It's rough when you make a four-day trip to Chautauqua County in western New York to fish beautiful Lake Erie in late August when the big walleye are roaming through that part of the big lake and bad weather, as in high winds, robs you of nearly every planned trip. Bad weather sometimes follows me like it has something personal going on. One of our trips was with Capt. Jim Klein who fishes out of Cattaraugus Creek. Jim, an inventor and creator of the incredible Eye-Fish worm harness lures, is a superb fisherman. He knows the intricacies of this lake as well as anybody and we were really looking forward to the trip and learning more about the technical aspects of enticing big walleye to bite. The forecast called for small craft warnings to build as the day wore on. We went anyway - me and fellow outdoor writers Doyle Dietz and Pete Brookes. I hate it when the weatherman is right. While the run several miles offshore wasn't too bad, conditions deteriorated by the minute and it soon became apparent we'd be only able to set up for two - if that - somewhat haphazard drifts trying to catch fish scattered or completely hugging the bottom due to the lack of a thermocline. It's tough to keep bait in place when you're bouncing around in 4-6-foot waves. We got a few to the net, but halfway through the second drift it was time to get the heck off that rough water.
Back on shore, Capt. Jim Klein gave me an overview of his sturdy, useful new SpoonCrank Tackle Storage system. Check it out. And be sure to check out www.outdoorsrambler.com for a a boatload of outdoors content.
22 апр 2024
