A Fishy Weekend.

Sometimes I feel like these posts are getting a little redundant.  Go out, catch five, come in.  Trying to jazz it  up a little has become more of a challenge than the actual fishing.  Anywho, I went out several times this weekend, had to, there was a full moon and I’m not about to pass that  up.

I started off the weekend heading down to the Trenton Channel after the storms passed through.  I arrived at the ramp around 9:30 pm and started to get set up.  The Wayne County Deputies must have thought I was crazy based on the looks they were giving me.  I don’t know what they were worried about.  The storm cell had split and was heading north and south of our location.  A few minutes alter I was back in my usual spot, lines down and starting my run.  Around 10:00pm I caught my first one of the night as I was taking in the light show.  I had lightning to the north and south of me and fireworks to the west. The only light I wanted to see was from the full moon in the east but the cloud cover was preventing that.  For the next hour I trolled around and caught absolutely nothing.  During times like this I tend to start questioning everything.  I was questioning whether or not the well ran dry, if the fish had moved, was the front causing lockjaw, did I have the wrong lure?  The gerbils were in overdrive in my head as I tried to sort out what I needed to change to start catching fish.  Around 11:00 pm I found out that I wouldn’t  have to change anything.  All at once the front blew through, the wind changed direction from South to North and the clouds broke and out came the full moon.

GAME ON!!

For the next 20 minutes it was organized chaos.  Landed 4, lost 3, threw back 4, back-to-back doubles, tangled leaders, weeds and a few sheepshead and rock bass thrown in for good measure.  I was bringing in what would have been number 5 when I hit a weed patch and my motor bogged down.  Once that happened the line went slack and the fish was gone.  After I got that all straightened out I was back at it.  After 5 minutes I hadn’t caught  anything so I pulled my lines and sure enough, my kicker and 20 foot lead were tangled.  Once I got them straightened out and back to fishing it didn’t take long and number 5 was in the cooler.

Tonight was a prime example of why there are other things to consider, when the fish aren’t biting, besides color.  Several different variables changed all at once and any one of them could have been the reason why the fish turned on.  The wind had shifted 180 degrees.  The front that caused the thunderstorms had blown through.  The clouds cleared out and the full moon was able to shine clearly.  The only two variables that did not change was my location and the lures I was using.  Something to remember the next time the fish aren’t cooperating.

 

Saturday night had me back in the same area, again.  This time I was a little earlier.  I wanted to run some spoons and it would turn out to be a waste of time.  The only fish they produced were blankity blanks, a 3 inch smallie and a few rockies.  Once the sun set and the moon came out I got rid of the spoons and replaced them with Rapalas.  Fishing was slow at first but I managed to pick up a couple in between clearing my lines from weeds.  Around 11 pm I decided to switch things up a bit.  I thought with that with the clear sky and full moon the fish would need something bigger and dark to contrast against the light.  I put on a F11 Perch and that made all the difference.  By 11:30 I caught my fifth and was ready to go home.  My friends Dave and Larry were out so I stopped by to see how they were doing.  They had 8 and they had also lost a couple of bigger fish.  We talked for a few more minutes and then I was headed home (once I did I got a text from them that they caught 10).  I was glad to hear Larry caught his limit.  After we went out he checked all his leaders a few days later.  Turns out that all of them were a 1 to 3 feet short.  Something to think about when the fish aren’t biting.

 

Sunday morning found me trying something different, fly fishing for carp.  I had tried to find places this year where I could try this but I was having a hard time finding any.  Today was a little different.  I had taken a walk through this area before but never saw anything.  This morning the winds were calm, the water was clear and the carp were everywhere.  The first place I stopped at was a culvert feeding a lagoon from Lake Erie.  The carp were in their just waiting for something to flow in to eat.  The water was very dirty from all the activity, especially after I spooked them.  Lesson number one, don’t spook the fish.  I waited to let them calm down and I was able to catch one, and that was a fluke.  I couldn’t see him take the fly, I just happened to lift up on the rod as he swam by and felt the pressure because he picked up the fly.  He really stirred things up so once I got him in, took a pic and then released him I moved on to other areas.

