After many weeks of planning, we were able to get Nick, Lisa, and Ethan Shetler up to Clark for a weekend chasing pike and walleye. With Rachel's work taking a chokehold, she was not able to make it out on the lake, and Lisa was intelligent enough to sleep in the two mornings we got up stupid early to get on the lake.
Saturday morning was not quite as picture perfect as we were hoping for but we made the best of it.
We ended up on the down-wind side of one of the islands, again the only place our anchors would hold. It was there I was finally able to hook into a pike on the fly. Though it was not that big of a fish, it felt great to accomplish what we were out there to do; fish on the fly.
Our final move of the morning was at the point of the island where the wind was converging from both directions. We were able to find some rocks so our anchors held, but the lake was starting to get a little dicey. Before we were just about to call it a day, Nick's touch found our first walleye of the trip. A decent fish and a great cap to our morning.
Once we called it a morning and decided to head out, i knew we were in for a wet ride. Our first portage across the lake ended in me getting drenched while Nick and Ethan laid in the front for weight.
This was going to be a hairy...
With the wind at our back, figured we would be OK, but the wind was blowing faster than we could get the boat to go. This made the motor bog down, and the big waves bypass us as we were moving at a paltry 11mph. At the pinch point of the bay the waves were true swells. If we had been in the little brown boat, we would have capsized. The ClaraLee is a fine vessel that handled the waves well. With Nick in the front for weight, the last wave came WAY too close to coming over the top. After the last hurrah, made it safely into bay and made a surprisingly smooth exit from the lake at the boat ramp. Once home we had a quick sandwich and some napping. I don't believe I ever got that far but it was nice to hang out with the ladies for awhile. As Lisa was finishing up pattying up our burgers, Rachel invariably got a call. Depending on what the deal was, I knew our even plans may have been in jeopardy. Luckily, Lisa volunteered to go with Rachel. We knew we would be long gone by the time they got back, and we opted to cook the burgers and move on. Another quick food grab and we were back out to the lake.
The evening fish was far more eventful than our morning slosh. It took Nick two casts into the weed edge before he got slammed by what was our nicest pike of the trip. We were able to pick off a few pike here and there the rest of the evening, and our drift was far more controlled. I was even able to put another waldo in the boat for while Nick hauled in a decent pike for a double!
As the sun set in the west we called it a successful day on the water. It was not as much about catching fish as it was about whom we were fishing with.
By the next morning we were a little more groggy, and excited to see what the morning fish would bring, as it was our last chance at finding a few more.
Again, it did not take too long for Nick to tie into a decent pike with the flyrod!
The cool part is, we had caught this fish before and I have to pics to prove it. We were in the same location, but just a couple of years gap between catches. Catch and release can pay off!!!
Next on deck was Ethan; he was getting a little squirmy as he was the last one to catch a pike on the flyrod. Without much more than a handful of casts we had another one on the fly!
As we had hit that drift pretty hard this yesterday evening and this morning, I figured we should try our luck at another part of the lake. We were not pulling them in hand over fist, but it was close. We were well off enough to get picky with our fish. Ethan put on the mambo fly and pulled in the money flyrod pike of the weekend.
Not long after, Nick hit a slow fish and knew before we even saw it, we had a waldo. A hair under 23 inches, this was a stout fish for the livewell, and on a flyrod to boot. At this point we were all on cloud nine. This was way too much fun for our own good.
At the farthest end of the drift we were working, we ended up right on the reed edge, a little shallower than I wanted but it proved to be a lucky position. Nick bellowed, and his rod doubled over. What ever it the fish, it was big. Big pike will often take slow runs, and this fish was staying low as well. What I didn't realize at the time is Nick knew it was a waldo immediately as he got to watch the fish come off of the bottom and slam his fly. A meticulous and careful fight and netting ended with an absolute slob of a walleye on a fly rod. This fish was hovering on the fringe of wall mount worthy.
We spent the next half hour working the drift again, this time anchoring when we got on the point near one of our hot spots. I believe by this time we were giggling like school girls over a boy-crush. Our morning was successful enough already that we had our three walleye over 20", and we would struggle to even see a fish under 20". We could have packed up then and there and been tickled pink.
But that's not what we did.
Ethan railed into another stout fish at the stern of the boat. Another hefty fish we figured another decent pike maybe better than most we had caught today. It was a super shallow cast so that was a fair assumption. The first sighting of the fish and it was declared pike as it was too big to be a walleye. One turn from the boat and the distinct white marked tail sent us into borderline panic. Ethan is one to finesse fish better than most fisherman I know, and he expertly worked his waldo in for me to net. We have now boated two of the best walleyes I have been a part of since I moved to Clark, and they both came on flyrods. Un-Freakin-believable.
As the wind kind of did its own things the rest of the day, we fished the whole cove we were in for the rest of the morning. I was even able to catch a few fish on topwater, and a great fish on one of Grandpa Rex's homemade crankbaits. We were getting picky enough even Ethan switched to flyrod topwater, and still managed to catch a good pike.
As our morning was switching to afternoon we slowly worked our way back to the boat ramp. We watched as Ethan played chicken with a stud of a pike and just couldn't close the deal after multiple attempts. When the fishing is good, its a hell of a lot more difficult to call it a day; that was today.
A quick fish cleaning, and pack up and the travelers were on their way home. Ethan and Nick were gracious enough to leave me an entire BOX of flies to work while fishing up here. There is a magnitude of flies to throw and I cannot wait to get back out again.
The fishing on Indian can be touchy to say the least. I have fished it enough to know that the fish are there, they just may not be apt to bite. Often times all it takes is one tiny trigger, even the day off, and the fish turn on again. Hopefully I can decipher the code that is Indian Springs, but for now, I will take what I can get when the bite is good.
Stay Tuned
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