The passing of a true salmon fishing pioneer, teacher, mentor and lure designer.
Sadly we lost one of the true pioneers of modern great lakes salmon fishing. Captain Joe Riefer of Condor Charters. If you did not know him, you should have if you did, count yourself fortunate. Joe and his wife/partner began salmon fishing on Lake Michigan and its tribs...Bear Creek, the Manistee and the Muskegon in the late '60s. In the mid '70s when fishing got good here they moved to Lake Ontario, specifically the Oak.
Joe was an innovator in salmon fishing techniques and lure design. He designed tested and perfected Pirate Spoons. He would spend the off-season cutting spoons and hammering them by hand. Many of the charter captains in the mid 80’s would wait in line to get one of his spoons.
There is no more productive spoon than his 44, on spring steelhead, bar none or the 06 (now the 66) as it was called on fall staging Salmon in the shallows in front of the wall at the Oak.
He taught or mentored some of the best charter captains on the lake today. His skill and knowledge of salmon fishing was unquestionable and he passed it along to many of his friends and colleagues.
Even after Joe stopped fishing, he and his wife Shirley continued to be involved by pioneering the first true successful web site for salmon fishing information on the Great Lakes, “At the Oak†which continues to be the model for a world class fishing informational web site. During the summer months as many as 1500 individuals would visit this site daily.
(Many of the new fishermen know him more for these endeavors than his fishing skills).
In Joes own words
“We admit that some of our primary enjoyment comes from doing what little we can to promote our fishery (it is world class) and especially to give anglers, from near or far, at least a starting point. Some areas we do pride ourselves on are the frequency of our reports, impartiality on Charters and lures, and above all, "tell it like it is" credibilityâ€.
We will all sadly miss Joe and his wit, and I hope you will all keep his wife Shirley in your prayers.
I know I will.
A devoted Friend and Student
Capt. Bob Songin
Reel Excitement Charters