A Legend Returns

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July 10th 2018

 

I had the pleasure of sharing the boat today with a true hockey legend! Larry Robinson was back again and this time he brought a few of his family with him. His brother Mo, son Jeff & grandson Dylan would be competing for big fish honors and we would be targeting walleye.

A quick run on the water had us starting in an area that had been producing good fish, daily. I needed to see if they would bite again and set the rods for the troll. Their option was either to pick a rod or go for the rotation. They opted for the second choice and Dylan would be first up on the rods.

I had set the lines in deeper water and began searching without much sign of life. After about 10 minutes of washing lures, I decided to move a little shallower and a reel finally fired. I knew by the way the fish hit that it was what we were after and Dylan reeled in the first walleye of the day. It definitely wouldn’t be the last! For some reason the reel didn’t go off hard, but barely clicked, causing me to think that the fish were very lethargic. I would be listening for other light biters after hearing this one!

Mo was up next and it didn’t take long for him to get on the board either. Unfortunately it was a pike and returned quickly. Several passes in the area provided us with a few more fish but the bite wasn’t what I expected. These fish were still here but not really in the mood to eat. At one point I began a much wider search and still continued to only pick at them again. It had the makings of a very tough morning!

After covering what felt like miles & miles of open water with similar results, I decided to return to where I thought they were. We trolled over the exact same areas and reels began firing with only good fish. Several high end keeper walleye were boated and made their way into the livewell. When Dylan’s turn came back around, he fought a really big pike that would hold as largest northern of the day. Larry had a great rotation too, when he took the next rod and battled a big eye. This wouldn’t be going into the livewell but made for some really nice pics and possibly bragging rights! I had returned to where I knew the fish should be and obviously they were there. I guess they just weren’t in the mood to eat, earlier this morning!

With the numbers climbing now, I wasn’t going anywhere! I just kept trolling over this spot and refining it a little more on each pass. Although not all fish were walleye, it was still nice to hear the reels fire. At least the ones with big fish as Larry was about to find out again! His next one was even larger than his previous fish and fought even harder. More great pics and a quick release and smack was now being talked. He may have only landed two walleye so far but they were both big! Might as well brag about it with this crew!

With only a few walleye in the livewell, I continued the search and managed to find several more high end keepers. Every time I swung back to one area, we hooked up! As long as I gave it a rest, we were almost guaranteed a fish or two when we returned.

I didn’t want to spend the whole day trolling and eventually moved further from the key areas and more to open water. Ironically, we put another good fish in the livewell, just by covering water!

I eventually pulled the plug here and opted for some drop shotting on deeper shoals, in the open lake. We ran to the spot in waves that seemed to be building. All morning we had been fishing in a good chop and for some reason they were now 2 to 3 footers when we stopped to fish. I didn’t care, as long as we had a good drift!

With the boat turned sideways, I explained how this technique needed to be fished and everyone dropped down. We were moving a little quickly, but good enough to get bit! After making a couple of drifts and refining their presentations, the third time was a charm. Larry managed to set on a nice walleye, and Dylan simultaneously hooked up too! Jeff even had a shot at a third one but unfortunately it was off before he was able to reel it in. Larry’s fish was a good one and joined the others in the livewell while Dylan’s fell a little short and was released.

We had made several other drifts over this area and despite marking plenty of fish, they weren’t able to land any others. Everyone had their chances, but these fish just weren’t eating well. Time to relocate!

I hit another spot further away and they continued with the drop shot for a while. The results were still the same so I decided to go back to the troll instead! With lines set, it really didn’t take long for the first reel to scream and scream it did! Jeff pounced on the rod, regardless that it was suppose to be Dylan’s turn and boated a nice smallie to complete his slam. Not to be outdone by his father, Dylan rebounded soon after with a slam of his own, when he boated another bass. Obviously the toll was working despite the dismal drop shotting over the same area!

With time getting on and a deadline to meet due to evening engagements for them, I hit the key areas again. When one of the reels went off, Mo grabbed the rod and reeled in the last fish of the day. Unfortunately he didn’t get his slam, but he did boat a really nice walleye. Several quick pics later, we released the over and packed it in.

The fishing may have been a little slow by my standards today, but plenty of quality fish were still landed. Largest pike honors went to Dylan but Larry took the cup with his two big walleye from the morning troll. It’s all about the right rotation and he definitely had that today! He may not be competing anymore but the competitive nature in him still remains. In fact, they were all in the same boat, literally! With every fish landed, plenty of laughs were had, especially when the fish weren’t walleye! Regardless of the comments and smack talk, they all had a great time together, relaxing on this family fishing trip!!