We hit a spot on some intel from a buddy, and this normally doesn't work out too well for me when I go chasing other people's fish. We met at the access point and setup about 50 yards from the lads who gave me the intel.
I barely had my line in the water and fish on!! A nice 3 lber and a start to my meat run. The next hour was chaos and I don't know the order but I iced 5 walleye, lost a 10 lb+ in the hole, and missed probably a half a dozen. Of the 5 fish, I had 3 keepers, and I released an 8 poundish sow and a smaller 12-14 incher.
In the first hour my partner Ricky had iced two keepers, lost a 10+ at the hole, and missed just as many as I did.
Things slowed down a bit so we we loaded up and moved a few hundred yards away. Right away I missed a fish. We were on some fish again but they were very finicky. We stayed at this spot for about 35-45 mins. I missed a few, released a 12-14 incher and finished off my limit with another keeper. Rick was misssing fish and getting srtripped of minnows also. I don't remember what order but he put his third keeper on the ice, as well as a nice 12" or so jumbo perch. After 10 mins of nothing we packed up and and went 200 yards in another direction. We were on some weeds and a little too shallow for my liking but we gave it 10 minutes anyway, and nothing showed up. We moved 200 yards again in another direction. We only needed one more eye to complete Rick's meat run and he picked it up in the first 4 minutes on our 4th spot of the morning. 8 walleyes and a jumbo were headed home with us at 10:00 am.
The tally for the morning was 7 walleye for me, 4 for Rick, a lost hawg at the hole for each of us, and countless missed fish. I was ripping a buckshot all morning and Ricky was ripping a pimple. We fished for 3 hours and it was an awesome morning. Warm sun and a very slight breeze had us fishing without gloves on all morning. It was one of hell of a morning.
I was itching to get back out in the afternoon and I knew it was going to sunny and mild, but I wasn't sure how mommy was gonna like that. I threw a bug in her ear that I'd like to bring and her and the girls out since it was such a nice day and the fish were on. Plans were put in place and back out we went.
My dad and I were going to head out an hour before the women so we could get setup and organized before they came out. To get on the ice, we had to drive the bike through some cat tails and it was looking pretty wet. Sure enough, we sunk the bike to the frame in black soupy mud. She was not moving. Some fellow angler's came to the rescue and after a little sweating and cursing we were headed out. I got my dad and everything setup on our spot and went to pick up my women.
I started off by chilling in the hut with my 3 year old Taylor. I was trying to give her a lesson on jigging and electronics, but she was more interested in chatting. lol The best part of my night happened when just her and I were in the hut. We had the heat blasting, gloves off, and I was trying my damnedest to get a fish for her when out of the blue she says "Daddy, I love hanging out with you".. That right there made my night.
My 5 year old Lauren started off trying out some skating. It didn't go to well but we were proud she tried. She hasn't taken an interested in skating yet.
We had a full arsenal of snacks and their first choice was a fruit rollup.
As prime time approached, the fish didn't. I did manage to hook into an 8-10 incher and hand the rod off to Lauren. I was happy that they were able to see a fish come topside.
I gave the fish a kiss before I released it and tried to get Lauren to do the same. She wasn't having it.
She did want to touch it though. Baby steps I guess. LOL.
We hooked another 8-10 incher and the girls we about ready to head in. It was a great night on the Bay with the ladies. I was hoping to get into the fish like we did in the morning, but that's how she goes. Looking forward to getting them out again and hopefully in to some fish.
I dropped them on shore and headed back out to get my dad and my gear. As I pulled up to him the bike stalled and at that point I remembered that I didn't remember to fuel it up this afternoon. Empty. Halfway across the bay and dark out. Just as she stalled out, the lad who gave me the intel showed up to see how we did. After telling him I was out of fuel and need some help he called his crew of guys over, we made a funnel out of a water bottle and emptied the gas from 3 power augers into the Rhino. It was enough fuel to get back to shore and on the trailer. That was the quickest possible recovery option and I'm glad it worked out.
Although getting the bike sunk in the mud and running out of fuel got me a little worked up, all in all, it was a wicked day.
Tight lines till next weekend!! (If there is any ice left after this week of mild weather coming)
