Go Fish! With Ryan

8/1 Work buddies day out.
An avid angler and his not so avid long time co-worker had walleye on their mind and walleye were what they got. 
We played the fingers crossed on the weather game via text prior to our outing, but were lucky to have things go our way when we needed it to.
We returned to my mid 50s honey hole from the last few trips and proceeded to get busy on the rods. The usual cast of Dutch Fork Charters made up most of the buffet we were offering. We’ve been running a “worm program” for the whole PA season, and it continues to produce. Varying depths on bottom bouncers, inline weight and some 3 setting deeper divers have been the ticket. Our goal today was a chase our limit of Lake Erie green gold with a side of relaxation. While the fish didn’t give us a ton of time to relax, my guests were able to settle into a groove that didn’t involve any of the issues found on land. We all took a deep breath, remembered our family and friends and had the peace often given to us by time on the water.

#willfishforsmiles #chasingdreams #chaseyourdreams #fishforsmiles �#fishingislife #fishingtrip #lakelife #fishing #letsgofishing #lake #erie #lakeerie #walleyefishing #walleye #fishingboats #fishing🐟#walleye #laketrout #laketroutfishing #walleyes ... See MoreSee Less

7/30 Rough water and hungry critters
This morning started with a disappointment to say the least. Rough conditions caused me to delay and eventually cancel our morning outing because of rough conditions. The conditions were supposed to settle down as the day went on, but not enough to get our morning crew out on the water. It’s a sad day for me when I have to cancel the morning of a trip… But, the wind was more than double the forecast and it was already rocking and rolling out there.

My next phone call was to my afternoon crew, I told them it wasn’t going to be a safety issue, but it would likely be uncomfortable out there for the afternoon. The conditions did continue to settle, but we were met head on with some nice sized rollers on our way to the green fish grocery store. The North winds had things churned up pretty badly, so we “ran” past our fish in order to troll with the rollers. Sea legs were tested, but luckily the fish were as hungry as ever. We weren’t able to keep many rods in the water, but that’s exactly what the Dr. ordered for my young couple and these conditions. I got to show my young crew some fast fish catching, and the power that Lake Erie has when you add a little wind. I’m grateful for a boat with a low center of gravity that minimizes rocky seas and allowed us to fish when other couldn’t today. We quickly loaded the boat and made our way to greener pastures (land). We had following seas to keep me on my toes on the way home, but it was a much softer ride back in.
Reminder for everyone that is headed to the area to fish. We’re only 2 hours from Niagara falls, you can extend your stay and get in on some pretty neat sightseeing before you fill your freezers. Get out there with a captain of your choosing and chase some green fish before it’s too late! ... See MoreSee Less

7/27 - The meat market
Often when I’m not fishing out of my boat I’m lucky enough to get invited to join a few others on board their rigs with their customers. This Wednesday was one of those days. 
I was lucky to join in on a multi-boat trip with Captain Lane Brown from God’s Grace Sportfishing, and Captain Frank Shorts from Fisher’s of Men charters. Between us we put an absolute beat down on the fish. WE were fishing an area adjacent to my normal stomping grounds, so the loaded graph on Captain Frank’s boat was a familiar sight. We deployed his program that consisted mostly of spoons on dispey divers and down riggers and a few lead core lines to help keep us busy. We had a little slower start, but that is really not doing justice to what happened after the first rod went off. We were consistently moving rods, and the cooler was filling quickly. The same was true for Captain Lane and his mate. A beautiful table full of green fish were our reward for only a few hours of work on the water. ... See MoreSee Less

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Standby for a little story catch up! Here we go!

7/26 - Birthday Beast!
This trip actually started the day before when another captain was having some electrical issues with his boat. 
We made a quick call to run lady glittersparkles for the day. It was a sloppy start into the lake in the morning with waves going every which way. We puttered our way to the hot school of fish I have been on and when we hit 48 FOW the graph lit up like Christmas morning and we just couldn’t pass that area. We set the Dutch Fork Custom Lures in their typical buffet style offering and it wasn’t long til the first fish was headed for the net. We continued to troll toward the North East and continued catching, we made our way into the high 60s and caught fish throughout.
These Lake Erie newbies proceeded to have one of the best fishing days that I’ve been lucky enough to be part of. The fish were good sized, and they were plentiful. As we fishing our way through the area I had an outside diver rod bite that felt heavy, I turned the rod over to my Guest and never realized that he would have a tussle with a 10.6 pound behemoth. The lake continued to calm as the day progressed and The biggest fish of the season to hit the deck so far joined many of its friends in the live well that day. A beautiful batch of fish on an awesome morning. This father and son Duo and I were spoiled for sure. ... See MoreSee Less

