CATCHING UP

I have to apologize for being so delinquent in keeping up to date on the “FISHTALE” articles. This has NOT been an easy summer! In any case, we seem to be pretty much back on track now and I am going to deluge you with my “dribble”.

When I left off I had just installed one of Walker Downrigger’s “Strike Vision” cameras on the boat. This is an underwater camera that attaches to the downrigger ball and allows you to view the “action” down under. What a piece of equipment! It is sensational. A bit more on that later.

The other issue I had at the top of my agenda was the lure the “DB Smelt”. We did pretty well with it in the spring & the question was how would it hold up through the summer? I guess I could say that I was somewhat impressed with it, depending upon which one you used.

By early July we were right into the downrigger fishing & I started out with the traditional Mooselook Wobblers & Chevy Chase in the standard colors. To this pattern I added a DB Smelt and varied the colors & depths in order to determine whether or not the lure would prove itself.

Much to my surprise the Red - Black Dot color pattern didn’t do what I had expected. First off in the morning (still a bit dark out) I run patterns that are darker and contain a lot of red. The fish usually jump right on them. Well, no action on the DB. I couldn’t believe it so not only did I vary the depths I also varied the speed. Still no action.

I had a bit of action on the silver & “pink” stripe but not enough to make it one of my “first picks”. However, what did produce was the White - Red Dot pattern. For a few weeks, this was “HOT” and we caught a lot of fish on this. If you think about it, this should not be that surprising. The White - Red Dot Mooselook does pretty well on most given days. Maybe it is the prism tape on the back of the DB that enhanced the action.

I guess we could say that we had a pretty good spring - summer season this year. The old “Dr. Hook” is holding a 100% success rate so far. Every charter out has taken fish. Some more than others and some bigger than others but still, we have had fish in the boat every day. I can’t complain about that, that’s for sure.

The charter season was a bit off this year but so wasn’t the tourism. A number of people I spoke with, restaurants, motels, etc, all said that business was a bit slow this year. I would guess that high fuel prices had something to do with it. Speaking of which, it still gripes me to no end that we have to pay 40 to 50 cents a gallon more for fuel on the lake than we pay on the road. Sure we get our 18 cents a gallon “off road use” back but that still doesn’t compensate for the difference. Every time I ask someone “why?” I get a different answer. My guess would be that we are a captive audience? Oh well, you want to play you have to pay! Fuel prices will not slow down my fishing habit, that’s for sure.

Well, the end of the season is approaching and things are slowing down a bit. It will only be a matter of days before the leaves begin to turn and we have to think about pulling the boat and getting ready for winter. As usual, a bit of advice. Try to plan the end of your boating season and make it easy on yourself. ALL of the marinas are busy this time of the year and it sure helps all, yourself included, if you plan on when you intend to end your season & have the boat readied for winter. A lot of people don’t do this and everyone gets a bit aggravated because they can’t have their boat winterized when they want it. PLAN AHEAD! Schedule this ahead of time with whoever services your boat and you will both be happy.

On a final note, once again I have to sing praises of Yamaha. Another season (LOTS OF HOURS on both motors) and not one single problem with either engine. Yamaha is a great product. I attribute a trouble free season to two things. First the product and probably just as important, OUTSTANDING service! Dave’s Motorboat Shoppe is the GREATEST! They maintain all of my equipment and if there is a problem, they are right there to service it. If the best advertising is a satisfied customer, I guess I could qualify. I see a lot of people with boating interests during my season and Dave ALWAYS gets a good recommendation.

Later……………
Capt. Pete