Fallin' Behind

Anticipation

It seems that putting out a quarterly blog post is going to be the standard schedule.  That's not too bad.  So, just to catch up on the summer...

I was able to get out on Lake Superior in the Blue Sweetie several times in July after the June Camp Sh*tstorm trip.  I caught nothing.  The most I could muster was a couple bites.  I tried multiple locations - Duluth, Silver Bay, and Tofte.  Nothing.  Finally, early in August, I tried going out of Superior Wisconsin's entry.  Fishing in Wisconsin means I could fish three lines at a time.  By switching lures often on the three lines, I hoped to find a lucky one.  Success!  I caught three lake trout trolling a yellow spoon 45 feet down over 75 feet of water.  I went back shortly thereafter and caught a couple trout, including a dandy 36.5" laker (13-15lbs).  The big one came on a orange stickbait with a 4oz snap weight, off of an in-line planer board.  By myself, that was a crazy rig to fight the big fish on, but I managed to land it.  The next time out, I got skunked.  The pattern had changed.

Late in August, I went to try and re-find the fish.  Luckily, I ran into a chatty guy at the dock who said he was getting trout on purple spoons, 60 feet down over 90 feet.  I figured it might be a red herring, but what the heck, that is where I went.  I did not think I had any purple spoons, but I found a blue one with white spots in my tackle box.  Boom - I caught six lake trout that day.  Fun.  Went back a day or two later and caught three more lakers.  Went out the next morning and caught 2 more trout, including a 26" one.  All the fish came on the blue spoon with white spots of the downrigger.  The Colonel went out with his wife one day trying blue spoons and got skunked.  On Labor Day weekend, my Mother In Law and Brother In Law were in town for a visit.  We tried some fishing.  This is when they informed me that my blue spoon with white spots was actually purple with pink spots.  Oops.  Colorblindness.  We got blown of the lake that day with no bites.

The next time I went out I caught several more trout and got up close and personal with a 1,000 foot ore boat on the big lake.  Finally, in mid-September, I made a run 8 miles out onto Lake Superior to a new spot I felt confident with.  It was a good hunch - I caught nine lake trout, including a 32" fish.  A great day.  The Blue Sweetie had its first double, I had two fish on at the same time.  I just let one rod bounce away in the rod holder while I landed the other fish.  Turns out the second rod had the 32" trout on it.  All nine fish came on the same purple spoon with pink spots.

So, it ended up a good summer on Lake Superior.  I hope to make it out maybe one more time before I put the boat away.

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