Put Four Walleye, Two Crappie, in the Boat

Leaving Dow's Boat Rentals, we headed into whitecaps, but beyond the lake's midpoint, wave action moderated. I found fish on a drop-off where I never fail to find fish, although I saw none on the graph deeper than 16 feet. Water temp was 63. We began to prepare as the boat drifted over a 13-foot flat. Having marked some good fish there, we put herring out without weight, but before we would have stayed there long, I got my best idea yet.

We motored maybe half a mile to a third spot, anchoring in 20 feet of water, intending to fish as deep as 24. I put a herring out without weight, and two weighted by 3/4-ounce slip sinkers, 20-24 feet deep. I had felt moved to come here by one of those deep, abdominal affirmations that seem to know of success before it comes. I'm an older man, so when it happens, I don't get especially headstrong, but in a way, it feels better than it can at any other age. As you get older and job stress still plagues you, to get moments like that assure you of life remaining real.

Soon, I caught a small walleye on the unweighted herring, realizing it couldn't have hit in water deeper than 14 feet. Not that the situation was terribly surprising. The other day, my wife commented on how we used to imagine moving to Maryland or North Carolina. "Now there's no reason to,," she said. "Their climate is ours." 

I got another small walleye from 20 or 22 feet, before Oliver caught one from directly under the boat at 20 or 21 feet, his fish about 20 inches. He had weighted a herring by a split shot. He caught a crappie and another walleye, 18 inches. I caught a big crappie on a Binsky, and then I missed hits on two consecutive casts and very soon thereafter hooked the biggest walleye of the afternoon on that Binsky, the fish lost at the net. 

I hooked it in about 14 feet of water. I'm used to catching them as deep as 33 or 35 feet this time of year.

We fished not quite four hours, excluding dock prep and boat travel. It was a great time. It made me feel beyond any doubt that I need more time like this yet.

Sunlight on the trees made them appear more golden than they are, but they are coloring just a little bit.

With no sun on the trees, you can see how green.