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Fishing Day 3 with Bryon Haro 3/25/2020
This was Bryon Haro's third day with me, so he already knew the morning routine, which allowed us to move faster and get on the water by 7am. The sky was just getting light, the temp was around 36 degrees, and the wind was calm to light and variable. Other anglers were pulling in the parking lot, getting things ready, while others launched their boats.
The docks were pretty quiet when we launched though, so our timing was pretty good. There was only one other boat at the dock when I walked back from the parking lot. Bryon's from MN, and has had several Ranger boats over the years, and has fished on the NWT and FLW Co Angler side for several years now too, so I was comfortable letting him pilot the boat while I parked the truck.
Yesterday, when we had one hour left to fish, I asked Bryon, "Do you mind if we go over to Clinton Reef to check it out? It should be holding fish, if that water isn't too dirty". Bryon said, "Sure, let's go". So, we ran over there and looked at the water. It was perfect. It was 42.5 degrees (3 degrees warmer than it was by F can yesterday), the stain was the right mixing color and I could see just a little more than the cavitation plate.
We set up with Bandits 25/30/40 and 25/35/31 behind the Off Shore boards. Speed was 1.4-1.5mph
Colors were:
Red Headed Wonderbread
Taco Salad
Pooh Bear Chart
Green Clown
RC Crush
And, one DHJ12 that you can see in my photo album on page 34. I don't know the name of the color and I'm too lazy to go searching for it.
Anywhoooo......Long story short...yesterday, we found an excellent bite over there. The fish were healthy chunkers from 3 to 8 pounds...and, hungry too! We had doubles and triples going and ended up with 15 nice fish in 1 hour.
I knew where we would be starting this morning...:)
I was thankful we were able to sneak away from the dock unnoticed, so we wouldn't have any followers. (Sometimes, it's nice to have a good spot all to yourself, if only for a day). With Bryon behind the wheel, we headed back to the same area....a whopping 3/4 mile from the launch. Bryon got the boat up on plane and a very short time later shut her down.
We set up in the same area as we ended yesterday and waited for the fun to begin. It didn't. In the first hour we had two pull backs and two nice eaters...then, nothing. I was beginning to worry that the walleye had moved out. Then, I remembered the wind was from the east yesterday, and it might have moved them west. So I said, while pointing my finger, "They might have moved west from here, let's just keep going that way".
It wasn't much longer, when the chaos ensued! Doubles, triples, and a Quad all happened in short order. One of those fish was a big walleye that had a Lamprey attached to it too, which was a surprise to see. This is only the second or third one I've personally seen in my 21 years fishing Lake Erie.
We had our limit by 9am and then played catch photo and release for the next 4 hours. We were still hoping for a decent "Fish-O" to get a picture of, but we were running out of time.
I was letting Bryon run the Ulterra at the time when I said, "Turn the boat south, and we'll see what happens". He was just getting out of the turn when the fast side of the boat's board went back. He looked at me, to question whether I wanted to reel one in too, and I said, "You're closest, you take it", and laughed. The last fish of the day was a fat 28 3/4 piggy. Not quite his personal best, which is 29 1/2 inches, but still a great fish to end the trip with.
Bryon had a great time, and I enjoyed these past three days very much too. It was very relaxing for me to have a very good fisherman in the boat. We caught 40+ fish today, and couldn't have asked for a better bite.
After getting the fished cleaned over at Cutcher's in Oak Harbor, Bryon hit the road to get a few hours under his belt on his way back to Minnesota.
I am now in the state lockdown mode with most others.
I will be resuming my charters on April 10th, unless something else happens that won't allow me to go.
So until then....I wish everyone good health and hope they stay safe from this virus.
And, so it goes...Stay tuned....
Capt Juls
