An Outdoorsman‛s Journal
Life on the Bay
Hello friends: This week certainly had another memorable experience and go-for-it kind of trip for MGW and his crew. Please read for details. Monday, June 7–High 84, low 63 So, before I went on this week’s adventure, I was driving my truck in southwest Wisconsin and going down one of those very steep hills that are numerous in that part of the state. I had already been having some brake issues and a leaf spring breaks on my driver’s side, cuts my brake line, and holy moly, did I have a close call with the Grim Reaper! Jeff Moll and I have been having a blast together for well over 50 years. Jeff lives in Niagara and drives to Green Bay where he works at Konop Vending. Jeff had today off, and we made a plan to fish all day and much of the night on Green Bay, sleep somewhere on the bay, and then I would take him to the landing at Suamico at 5:30 the following morning so he could go to work.
My 18.6 War Eagle would be our Sherman Tank on the water, and it is a very comfortable rig to fish out of. Our plan would be to troll for walleye and basically go for a 1214 hour boat ride as we actually met at 7 a.m.
At first, we trolled with Flicker Shads and Salmo’s. A side story is that Jeff and I are very competitive in a healthy kind of way. Jeff would have one side of the boat with three rods pulling planer boards and I would have the other.
As always, we had a first fish bet and Jeff won that with a 4-inch perch which he realized he had on when he was checking his line. This caused my old buddy to declare himself the true Master Guide Extraordinaire (a little inside joke in our gang).
Twenty minutes later he caught a sheepshead and was about to release it when I mentioned to him that Gary Howe keeps sheepshead. “Jeff I will eat anything Moll” grabbed onto this thought and the sheepshead went into the live well. We spent our morning exploring the west side of the bay near Suamico and after the live well was about full of sheepshead, I headed our ship and sheepshead in the direction of Green Bay and deeper water, all the while listening to my buddy bantering about being such a great fishermen and the true Master Guide Extraordinaire.
It was about 1:00 when Jeff hooked into a good fish and it turned out to be a 35-inch northern pike. We were really happy about that catch, as Jeff and I are fish eaters, and along with a now boat-load of sheepshead, Mr. Moll had some tonnage.
Soon after that I caught a 32-inch gator and then I caught three stripers and Jeff caught another 150 pounds of sheepshead.
We really were having a blast and had very high hopes about catching some walleye and, in reality, were giving it our best shot. About 7:45 in the evening we were still at it, about four miles from the boat landing, and wishing it would not get dark out and knowing we are going to be sleeping somewhere out on the bay.
For the first time this day, my 90-hsp Etec quit running and it was not because I shut the key off. After a thorough search we discovered it was a fuse and we were all smiles. Unfortunately, the motor would turn over but not start.
Our situation was not ideal but, in my mind, if the batteries would hold out I figured the trolling motor would get us back to the landing.
We were still trying to figure things out when four young men aboard a U.S. Coast Guard boat came along to do a safety check on our rig. The safety check changed to a youare- broke-down check and after a bit of conversation which was very enjoyable, it was agreed that we should be towed back to the landing. I have to admit I was a bit bummed out. I knew it would be money down the outboard toilet and that my next day’s fishing was gone.
After the tow, Jeff and I made the best of things and had brats in the parking lot, stayed up kind of late, and the common denominator with every fisherman we talked to was that not a one of us had caught a walleye.
The boat’s at the marina, and I am heading back to Green Bay with my canoe to kick some walleye butt!
Sunset
