After an abysmal first day and second morning, Ken and I headed to Walleye Alley in the evening of day 2 to try our luck. I remembered a small bay with lily pads at the end of the alley that felt promising.
We started down Walleye Alley and it was very windy. It was perfect conditions to drift with a lindy rig, but I didn’t have enough foresight to bring that set up. So Ken trolled while I cast with a bubble gum fluke. Casting was very difficult due to the windy conditions. My line was getting way too much slack in it.
We got to the end of the Alley where there was a nook in the shore that kept us out of the wind. Casting was better, but the action was not.
We rounded the nook to get into the bay and after a few minutes, I finally got a hit in the North corner. I set the hook and my fluke flew up with the fish just before the line went slack. My swivel failed.
I retied a new swivel with a fresh fluke and dropped the first cast just in front of a line of lily pads. I felt some resistance so I set the hook. It just felt heavy so I wasn’t sure that I actually had a fish until the line started to swim to the right. It was a small 18″ Northern. Finally, a fish in the boat!
Species: Northern Pike
Size: 18″
Lure used: Bubble gum super fluke
A few casts later, I got snagged in the same area and when we took the pontoon into the lily pad forest, I saw my first fluke laying on the bottom of the lake. I guess the first fish spit it out just as my swivel failed.
While still in the pads, I cast left toward the South shore. After letting it sit for a few seconds, the retrieve felt funny, so I reeled the fluke in and it was all twisted. “Hmmm… that’s interesting,” I thought. I cast to the same spot and the same thing happened. About 7 out of 10 casts to the area came back the same way, but I didn’t feel a thing.
I finally gave up on the spot and started casting toward another part of shore. Two out of three casts in different spots came back with twisted flukes. I guessed that it must be my casting in combination with the fluke that was causing the twistedness. I switched to a white pearl fluke and the twisting stopped.
We rounded the point that formed the North end of the bay and at the point there was some fallen branches in the water. One looked particularly enticing, so I tried to drop my fluke between the branches. It took four tries before I hit the spot I wanted. If anything was there, it wasn’t interested.
I then cast to the next branch and hit the spot I wanted on the first try. Again, the line felt heavy and I thought I got snagged. But then a fish jumped out of the water and my line went slack. I thought I had lost it. Until it jumped again. I quickly reeled in and somehow it was still on. It turned out to be a nice 15″ smallie.
Species: Smallmouth Bass
Size: 15″
Lure used: White pearl super fluke
The shore around the point led to the lake’s only public boat access. We followed the South shore and I got a nip. I waited for the weight, but it never came. I set the hook anyway and there was something on the other end. It didn’t feel like a very big one until it left shore and tugged harder. I got it to the front of the pontoon and the fish spit the lure right at me. It nearly hit me in the head.
We followed the South shore until the channel narrowed, then we followed the North shore. I felt one hit that I missed before the bugs got too bad. So we headed in.
I’m glad we finally boated some fish. The trip was pretty discouraging before this.
[…] Finally, Fish in the Boat […]