MILWAUKEE — When the sun finally approached the Wisconsin horizon to the west, the bottom of the boat bobbing 6 miles out into Lake Michigan was filled with the day’s spoils. There were 19 fish, from coho salmon to steelhead trout, laying around the feet of Austin Hays, Tyler Wells, Keegan Akin and Grant Anders.

“It was a very good day,” Akin said.

Those kinds of escapes can be difficult to find during a 162-game marathon of a season. But with an off day in Milwaukee on Monday ahead of a series against the Brewers, a whole host of Baltimore’s players took to the water.

There were the four Orioles in one boat, along with a guide. In another, several more players spent the day on Lake Michigan to fish, including Yennier Cano, Félix Bautista and Cionel Pérez. Between the two boats, they pulled in about 40 fish, and then donated them to the guides so they wouldn’t go to waste.

For many of them, it was an experience unlike anything they’d done before — even for the veteran fishermen, such as Akin.

Akin usually fishes along Michigan rivers in the autumn. But the Rockford, Michigan, native set the ball rolling for the fishing trip onto Lake Michigan with a text to his uncle, who works as a backcountry fishing guide in Alaska. From there, his uncle connected Akin with a former colleague who lives south of Milwaukee, and the venture created a memorable day amid an intense season.

“It didn’t disappoint. It was a lot of fun,” Wells said. “And it was beautiful because it was like glass. It was super calm. Just really relaxed. There’s not a lot of people out there. It’s just us four, our guide, we got some good music playing and we’re just catching fish for five, six hours.”

The whole operation took Hays by surprise. He knew Lake Michigan was a big body of water, but aside from the type of fish they searched for, there wasn’t much different from the deep-sea fishing off the coast of Florida he began doing in high school.

They used the same kind of reels, lines and trolling technique, guiding the lines slowly through the water. Hays learned how to do it with some of his teammates back then, and as he reeled in a large coho salmon from the lake, the technique all flooded back.

It might’ve been Akin’s idea originally, but in a sense, Hays was more well-versed in that style of fishing. Akin is more at home in a river, casting his fly reel as fish move upstream to spawning grounds.

“When I fish them at home, I can see them and am constantly casting at them. It’s a lot more work, and it’s a lot more action,” Akin said. “It’s a little slower [on Lake Michigan]. It’s just a waiting game.”

On Monday, he got to do that waiting game along with his teammates. It was a well-earned break from the grind that is a baseball season.

“I would’ve been OK not reeling in a fish all day,” Akin said. “I like sharing it more. Honestly, I do like sharing it more, seeing other people enjoy it.”

andy.kostka@thebaltimorebanner.com