Drifting and trolling report Sun May 26th

[Lucky Duck]

WE got a late start today and first cast was 2:20 in the area around American Eagle Shoal. The wind was from the Southwest, but by 3:00 it changed 180 degrees to out of the Northeast. Casting was not working so we went to trolling Michigan Stinger spoons behind Tru Trips. The pockets of fish were very small and we could not get much going. By 3:30 we started to get steady rain. WE lost a fish on a white Stinger at the boat, then got a fat 19" fish, then a 11" perch on the white with pink and lime green set 60 back. I never saw another next fly in the three hours we fished.

[jonk]

Same location, same day, same results for us. 2 of us in the boat. Started casting and drifting and in 3 hours only got 2 walleye. Had a small one about 10" spit the hook at the boat. Picked up a few stray perch. Nothing was happening in the boats around us, I think I saw one boat net one and that was about it. The 2 we did get were on chartreuse weapons right off the bottom using bottom bouncers.

We moved around a bit, up to the west side of Kellys. Nothing.

Went over off the monument. Water was muddy in 40 FOW but we were spotting a lot on the fish finder so we gave it a go. Big pocket of catfish. We were pulling them in left and right on basically anything with a worm. Some of them pretty good sized. Ran down to off the west side of Catawba, about a mile to a mile and a half out. Nothing happening there either.

Tried off west harbor reef just as the rain set in in 12 FOW to see if they were running shallow. I often stop there on the way back from out west if I have time. Quite often I pick up a few somewhere in that area, though it is rarely a "limit" territory. No luck there either, just sheephead.

Still... going home with 2 in the cooler plus a couple decent perch isn't getting skunked, so it wasn't a wasted trip. Just not very exciting.