Several days prior to 2 August, there had been a couple days of fairly strong NE winds so even though the weather forecast was for lighter NE winds on Friday, the residual waves from the prior day were still in the 2-4ft range. As a result, I went out slowly due north to 48ft and turned to the northwest and started trolling worm harnesses. I had read somewhere that the northeast winds were going to move the fish closer to shore but as I watched the fish finder on the way to 48 feet saw very little indication of this. At 48ft, finally began to see some marks. Similar to the last trip out, it was slow but steady and had six fish in about two hours before I turned around to go back. My first preference is using worm harnesses but I have fished spoons and hard baits before so thought I would fun fish with spoons on the way back. For convenience, I just put stinger scorpion spoons on a leader and attached them to my inline weights, same depth I was catching prior fish. In short order, I began catching sheepshead. Sped up a bit but nothing changed so I packed up and headed in.
Next day, winds changed to north and the further you went out the stronger the wind and waves were. I tried fishing north into 2-4ft waves but boat control was tough (kicker motor) so I turned west/northwest and headed in the direction of Lorain in about 50ft. of water. Again, fishing was slow but steady until 10am. Just before 10am, I had 5 in the box and just needed one more to turn back. I had a hit and I could tell it was a big fish so carefully reeled him in and wouldn’t you know, 20 feet from the boat, he got off. For some reason, at 10am and for the next hour, I could not buy a bite from any species of fish. Just after 10am, I turned to the SE and headed back to the ramp. Did not see a lot of marks until I got to 45ft of water. Just after 11, a sheepshead hit and I wondered if the lockjaw was over. At 11:15 got a hit and it was another big fish. Carefully reeled him in and got him this time. It was a 4.5lb walleye and it made my limit and that size is still good eating so kept him. Packed up and headed in.
Left the dock around 8am both days. Fish on both days were caught on blades with primarily a white finish which surprised me since it was sunny both days. This is the first time since early July that I have caught any walleye bigger than 19-21inches. Nice to catch an occasional big fish