About a quarter mile down the road I spotted a few carp swimming about.  I worked my way into casting range and managed to spook the fish once again.  I now understand what everyone was telling me about when it pays to be stealthy.  I sat down once again and just waited for a bit.  Eventually some more fish swam into range and I was able to hook another one, foul hooked that is.  Don’t know how I did it but I managed to hook him right across that dorsal fin.  That made no sense since these flies are designed to ride hook up.  I could understand hooking a pectoral fin but not the dorsal.  Of course fighting this fish spooked everything in the area so I moved down the road again.   I found some more fish but this time I waited until they swam out of the area before I worked my way down to the bank.  I set up and waited and after a few minutes I saw two carp swimming my way and feeding.  I cast the fly a few feet out in front of them and waited.  Once the lead fish got within a few inches I gave the fly a twitch and that was all it took.  The carp turned and sucked up the fly like it was going to be his last meal.  A quick hook set and off he went.  Now I see why this type of fishing has become so addictive.  Seeing the take and the bulldog fight they put up is a lot of fun.  I can only imagine what hooking into a 15 or 20 pounder in open water would be like.

After that one I packed up and headed home.  I had one last thing to do for the weekend, smoke the walleye I caught back on July 3rd.  Turned out pretty good.  A little to salty this time but I’ll adjust that for next time.

 

So that was my weekend.  More walleye, my first carp on the fly and some smoked fish for the week.  Pretty good weekend.

Oh, and I went and saw Spider Man – Homecoming.

Life is Good.

 

 

7/3/17 and the Trip that Almost Wasn’t.

So there I was, sitting in the Emergency room of my local hospital Monday night, July 3^rd.  My original plan was to go out walleye fishing but a little carelessness on my part delayed that.  I had found a F7 Rapala and I was going to put it in one of my lure boxes in my boat.  I had it in my left hand and as I climbed in the trailing hook caught something and pulled the lead hook into my left middle finger.  50 years of fishing and I had finally done it, buried a hook past the barb.  After uttering a few expletives my daughter drove me to the emergency room to have it removed.  It must have been a slow night because just about everyone on staff had to come by and see.  They must have had a few new people on staff because the doctor brought them in to demonstrate how to remove a hook.  After a little guidance on my part as to where the best place was to use the wire cutters and class was over. About an hour later I was all bandaged up and sent home.  A few minutes later I was hooking up the boat and heading out.

We were able to save the lure.

My original plan was to start around 8:00 pm.  My Facebook memories were full of pictures of walleye that I had caught on spoons around this time.  I figured I would give it a shot and see if history would repeat itself.  My own carelessness prevented that from happening.  Instead I was on the water right around sunset.

 

Late start but a pretty one.

There was still a fair amount of boat traffic but I figured it would end soon so I wasn’t too worried about it.  I did see a good amount of floating weed mats which was discouraging.  I just shrugged it all off, at least I was still fishing and I didn’t have to get up in the morning so I could stay as late as I wanted.  Turns out I was going to need to do just that.

I set up in the same area I have been all year.  I figure I will keep starting here until the well runs dry.  My Grandfather once told me that you don’t leave fish in order to go find fish.  Besides, the area is close to the ramp and it only takes a minute or two to get there.  I started off with a J9 Chartreuse, a F9 Original and a F7 Black and Gold Rapala. Dave had done so well with a J9 Original the other night I thought I would give it a shot.  As it would turn out the only walleye that liked it were the little ones.  I didn’t get my first legal fish until after 10 pm.  I had switched out my F9 Original for a F9 Clown after I busted my 20 foot leader on a snag.  I made up a new leader and put on the Clown since I was all out of Originals.  As it would turn out it was a blessing in disguise.  After my second fish on the Clown I switched out my kicker for a F9 Black Holographic and slowly picked away at my 5 fish limit.  All the fish came from the center of the river, across from the DD boat.  This is when a GPS comes in so handy.  After the second fish I was able to see how close together they were and I was able to concentrate on that area.  If not I may have come up a few fish short for the evening.  It still took a few hours to fill the limit but I was also dealing with a lot of weeds, catches of other fish, lost fish at the boat and numerous head shakes and gone.  I stuck it out though and shortly after midnight I caught my fifth keeper.  Time to go home.

