| FISHING TRIPS 2003 Page 2 |
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| Tim and I hooked up with Al Bertke for a 2 1/2-day Smallmouth trip to Lake Erie. We fished out of Al's boat, the "Bomber", a 23 1/2-foot Lund with an I/O engine. We launched at a public dock near Lakeside. Monday the winds were calm and Lake Erie was as flat. We decided to work our way up to Pelee Island and to stop along the way to fish a few reefs and humps. We caught a few smallies and sheephead here and there but we really didn't do real well until we fished a spot along the southeast shore of Pelee called Mill Point. We spent most of the afternoon there and we made numerous drifts over the reef picking up a bass or two on about every drift (not to mention the sheephead!). Al did manage to catch a nice walleye. On our way back to the dock that evening we encountered two "Tall Ships" sailing their way from Cleveland to Toledo. These ships were awesome to see with their tall masts and numerous sails. Click on the pictures to get a better look. Tuesday it was windier and we first tried to fish the reef on the northeast corner of Kelleys. After a few drifts with no luck we moved in closer to the east shore of Kelleys and fished the humps just off the Airport entrance. We picked off a few smallmouth here and there along with a bunch of sheephead again. Wednesday morning we woke up to a northwest wind. The waves were 3-5 feet and there were small craft warnings out. We decided to make a run to the east side of Kelleys. The "Bomber" handled the waves real well as Al maneuvered the boat in the rough waters. We fished the same area that we fished the day before but we didn't catch anything but sheephead. It was a good trip and I got a chance to fish out of a different boat. Al's Lund is a great boat to fish out of on Lake Erie. |
| LAKE ERIE JULY 14-16, 2003 |
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| WE TOOK A KID FISHING !!! Tim, Dan and Dan's 9-year old son, John, went up to Lake St. Clair for a few days on August 1-2. This outing was John's first fishing trip in a boat. They stayed in the cottage on the canal at Bass Haven. After John got the hang of working different rigs he really started to catch fish. He counted every one he caught. Friday he caught 16, including Perch, Rockbass, Bluegills and his first two Smallmouth. His goal Saturday was to total at least 30 and to get his first Walleye. They fished mostly the 240 hole and used spreaders, bobbers and small rubber spider jigs tipped with worms. The spider jigs were the most effective. John was really fired up Saturday morning and he fished all the hours that his dad and uncle did. Tim asked him if he thought he still would be fishing when he was Tim's age and he said "definitely", and that he would have his own boat by then. He was not water shy at all. The waves or speed of the boat were not a problem for him. He even liked getting splashed, and he caught more fish than Tim and Dan! He really had the feel for what a bite was. Saturday evening they stopped at Pip's 4/5 foot spot off Grassy where John had a hit that they all thought was a big Smallmouth, but it turned out to be a jumbo Sheepshead (3.5 lbs)! He got it in somehow! A couple minutes later he popped a Smallie that took him all over the place. John stated that the Smallie was the best fighter of all the fish that he caught. He did achieve his goal of catching 30 fish, including a Walleye! The guys at Bass Haven were great. John got to see some fish being cleaned and heard first hand about a big Muskie getting half way into a bass net before breaking the line. He wants to get a Muskie next! He's Hooked ! |
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| * CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE |