We started out trolling crankbaits along a breakline that went from 6-12' of water and not much was showing up on the other end of the line. So, after trolling for about and hour, we switched over to working jigs & crawlers on the deeper side of the breakline. Everyone except Ed that is. He chose to work a jig tipped with a purple/chart tail ringworm. This was looking like a great choice when he nailed a very nice 20-1/2" sauger after fishing for no more than about 15 minutes. The other two guys caught a couple of small walleyes and saugers in this same area, but no one caught a legal fish and after another hour or so passed, we decided it was best to move on.
By the time we moved to the next spot, the sun was starting to warm things up fairly good. Sunny, partly cloudy skies and a strong south wind created small white caps which stayed with us for most of the day. We caught a few more short walleyes on the jig/crawler combinations, some sheepshead and one 26" pike which came on a catalpa ringworm.
After a dead period, we went back to trolling crankbaits in 6-10' of water. The fish seemed to get more active in the early afternoon hours and we were pretty much getting at least one fish per pass for the most part. The only problem was that most of them were a bit on the short side. By the end of the afternoon, we managed only one legal sauger (18") and another walleye that went 20-1/2 inches long. Ed was lucky enough to be the guy who caught both 20-1/2" fish today. Ted was the unluckiest of the three. He had managed to real in a very nice walleye, which would have measured in at 24-25" long, right up to the back of the boat where it came unbuttoned. Perhaps the worst part was that everybody in the boat got a real good look at it. After that, Ted had to endure quite a bit of teasing which he took quite well.
The final tally for the day was 9 walleyes, 5 saugers, 1 northern, 1 crappie, a yellow bass, several white bass and of course several of the ever popular sheepshead.
It was great fishing with the three of you Ed, Dan and Ted!.
Take care and good luck fishing!
Boog
