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| Trolling, trolling, trolling... limits, limits, limits !!! Well, since we have switched to the trolling program aboard ”The Trophy” in the past week or so, we have had a perfect track record for limit catches thus far. Of coarse having picture perfect weather everyday for a change certainly hasn’t hurt us either ! It’s a great feeling especially knowing that those that are still toughing it out drifting or just don’t have the capability or desire to troll are really struggling at the time being. The jig bite is all but over now and with not much wind this past week for drifting, most drifters and casters are doing more drowning of worms then doing actual catching. The trollers are really coming on strong now. Especially with the Walleyes eagerly hitting the spoons trolled behind the Jet Divers now that the water has warmed and the spawn is all over with. |
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| “The Trophy” is on record pace for miles logged this spring sadly enough though. It seems like all of the best action for me this year is always a long way from port. Starting with the long runs that we were making to the very best jigging spots last month and now making long runs to areas like Kelly's Island and such to troll. All pretty good hauls coming out of the Portage River. With marina gas on the river still stuck at $4.60 a gallon, this has taken a bit of the sweetness out of even the most successful trolling days for me. It just should not be that expensive to go fishing. Lord knows all the other expenses are bad enough. But if that’s what I have to do to position ourselves for what I feel is the very best chance on any given day for a successful outing, that’s what I’ll do. It just seems and is more painful when you are trolling because you are always using even more gas doing that then just the running from point A to point B. |
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| We are basically trolling Dipsy Divers and using Jet Divers off of the big planing boards when we do arrive at these long distance hotspots. This past week the fish were rather high in the water column and best lead lengths were around 45 to 50 ft. Shorter yet on the Dipsy Divers. Pretty amazing when I think about the lead lengths that we will be running off of Ashtabula later this summer. Planer board lines sometimes in the many hundreds of feet back home. Just crazy different ! And although the fish in the central basin tend to run a bit larger in the deep water, this past week aboard “The Trophy” we saw plenty of 28 and 29 inchers caught! Pretty dramatic seeing those big Walleyes slowly wallowing behind the divers as I get ready to scoop them up for another excited guest ! I guess that’s what makes it all worth while including the added expense and work on my part when we do go trolling. |
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| So now I am counting down the days in earnest till I head back to Ashtabula. I will be pulling out of PC in exactly two weeks from today. It certainly would be nice if we could manage to maintain this great weather and the excellent caliber of fishing that my trolling trips have enjoyed this past week the remainder of my stay here. I hope to be able to just finish everyone out trolling now that I am in the groove. Watching and hearing about the drifters struggling out there is enough to convince me of that. They will still have their good days yet. That I’m sure of. I just don’t want to do it anymore after getting back into my old saddle and tasting the sweet taste of success. Once a troller, always a troller I guess! lol ! This coming week I have Tuesday & Thursday still available for a trip. If you’ve never really experienced a quality trolling trip before, perhaps right now with the present great weather and the excellent trolling bite that is going on here in the western basin, now might be the time to give it a try ! I certainly would love to have you. Lets go burn some gas together ! Capt. Walt |
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