A few observations from the night.  Winds started off from the south and were very light.  They eventually worked their way around to an “in your face wind” out of the north.  By midnight the wind disappeared completely.  Weeds were a pain but somewhat manageable.  The water is still very clear.  At one point I was shining my headlamp down in the water as I was clearing weeds from my line and I could see walleye cruising about two feet below the surface.  They were barely legal size fish but there they were.  Whenever the light would hit them in the eye they would just swim back down, into the darkness.  As near as I can figure they were probably chasing baitfish that were feeding on the spent mayflies on the surface.  On more than one occasion I saw a few fish break water throughout the evening.  No big hatches but there were still plenty around.  I had to pick them off of me and my car once again tonight.  The blankity blanks are still in.  Caught about a dozen of the ones that don’t know how to read a memo.  One of them was a Master Angler size fish but I wasn’t about to turn it in.  Getting a Master Angler award for a fish I despise so much would be hypocritical.  Lost about 4 at the side of the boat and I had about a dozen head shakes.  Most of the fish were hitting very light, especially the 25 incher.  She grabbed the lure and it was just dead weight.  I thought I hit a pile of weeds at first but once she gave a shake I got serious.  She will be going into the smoker this weekend.

Memorial Fins and Feathers weekend, minus the Feathers.

As in life, things don’t always go as planned.  Originally, my Memorial Day weekend was supposed to be 3 days of fishing and turkey hunting.  Due to weather, water conditions and other circumstances beyond my control all I got to do was fish for walleye Friday night.  Even that trip didn’t go as planned, actually the results were not what I figured they would be.

I left the house Friday night around 9:00 pm.  With the blankity blank run still going on I wasn’t even going to try until after dark.  I was planning on running pencil plugs as well with the hope of keeping the blankity blank catch rate to a minimum.  With that in mind I started fishing around 9:30 and shortly afterwards it began.

1,2,3,4,5,6, Hey look….a walleye, 7,8,9, Oh cool, another walleye, a third walleye….we’re cookin’ now 10,11,12,Dink,13,14,15, well at least I’m not catching them two at a time, 17,18,20,21, another walleye, I should just quit now, 22,23,24,26, that’s it, I’m done, time to pull lines.  Holy Crap, number 5, the streak continues.

That was the night in a nutshell.  I got my 5 walleye and the blankity blanks were just active enough to annoy me but not so bad that they drove me off the river.  Around 2 dozen of them in 2 ½ hours of fishing isn’t bad but when I am walleye fishing that is all I want to catch, walleye.  What I was really expecting was a lot of undersized walleye.  I had heard reports about fishermen catching 30 and 40 undersized walleye in order to get a limit of 5.  I didn’t want to deal with that along with the blankity blanks.  The longer the lures are out of the water, releasing unintentional catches, the less time they are in the water trying to catch the targeted species.  This was another reason why I was running pencil plugs.  I was hoping the bigger bait and lack of action would keep the blankity blanks and the undersized fish at bay.  It worked to some degree but it also created a headache.  One of the drawbacks with a pencil plug is that when a blankity blank grabs it the extra hooks catch the fish in odd places.  That creates a tendency for them to come in sideways and pinwheel, which leads to tangled leaders.  I got brave at first and ran 3 leaders but once I realized that the blankity blanks were not going to leave it alone I ditched my kicker to cut down on the tangles.

There were about 6 other boats out fishing tonight as well.  Most of them were south of me but one stayed in my area for a good part of the evening.  At one time they got close enough and I could see that they were bring in blankity blanks two at a time.  I was able to see what they were using for lures, #9 Clown Rapalas.  That’s as bad as wearing a Vote Hillary 2016 t-shirt at an NRA convention.  You’re just asking for trouble.  As the night progressed the other boats thinned out and by 11:00 pm I was the only one out.  By 11:30 I had 4 in the box and was debating just heading in.  I had to get up early the next morning and I needed some sleep.  I decided to stick it out to 12 and then go in no matter what.  I pointed my boat towards the Edison warm water discharge, figuring I would make my last run through there.  After I made my pass I started to pull lines.  I put my 40 foot lead over my right shoulder as I pulled my 20 and started to wrap it on my spool.  As I was bringing it in my reel started unwinding and my 40 foot lead started heading back off the stern of my boat.  At first I thought the line got hung up in my prop but that wasn’t possible.  The lure was 40 feet back, on the surface and probably only 10 feet of line in the water.  I dropped my spool and placed my foot on it to keep it from falling over.  I grabbed hold of my 40 foot lead and to my surprise I could feel that slow head shake and weight of a walleye.  I minute later and he was in the cooler and I went back to putting everything away.  10 feet of water and that walleye came up and grabbed the lure off the surface.  Sometimes it pays to be lucky.

