More East Winds

Another day with hateful east winds saw Nick, Adam and Greg back, searching for some action. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew dealing with the big east wind, wasn’t going to be easy. All I could do was hope that the fish would bite!

We began with a reverse drift over a spot that held both bass and walleye and it wasn’t easy. With three lines in the water, surely we would get something! After several unsuccessful passes, all we had to show for our efforts, was one bass. Despite marking plenty of fish and a few missed strikes, it just wasn’t working. I made a couple more reverse drifts here before finally pulling the plug entirely. I was about to try something new!

It had been quite some time since I had trolled, but I was about to give it a try. I set the lines and began covering water, looking for active fish. I trolled over plenty of the areas that usually produce, but I didn’t see anything. No bait equals no fish and I was definitely on that! Eventually I got over better-looking water with good cover and bait, when the first reel fired. As luck would have it, an oversized walleye soon came to the net. Finally, a decent fish! A second reel also went off while fighting the fish, but unfortunately that one came unpinned. These guys couldn’t believe where the fish had come from, let alone what it was caught on! I informed them that it probably wouldn’t be the last and reset the lines, hoping for more.

We continued covering water and this time when the reel fired, it turned out to be a good keeper. I realized that the area we were fishing was holding fish and concentrated here for a while. Although I had to cover plenty more water, I did get over another active fish and now there were two good eyes in the well. It may not have been on fire, but we were finally catching fish! Several other big ones were also caught from this area before we pulled the plug on the troll. Adam had to leave and we headed back to the dock to drop him off. Greg and Nick would be remaining and we would be trying other areas this afternoon.

It was after 1:00 now and I thought we’d try dropshotting once again. I returned to the place we began this morning and gave it another try. With plenty of fish in the area, we still weren’t able to get any of them to eat, so I didn’t stay long. I hit one more area further away and fortunately the fish were more cooperative. They both had plenty of bites from here and a combination of bass and walleye were landed before we were done.

Today was a bit of a challenge, to say the least. The big winds caused the fish to just shut down in most of the places I fished. I had to mix it up a bit just to make the fish bite. With opposing winds to the current, it wasn’t easy triggering anything into eating our offerings. I definitely grinded it out today, but in the end it all worked out. There may not have been the numbers I am use to seeing, but the size of the fish they landed made it all worthwhile! A tough, but very rewarding day!!