Being as yesterday was a federal holiday and a rare day off for me lately, I decided to take some time away from the deer woods and do some fishing.
Knowing that Steve is also self employed, I knew that his boss (Judy) would grant a vacation day (without pay) as long as he brought some fish back.
Captain Winkie (my dad) showed up at his usual time (way too early). He was sitting in the chair when I came down stairs at 5am. Steve is normally early so I figured the 5:30 departure time I gave him would be more like 5:15.
As luck would have it, I was sitting on the porch like a lost puppy at 5:33 when he pulled in the drive. He had to detour around a bridge outing.
We arrive at a secret launch at 7:40 and "Ash bag" and the Winkie go to work on uncovering the boat and performing other Minion duties while I go and dominate the outhouse. After final inspection, it was determined that they performed admirably with their assignments and we could launch.
We traveled an unknown distance to a previous hotspot of mine. I didn't have a blindfold so "Ash hat" had to wear the elastic band off from an old jockstrap. Winkie is blind in one eye so blindfolding him is easy. Besides, i think he has the onset of dementia so finding the place again would be impossible. Heck, he thought we were at chuckie cheese. Frankly, I bring him for comedic relief. Plus, he gives me three more rods and 8 more fish we can catch.
While "Ash clown" and Winkie worked on one side of the boat, I set the other. They were a little slow on the draw on at least 10 fish before I took charge of the hooksetting duties. Ok, maybe 3 but who is counting.
Thankfully, I had the foresight to stop and get some crawlers. Although I anticipate a crank bait bite this time of year, the fish hugged the bottom. Winkie can pick some mean harness action and soon enough "Ash master" was battling one white perch after another.
Of course, my side of the boat was on fire! At one time, I was blamed for not being quick enough with the net on a fish that was lost several hundred yards from the boat! A short time later, I was able to poke at all the times I had to turn around to retrieve a lost board. Still trying to figure out how you lose one?
About mid afternoon, the fish came off the bottom and started hammering crank baits. After having several fish, I was asked about my setback. Two more fish and the special ed side of the boat decided to make a change and it was game on until our limit was reached... or so I thought.
Upon further inspection, it was revealed that we only had 23 fish. At least we were not over. I blame the constant whining on me losing count a half dozen times. A good first mate would have double checked!
It was a good fun trip! We ended up keeping 23 walleye and two perch. "Ash goblin" caught a drum, a channel cat, a white bass, and 4280 white perch. He did learn a few tricks (I hope) to include the art of tossing fish back on someone elses side. He got a little carried away when he frisbee threw one with an inch of my nose!
We also threw back close to a dozen small walleyes. "Ash hole" was able to bring home the bounty to his wife to ensure safe passage for future trips.
As always, the snacks were great. Winkie only had to use the porta crapper once which is far better than his two per tournament average.
Disclaimer: the details of this story/report might be slightly skewed.
Attachment 276588
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