So that was the beginning of my 3-day weekend.  One I had originally hoped would be full of fishing and some hunting but it didn’t work out that way.  I was fortunate to catch a limit of good sized fish.  I was expecting a lot of throwbacks and maybe a couple of just barely 15 inchers.  Instead I was able to keep my walleye limit streak intact for 2017.  I’ll probably try again Friday or Saturday this coming weekend.  At night.  With Pencil Plugs.  Unless the blankity blanks have left, which I highly doubt.

 

Really Quick Report

Went out Monday evening (4/24/17).  Started at 9:00 pm and finished at 9:46 and 37 seconds.  Same area. Same routine.  Caught about a dozen of those other fish as well.

That is all.

Grind Time

Normally when one talks about grinding around the Detroit area people usually think of The Grind Line of the Red Wings.  This time though it is all about walleye fishing on a long Good Friday evening.

This last Friday (4/14) I was headed back out once again.  This would be my fourth trip out for the week and I was hoping it would be as successful as the previous ones.  I started around 6:30 pm and found that the water still had a heavy stain to it.  I could barely see my prop, which was an improvement, but still a long way from clear water.  I was hoping I could get my limit before dark but it didn’t take long to realize I was going to have to grind this one out.  The water was choppy and there was a lot of boat traffic ripping up and down the river, which only added to the rough water.  Boat control was difficult and I was constantly lifting my lines up to keep from getting snagged as I was bounced around.  My wish was a double edged sword.  I was hoping sunset would come soon to get these boats off the water and calm it down.  Once it did though I wondered how well the fish would bite with the cloudy water.  I soon found out, sort of.  I didn’t catch my first fish until after 7:30 pm and it was an undersized fish.  My first keeper didn’t come until around 8 and for the next two hours I slowly picked away at them.  They never came hot and heavy and during the next two hours I tried everything I could think of.  Different colors, different lures, different sizes, different speeds, different areas.  Nothing really zeroed in on them.  I got my limit but the fish came from different areas on different lures at different speeds.  No rhyme or reason to it.  The only consistent thing was their inconsistency.  Persistence was the key tonight.  Good thing I didn’t have anywhere special to go.

Now for my rant.  I would like to know who thinks it is a good idea to jig with 30 pound spiderwire or fireline?  If you are afraid of losing a dollar jig then fish someplace else.  Trying to save one jig and losing 50 yards of line (expensive line) only creates something for everyone else to get snagged up on.  In other words, KNOCK IT OFF!!

Rant over.

 

Windsday Walleye

Oops, my mistake, never mind, I erred.  Forgot what day it was.

So I went out Tuesday night to add some more fish to the freezer.  I knew it was going to be windy but I thought with it being straight out of the west that it wouldn’t be to bad.  I was wrong.  The wind never did lie down and I was fighting it all night.  If I took my hand of the tiller I would start to spin around like a top in no time.  Fortunately, I was only out for an hour and a half.  The water was still dirty so I started with the same Smithwick’s I used Saturday.  That changed though because 5 minutes in I got hung up.  I managed to pull the weight free but my 40 foot lead was caught as well.  The wind started to spin me around, over the line, so I just snapped it before it got a chance to get hung up in the prop.  It broke right at the knot so I tied on an old snap that was lying on my console.  I grabbed a #11 bleeding Chartreuse Rapala that was attached to my magnetic strip and I was back at it.  Normally I don’t mix lure like this, because of the different dive rates, but having to fight the wind limited my ability to dig around in the storage area for my lure box.   It did get tangled with my 20 foot lead a couple of times but 3 of my fish came on the Rapala and the other 2 on the clown Smithwick.  I got my first fish about 6:45 pm and my last one at 8:00 pm.  There was about a half hour lull between numbers 4 and 5.  With darkness quickly approaching I figured I was going to be stuck at 4 but I told myself I would keep at it until 8 and my persistence paid off.

