Fishing with Pat Barrett 4/10/2022

My three day trip, with my North Dakota crew (that would have started Friday) rescheduled, so when I saw the forecast had improved for today, I contacted Pat, who was on my "Call me if you have an opening" list. He lives about an hour away, so it was convenient for him to agree to go on short notice.

We met at the ramp and headed out at 7am. We started out near K can with Bandits and one blue/white/orange belly jointed DHJ12. I had put the DHJ out first...65 back on the outside board on the starboard side, and then proceeded to put out the other two Bandits running on that side at 50 and 30 back. Pat set up with Bandits on the port side at 15, 25, and 40 back. Speed was 1.3-1.4mph. Water temp was 42.4 degrees.


The DHJ board was running weird, so I thought that it was just a different pull on the board than the Bandit, and let it drag out there for a bit. Then, it started to bug me, and I had Pat pull it in. Sure enough, it had a fish hanging on it....just a 17 inch fish. Then, his 15' lead took off, and he reeled in a nice 6 pound walleye.


We would go for 4 1/2 hours with just those two fish...making a couple of moves during that time to try and find some more active fish, and trying other baits, like the Flicker Shad and the Flicker Minnow. Nothing...so boring. lol Ugh..


On the third move, we only moved up a mile ahead of us, to save time, and set up again. We trolled North to South for about a 1/2 mile, and when I saw the water getting too dirty, I made a 90-degree turn, and headed east.


As soon as we made the turn, the first board at 15 back took off, and while reeling that one in, the 25 went back, then his 35 back. Once those fish were in the boat, I didn't have to be hit with a baseball bat to know that I needed to bring all my baits up higher, too.


I took the jointed off, because it had done nothing since that first fish, and put another Bandit on. Colors that worked were Taco Salad, Blue Chrome, Chrome Barbie, and RC Crush. We ran both sides at 15, 25, and 35 back, and proceeded to put 9 more fish in the cooler, since the first two fish, giving us 11...in less than a 1/4 mile. We turned around to see if it was directional, or if that was just a really active pod we hit.


As it turned out, it was a directional deal for us. They really liked it going from west to east, and when we made the turn again, to head east, we caught another 4 in short order. We were done. Time was up, so we headed in with our 12.


Three lucky fish got to live to swim another day, and one of them was a "Fish Ohio". :)


Pat had a lot of fun, and is a very good fisherman in his own right. I let him set his side up, and I worked my side. He did a great job, and learned a few tricks that I taught him, that he can use on his boat now. He said he had a great time, and that makes me happy! :)


Tomorrow, I have a three-man crew from the MN/SD border Right now, it's supposed to be pretty gusty from the south, so we'll give it a go, and if it's too rough to fish, then we will head in and try again on Tuesday. Tuesday's forecast looks fantastic, and should be a stellar day on the water. Fingers crossed!


Stay tuned....


Capt Juls

Very great read once again!!!!

Some very nice looking fish you got there captain. Excellent adjustments you made.