Thread: Something Fishy

Papa, Abby, Uncle Brian, and I hit the road at 5:30 AM on Saturday and headed towards Saginaw. Ice in the cooler, lunch, drinks, 60 night crawlers, and enough gas to make it to the bridge and back. It was supposed to be a great day, 70 degrees, light winds at 5kts out of the North, North East. Key word... supposed to be

We launched out of Sunset (my favorite spot) at the early hour of 8am. As I looked out towards the bay I could see white caps. I had already checked the weather buoy and noticed that the max wave height was only .9 with an average of .7. Well, that was where the buoy was (not where I was). I motored out with 4 other boats in front of me and could just tell that it was NOT going to be fun with those people pretending to understand or comprehend the magnitude of the waves. Instead of getting up on plain quickly, they decided to slowly get out of the hole. Not sure if it was the fact they each of them was in an under powered boat, or they just didn't understand what to do. Knowing what happens (from our tournament time) when people launch like this, it was determined that the "washing machine" effect would be in place. I said "hold on" turned hard to starboard, and let her rip. It didn't take long to get out past the breakers and we were making head way without having to worry about prop wash.

I headed straight North into the wind and went all the way to the end of my normal trolling pattern. I did this to allow the waves to aid me as I knew I could not keep a good speed trying to troll in to them. We started fishing at 9am. We picked up 3 fish before all the rods were set. Abby told me that she was not feeling well. I didn't think she was sea sick but put some crackers and water in her. After a few fish she took a nap.

We noticed that the fish that were biting were hugging the bottom and it seemed the most consistent bite was on night crawlers pulled right off the bottom. My normal starting pattern is to run two rods straight down with 3 oz bottom bouncers pulling harnesses. On my first Offshore board I will usually pull a number 2 tadpole with a crawler harness. On my second board I usually run a number 1 tadpole and my far outside rod will usually be a body bait. I run this same setup on both sides of the boat (in an 8 rod spread). I do this in order to stager my lines, fish all of them in the target depth and avoid the possibility of a tangle. Running all of your boards with similar leads will cause issues.

It didn't take long to realize that the program wasn't going to work. The bottom bouncers were catching ALL of the fish. Not to mention the more natural colors of oil slick and greasy chicken were taking the majority. We swapped out board one with a 2oz bouncer and board two with a 1 ounce bouncer and started picking up fish on those. Abby decided to come alive and tell me she was hungry (good news). Her and uncle Brian ate lunch while dad and I went from one fish to another. Soon, it was time to make the turn and run back up the hill. We pulled lines and started the slow process going into 1.5's with the occasional 2.5 footer. Abby was sitting under the consol. Looking over, she decided that a mustard sandwich with a little bit of ham was not as good in her stomach as it was on my floor. Thankfully, papa cleaned her (and the mess) while I washed down the floor. After that, she felt great (another indication it was not sea sickness).

We made it to the top of the hill and decided to count fish and move some of them from the back live well to the font. We had 24 (a three person limit). Only needed 8... nope, now 7, oh wait, now 5.

We ended the day at 1pm having caught 48 walleyes (we kept our limit of 32), 4 jumbo perch, three sheep heads, and 3 white bass. Abby drove the boat back to port, we loaded on the trailer and was back home by 4:30. Dad and I cleaned fish while Uncle Brian chose carpet cleaning duty. Thank god I own a carpet shampoo unit!!! 45 minutes to complete 32 walleyes and 4 perch. Without an electric knife I might add.

If you don't have a fish cleaning table, you need to get one. Turns out, mommy normally gives Abby some medicine in the mornings as she gets motion sick (NOT sea sick). This morning, she didn't have any. It is interesting to note that as a child (and to this day) I do not eat breakfast simply because my stomach hates me when I drive or ride in a vehicle. Never had an issue in a boat. Abby is the exact same way!