Summer is here, yes! The week before last I wrote about the Fishing Classic that is held each year to raise money for the Confidence Learning Center. Last week I thought I had missed my Dispatch deadline only to find out last Saturday morning as I was launching my boat for the run down to Madden's Resort for the Fishing Classic, that my daughter Alex had filled my shoes and submitted a Father's Day Article! What an awesome surprise, and as I read her story going through the narrows by Bar Harbor I will admit I was fighting back tears ... and I'm not a big cryer.
So the day started with a surprise and it got even more interesting from there. As I took the nice 15 minute cruise down the middle of Gull Lake, towards Maddens I spotted something floating on the flats north of Squaw (Gull) Point. As I motored closer, I noticed it was about a 20-foot-long branch from a poplar tree. I thought to keep running, but then thought again, and went over and loaded it on the bow of my boat. I motored it to shore and gave it all I had to get it to land. I quickly hit reverse on my Mercury and the sound I heard next was the sound you never want to hear. ... And then the motor stopped. I looked down into the water and I had run over a Gull Lake homeowner's water pump filter. It was totally shredded and I didn't see anyone around so I fired up my engine and headed for the lagoon at Maddens for the guide meeting and pictures. What would happen next? Good stuff, bad stuff or something in between? We (my mom, dad and I) finished doing our duties at Maddens and our boat (#10) was due out in the first flight of boats at 8 a.m. and due back at 2 p.m. The charity tournament is a walleye, bass, pike or mixed bag tournament and it's always our goal to catch three walleyes. We were not fishing long before my mom hooked into a 24-incher, she was excited and happy she didn't lose it ... we were too! My dad caught the next one (a 17- or 18-incher) and we were even more excited! All we needed was one more walleye and we would have our quota for the day. The next five fish were all bass, and they were all over 3 pounds. The biggest one was 4 pounds 3 ounces and the next biggest was almost an identical twin. We had a boat push in pretty tight, so we decided to pull out and check out another spot. We now had two walleye and three big bass in the boat, trying to figure out whether we could catch another walleye or if we would have to weigh in the bass category. As we settled into spot No. 2, I tossed out my bait and gave it a rip or two and I felt that feeling ... that awesome feeling! I set the hook and it came up as a nice golden, Gull Lake 24-inch walleye. Now we were really stoked and put things into semi-cruise. After a few minutes of relaxation, we decided to keep fishing. Although I wasn't totally confident that we would be able to upgrade, my dad did just that about an hour later. He set the hook and he had a solid one on! After a few minutes of fight, I got a pretty good look at it and sure enough it was the right kind and it was a beauty, it was a 6 pound 1 ounce walleye that turned out to be the lunker of the day in the walleye category.
I knew immediately that we would be hard to beat at the scales. We turned back the two smallest bass and had our three nice walleyes in the tank along with a big bass. We were on a high and rightfully so, it was one of those days! The bag of walleye weighed in at 14 pounds and 3 ounces and the bass was 4 pounds 3 ounces, good enough for first in the walleye category and we also had the lunker bass of the day. I gave thanks to the Lord and we'll be celebrating that one for the rest of our lives! On my way back to the ramp, yes I did stop and settle the water filter score! So, it's been a good season thus far!
P.S. I had a funny one this morning. I was fishing with Sue and Nancy, a couple of regular customers and on our last spot, Sue set into a nice fish and rather than reeling, she decided to walk backwards. I think she thought she was on shore. Good thing for the gunwale or we may have lost a good one there!
Walleyedan
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