No size to any of these fish, all between 16 and 18 inches.  They are all probably from the same year class. No undersized fish yet and no big ones either.  Not that I’m complaining but I would like one 25+ inch fish to smoke.

As I said before the water is still dirty but it is improving.  I’ve heard reports that there is clear water upstream so it shouldn’t be much longer.  I didn’t take a water temperature reading either but I’m betting it is in the upper 40 range.  Soon those other fish will show up and I can hardly wait.  NOT!!!!

Late October Walleye

After what turned out to be the worst week of my life I decided I needed a little normalcy.  Since the Huron hasn’t been cooperating for Steel I decided to go back to my old reliable, Detroit River walleye.  I arrived at the ramp around 6:00 pm and to my dismay I saw that the river was a lovely shade of grey.  Normally dirty water doesn’t scare me but with overcast skies and a sunset coming soon my window of opportunity would be short.  I set up in my normal area and worked over my familiar haunts.  Visibility was about a foot and there were hardly any weeds.  Surface temp was about 52 degrees which is just a lot better then the 65 degrees it was last time out.  It didn’t take long and I had my first eater in the box.  He hit a #7 Perch Rapala (The discontinued style with the gold plate belly) on my kicker.  As it would turn out, every fish I caught would come on that lure, even the one I lost.  I only managed three for the night and they all came in the first 45 minutes.  Once it got dark out everything shut down.  I fished until 8 but it was to no avail.  Not surprising, experience has shown me that dirty water and nightfall do not necessarily equal success.  If anything it means I should have got out earlier.  At least I was able to get out for a few hours and escape my phone for a bit.  I didn’t winterize the engine, not just yet.  Temps are going to stay in the 50’s for awhile so I may take advantage of it for a bit.  It’s not over yet.

So I ended up with 3 eaters, all light, grey fish.  Not the typical yellow/black colors more common for the resident river fish.  All of them had emerald shiners in their stomachs.  I also noticed a lot of splashing in the Edison discharge so that means the gizzard shad are in.  Hopefully some more walleye are right behind them.

No pictures tonight.  I figure everyone has seen enough pictures of 17 inch fish.

On another more personal note, I am going to shut this down for a bit.  As I had said earlier this past week was the worst of my life and it really drained me emotionally.  I have a lot of things to sort out now and take care of and I really don’t have the energy, time or desire to make anymore entries.  Maybe after a break of a few moths I will start up again.  There is still plenty of time left to get some walleye so get out there, good luck, be safe and cherish the ones around you.

Pre-Harvest Moon Walleye 9/15/16

Moon over the Grosse Isle bridge.

 

It’s no secret that I like to fish for walleye during the full moon periods.  Normally I do pretty well but after the last two full moons I’m beginning to wonder.  The Sturgeon Moon was less than stellar and The Harvest Moon turned out to be even worse.  Hopefully the Hunter’s Moon in October will break the trend.

I arrived at the ramp around 8:30 pm and I had the whole place to myself.  No other cars in the lot, not even the ones normally parked over by the Marina.  I launched and headed south to my usual starting spot.  The water was still clear and a surface temp of around 65 degrees.  A few weeds were floating down, mostly single strands with the occasional large mat.    The south wind had died down to almost nothing which kept the water relatively calm.  Seemed like the start of a good night.  To bad the walleye had other plans.

I trolled around for the next two hours and all I had to show for my efforts was a half a dozen smallmouth and a few sub-legal walleye.   I tried different size lures, different colors, spoons, pencil plugs, just about every thing I could think of but I couldn’t get anything going.  Around 10:00 pm I got hung up bad and after 10 minutes of trying to free the weight the shank snapped right at the loop.  I lost the shank, weight and 3 custom painted Rapala’s.  I thought about giving up right then but I hadn’t been skunked in almost 3 years and I wasn’t about to let it happen tonight.  I dug out another shank, weight, leaders and lures and started all over again, after I moved away from where I got hung up.  About 15 minutes later I finally caught a legal fish.  Not much of one but it was a start.  I tossed him in the cooler and headed towards the Edison discharge.  I hadn’t been by there lately so I thought I would give it a shot.  Weeds were a lot worse there and I could feel them starting to pile up on my line.  Just as I was about to pull my lines and clear the weeds I felt a lot of weight.  I figured I hit a big mat of weeds, under the surface, so I started to pull it all up.  The “weeds” were all on my 40 foot leader so once I got my other two lines clear and out of the way I started to bring it in.  About half way in the load became lighter and I figured some of them must have come off.  I looked back and my headlamp showed a pair of eyes staring back at me.  That stupid fish never shook once, she just came in like a wet towel.  It was a bigger fish so I wasn’t taking any chances.  I got my net behind her and just as I start to scoop she shook and threw the lure.  Didn’t matter, she was in the net and then in the cooler.  After that I decided to call it a night.  I was headed to Columbus Ohio in the morning and I needed some rest.  I had enough fish to fill a vacuum seal bag and I didn’t get skunked.  It did turn out to be my most expensive trip of the year but I won’t lose any sleep over it.  It was my own fault for not swapping out shanks and leaders.  I had been using the same one all season so I’m sure it had been stressed in a few places.  One of these days I will start to listen to my own advice.

I doubt it.

 

 

1st walleye trip for 2016.

There’s always something special about that first trip for the new year.  The anticipation of maybe, just possibly, that this season may be the year I get that wall hanger.  Seeing old friends again on the water.  Feeling that familiar head shake of the first fish after a 5 month absence.  It’s a feeling that can’t be described to a person who has never experienced fishing or has the same passion as I do.  I’ll admit that the excitement has become a little more subdued over the years.  When I was a teen, I would be like a kid at Christmas when my Dad and I started to get the boat ready for that first trip.  The next day at school, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate all day long knowing that in a few hours, I would be catching walleye again.  Now, 30 years later, I still look forward to that first trip but I have enough sense to pick my days and go when the river isn’t literally so thick with boats you could almost jump for boat to boat and reach Canada.  I don’t dodge icebergs anymore nor do I fight the crowds on the weekends.  I wait until weekday evenings when most people are already off the water.  I choose days with favorable conditions and stay indoors during sudden snow squalls (like last weekend).  Some call it laziness and saying I have lost my passion.  I say I have become wiser and more of a realist.  Unlike 90% of the jig fishermen out there right now I have all summer and into fall to catch walleye in the Detroit River.  They aren’t going anywhere.

I had been paying attention to the reports for the past few weeks and things didn’t sound promising.  Lots of bad reports and claims that everyone missed the run.  I really didn’t believe it.  Mother Nature threw us a major curve ball this year and decided to extend winter an extra month, even though that stupid groundhog said otherwise.  We had such a mild winter and no ice cover that a lot of people expected the run to start early this year.  Just when the water temp started to creep up we got slammed with a lot of non typical cold April days.  Here it is mid-April and the surface temps are still in the 40 degree range.  Throw in a lot of dirty water from the snow melt run-off and fishing was not what everyone was expecting.  Fish were being caught but not in the numbers everyone was hoping for.

My friends and fellow handliners, Dave and Larry, had been texting me for about the last week about current conditions and all the complaining on the message boards.  We had been discussing when would be a good time to start pulling wire.  Usually handlining doesn’t really start to take off until water temps hit the 45 degree mark.  It was getting close but not quite there yet.  after a few more texts we decided that Thursday, 4/14/16, would be a good evening to start.  It’s always good to have a second or third boat out on the initial voyage in case any of use have any engine problems.  It also makes trying to find active fish easier.  We can split up and cover more water until one of us zeroes in.  Thus was the case this last Thursday.  Dave and Larry got an earlier start than me but I was able to track them down.  They were fishing downstream so after some info sharing I headed farther upstream.  There was a SW wind this evening and it was making the lower river a little bumpy.  All the more reason for me to head up and get out of the choppy water.  I set up with a pair of #11 Rapala’s and a #9 on my kicker.  I trolled around for about an hour without much activity.  I talked to a few friends who were out jigging and they repeated what I had been hearing for the last few weeks.  Very few fish and mostly eaters.  This was a little discouraging but they are jigging and I was handlining.  Two completely different presentations that can produce completely different results.  Especially as the sun starts to set.

