might not be able to fish as often as he was used to. After all, he had been returning to the same spot for more than 20 years to fish some of the most beautiful water you could see.
The water in question is Ess Lake, a small glacial lake in Montmorency County, Michigan, where he camps every year from Memorial Day through at least the second week of June. He has been taking this trip since 1997.
That first trip was my graduation gift from my father. We took three weeks to travel through the upper peninsula of Michigan and down into the northeastern portion of the lower peninsula where we stumbled across, and fell in love, with Ess Lake.
Dad was 47 then and I was 18 when we first slid the canoe onto the calm glassy waters of the lake. I remember being astounded at how clear the water was. I could see the bottom at depths near 20 feet.
We paddled near the shore where there was some vegetation growing in the shallows. I watched a largemouth dart from his cover among the weeds along the shore to run toward our canoe only to swerve off and head back in.
The longer I looked around in the water, the more aware I became that there were fish swimming everywhere around us.
It was like we were paddling around, and soon would be fishing in, a giant aquarium. Glancing toward my father, I could see that he was thinking the same thing. We each knew, from then on, that we would feel the pull and be drawn back to this small lake for the rest of our lives.
He has caught many trophy fish from Ess Lake and its various neighbors in that time. Two years ago he took up taxidermy as a hobby, and began mounting all the trophies he has been saving for the last 20 years. He has already mounted approximately 20 fish, and can tell you when each was caught and from where because each fish is journaled in detail.
Although my father keeps a meticulous fishing journal, he has only begun entering his catches with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Master Angler program in the last handful of years. Last year, it paid off. After all the years of journaling his time spent fishing in Michigan, his name was officially entered into the Michigan fishing journals.
The Master Angler Program is a recognition program for trophy fish caught in the state of Michigan. Qualifying entries must meet minimum size requirements to be entered. Anyone entering a fish receives a commemorative patch for each species they enter. At the end of each year, the qualifying entries are recorded in the Master Angler Database published in the annual Master Angler Final Report.
Last week at dinner, he announced that the Michigan record now states, David Bautz caught an 11 1/2-inch bluegill in Montmorency County, on June 13, 2021, from the Thunder Bay River. It was the fourth largest specimen reported for the year.
The record shows his fish was caught in the Thunder Bay River, but he said it was actually taken from Ess Lake, according to his journal entry that day. He notes that his bluegill was taken while he was bump fishing on Ess Lake, a combination of drift fishing and trolling. His lure was a worm harness with a nightcrawler.
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