It was time again for our annual fall fishing trip. There were 4 of us staying at out trailers at Perfect Vue. Myself along with the Fatman, Stumpy and the Lost Indian.
I got up a day early and had the pleasure of fishing with Joe Pickstock of PB&J Charters. We launched at Picton Thursday morning and headed for Picton Bay. Didn't take long to hook up a nice 7 pounder. The picture didn't look as good as Joe was hoping so we kept trolling towards Hay Bay. As we got into the trough at the top of the bay we hit another about 4 and then another smaller eater off Shermans. Didn't have the board back in very long and it fired again but the fish didn't stick. I am thinking this is going to be a banner day and then the winds switched to the north and the bite shut down just as fast. Here is a picture of the 7.
Fished Friday in Fatman's boat with Stumpy and Fatman. The rods only moved once and I had the lucky rod that day. Another 7. Was also out Saturday with the Fatman and managed one more around 7. Slow fishing at one fish a day but at least we got a fish! Here are a couple of pics.
and another shot of the same fish
Had a couple of buddies come up Sunday and Monday. Sunday we were out and only managed 1 pike around 3 pounds. Monday we decided to head down Long Reach and picked up a fish each for my buddies. Here is Brent with a nice 8 pounder
and my buddy Sean with another 7
With this fish we heard the clicker pull a few times and then nothing. Thought it was just the waves until I turned around about 5 minutes later and saw the board laying flat...fish on!
Didn't fish Tuesday as I had some things to do around camp. The other guys headed out but never got a sniff. Wednesday went out with Fatman and Lost Indian in my boat. Was a great day for a boat ride but not for the fishing. We tangled lines that day and I also ran out of gas! I learned not to trust my gas gauge as it read all over the place at different times during the day. Want to send a big thank you to the 4 guys fishing Hay Bay and staying at Merlands that came to our rescue and pulled us back to the ramp. Also thanks To Scott Walcott, Joe Pickstock and Sheldon Hatch for trying to track down someone that could help us out.
Thursday the winds were up and we decided to take the day off. The Lost Indian's son Clay came up Thursday night. Clay and I got out in the crazy winds on Friday but called it after a couple of hours as the fishing was tough in the wind.
Woke up Saturday and did not like the looks of things but that day was the Fall Classic out of Shermans launch. Thought we would go and launch at the church and try to stay out of the wind. Trolled up and down for several passes getting a little frustrated at trying to keep control of the boat. Decided we would take one last pass going with the wind and call it a day. Just as I was about to turn and say to Clay time to pull lines when his reel starts to scream! Fish on!! I clear my line and throw the boat into neutral. Got the board off Clay's line and I can feel some weight on the line. He is bringing it in 30 feet...20 feet...10 feet and still no sign of the fish. Finally she surfaces and we land a beautiful 10.6 pound walleye! Into the well she goes so we can get her weighed and let her go. Motoring back to the ramp was challenging but we made it back, weighed in and let her swim away. Here is a picture of the fish that took second in the derby.
For me it was my best fall trip to date. 8 fish for the time we were there doesn't seem like a lot but from the reports I heard we did alright. We fished Hay Bay and Long Reach and fish came on Reef Runners in Iriedescent and Fruit Loops as well as Deep Tail Dancers in Clown, Fire Tiger and Purpledescent. Ran line anywhere from 50 to 220 feet back of the boards and fish were caught anywhere from 20 to 40 fow. As you can tell...no real pattern!
Back up this weekend for the Trophy Hunt out of West Lake...can't wait!!