Around 8:15 pm I felt that old familiar hit and shake.  I went through my routine and about 30 seconds later the first fish of 2016 was in the cooler, an 18 inch eater.  This once came on my 40 foot lead and a #11 Chartreuse.  A quick text off to Dave and Larry and I was back at it.  Shortly after that fish I got hung up really bad.  Turns out the 20 inch clevice on my shank got wedged in a rock.  Once I pulled that loose the Rapala on my 20 foot leader got hung up as well.  It eventually pulled free but it took me almost half an hour to get myself situated and back to fishing.  Once I got the shank and lure replaced I motored back to where I caught the first fish and set lines.  By now it was close to 9:00 pm and I was hoping the fish would get active.  They did.  over the next half hour I managed to put 3 more in the cooler, one of them being a 25 inch male.  He turned out to be my last fish of the night.  They turned off just as quickly as they turned on.  After the 4th fish was in the box I called Larry to let them know where I was and what lures I was getting them on (they quit shortly after I did with 3 fish).  I fished for about another 15 minutes but I was getting cold and tired so I headed in.  There were plenty of fishing days ahead.

All in all it was a pretty good start for the season.  I managed 4 in about 2 1/2 hours of fishing.  I had one minor casualty and everything on the boat worked fine.  Water clarity had a bit of a stain to it and that little bit will probably disappear over the weekend.  No rain or wind for the next few days should do it.  That will mean very few fish caught during the day for me.  When I go out again it will be closer to dark, as everyone is leaving the river.

Good luck everyone.

Never stretched out a split ring before. The hook should have bent out or broke before this happened.

A late night snack. I scoff at restaurants that tell me their fish is fresh.

“Blue” Full Moon Walleye 8/28/15

What a week.  This was my first full week at work in almost a month and it was brutal.  I was so stressed out today that I swore at some random guy at work who was trying to push his political agenda on me.  Normally I just walk away but I was compelled to share a few sentence enhancers with him.  That brief and unpleasant confrontation was the final determining factor, I was going fishing tonight.

After a quick dinner at the local Coney Island with Susan and her nephew I was hooking up the boat and heading for the river.  By 8:00 pm I was lines down and fishing.  Fellow handliner aficionado and owner of the Mad Viking Tackle Company  Steve Schoonover was out as well.  He was farther downstream than I wanted to be so I didn’t talk to him right away.  We would chat later as I was pulling in my second fish of the night.

I started up by where the “Cat” used to be with a pair of spoons and a Blue and Silver #9 Floating Rapala.  About 20 minutes later I was pulling in my first walleye of the night on the Rapala.  A few minutes later I had a second one on but I knew I was going to lose this one.  A cruiser was passing me on my starboard side to close for me to turn into the fish.  It was a light hit so I figured he was barely hooked.  I was right, just as I got ready to flip him in the hook came free.  The people on the bought let out a collective “Awww” and I just smiled.  I had a different word to describe the outcome.

It was around 8:45 pm now so it was time to ditch the spoons and break out the pencil plugs.  I put on the same blue and silver one I used last week along with a Black and Silver #9 Rapala.  About that time Steve pulled up along side of me and asked if I had my limit yet.  Just as I was about to answer I had another hit.  Steve got out of the way and less than a minute later this one was in the cooler as well.  I trolled around for two more hours and eventually picked up the rest of my limit.  I tried different color Rap’s and PP’s but all my fish came on the Blue and Silver Rap and the Blue and Silver PP.  It was a Blue kind of night.

Couple of observations about tonight.  First off it was a full moon which means chrome and pearl colored baits.  Glad I kept some of the pearl body ones on because the chrome wasn’t cutting it.  I also noticed that one of my Nite Stalker PP’s had no action at all.  It was like dragging a pencil through the water.  Wonder how long that has been going on?  I may have to check all my Nite Stalkers to see if anymore are like this.

Awhile back I mentioned how walleye seem to hit a PP center mass and get all the hooks in them.  One of the walleye tonight really did just that, one treble in the lower jaw, another in the upper jaw and one in the eye.  Good thing he was legal size.  He wasn’t going to survive this ordeal.

The water is ridiculously clear, so clear that even in the dark I can see the fish 3 feet down with a headlamp on.  There isn’t even any algae in the water.  I can’t remember a time when I have seen it this clear this late in the season.  I know a lot of people that are complaining about how difficult the fishing has been during the day.  This has got to be the reason why.  The walleye are just waiting until the evening.  The way I see it is if you want to catch fish adjust!  It’s pretty simple.

Later