 |
| S-E-P-T-E-M-B-E-R !! We made it ! All of us. Whether you fish or not, we made it. We made it thru the summer of 2013. One of my favorite songs is John “Cougar” Mellencamps summer of “69” I really doubt that anyone will be writing any songs about the summer of “2013” but none the less, it’s in the books. It started out totally awesome for us aboard “The Trophy” way back in June but after the fish moved offshore in July and we started dealing with all the torrential rains, big winds, high fuel prices not to mention all the junk fish and other handicaps, well it just was a whole lot tougher a lot of days. I think I took it much harder then a lot of my guys did that I took out on the days that we did not not limit out but I always feel it’s my job to deliver the absolute best possible experience out there that I can every day. But after June, it seemed like it was a constant uphill battle for me and a lot of the other charter operators with the weather and the other factors. Lots of my groups did just great regardless. Some did just OK. And a few others, well we even struggled. I guess that’s just fishing. If it were up to me, everyone would do just fabulous everyday. But it’s just the luck of the draw I guess. I don’t have all that much control after a certain point on how the days going to play out. |
 |
| And this final week of August was no exception. We had some of my very best trips of the year as you can tell from these pictures and then again a couple of days that I would just rather forget about. All weather related of coarse. When we did have good lake conditions, we simply crushed the Walleyes this past week. When we didn’t, well we just didn’t do nearly as well. And that’s the way it’s been all summer long. At least the last two months here. And in reality, each and every year. You just can’t be 100% perfect every day, day after day. Not when you’re butting heads against Mother Nature. But if you caught just the right day, it was nothing short of spectacular a lot of the days this past week and all of the summer of 2013 with incredible rack fulls of fish. I guess that’s what I should be excited about. The days that everything came together for us. |
 |
| Maybe September won’t be nearly as much of a roller coaster ride for us aboard “The Trophy”. Either way though, most of my Walleye trips are now in the books. We start this month off with “The Trophy” being a full time Walleye boat with us running our final few weeks of Walleye trips and then going straight into our Perch charters. By the end of the month, we’ll be strictly a Perch boat. So far, Perching has been pretty good for most everyone. I’m hoping it will get only better as we approach the fall season and I also have to jump into the game. I think I am getting really close to wanting to start doing these Perch trips and just putting my Walleye rods away for this year. It’s been a long road since the end of March when I first started chasing the Walleyes way back at Port Clinton. Thousands of miles later and a hundred some trips later, there is plenty of wear and tear on all of my equipment not to mention me! Lol ! So, many fishing trips and fishing reports later, here we are. September. Just a few more weeks of Walleyeing left for me at best and just a few more weeks of these final reports with me trying to put it all in perspective from my point of view here on print for those of you following along with my fishing blogs. We are closing in on the end of the road. |
 |
| As far as for an actual report, well we did find some fish closer in once again this past week. And just in the nick of time. Fuel prices as of this past Friday jumped yet another $.30 cents a gallon at the marina pumps where I am docked. That is just unbelievable to me. The junk fish this past week were not so terribly bad either in close where we were fishing for the Walleyes. The size of the fish continued to be very good for us but we also seen some smaller fish in the mix this past week insuring that the fishery appears to be healthy for years to come. And still next to almost no Steelhead Trout for us this past week. I think we only caught one. Very strange. I don’t have a clue where they might be. Maybe this coming week we’ll run into a few more of them. They are really due to start moving thru as they move towards the shorelines and the streams for the fall runs. Once again, we’ll just have to see how it all goes for us here this first full week of September. And as of this report, I haven't really even looked at the long range weather forecast for this coming week. I guess there is no point in doing so. They usually get it all wrong anyway. Whatever it is, I will show up and if it is at all doable, we’ll head out there and I will again try to do my very best. And if you fall into the about 80% of my groups that usually catch a half way decent lake, well, you’ll be just fine. Just keep your fingers crossed you’re not in that other 20% category !
|
(198.228.228.161)