Gale Force Fishing

November 10th 2018

 

Well just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does! After yesterday’s weather I was actually looking forward to the giant winds today. Too bad they couldn’t get the direction right! I think they need a compass course or something because W/NW isn’t SW! What should have been fine to fish turned out to be living hell due to the inaccurate direction they reported. Gotta love those damn weathermen!

We knew we were in for a windy day, but I would still be able to fish many areas based on the direction it was suppose to blow from. When I got on the water and realized just how wrong they were, I tried to take advantage of the lighter morning winds before they increased. Both Craig & Herm were working a dropshot rig in deeper water and looking for their first bite. Although Craig did manage to hook into a really good bass, it never made it to the boat. The first time it went to the air, the hook was thrown and he was left with disappointment. Fishing was tough and every bite had to count! Especially because we didn’t know just how bad the winds would get. Gusts of over 40 knots from the wrong direction like we had would limit the number of places to fish today.

After trying to fish 3 or 4 places with only a few bites, I made a move to another area. They also changed baits and hooked a couple of fish, giving us all hope. Too bad it was short lived however as the winds were already starting to increase. They went from doable to not so much! In fact one of the places I was readying to fish in caused me to fire up the small engine and use both motors just to stay in place. The one foot chop had increased to three footers in less than a couple of minutes. I had no choice but to leave the area completely! I shifted gears and began a slow troll over great looking water despite the big waves. This only put a couple of fish in the boat before I realized it was practically hopeless. Everywhere I was looking at fishing was insane now with 3 & 4 foot rollers. I had to try alternate areas and places I hadn’t fished much in years. Somehow I managed to find one tiny spot that was almost sheltered from the main wind and it was here that we would remain for the rest of the day. They had picked up a few fish earlier and I was back to refine it even more. Thankfully we lucked out on the location as there were many fish here, as we soon found out.

I really paid attention to detail on this spot and had both of them casting a dropshot rig. The anchor feature on the electric held us securely in place, in the current & wind. I made slight adjustments giving them both different angles and the fish just kept coming. Plenty of really good smallies were landed along with several walleye. In fact after tossing the first eye back, Craig landed another causing me to begin live welling a few for them to bring home. I had found a really small area hidden from the worst of the wind and kept the boat right in the slack water.

For the next three hours they managed many more fish and some really good ones too. Craig was doing most of the damage from the front of the boat but Herm also had a hand in catching a few big ones too! Each time I tried to move out of the area, I quickly realized that it wasn’t doable and had to tuck back into the calmer waters below. I really milked this spot by making slight adjustments allowing them to change their presentations and pick up more fish. They took advantage of the lack of waves but the winds were still howling where we were!

Time had passed by quickly with all the fish being landed and before we knew it, the end was near. I began packing things up for the rough ride back while they continued to fish and apparently it was the right decision. Herm had now stopped fishing but Craig was still making casts and nailed a big fish. With the water color mud, we never got to see what the fish was, until it was almost at the boat. To everyone’s surprise, it turned out to be a really nice walleye. Too bad it was way over and released after a few pics! Thinking he would end on a high, Craig was readying to leave when Herm told him to take a few more casts. Good thing too as he hooked something really big on the very next one. It never jumped so we were thinking another big eye but as it neared the boat, we realized that it was a monster smallie. In fact, it was the one we had been hoping for! Craig had ended this season with his largest bass for the fall. I definitely wasn’t letting him cast again!

Today was a tough one but by paying attention to detail and monopolizing on places we could fish, we made it work. I wasn’t happy with the limited areas we could get to though. I had focussed more attention on being able to feel the bites instead of fishing places that I knew held fish. As it turned out, I ended up with both! Not only were they able to detect subtle strikes but apparently it was loaded. They caught plenty of quality bass and managed to take several keeper walleye back with them too! All that was left now was the ride back and it wasn’t going to be pretty! As soon as we got to the open water we were into rolling three & four footers. Fortunately the boat took the waves without even a splash and we made it back without incident. Safe & sound at the take out and glad we had fished today! Thoughts of cancelling were on everyone’s mind this morning but everything worked out in the end. Plenty of great fish were landed on this not so easy day!!