Saturday Morning 7/23 began as a "definite maybe" on Monday. In the days prior I wasn't sure that we were going to make it out. In the 11th hour I saw a small window of opportunity early Saturday morning thanks to a south wind. My guys were up for the challenge, so we made it happen. We started the day planning to work shallow water, but we were lucky to be able to get deeper than expected. Thanks to the stability of my deep v bosshog-glitterrocket we were able to fish in some pretty large rollers. My sea legs did get a bit of a workout, but it was worth it.
Action was steady with a good grade of fish in the 70s, all the way to fish number 17. The last fish Juju threw me for a loop and had us trying just about everything for that last keeper for some reason. Thankfully we all ate a snack to stack the deck 🤣 and I even texted captain Lane to complain (#phoneafish) just in case... Within a few minutes that last fish got hungry and we were able to seal the deal.
A similar cast of characters helped fill the livewell with green fish. Dutch Fork Custom Lures butterflies and #5 Colorados with some help from some other metal #5 Colorados with bright beads did the trick. Bright colors were best for us in the overcast conditions. Wonderbread butterflies keep doing work for me also.
It's worth noting that we caught some really high fish out there too. 150 back unassisted #11 flicker minnow high (Insert Willy Nelson photo here) 😂.

Props to my guys for doing an awesome job out there! Very few fish were dropped in the process. I think the hilarious (and continuous) threats my guys were exchanging about getting the fish to the net helped with that.
The center of gravity on ladyglittersparkles never ceases to amaze me in building seas.
We had a little ride to get back to civilization this time around, but the south breeze helped welcome us home. #willfishforsmiles

#chasingdreams #chaseyourdreams #fishforsmiles �#fishingislife #fishingtrip #lakelife #fishing #letsgofishing #lake #erie #lakeerie #walleyefishing #walleye #fishingboats #fishing🐟#walleye #laketrout #laketroutfishing #walleyes ... See MoreSee Less

7/20. Wednesday of the windy week from H. E. Double Hockeysticks.
I'd been dying to get on the water, but this dang wind just wouldn't cooperate. My guests for Wednesday started as guests for Thursday that luckily were able to make the switch to avoid the silly conditions we had coming. Some expedient travel arrangements brought my guests to me from Tennessee by way of Canada. It's pretty cool that we're so close to the falls. It makes for a great side trip if you're headed here for fishing.

The afternoon started with some delays and building waves, but we made our way out into 2-3 foot seas. We knew we weren't going to make it to my deep water bigger fish, but we were there to make the best of it. When I turned the glitterrocket with the waves and engaged stealth mode we got set up and commenced catching the widest range of fish sizes that I've seen all season. Walleye from about 8 inches to about 24 inches all found their way to us as we plugged along in the 40s. It was a nice surprise to be able to add 5 great perch to the nice batch of walleye in the livewell.
This was a one way troll day to say the least. The waves that were building didn't let up on us. I set up west of the launch "planning" (read hoping) that we'd have a limit of good eater sized fish to send back to the Music City and the stars aligned in my favor. We kept working and my non-boaters were doing awesome in the less than calm conditions. We were cycling through all kinds of critters and burning through my nightcrawler supply and before you know it the last fish that we needed came on board at the right time to give us a soft ride back to civilization. Weather be danged, together we made it happen, and we were rewarded with a golden delicious bounty. More of the same on the lure front. Harnesses and meat for the win 😀

Yes, that is a man walking a tortoise. His name is Carl, and yes he is wearing a t-shirt and a diaper. #peopleofwalnut

#willfishforsmiles #chasingdreams #chaseyourdreams #fishforsmiles �#fishingislife #fishingtrip #lakelife #fishing #letsgofishing #lake #erie #lakeerie #walleyefishing #walleye #fishingboats #fishing🐟#walleye #laketrout #laketroutfishing #walleyes ... See MoreSee Less