july 14 fishing report

[carl schenk]

got a call from Tommy Reinhardt last night to meet up and do some night trolling.  an invitation I had been waiting for since talking with him on the ice.  met up and hit the water around 8:30ish and knew I was going to learn some old school lessons right away.  Got schooled in which houses on shore to line up, which stacks and light towers to pay attention to, which tall trees to start turns at, which lights to line up with which point of land,... very good time.  for a man with no gps on board it was fun listening to him call what we would be going over next.  10:10, Tommys' rod bends into the holder, fish on, good battle, I'm ready with the net, scoop, 46"er.  Few pics and back at it. 10:40 I get hit, steadily to the boat, scoop, 38"er.  My first fish landed this year.  Dip the net, cya.  shortly after 11:00, Tommys' rod goes off again, short battle, fish off.  11:30, I'm nailed again, hard fight at first then steadily to boat, Tommy scoops, 36"er, clean release after getting us both wet.  Musky smell is strong now.  11:45, Tommys' rod bends into another fish, ready with the net again, 38"er.  Tommy's happy, I'm happy, last pass in front of Strawberry and done.  4 for 5.  Trolling's not so bad.  Neither is having a net man.  I will be putting in some more night hours...

[John Jarosz]

WOW!!!  Great report.  Now that's old school fishing & the success that comes with it!  Those old-timers sure knew what they were doing.  CONGRATULATIONS to both of you.

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

Tommy & Carl Congrats on nice fish! Chris & I will play in tonight's winds and see if they are still on!

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

Yes, Tommy comes from old school using land marks, we could not afford fish finders in the 70's, every inch of the river bottom was learned by trial & error.We have names like the Coal Dock Run, White Tank Run, Red Light--Green Light Run, Frenchman's Run, Spanish House Run, Beaver Island Clock Run, Beaver Island Marina Run, Sailboat Run, Upper Shipyard Run, Georgia Girl Run, Gas Pump Run, The Wall Run, Upper Staley's Run, Black Creek Campground Run and the Beyers Creek Channel, these are just some of the west river runs and all have towers, houses , bridges, trees etc. To lineup to stay on the runs!

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

In the late 70's there would be as many as 20 boats out on any given night, some trolling to daylight. Most used Creek Chub Pike Minnows 2600 Series with 45 lb test Leadcore line and hand held their rod and hand landed muskies.We would tie up at Black Creek Tavern and have a midnight beer or two, never had to call Canadian customs they did not care then.You could turn off your lights to hide your fishing spot from others and never have to worry about getting ran over by another boat.Not many big pleasure boats, mostly small fishing boats then.5 to 7 muskie nights were common then, water always had a light brown tint and most muskies were caught in 7 to 12 ft of water.Sometimes we would sleep on Strawberry Island for the weekend and fish till 2 to 3 am and return to a fire and hotdogs & beer.

[Jay Nannen]

Great report on a fantastic night!

[Tony Scime]

Yes. The dark is good. If you get a chance, check the old release reports for the times a lot of the fish were caught. Especially for Larry, Tom page, Jon MacSwan, Dave Melfi, me and several others.

Great to hear. You might have some company at night.

Tony

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

Tony,There were many marks on the bottom at your upper Staley's run and across the 25 ft water!