I’ve fished some bodies of waters for almost 3 decades, and I while I enjoy it, there is also something special about getting out onto a new body of water, and just trying to figure it out. That’s the situation I found myself in recently when I was travelling, and was given the opportunity to stay at a cottage rather than a hotel. I’d have the place to myself I was told, and there was a boat there too. So after a long day of driving, I found myself firing up the engine of a boat on Patterson Lake, in search of some fish.
I only had about 90 minutes to fish, the sun was already going down as I slowly eased the boat away from the dock. My own boat is a tiller, so I had to quickly get used to using a side console again. I hadn’t had a chance to do any research on the lake, other than to know that there was Small Mouth Bass, Northern Pike, and Walleye to be found. I was offered the chance to pick up some crawlers but decided to pass in favour of using a combination of lures and plastics. There were not a lot of boats on the water, so I decided to trust some instincts as I headed to my first destination. There was a collection of islands not too far away, so I decided to troll over, and get a feel for depth changes, bottom structure, and water temp. I put on a Scatter Rap to see if I could drum up Mr. Walleye, but instead boated a small bass. Event though it was a small fish, it gave me confidence because I was trolling fast, and with a fairly big lure, but the fish was active.
In short order I pulled up near an island and started fishing. I had to work a drift because the electric was not hooked up to the boat, and while I was itching to use it, I thought better than to start working on someone else’s rig. Luckily there was just a small breeze to push me along. I put on a 1/4 oz pink jig and a 3 inch pro grub (white), and started a cast and super slow retrieve. I was casting up towards the shore and letting the bait fall, with a slow drag to keep it moving. After about my 5th cast I felt that classic walleye “thud” and boated my first “eye” of the night. Encouraged, I kept up with the same program drifting along and re-setting myself occasionally. It wasn’t too long before I was rewarded with a small but very aggressive pike, and another nice walleye.The sun goes down quick and since I was on a lake I did not know, I decided not to stay out too long, lest I lose my way. I decided to conduct one more drift before I headed in.
As I started my run a local pulled up near me who had been fishing nearby. We had the short chat that anglers often have, just a few lines to learn what luck you had been having (if any), and with what. I learned that not everyone was catching fish. As I was just getting ready to call it a night I tossed one of my final few casts and once again felt the thump you just know is a walleye. I reeled in my final fish of the night, and packed up my gear before heading in. It was a fun night on the water, far better than a lonely night in a hotel room, and also a real confidence boost to know that I could get on a random body of water, with no research in advance, and use some basic strategy and equipment to boat some fish. I’m not sure if I’ll be on Patterson Lake again, but I thank it for a great night of fishing. Don’t forget, to say in touch simply sign up and have my most recent post sent right to you!
Excellent tale