Gone Fishing.

John took the weekend “off” to fish in a Walleye tournament with one of his friends. Those of you that know John know he has “limited experience” fishing, about all he could tell you is that fishing generally takes place near water but John surely couldn’t pick a Walleye out of a lineup of animals much less a group of fish; so you may be asking why he would spend the weekend in pursuit of them?

John’s friend Oscar has been fishing for many years as a hobby and profession, he once owned a charter fishing boat on Lake Michigan and currently fishes in a Walleye tournament series here in the mid-west. Oscar has a regular partner that fishes the series with him but unfortunately he has been ill and unable to attend, they had already paid the registration fee for several tournaments and would have forfeited the money so Oscar has been trying to find a partner for each tournament,  John volunteered to accompany Oscar for the Otter Street Fishing Club’s annual Walleye tournament held on Lake Winnebago. 

Oscar has a site here at Rainbow’s End and he stopped to ask John on Friday, the first thing John needed was a non-resident fishing license so we hopped on Oscar’s golf car and drove into Reedsville to purchase one; the cost of the license was reasonable ($24.00 for a 4 day permit), so that didn’t hurt too badly. Friday evening John and Oscar drove to Oshkosh to attend a tournament meeting, there were over 200 teams registered and Oscar and John were scheduled to start in the first flight of 60 boats at 5:30 AM on Saturday; allowing time for the drive from Reedsville to Oshkosh, preparing and launching the boat they would leave Rainbow’s End at 3:30 AM, OK this is starting to sting a little!

Saturday morning Sandy and John were up at the stroke of 2:50 AM and John and Oscar left the campground on time. It took about an hour to drive to Oshkosh and prepare to launch the boat. They then got in line to launch with Oscar in the boat and John driving the truck, boats are launched in groups of six so at the front of the line John was given a slip number to launch in and pulled ahead to that ramp.

John hasn’t backed a trailer in a long time so it was a little embarrassing as the others backed down their ramps while John slowly aimed for his target and zigzagged toward the water, after pulling ahead for a fresh start he eventually got the trailer into the water; Oscar started the boat and backed it off the trailer. John then drove to where he was directed to park the truck and trailer, he had a more difficult time backing in close beside another truck and trailer, after several attempts he expected one of the volunteers to tell him “3 strikes and your out buddy”, but he eventually got it close enough to satisfy them and we were set to fish.

After parking the truck Oscar picked John up at the dock and they waited in the harbor for the 0530 start. As the starting time approached the boats began to leave the harbor and gather near the starter’s boat just outside the harbor on Lake Winnebago, at 0530 a flare was fired from the starter’s boat and 60 boats roared off in pursuit of a good fishing spot.

 

Some of Oscar and John’s competition waiting in the harbor for the 0530 start.

 

The sun was just coming up as the boats left the harbor for the start.

 

The flare went up and 60 boats roared away racing for a prime spot on the lake.

 

The lake was rough so Oscar kept his boat under 50 mph but he still passed other boats.

 

Oscar and John spent the first part of the day fishing on reefs along the east side of the lake between Oshkosh and Neenah, they didn’t have much luck there so they relocated to the “mud flats” near the middle of the lake. Each boat is limited to catching 6 Walleye each day and the total weight of the 5 heaviest fish is totaled for your “score”; the combined weight from two days of fishing decides your place in the final standings.  Tournament rules state that only Walleye that are at least 15 inches in length qualify to be weighed, the fish must be alive when weighed and all fish are released back into the lake after being weighed. John and Oscar caught one Walleye but it was undersize so it was released. By the end of day one they had caught over a dozen Sheepshead, 2 Sauger, 3 or 4 White-Bass and one large Catfish. Oscar was listening to some chatter on the marine radio that gave him an idea to change bait for day 2.

John and Oscar stopped fishing and returned to the harbor shortly before their 2:00 PM return time, they got “skunked” on the first day with no Walleye to be weighed. Oscar dropped John off at a dock to retrieve the truck and trailer, John had another struggle getting the trailer into the water so Oscar could land the boat on it, when the boat was finally on the trailer a volunteer secured the boat to the trailer and John pulled the boat with Oscar onboard to a parking spot where per DNR rules, they cleaned the boats hull and trailer before returning to Reedsville for another short night.

John and Oscar’s starting time on Sunday was at 0630 so Sandy and John slept in until 3:40 AM, John and Oscar left the campground at 0420. In Oshkosh they repeated the launch procedure, Oscar in the boat getting dizzy as John zigzagged toward the slip in reverse, pulling ahead when he could see the boat at a 90 degree angle behind the truck. After getting the boat and Oscar into the water John went to the parking spot as directed and was thrilled to see that he could drive straight into the row and pull out again without having to use reverse, John tried to kiss the guy that parked him but was rebuffed.  

Oscar picked John up at a dock and they immediately hit the donut bag while waiting for the 0630 start. When the flare was fired they roared away with the other boats, Oscar used the boats navigation system to guide them back to the mudflats where they put out six lines baited with night crawlers. It didn’t take long for the fish to start hitting the bait but unfortunately it was the dreaded Sheepshead on the hooks, not Walleye.

 

The sky looked like rain while Oscar sent lines over the side Sunday morning.

 

The fishing line is attached to these “boards” which keep the three lines from tangling, the boards also keep the lines away from the boat, the red flag goes down and the board starts moving around when there is a bite on the line.

 

Sheepshead started hitting the bait almost immediately, Oscar calls them goats.

 

Another goat!

 

The rain was moving in from the southwest…

 

but the sun was shinning on Calumet County to the east, the lake was a little rough.

 

Oscar studied his fish locater and after thinking about it told John that they had their hooks to deep, the Walleye would be feeding above the thermo cline (the layer that separates the colder water near the bottom of the lake from the warmer water near the surface). Oscar set about raising the lines as the rain began falling. With the bait raised into warmer water it didn’t take long to land the first legal Walleye, the rain is enjoyable when your catching fish!

 

Alright, a keeper!

 

A 16 plus inch Walleye waits for the live well to fill.

 

Another nice one.

 

John reeled in this monster Shad.

 

 

John and Oscar added several more legal Walleye to their collection but continued to toss back a few smaller Walleye, some goats, a small Shad and a tiny White Bass that were eating their worms. They continued fishing until the night crawlers were gone, Oscar started baiting with other bait but the Walleye wanted worms. When the final worm was gone they packed up and headed for the harbor, today they had 5 fish to be weighed.

Oscar got us back to the harbor before the 3:30 PM return time, Oscar pulled up to the dock and put the catch into a basket to be inspected and weighed. John drove the boat out into the harbor but could hear the results over the loud speaker, “team 5 has 5 live fish with a total weight of 8.06 pounds”, not bad, if we hadn’t got skunked on Saturday, we may have won some money.

 

The lively catch is a blur in this image, after being weighed all the fish are released back into the lake.

 

John takes exception with a verse from that old Backman Turner Overdrive song, Taking Care Of  Business, the verse is “If it were easy as fishin, you could be a musician…”, fishin aint that easy man, but it can be fun even when it rains!

Thanks Oscar, it was fun and it was even better to spend time in the boat with you again. I didn’t even mistake your live well for a toilet this time!