Fishing report for the week of Sept. 23, 2012.: , ,
Fishing Report Posted: September 23, 2012

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Posted by Capt. Walt Ermansons on September 23, 2012 at 07:53:28:

My last Walleye trip of the 2012 season is now in the books ! And once again, it was totally AWESOME ! This past Monday was indeed my last scheduled Walleye trip and just this one last time this year I’m going to coin the phrase once more “It was simply as good as it gets”! Although the wind was howling dead out of the south, from the moment we set up we could not get a line in the water without a huge Walleye immediately grabbing it. At no point while we fished did we ever get more than two or three lines in the water. The Dipsy Divers were just smoking ! In less than two hours of actual fishing time not counting the ride out and back, we had my four man party's limit of 24 on ice and were done. And all my talk about how bad the Sheephead were the week before, well we only caught 2 that morning ! I really believe that the Walleyes were beating the Sheephead to the lures. Nice! And it was impressive enough for me that when I got in I grabbed a friend that was just hanging out at the marina and ran right back out to finally catch a few for my own freezer! We picked up right where I had left off running only 4 Divers and in about just an hours fishing time we had 12 more big Walleyes and 4 Steelhead this time which we didn’t have any of in the morning. What a awesome and fitting end to one of the best summers that I have ever seen. Since Monday we have had hellacious winds on Tuesday & Wednesday which normally this time of year sends the fish scurrying. I would be hard pressed to believe that it is still that good out there after all of that. It’s just that time of year.

So the 2012 Walleye season for “The Trophy” is over with now and I thought it would be kind of neat to have some fun with some numbers and review what we have accomplished this year. I’ve done this before in the past and it always amazes even me. OK, I log everything. I can tell you exactly what we caught and where & when. In 2012 aboard “The Trophy” we brought in a total of two thousand, six hundred and eighty three Walleyes! A pretty staggering figure in itself. Not even close to my all-time highs set annually back in the 80’s however but pretty amazing considering my average party size of 4 guests nowadays that I have been striving for in recent years and going to address even further next season. I’m getting to the point in my career where I can be choosy. But I’m getting off the subject here. Alright, with an easy average and we checked this many, many days this summer, with an average weight of six pounds per fish, those two thousand, six hundred and eighty three Walleyes collectively weighed in at a whopping sixteen thousand, and ninety-three pounds! That’s over EIGHT TONS OF WALLEYES !!! After netting all of those big fish and fighting the harsh more times than not lake conditions all season long, it’s no wonder that my hips and back along with other things such as my shoulders is killing me. I just no longer bounce back like I did back in the “80’s”! But seriously, eight tons of Walleyes. Man, that’s a lot of fish sandwiches !

Now for however long “The Trophy” remains in the water this fall, it will be nothing but Perch Charters from here on out for us. I’ve actually run a handful of Perch trips already and I believe we’ve had a perfect track record thus far of limit catches with those as well. No more one to two hour boat rides out in rough water or big wire line tangles for me or netting back breaking big Walleyes. Just a simpler, more laid back form of fishing fun. Throw out the anchor, drop your lines over the side with some minnows on them and wait for the telltale tap, tap, tap. Set the hook and reel up some Lake Erie gold. The famed Lake Erie Yellow Perch. World renown and prized. Great fun for everyone especially those that might not be able to handle a big offshore outing and reeling in those cinder blocks, I mean big Walleyes ! lol And when it gets right down to the eating part, as good as the Walleyes are, it’s hard to argue with most everyone that insists that the Perch are even tastier! I know the first chance I get, I’m going to try to get out there and get a load or two for my own freezer once again to go along with those tasty nice Walleye fillets I have waiting for me. Mmmmmmmmm, nothing like watching the snow fly while the fish fry !

Alrighty. This will more than likely be my last detailed fishing report for this season. Perching is a blast but frankly it’s not that glamorous to be writing weekly reports about. Our Perch fishing is very good right now and will only get better as the water cools and even more Perch move in closer to shore. Except for possible extended bad weather periods, one can expect pretty consistent limit catches from now till everyone pulls the plug. I myself plan to remain in the water through most all of October. October, only a few days away now is probably the most popular month for Perching around here. I have plenty of available open dates for a Perch Charter in October. If anyone wants to have one more fun filled day aboard “The Trophy” with me, by all means call me or e-mail me and I would be happy to set up a last chance trip for you. You won’t be disappointed! And now I would like to take a final minute to thank all of my friends and guests from this season that gave me a chance to serve you. I appreciate all of your business and your friendship. Lots of times I get myself down and out after a particular grueling day or fighting one thing or another but after everything is said and done and especially in hindsight at the end of the season, I look back at all of the laughter and the memories that we have made together and I think to myself, you know it wasn’t all so bad. I hope to see all of you, my friends again in 2013. Thanks to everyone that has been following along with my weekly little blog here as well. I am glad so many of you enjoy following along. I hope to see some of you yet this fall Perching, but if not have a GREAT winter everyone and we’ll see you again next season for “just another day on The Trophy”!

Capt. Walt





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