A pretty good week. Most of the days... We had a bit of a reality check this past week where we had to work much harder for the fish that we caught. Actually things seemed to change quite a bit after last Wednesday's pretty significant north wind which blew for almost 24 hours straight. It just has not "felt" the same out there since. It's really hard to explain. I just know something has changed and it's not necessarily for the better. Monday and Tuesday were still pretty good. Then we woke up Wednesday morning to a very stiff north wind pushing close to 20 knots. After a bit of indecision, we elected to try and get the day in anyway. My crew consisted of all very young bucks who I figured I could bounce around a bit without too many problems. Plus they were very anxious to go. The day itself was gorgeous. Bright and sunny, just breezy. After a long grueling boat ride out, we struggled very hard to get into the teens for fish caught. I just attributed the harder fishing due to the day's conditions. Over the next few days the weather has straightened out nicely but it just hasn't "seemed" the same to me out there.
We actually did OK the next few days with near limit catches but boy, I really worked my butt off trying to keep us on what fish I did find. Saturday in fact was the gem day of the whole week with 26 Walleyes and a Steelhead caught and landed only to go back out on Sunday the next day and really struggle just to get into the double digits for my 3 man crew. I think my first mistake Sunday morning was to think to myself, man I'm going to have an easy day today with only the 3 guys ! Lol ! WRONG !!! The fish we did catch were very nice sized so we still had a respectable tub of fish at the end of the day but it wasn't the quick and easy day I had set myself up for. Like I said earlier, a bit of a reality check. We lost some fish as we do everyday but today we could ill afford to loose any. The one that I wish we had landed was a Steelhead Trout that hit a outside high Dipsy diver and tore off I swear a hundred foot of line in it's initial run right now. The reel literally screamed as the massive fish pulled out line. We got a good look at the fish as it made about a half a dozen leaps now way out and it was HUGE ! The biggest Steelie ever boated aboard "The Trophy" was 19 pounds. I'm not going to say this fish was as big but I will venture to say I'm pretty sure it would have been well in the teens. In the end, the trout won the battle and it was pretty much par for the course the way the whole day went for us.
And speaking of Trout, we continue to land our one or two a day like clock work and if we don't, we certainly seem to have a few on most every day for a very long time now. Everyone seems to enjoy the added excitement. I sort of cringe each time we hook up with one wondering what kind of calamity is this going to end up in this time around ! Lol ! But it does liven things up a bit and certainly adds to the fish box nicely. Some guys really want them, others don't. Personally I just love them smoked and every time I see them caught I think about the kick ass recipe that we have on my website for smoking them. It's a brine recipe that one of my guests on the boat over the years has shared with me and I'm telling you, it's the best. Any of you guys that happen to be lucky enough to actually land one of these silver bullets needs to check this out. It's 'bangin I tell you ! Lol
So tomorrow I get to do it all over again. I think I'm going to do even more scouting around. I'm either going to stick my nose out even further north or go have a looksky way east. I'm not sure yet. I've lost my confidence at the moment where I have been fishing and although I know I can catch a few most anywhere, it's not what I am expecting to see this deep into July. The Mother Load just has to be out there somewhere. I am on a mission. Perhaps we will get back on the right track this week after a bit of an off week. Or maybe I just set the bar too high for myself with the days of really easy fishing that we had. After all, my favorite saying for all of my guys has always been "anytime you go fishing and you catch enough for dinner, you've had a pretty good day" Maybe we all need a reality check from time to time just to remind us all that after all, it is just fishing ! Stay tuned...
Capt. Walt
*It is imperative that we get out early. These fish most of the time feed like crazy right at dawn and then really shut down when the sun gets higher. I am at the boat at 5:00am everyday and we need to be off the dock by 5:30am at the VERY LATEST ! For all of my upcoming trips, I urge you to be there as early as possible so we don't miss out on this opportunity. Also there are no fishing license sales at the marina again this summer so you guys have to get them on your own ahead of time. You can do so online or the local K-Mart or Wal-Mart here in Ashtabula which both are open 24 hours a day.
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