Got out today for a minute

Today was spose to be cloudy with a little sun and no rain. Since tomorrow is spose to be rainy I thought I should get out today. So I decided on a lake not far from the house so if it did get nasty I wouldn't be that far out. I went to Otter which is the gateway to the James chain. I thought I would start on Otter and just see how far I would get.
Well when I got to the landing the wind was howling which means alot of battery use and poor boat control all day. I launched anyway and actually started fishing right at the landing and after catching 3 or 4 bass I decided to hit the lake.

 Well I can't say I remember boating another fish... however I did boat a blue heron. Yes, I said a blue heron. I saw him standing on a dock and just as I casted he took off and flew right into my line. Since he couldn't stay in the air the only other place was on the water. They weren't built to swim so I caught up to him rather quickly. I grabbed him by the neck up by the head brought him aboard and got him tucked into the corner of the boat. Unfortunately he managed to get the hook into his right thigh, I got a pair of pliers and removed it. After I got the hook out and made sure he was free from the line I let him go. He flew twords the shore landing in the water just short, he seemed to be making out none the worse for ware. I on the other hand had to take a couple minutes to process what just happened.

There was no way he would've let me get a selfie with him

 So after the BH debackle I got back to fishing while keeping an eye on the approaching storm. When it started looking more like thunderstorms than clouds I got off the lake. So in closing I caught some bass, a blue heron and a couple rain drops and was on and off in 4 hours.

First

Erie's not that scary... yesterday I fished Lake Erie for the first time. It was pretty cloudy most of the day, however, that doesn't mean it was cool. In fact, it was down right hot, the breeze died off mid-morning and then it was just me sitting in a boat stinkin'.
 On the way to Erie, I stopped to get a set of regs and hit up the bait shop dude for info. I was going to fish the islands off Marblehead until he told me that they were catching down by Cedar Point so that's where I went.

 Since it was a difference of 10 minutes to me, I put in on the South side of Marblehead. I fished from sunup 'til around 6pm, it was a really fun trip. It was cool to troll a big lake for walleye with lighter gear. Since it was the first time fishing here I did have a little learning curve in the fact that I honestly believe I missed a couple fish just by not being able to tell if it was on or not. I wasn't fishing any weights or riggers other than one color of lead core on both reels. I hit my first walleye in 38 fow and had somewhere in the ballpark of 100' of line out.

Nice 17"er straight into the box, notice the color of the lure? For some reason, the walleye on Erie like pinks and purples so that's what I was draggin' all day.

My second walleye was a 16"er on a purple flicker shad in 41 fow. I did catch one more on a clown flicker shad that I couldn't stretch enough to make my minimum of 16"s so back he went.
I did catch some trash too.

This Dr. Suess lookin' fish is a freshwater drum or sheepshead and they gave me the best fight of the day. I caught and released 3 of these guys before I gave up trolling and started casting for the day.
I caught this channel cat while on the hunt for ..... well anything else.

 I did try to find some white bass, without any luck. They would've gone nicely with my 2 walleye, but that was not to be.

 So to wrap it up my first trip to Lake Erie was a success, everything worked and came home in the same shape as when it left. However, before I make that trip again I think I need to get a couple more lures. Then I will be expecting nothing but limits and bonus fish.
MMMmmm walleye.

Three lake day

Threatening rain and thunderstorms has almost become a weekly occurrence anymore. I really wanted to get out to Erie this week and yet again I couldn't because of the weather, and next week looks like more of the same.
Anywho, I started at Wawasee this week a little after sunrise. I had a really good time fishing this lake. In the past, I only fished it once a year and I think I'm going to up that for next year just because of the amount of fish, the variety, and fishing methods employed. All that means is I caught fish in a variety of ways and had a good time.
  just a side note here.... even though these bass look small it's only because of the "selfie-style"
way I'm taking their pics.... they're all actually 5#er's except the crappie he's only 2 1/2. Once I get the decking done on the boat I will have a permanent place for my camera and will be getting better pics and video.
 Here's the pics....

 This crappie almost got to ride in the cooler on the way home.  mmmm crappie

After a couple hours here, 4 I think, I loaded up and headed for Pretty Lake. Up until I got to Pretty the storms held off but only an hour or so into fishing I could hear the boomers. So I did the responsible thing and loaded up without even catching a fish.
I headed for a lake I wanted to scout for duck hunting. This lake was only a 10 min drive from the last and I had enough time to get some stuff out of the boat and throw it in the truck before the storm let loose. It rained hard, and the wind was rocking the truck, so I ate my sammich in the cab and waited for it to pass. Once it passed it was game on for this lake. I dropped the boat in and started fish/scouting, it looked like a decent duck lake with plenty of hides and lots of lilies and reeds.
I even caught some fish froggin' the pads....

 Well, that was my day, I went out caught some fish and made it home without breaking anything. That in and of itself is a win for team Jeff.
Not sure where next week will find me but I'll be on a lake somewhere, wish me luck.

Big Turkey

No not me... most of the time, I went to Big Turkey Lake this week. I really wanted to go to Lake Erie but the weather was chance of rain with thunder and lightning and I'm not willing to drive 2.5 hours for half a day.
So I made the smart choice (for a change) and headed to a lake that is 15-20 mins from me. The other main reason I chose this lake is, I know it is huntable. So I went to scout for the upcoming duck and goose season, of which they had plenty. I think I know where I'll be at least one day of early goose season.
Anyway back to the task at hand... fishing. The day started off very cloudy but the bass were hitting right off the bat. I didn't have any one lure that worked for me but I caught bass almost all day. Nothing big but they were fun.

 The morning was threatening rain until around 9 when it started to clear off and let the sun shine through for a while. I was just about ready to start trolling for the walleye they stock in this lake when all of a sudden the skies grew dark and started to rumble.... Then there was lightning... well gotta go wish I could stay, pack it up and head for the landing, just like everyone else with a trailer.
This storm kinda ticked me off cause it rained lightly all the way home and off and on for the rest of the day. Everyone knows I don't like doing anything in the rain but I would've stayed if I would've known the thunder and lightning was just a bluff.