Followed The Waves

Well done sir---congratulations and great report! I fished north of you Friday morning and picked up a few lakers, a decent brown, and a few small salmon and rainbows. I hope the wind over the past few days cleaned things up but there was a lot of debris in the water---some of it big enough to take out a lower unit---logs, wooden planks, and everything else. I'm heading back up Friday with my nephew but the weather is still looking unsettled at this point. I'll post a few highlights of the clunkers I was working around. If the lake is flat, you can see the floaters but with a little chop, everything disappears…

I started around the age of 2 with a Mitchell 300 open-faced spinning reel and I think I did fine.

Here is some standard Homeowner's policy wording: 2. Windstorm or Hail -- However, "we" do not pay for loss: a. to property inside a structure caused by dust, rain, sand, sleet, snow, or water, all whether driven by wind or not, which enter through an opening in the structure not made by the direct force of wind or hail; or b. to watercraft or their trailers, furnishings, equipment, or engines or motors unless inside a fully enclosed building. "We" do cover canoes and rowboats while on the "insured premises". 4. Limitations on Certain Property -- The special "limits" shown below do not increase the Coverage C "limit". The "limit" for each class is the total "limit" per occurrence for all items in that class. d. $1,500 on watercraft including their trailers, furnishings, equipment, and engines or motors. Coverage C -- Personal Property 1. "We" cover personal property owned by or in the care of an "insured". Coverage for personal property usually on residential premises of an "insured" other than the "insured premises" is limited to 10% of the Coverage C "limit".

Managed a few at the north end this morning. Water temps were running around 52 degrees. Sawbellies were hitting small spoons…

Something just dropped—-it was my jaw. Phenomenal catch and phenomenal pic—-props to you sir!

The eel bite is hot!

I keep an eye on the Solunar Tables and the best bite was supposed to be right before the eclipse. This guy was a little late but he got the skunk out of the boat. Agreed on the weather—-ugh. I sat this weekend out. Auto Pilot will be here Wednesday!

Reel Doc, thanks! It wasn't much of a show on Seneca. I saw about 10% of the sun disappear and then everything disappeared behind the clouds. I had been out most of the day at that point and only had one bite until the eclipse was just hitting the fan and a planer board took a dive. After a long fought battle, I was able to get this guy in the boat. I was sure the line was going to break. As you can see from my expression, it really made my day! I am beginning to look into an autopilot. I'm just getting started but this one came up on my radar. My 28 foot Voyager ways 10,500 pounds but with a couple tanks of gas and all my fishing crap on board, I'm sure I'm over 11,000 pounds. Think I'm looking in the right direction?

RD, many thanks. Autopilot would sure be sweet but probably not worth the money on my old 40-year-old clunker. I'm heading up today and I'll fish in the morning and I may watch the eclipse from the water---with my eclipse glasses of course!

I got out for my shakedown cruise last weekend and fished the north end of Seneca. On Saturday, I fished until about 4 PM and landed a nice mix of 9 fish---lakers, salmon (just one keeper and some dinks), a rainbow, and a brown. All but two were caught by 10 AM or so. On Sunday, I fished until about noon and managed three lakers and a decent brown. Everything was caught from 20' to 70' on small spoons. I ran a stickbait and a plug for a while Saturday afternoon with no action. Everything came on 2 leadcore rods or a planer. Water temps ran from 39° to 42°. On Saturday, I didn't even see another boat until 2:20 PM. A few guys were out perch fishing Sunday morning but I didn't see anyone else trolling either day. For the most part, the fish looked healthy but the biggest brown was beaten up pretty bad by a lamprey and one of the lakers had a nasty bite. Boat control is difficult for one guy in a 28 foot flybridge with the wind but by the afternoon on both days, things settled down. Some chop is nice but I have to troll with the wind unless I have a driver on board. I want to give a special shout out to my coach, Capt. Nick O (Reel Stories) for all his help in shortening my very long learning curve when it comes to trolling. It's not something that came naturally to me with all the variables---speed, color, depth, temperature, etc. but I think I'm finally getting it. Tight lines! Saturday's catch... Sunday's catch...

Beats being stuck inside with the same relatives who told the same stories at Thanksgiving! LOL…

Their expressions are priceless!