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Date: July 14, 2019 Body of Water: Lake St. Clair (LSC) Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Walleye Time: 7 AM - 11 AM (lines in water) Conditions: Clear but hazy, unexpected Northerly wind and a 1.5-foot walleye chop decreasing over the morning; water was 72 degrees F and green-clear To be honest, I didn't have the energy or motivation to take on Lake St. Clair's bass or muskies with full-blown summer having set in. But, the walleye fishing was reportedly still solid, and that seemed to be my best option. At least, slow-trolling crawler harnesses in the abyss with the quiet of the electric motor and the prospect of a bunch of bites appealed! I stopped at the gas station before the ramp and picked up a couple of dozen crawlers. While I prefer Gulp! baits (less messy, easy to manage and have assessable, resistant to pesky, small fish, etc.) , I'm glad I did, as most bites and the two largest walleyes of the day ultimately ate real meat as opposed to my fake offerings. It was 7 AM by the time I arrived in the vicinity of Red Marker "28" on the main shipping channel and near the Canadian border. A couple of dozen boats were already in the area; folks expected walleyed to be present. I quickly set my spread of two bottom bouncers with crawler harnesses. One soft casting rod featured a double-hooked conventional harness and spinner in fire tiger; I equipped this with a juicy crawler. The other casting rod received a green Mack's Smiley blade with and orange/brown pinched Gulp! crawler. Down the middle, I set another Mack's Smiley blade (white) with half a crawler on a slow-death hook; for weight, I had a 1-ounce keel sinker. This rig was equipped with metered line, and I settled on "two colors" back (i.e., 50 feet), which seemed to keep me near bottom (20-21 feet), but not dragging. The middle rod bounced almost immediately; this fish took my bait. That was it for the first hour! Nor did I see anybody else catch anything. I maintained a down-wind and down-current speed of about 1.0 mph (+/-). Having passed through most of my previously productive waypoints, at 8 AM I was presented with a decision; to pick up and repeat this unproductive drift (most people seemed to be doing this), or continue south, into "new" water? I chose the latter, and it was good decision. Between 8 and 9 AM I scored 4 legal-sized walleyes (15-17 inches) and a few perch (from tiny to just over 10 inches.) I was releasing everything, but it was nice to know I could catch food fish if I had to! I'd had first crack at this "new" water, but the fleet was following me, now. At about 9 AM, I picked up lines and headed back north, but not all the way; I inserted myself into the fleet at about Red Marker "26". I picked up a couple of walleye on this pass, including 18- and 20-inchers. Both of these had eaten "real" crawlers, while my Gulp! remained relatively unmolested. (I did catch a variety of small perch on it this day, and lost the likely largest walleye near the boat; so it was still worth pulling!) A final pass yielded another walleye as well as a couple more perch. All rods had produced (both perch and walleye), but the real crawlers were most productive this day. I'd had visions of a quicker limit and then exploration with new techniques (aggressively jigging grubs off bottom, trolling small spoons or cranks for 'eyes, deep cranking or jerking for bass, etc.) But by now it was 11 AM, hot and calming; every power boat in southeast Michigan seemed to be on the lake. I decided to call it a day before LSC could get the best of me; I was home, in good shape, at 2 PM! What do I have to say about this? This is a relaxing way to fish, I just need to team up with somebody that would like to eat these walleye! I made two good calls this day: to get crawlers; and, to continue south into undisturbed waters. The best fishing of the day occurred as I led the fleet south; I had first crack at this group of fish. And this group seemed to stay in this same area (although I could not discern any difference in the bottom or cover.) All my walleye came from south of my previous waypoints. I got my share, too, as I saw only a single fish netted by the fleet all morning; and that fleet grew to about four dozen vessels between 9:30 and 10 AM. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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