Report April 19th – 23rd.

My crew took off on Tuesday the 18th right after work. We didn’t get out town until 7ish due to certain individuals, I won’t mention any names Dave.

We arrived in Port Clinton at approximately 8:00 AM EST. We hit the local bait shop, picked up a couple reef runners I didn’t have in the box(which I made a perfect call on, these baits smacked fish for 3 days). The locals said the crankbait bite had been really good, but with hot temps coming a crawler/spinner bite would be right around the corner. Thanks to the gentelman at Fisherman’s Warf for pointing us in the right direction.

We headed to the Ferry so we could get out on the South Bass Island to stow our gear and get on the water. Well, after waiting in line and hooking up the Iowa crew, it was about 1:00PM before we hit the water.

Our first location was to head out to C-can and try trolling north of there towards B-can. Not twenty minutes into having the lines all set, bam, down goes the first board. Exactly why I go to Erie. After a short fight and great job with the net, Jason(Erie Rookie) had his first Erie walleye in the boat. 31.5 inches and a 17th girth. A dandy to start the trip. Of course, we all jynxed ourselves thinking here we go. I think it was several hours later before we got another fish in the box. Don’t remember the exact number we ended the day with, but I think it was 5 fish. All great “Erie Eaters” along with a trophy.

Here is Jason’s fish:

I’ll just post the pics and not bore you with stories from the rest of the trip, but let’s just say I have plenty of material for opener at the Big D.

Jason had the rookie luck. Each time it was his turn, you could almost guarantee a big fish. Here is his tally for the 4.5 days we fished: 31.5×17, 30.5×18, 32×16,30.5×16. I don’t know how many 27 – 29’s he caught. Although I do have film of one dink, must have been 24″.

Here is his secon fish for the wall:

Mike(Crossin Eyes) with a dandy.

Here is another dandy Matt got.

Here is what Dave and I do best. Guide’s for big fish.

This is the SD crew. Several high school buddies and friends I used to hunt and fish with a lot.

One last one until I get a few pics gathered from the other boats.

Now don’t go bashing us for this pic. If you do any amount of research on Lake Erie, you will discover the sport fisherman take such a small percentage of the kill quota. You will also find out these fish have a very high mortality rate when catching them post spawn.

We have confirmed you can get 12 Erie eaters and two trophies in the box on Erie. In this live well is a 30.5 and a 32.

WOW!!!! Nice fish Kooty. Were you able to fish each day or did the wind take any days from you?

Saaaaaaaaaweeeeeeeeeetttttttttttt Koots

Those are wsome dandies you guys got. I be your Rookie buddy will be going back next year .

Nice report and pcs Kooty. Get ready for opener!

We had one day that we had 3 footers going out, but by evening it was glass. You should see the sunburn I got. Couldn’t get enough sunscreen on while out there. We literally had glass water a couple days. Look at Mike’s pic. I like to troll down wind, however most days you could troll anywhere you wanted in any direction.

Those are some great eyes Kooty It sounds like it was a good trip, if you are ever looking for someone to drag another boat along let me know I promise not to keep any 42″ muskies

HOLY CRAP THAT IS BIG FISH!!!!!!!!!!!

Why I didn’t go?????

Now that what we’re talking about Kooty
WOW

Thanks for the superb pics and story

dave

Nice fish Kooty!!!!

Can’t wait to hear the stories at the Big D Classic!!!

Josh

I heard you guys were handlining.

Did you use swivels and poppers? I heard you had some Iowans with you.

Very nice fish!

Nice fish Kooty!

some day…. some day…

What does a 28 inch walleye taste like?

Seriously, can you tell the difference from a smaller one?

Say a 19-20 inch Minnesota fish?

No doubt in my mind they will taste different than a young fish. Due to the extreme regs to get fish off the islands, I likely won’t ever keep anymore than we can eat while there. Besides, a guy does feel aweful guilty slicing up a 27″ fish.

I’m bringing some of these fish to Mille Lacs for the fish fry just so we can have Tuck cook them up besides some Mille Lacs eaters. Taste test results forthcoming.

John,
Very NICE (BIG) Walleyes, congrats to you and your group.
Looks like guiding fees are going up for next year.
WAY TO GO.
Jack…

Tasted pretty good last Thursday. You got to slice them to make the fillets thinner, so they cook faster and don’t soak up the oil. Kooty probably doesn’t remember how they tasted, I think he was well into his second case by then.

By my count our group (Kooty, Crossin eyes, Old Coot) boated 8 fish over 30 inches and at least 12 – 15 more above 28 inches. Numbers were down a little from last year, but size was awesome. We had a good time all the way around. Look forward to next year.

When I get some of the pictures back from the guys with the digital I will post a few monsters from the Beaver Puddle boat.

Beaver Puddle