"Walleye 101" Trophy Hunt 2005 Week 1
Huron, Ohio Nov 4-7 2005
Week one of the second annual "Walleye 101 Trophy Hunt" would prove to be the biggest ever in both number of fishermen, number of fish and largest fish ever caught. Launching out of Holiday Harbor Marina and based from the Huron Comfort Inn, 67 anglers in 30 different boats headed out to look for Lake Erie's monster fall walleye.
Day one, Saturday Nov 5th was destined to be one of those days most will remember forever! As is the custom on a Trophy Hunt, anglers were encouraged to announce every fish they caught on the radio, informing others in our group of location, speed, depth of water, lure type and lure depth. This willingness of all to help each other is the essence of the Trophy Hunt concept and helps everyone catch more fish and learn from each other. After 2 days of winds in the 30-40 mph range, and 4 days of slow fishing, I was a little worried that day 1 would see tough fishing-boy was I wrong!
Heading out the Huron River in the morning, the first report of a fish being caught crackled from the radio about 8:00 am. There was no way to know that this was the first of over 200 fish that would come to the net today. Slightly stained water and SW winds in the 10-15 mph class made for a fantastic day of fishing. When the day was over our group had netted nearly 250 walleye! The largest of these was Brent Newman's monster 11lb 9 oz beauty. Brent was only one of 11 anglers who set personal best records this day.
As wonderful as day 1 was, day 2 was just as miserable. Heavy SW winds up to 30 mph had forced the Coast Guard to issue small craft advisories for the day and made my decision to cancel the day easy. Just like last years cancelled day, many of the anglers headed out to explore the local bait shops, work on the boat and equipment and catch up on needed sleep. Late in the morning an informal "seminar" got started in the lobby and we all exchanged fishing knowledge and information for most of the afternoon. As evening approached it was time for the best part of the trip-the weekly fish fry! As always everyone found something to do to help and all of us enjoyed a great meal of fresh fried fish, tater tots, potato salad and the now famous Stan Glubzinski Cole Slaw. Add in a clear, cool autumn night with lots of new friends and the evening capped off a great trip.
Luckily day 3 brought good enough weather to head out and get some more walleye. The wind from yesterday had muddied the water a little, but the fish were still in the area and would occasionally decide to grab a lure. By the time the day was over early in the afternoon, we had boated another 100 or so fish, including Rick Ricardi's monster that tied Brent Newman's mark of 11 lb 9 oz.
The weekend was a great success. Over 300 fish caught including 2 fish over 11 lbs, another 30 or so close to 10 lbs and around 100 more weighing in at 6-8 lbs. There is no where else fish of this size in these numbers exist. Hopefully everyone who attended had a great time, caught some fish and most importantly made new friends and became better anglers.
(click on a picture to enlarge)
