| The Fog | |
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by: James Hert
If
you can hit the western basin of Lake Erie in the early spring, the walleye
fishing can be fantastic. The
weather can sometimes be a problem, though, and it can go from boom to bust in a
hurry.
The
walleye spawn in February and early March, shortly after the ice goes out.
Once the spawn is over and after a week or so of recuperating, they start
a feeding binge to bulk back up. In
some years, mid to late March is the peak of the spring bite.
If you hit it unlucky, though, either the wind or the weather will keep
you off the lake, or the walleye will be in one of those moods where you
couldn't pry their mouth open with a crow bar.
One
year, back in the mid-eighties, my friend, Fred, and I went over to Port Clinton
in late March to try to catch the feeding binge.
Fred and I, as you may remember, tend to get into "situations"
when we go fishing together. This
trip would not be any different.
We
took off early, about one o’clock on a Friday afternoon from, South Bend
Indiana where Fred lived. I lived
in Michigan, just up across the state line, and we worked together in South
Bend. Port Clinton is about a three-and-a-half-hour drive from
South Bend, and we got there about 5:00 P.M. after making a couple of pit stops.
There
is a little motel in Port Clinton right on the water,
on a small harbor at the mouth of the Portage River where it widens and
then empties into Lake Erie. The
motel has a boat launch and boat slips for the guests.
The rooms have doors and windows facing the water and the parking lot.
There is a bar next door with tables along the docks so you can sit there
looking out over the harbor, the lake, your boat, and the other boats going in
and out. As other fishermen come
in, you would ask them how they did and swap fishing stories and secrets.
We used to sit out there drinking beer and reliving the days fishing.
I think the name of this place was “heaven.”
We
checked into the motel, got our things into the room, and ate across the street
at a restaurant that had a great walleye dinner—just in case we didn't catch
our own.
After
dinner, we went back to “heaven” for a couple of beers and cheap cigars and
to strategize for the following day. The
weather was beautiful. That Friday,
the temperature had been in the middle sixties, and for March in that part of
the country, that is fantastic. We
figured we were going to load the boat with walleye—the beautiful weather had
to trigger that feeding binge, no doubt about it.
It was such a beautiful evening we wanted to stay out on that deck all
night but we figured we better get some sleep.
We went to bed and tossed and turned with anticipation, which is typical
for me before a big fishing outing.
We
set the alarm for early rising because we were going to eat a big breakfast and
pull the boat out to the tip of the peninsula to launch it. I
don’t think I feel asleep until about 5:55 A.M.
When the alarm went off at 6:00 A.M., I jumped up and looked out the
window. It was raining!
"Damn!
What happened to the beautiful weather?"
I opened the door, and a blast of cold wind and mist hit me in the face.
"Shut
the door!" Fred growled as he pulled the covers up.
He needed his coffee! I
almost wanted to cry.
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