August! And it has been extremely hot, humid and hazy. Or at least the the first few days of this past work week were unbearably hot with very little air movement. It was also very buggy out on the lake those few days. Those tiny little creepy green gnats that swarm by the millions out there at times and stick to everything. They get in your eyes, in your mouth, up your nose and when you're all hot and sweaty, stick to your skin like Shake And Bake breading! And that’s what we did out there. Bake out there big time! And when we got back to the dock while everybody was chilling in the shade drinking some cool beverages waiting on their fish to be filleted, I got to spend yet an extra hour on the boat sweating even more profusely in the now heat of the middle of the day cleaning the boat up and trying to make it presentable for the following days trip. Knowing fully well that probably all of that cleaning will all be for naught 10 minutes into our day the next day if we get swarmed again which of coarse we did. Yup. Always something to drive me nuts and for me to complain about. But as hot, flat and buggy as it was on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, fishing for us aboard “The Trophy” way out there was super EXCELLENT!
So I make the mistake of praying for a little “breeze after cussing all those little bugs out”. Well, we got it on Thursday and Friday! Although it was still very hot and sunny, it was so crazy windy that most either outright cancelled their trips or cut them way short. Thursday we fell into the short day category as I had a guest that was not handling the conditions well and I thought it best just to call it a day. Friday was wicked windy too but with a smaller group where I didn’t need all that many fish we stuck our noses back out there in the big surf and did surprisingly OK, staying much closer to shore then in past days and weeks. Perhaps not as fast in closer but much more doable in rougher seas. More of a mixed bag of all different sized fish including some smaller ones closer in but hey one is one and at the end of the day, it all averages out anyway with always plenty of good sized ones in the mix. I never have any control on what size bites. I’m just happy to know we have some options now. The school of fish that I have been fishing are really out of striking distance right now. They just keep going further and further north. I really believe that many of them have crossed the line over to Canada now making them totally out of question. Just way too far. Time to find some different schools of fish to fish.
One thing I noticed this past week regardless of where we fished is the fact that they are seemingly even deeper down in the water column now. A lot of guys have switched to the larger sized crank baits that have a steeper diving curve. Aboard “The Trophy”, we have been bouncing back and fourth between the bigger Thunder Sticks and the Jrs. Both are working well if you ask me. You just have to put out more wire line out with the smaller baits to get them deeper. Earlier in the week with the flat seas I was pulling the larger ones myself. But with the surging seas in the real rough water later in the week, I was having problems keeping them from breaking the rubber bands which we use to secure the line to the planer board releases. I switched back to the smaller lures and eliminated that problem and still continued to catch decent. Doing this for 29 years now, I remember many, many years of never using anything but the Jr. Thunder Sticks the whole season long. Seems like that is my program and what I know the very best and am the most comfortable with. We’ll see though. I have everything available to me and I am never afraid to switch over in a moments notice if I feel that is what I have to do to put fish in the box.
So we have indeed flipped the page on the calendar now from July to August. The real Dog Days of Summer! It started out hot as most Augusts are around here do. We’ll see if we can keep it going. Right now from what I’m seeing it looks like we are in store for a cool down back into the 70’s this coming week. That’s OK by me. After complaining all summer long about the cool, raw and wet conditions out there, I was reminded this past week how miserable it can also be out there when you take it to the other extreme. It just wasn’t that much fun either with the terrible heat and all the sweat running down in your eyes. Never mind all the bugs, which you can get out there no matter what the conditions are but never seem quite as creepy when you can throw a long sleeve shirt on. Oh this “dream job” of mine! Lol! Anyway as fast as we blew through July, this month too will all too soon be yet just another memory. The days, weeks and months just keep flying by in this season. OK, with us now possibly fishing much closer in and the days staying way darker longer in the mornings now, I have now bumped our departure time back slightly and am now telling everyone to be dockside and ready to roll at 4:30am. I’ll see how that works out for us this coming week. We may even be able to roll it back even further to 5am very soon as well. Yay! I’ll be able to sleep in to maybe like, 3:30! Lol! Alrighty then. Check back again next week to see what new I can come up with to complain about! Lol!!!
Capt. Walt
*I would like to remind all of my upcoming charters. As I have been simply asking all along now for the last few years, please try your very hardest to keep your group size to a very comfortable, more personal experience of 4 people for everyone involved. I myself just flat out DO NOT WANT more then that on my boat anymore for these summer trolling trips. This is not a hard rule or policy (yet) but if you folks want to keep me happy and chartering for years to come, you will do this for me and for yourselves. Also, we ABSOLUTELY need to be off the dock now by 4:30am at the VERY LATEST! Our best fishing is ALWAYS at the crack of dawn and WE DO NOT WANT TO MISS OUT ON THAT OPPORTUNITY! Please, DO NOT BE Late! I am at the boat and ready to roll everyday by 4:30am and if you want to catch lots of fish, you will be ready as well!
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