Catching a Fish at W/C Outing

Catching a Fish at the Walleye Central Outing

By (Boatnut) Mike Justus

Monday morning dawned bright and calm as I met my fishing buddy Paul at the Huron Boat basin. We decided that the fish probably weren’t up yet and went to Berardi’s for breakfast to discuss strategy. Paul had been fishing the waters off Huron for several days prior to my arrival and was mystified as to why he hadn’t done so well. I had no answers other then to tell him, I felt his luck was about to change.

We went back to the boat. Paul warmed up the engine as I started putting gear away. I sipped a cup of coffee as we idled down the river, listening to the inboard rumbling and watching the gulls flying around. After we cleared the lighthouse, Paul moved the throttle forward and the “Idlewake” roared to life. We headed out towards a spot that Paul had fished earlier in the week. After about an 8 mile run, we slowed down to look for fish on the sounder. We started marking quite a few and decided to put some lines out. We slowly and methodically set out first, two dipsey divers per side, then two inline planer boards per side with an assortment of Michigan Stinger spoons and Reef Runner lures. We even set out two “three ways” with a combination of a stinger and a deep Reef Runner on two of the planer boards.

Fishing was slow, but it was a gorgeous day on the lake. The lake was as calm as I’ve ever seen it - nary a ripple to be seen and warm enough to be in our shirt sleeves.

Shortly after noon, one of the outside boards lunged back and the sound of the clicker on one of our Daiwa 27’s let me know we had a nice fish on. I yelled “thar’ she blows!” Paul alertly grabbed the rod with the inside board and reeled it in so I’d have a clean path to fight the big fish. With rod tip high, I slowly reeled in so Paul could take off the inline board. The fish was pulling so hard I was having trouble gaining on it. Paul thoughtfully started to bump the boat into neutral for short periods so that I could gain some ground on what felt like a monster! After what seemed like an hour, I finally got the fish close enough to where I could see it. Now I knew why it was such a struggle. The line had a three way on it and not only was there a nice fat walleye on the Reef Runner lure, but there was another 1 1/2 pound white bass hanging on the Michigan Stinger! Paul deftly netted both fish and we ended up with a nice 9 pound plus walleye!

Although this walleye wasn’t the 12 pounder that I’d hoped for, it was still a nice fish and a memorable experience. We ended up with six nice fish that day and great time had by both of us.