eriequest
07-08-2008, 02:48 PM
With a light breeze and the Mayfly hatch winding down, I fired up the Erie Quest on Sunday morning and we headed towards West Sister Island with two fathers and their two teenage sons for some Lake Erie walleye fishing. After several hours of casting gold weapons and an anxious crew, I tallied the catch in the cooler and we had 8 Lake Erie walleye. The day was full of promise, but we had some work to do.
So, I took a calculated guess based on normal Lake Erie walleye migration patterns and headed to deeper water near the Canadian Border, close to Middle Sister Island, about 5 miles away. I was looking for some "open" water with few boats around and strong marks on the graph. After searching for about 15 minutes, I found a small pod of walleye and marked it on my GPS. We started to cast 1/2 oz. gold bladed weapons.
Within minutes, I heard "fish on" and we worked the pod for several hours. I was happy that the crew stuck with it, and their perserverance paid off. A 10 count, with a slow wind was the ticket for these early July walleyes.
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6815/004xd1.jpg
We came back to the dock with 26 walleye for these 1st time fathers & sons, fishing Lake Erie.
On a sidenote, a Capt. friend of mine was fishing near West Sister Island about a week ago, when they caught a trophy Musky while trolling for walleye. They were in open water, 28 feet deep, well away from typical muskie ambush-cover, when one of the little yellow planer boards took a dive backward.
"It went straight across the back of the boat," said Fanelli. "It was my turn so I set the hook and it was like thunder on the end of the line.
"That fish went down and the planer board went down. I was planted in the middle of the boat and it was all I could do to hold on - and I'm 6-2 and 240." The Illinois angler jammed the rod above his belt and set his jaw.
"All he was doing was peeling line out. I didn't gain on him for 10 minutes," said the angler.
The Capt. was using a 20-pound test leader on the spoons with 30-pound main line, so it was not like the anglercould not pressure the fish - it was just that strong.
Finally he began using a familiar saltwater big-fish technique of lifting the rod, and reeling down on the fish. After another 15 minutes, the mystery monster finally came up. "We just saw the tail section for a moment," they said.
"I thought that they had a sturgeon or a super-big sheepshead when he first got it," At the 20-minute-plus mark, "[the fish] came up and laid on top of the water because he was as tired as I was," said the happy angler. "Gary said, 'Oh my God, it's a trophy muskie!"
They reeled in the big, toothy monster slowly, bringing it to the side of the boat. Its huge head fit into a standard walleye net only to the gill plates, so Leach and Fagan double-teamed it. Fagan grabbed the tail end and they flopped it over the gunnel onto the deck.
Fanelli, knowing he has a rare-sized muskie, wanted to release it. "I believe in conservation," he said.
Fanelli just wanted a photograph and then return the fish to the lake. But it was spent, exhausted, finished, played out. So they decided to keep it. It barely fit in the cooler.
Later, Oregon taxidermist Mark Lodzinski, at Artistic Touch, measured the fish at 46 1/4 inches long, weighing 26 1/2 pounds. "It was a hog," he said. "We've taken in a lot of fish in the 39-inch-class, but this fish just had a lot of girth. Its girth was 26 1/2 inches."
"It's the first time we've been to the [far] west side of Lake Erie," Fanelli said. "My dentist was telling me how great the charter guys are around Toledo."
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/77/muskybl7.jpg
tight lines walleye warriors...
Capt. Rick
So, I took a calculated guess based on normal Lake Erie walleye migration patterns and headed to deeper water near the Canadian Border, close to Middle Sister Island, about 5 miles away. I was looking for some "open" water with few boats around and strong marks on the graph. After searching for about 15 minutes, I found a small pod of walleye and marked it on my GPS. We started to cast 1/2 oz. gold bladed weapons.
Within minutes, I heard "fish on" and we worked the pod for several hours. I was happy that the crew stuck with it, and their perserverance paid off. A 10 count, with a slow wind was the ticket for these early July walleyes.
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6815/004xd1.jpg
We came back to the dock with 26 walleye for these 1st time fathers & sons, fishing Lake Erie.
On a sidenote, a Capt. friend of mine was fishing near West Sister Island about a week ago, when they caught a trophy Musky while trolling for walleye. They were in open water, 28 feet deep, well away from typical muskie ambush-cover, when one of the little yellow planer boards took a dive backward.
"It went straight across the back of the boat," said Fanelli. "It was my turn so I set the hook and it was like thunder on the end of the line.
"That fish went down and the planer board went down. I was planted in the middle of the boat and it was all I could do to hold on - and I'm 6-2 and 240." The Illinois angler jammed the rod above his belt and set his jaw.
"All he was doing was peeling line out. I didn't gain on him for 10 minutes," said the angler.
The Capt. was using a 20-pound test leader on the spoons with 30-pound main line, so it was not like the anglercould not pressure the fish - it was just that strong.
Finally he began using a familiar saltwater big-fish technique of lifting the rod, and reeling down on the fish. After another 15 minutes, the mystery monster finally came up. "We just saw the tail section for a moment," they said.
"I thought that they had a sturgeon or a super-big sheepshead when he first got it," At the 20-minute-plus mark, "[the fish] came up and laid on top of the water because he was as tired as I was," said the happy angler. "Gary said, 'Oh my God, it's a trophy muskie!"
They reeled in the big, toothy monster slowly, bringing it to the side of the boat. Its huge head fit into a standard walleye net only to the gill plates, so Leach and Fagan double-teamed it. Fagan grabbed the tail end and they flopped it over the gunnel onto the deck.
Fanelli, knowing he has a rare-sized muskie, wanted to release it. "I believe in conservation," he said.
Fanelli just wanted a photograph and then return the fish to the lake. But it was spent, exhausted, finished, played out. So they decided to keep it. It barely fit in the cooler.
Later, Oregon taxidermist Mark Lodzinski, at Artistic Touch, measured the fish at 46 1/4 inches long, weighing 26 1/2 pounds. "It was a hog," he said. "We've taken in a lot of fish in the 39-inch-class, but this fish just had a lot of girth. Its girth was 26 1/2 inches."
"It's the first time we've been to the [far] west side of Lake Erie," Fanelli said. "My dentist was telling me how great the charter guys are around Toledo."
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/77/muskybl7.jpg
tight lines walleye warriors...
Capt. Rick